Anthony Rizzo is a Top Five First Baseman, Former Cub Health Battle, and Other Bullets
That Super Bowl was, uh, not especially exciting, eh? Also, I have supreme confidence that, if the Bears had faced either of those two teams, as they played last night, and if the Bears had played a typical 2018 Bears game, they would have won the dang thing. [Internal rage screaming: PARKEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!]
- Ah, rankings time is upon – a nearly entirely arbitrary, silly process that nevertheless engenders debate (sometimes enjoyable and good faith!). MLB Network ranked the top 10 first basemen in the game, among other positions, and Anthony Rizzo landed at number five, which sounds about right even before I check the names:
1. Paul Goldschmidt
2. Freddie Freeman
3. Joey Votto
4. Max Muncy
5. Anthony Rizzo
6. Matt Olson
7. Justin Smoak
8. Jesus Aguilar
9. Rhys Hoskins
10. Jose Abreu
- I would probably go Freeman, Votto, Goldschmidt at the top, in that order, but maybe I’m just homering against Goldschmidt now that he’s on the Cardinals. And that’s probably then where I’d have Rizzo (three of the best four first basemen in the game, in my opinion, are in the same division!). Muncy, 28, was unquestionably better than Rizzo in 2018 at the plate, but can we give a little breathing room to a guy who only just broke out at an advanced age when compared with a guy who has been consistently excellent for a half-decade?
- Also, when you look over the options, it’s totally fine that Jesus Aguilar shows up near the back of this list given his excellent offensive 2018, but if I’m a Brewers fan, I’m a little leery of the .245/.324/.436 (101 wRC+) line he put up in the second half, as the league got more exposure to him.
- You may have noticed that the Cubs haven’t yet officially announced the Brad Brach signing, even though the signing was revealed more than a week ago, and even though there’s a spot on the 40-man roster for him. It could just be a logistical matter of the physical (travel has been tricky since that signing), or it could be the Cubs holding open a 40-man spot for unknown reasons right now. For what it’s worth, Mark Gonzales does not suspect anything nefarious (a failed physical, for example) at the moment.
- Current Phillies manager and former Dodgers development executive Gabe Kapler has written about the incident involving the assault of a teenage girl involving Dodgers players, alcohol, other participants, and a separate sexual assault allegation that was not originally alleged:
Gabe Kapler posted a statement about yesterday’s Washington Post story on his personal blog @KapLifestyle https://t.co/qsJyn7rvsM
— Matt Breen (@matt_breen) February 2, 2019
- Heads up: it’s a very good day to stock up on chargers and charging-related gear, because Anker stuff is a Deal of the Day at Amazon. They are cheap, but good.
- Former big leaguer Micah Bowie was briefly in the Cubs’ organization, and now he’s dealing with a serious medical issue, which calls into question the support he is (not) receiving from the sport he gave his body to:
Bringing this one out again now that the Super Bowl stuff has blown over. Former MLB pitcher Micah Bowie is struggling in a life-and-death situation, and he thinks the MLBPA isn't doing enough for former players. https://t.co/y7nS4ERPM7
— Ryan (@RyanQDavis) February 4, 2019
- A different former Cub story, as catcher Rob Bowen is now a police officer with a K-9 unit.
- Super Bowl, meh. El Mago Bowl, yeh:
Do you want to watch the Super Bowl …
… or do you want to watch Javy Baez slappin' ridiculous tags? #ElMagoBowl pic.twitter.com/Ps4Jir6e7P
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) February 3, 2019
