Cubs’ Historic Offense, Maddon’s Chill, Schwarber’s Swing, Ryan’s Release, and Other Bullets

Yesterday’s win was tempered a bit by Jon Lester’s early exit (more on that later), but it nevertheless overall made for a really nice home opener, especially given the horrifying road trip that preceded it.

  • The Cubs offense is still pretty crazy, eh? Through 10 games, the Cubs have now scored a whopping 72 runs, which is their most in more than 60 years. More than that, they’ve scored at least 10 runs in HALF of their first 10 games, making them just the FOURTH team since 1900 to do that.
  • Speaking of that offense, Kyle Schwarber went deep again, and provided a good opportunity for a swing comparison:
  • Schwarber has put up a “hey, that’s actually believable” line of .250/.325/.528 (118 wRC+), with a 10.0% BB rate, a 17.5% K rate, a .231 BABIP, and a .278 ISO. If I had to guess, the walk and strikeout rates will both go up, the BABIP will probably go up a good bit, and the ISO might come down a little. But mostly, that just kinda looks like what you could see Schwarber actually doing this year.
  • Joe Maddon remains very chill about the Cubs’ results so far, and is trying to stress simply winning on a given day, and maybe making up a game per week:
  • Maddon wasn’t interested in talking about “urgency,” an offseason concept that always struck me as in conflict with Maddon’s essential mantras. Whatever hot, urgent start the Cubs hoped to get out to this year, that is long past possible. So bringing back in Maddon’s sense of chill is very much going to be best for the Cubs, presuming the talent is there for them to succeed.
  • (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

  • How about some old friends taking care of the Brewers? Last night, Tommy La Stella homered and Trevor Cahill cruised as the Angels beat the Brewers. Could even count Justin Bour, who drove in two, and was a former Cubs farmhand. Go Past Cubs!
  • I thought he looked pretty darn far over toward first base, but I didn’t realize just how extreme new Cubs reliever Kyle Ryan was:
  • You would think that would make him absolutely brutal on lefties and extremely susceptible to righties, who are getting a much longer look at him, but while that’s been true in a tiny sample this year, he’s actually been split-neutral for his career. Still, he’s moved that release point progressively further toward first base over the years, so maybe he’s increasingly becoming a guy who can dominate lefties, but not so much righties. I guess this will be something to track, especially in a world where, starting next year, relievers will have to face at least three batters. If Ryan remade himself into a killer LOOGY, that might only be valuable this year.
  • Egg cookers, Melissa and Doug stuff, and more are your Deals of the Day at Amazon.
  • Carl Edwards Jr. is at Iowa now, and they immediately inserted him into a jam:
  • So nice to see this:
  • And always nice to see incredible shots from MBD:
  • written by

    Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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