McCutchen Swung, Not a Bad Rizzo Send, Michael and Luis on TV, and Other Bullets

Time for me to head on back to Columbus after a good stretch in Chicago. Even the part where I got hit by the car now registers as “good,” because I was definitely not hurt, and was definitely extraordinarily lucky.

  • Let’s just get right at the big thing from last night’s game: yes, Andrew McCutchen swung. It was clear to everyone except the guys who get to decide:
  • Obviously there’s no fixing it now, and the loss stays a loss. But, like I said this morning, it just makes the loss hurt all the more.
  • The Cubs, for their part, were very diplomatic after the game, saying that the call could have gone the other way (or, like Joe Maddon, simply saying they didn’t see it). From there, they mention the flukey bloop that tied the game, and say it’s just baseball. Definitely the right attitude you want the players to have after a loss like that. Leave the teeth-gnashing and lengthy obsessing to the fans. You guys worry about winning tonight.
  • Did the Cubs make the right decision to send Anthony Rizzo on that Albert Almora fly ball to Bryce Harper? Live in the park, I thought it was an obvious send situation, and it just looked like Harper made a ridiculous throw. Here’s the replay:
  • https://twitter.com/Phillies/status/1130653028380532736

  • It was definitely a little more shallow than I thought, and Harper’s throw looks slightly less impressive (Rizzo is just a big, slow boy). I still think you roll the dice on the send, though. It takes a good throw to get Rizzo, and in those situations, it just seems like only half the throws are decent. With two outs and the bases loaded (Daniel Descalso up), what’s the run expectancy anyway? Descalso is making an out 71% of the time, so I mean, you could argue it was a good send even if you thought you had a mere 30% chance of Rizzo making it.
  • (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

  • Baseball:
  • On a much happier note, check out these good guys who are gonna be TV stars, starting tomorrow night:
  • Office gear, tools, and Zero Gravity chairs(?) are among the Deals of the Day today at Amazon.
  • I was glad that Jake Arrieta got a really nice ovation in his first at bat last night, and he remains an appreciative part of this club’s legacy:
  • The gentle pat on the head is a nice touch:
  • https://twitter.com/IowaCubs/status/1130514017934610433

  • I love this:
  • We are also very slowly rolling out our new Bulls coverage this week as Elias Schuster – our new Bulls writer, woo! – gets onboarded. Full launch coming next week, but he’s trying his hand at Bullets in the meantime:
  • 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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