I could blame Memorial Weekend beers (if I had any), but instead I’ll blame the combination of sick family and me not really working normal days: I forgot yesterday that today was Memorial Day. That’s not good in any case, as it is a very important holiday, but it’s also not good because I’d previously and erroneously said we were launching BN Bulls today. That is not actually today. There’s already plenty of content there, mind you, but we’re not really going full-on until tomorrow. My bad.
Other Bullets …
I like the way the Cubs match up with the Astros the next two days, especially if they have their full complement of position players available at that point. But today’s game? After a travel day, and then an early game? Against Gerrit Cole? I think it’s reasonable to brace yourself for a challenging game. Here’s hoping the Cubs’ own Cole is ready to dominate.
If you missed it in the lineup, both Kris Bryant and Jason Heyward are out today after their collision in the outfield:
Heyward (hip sore) and Bryant not in the lineup after collision yesterday. Adduci starts in RF. Bryant still under evaluation. No stated diagnosis yet.
It’s not necessarily a surprise or a worry that Bryant is sitting today, but the “under evaluation” is a little atypical so long after an injury. It’s certainly suggestive of a concussion protocol, but no one has announced anything like that (UPDATE: in fact, Gordon Wittenmyer reports it is not the official concussion protocol), and I’m not sure I can remember it being phrased quite this way before a day later. That said, I think all sports could do better to treat possible head injuries with as much caution as possible, so if that means a very long evaluation period, that’s fine by me. The Cubs will of course miss Bryant’s bat in the meantime, but concussion issues – if that’s what is going on – can spiral into very, very serious situations if not treated with extreme care.
Speaking of which, although the Cubs optioned lefty Tim Collins to Iowa today, I wonder if he’ll stick with the team in case another roster move is going to happen tomorrow (i.e., if Bryant goes to the IL), then Collins could just be called right back up if there’s another short-term bullpen need at that point. Otherwise, the Cubs could bring someone else up from Iowa.
Patrick Mooney on the Cubs’ draft approach, as it looms next week:
Inside the draft room: How the Cubs view this year's class, their pitching issues, the Nico Hoerner pick and any sense of urgency now that The Core is getting older and close to free agency. https://t.co/GRa3XCrSnm
Cubs Amateur Scouting Director Matt Dorey suggested to Mooney that this could be an especially volatile year after the top 10, which would stand to benefit the Cubs, who pick at number 27, and might be able to get someone very high up on their internal board: “Our theme is just literally allowing the player pool to talk to us. Let’s not force anything. We’re in a position where we can just process the very best player available. I think there’s just a lot of volatility after like the top 10 picks in this draft. You’re going to see names that a lot of the mock (drafts) don’t have go high. It’s going to be one of the most unpredictable drafts that way.”
In some ways, that’s kinda how the Cubs ended up with Nico Hoerner at the back of the first round last year, when he’d otherwise been expected to go in the second round. The Cubs were much higher on him than others, and I think it’s safe to say at this point that they were clearly right.
Our latest podcast episode, out this morning:
The latest episode of Onto Waveland is out, with @PJ_Mooney dropping insights, @sahadevsharma dropping fire takes, and me dropping the mic (ooh, literal or figurative?!).
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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