Home Jersey Superstition, Everyone Wanted Javy to Hit Lefty, Another Big BDay, and Other Bullets

Aug 09, 2019

I thought I had a little cold beat after extra rest, water, etc. earlier this week, and then boom, overnight, everything was awful again. Cold —> sinus infection. Stupid body, be less stupid.

Last night’s was a pretty universally fun game outside the excruciating bottom of the 3rd. From the Nick Castellanos dingers to another hot night for Ian Happ to the brilliant bullpen work to the fact that it all took place on the road – in Cincinnati, no less! – just made that one of the best games of the year.

Kyle Schwarber joked before heading out on this road trip that the Cubs should bring their home whites, but then “an unidentified prankster” actually had those jerseys hung up at the players’ lockers before last night’s game (Cubs.com). Anthony Rizzo guessed it was either Schwarber, himself, or maybe Brandon Kintzler. Cole Hamels said he knew who it was, but he wasn’t going to say. I wouldn’t be surprised if it were Yu Darvish. That guy is sneaky funny.

Either way, after last night, those home jerseys BETTER be hanging up in the lockers again tonight.

Watch Anthony Rizzo discuss the Cubs bringing their home white jerseys with them on the road for good luck. (They can't wear them in game) https://t.co/zVH3xYWp4D pic.twitter.com/ZlsYST3AVC
— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) August 8, 2019

The craziest fun part of last night’s game, of course, was the Cubs facing a position player pitching who was lobbing them softball-style, so much so that Jason Heyward was trying to do a little 16-inch softball-style shuffle swing:

https://twitter.com/Reds/status/1159655771703054336

It cracks me up how you could tell that Javy desperately wanted to hit that ball 450 feet left-handed. It was maybe a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him, and he probably missed a monster bomb by about three millimeters.

Of course, the best part was Javy Baez – who hits bombs lefty in BP – taking an actual in-game at bat lefty. Everyone wanted him to do it:

Baez asked Maddon if he could hit lefty and the manager told him to go for it. Felt it was a good time to try it in-game (against a position player in a blowout), though Maddon thinks it's something Javy could learn to do.
Does Javy think so? Not so much. He’ll stick to righty. pic.twitter.com/RoIiKALK0g

— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) August 9, 2019

Haunting:

https://twitter.com/NBCSCubs/status/1159801885299236864

I really don’t know what I would have done if that ball had gone out.

That excruciating bottom of the 3rd, by the way, included a catcher’s interference on Jonathan Lucroy, making his first start with the Cubs, who have a truly unusual penchant for that call. My suggestion is that they stop making that the first thing they teach new catchers about The Cubs Way.

Catching prospect Miguel Amaya is on fire, and check out the homer he hit last night to right center – his is the third homer in this package, and dang man, the power is coming along for a plus-defensive catcher:

https://twitter.com/Pelicanbaseball/status/1159809541481082880

Well that’s fun:

.@LenKasper mentioned the triple play turned by the Tennessee Smokies on the broadcast, and let’s just say it wasn’t your “normal” triple play if such a thing exists. pic.twitter.com/ubO1mBZUA7
— Greg Huss (@OutOfTheVines) August 9, 2019

Mike Trout is so otherworldly good that I still don’t appreciate it enough. This article helps me appreciate it more.

A great story just keeps performing:

Another scoreless outing for LHP Danny Hultzen with the @IowaCubs — 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 K, 1 BB.

Overall stats for Hultzen this year — 11 appearances, 11.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 18 K, 7 BB, 1.56 ERA.

— Alex Cohen (@voiceofcohen) August 9, 2019

Another Cubs vet turns 30 day, just a day after Anthony Rizzo. Happy birthday to a resurgent Jason Heyward:

View this post on Instagram

Another big 3-0 birthday today! #Cubs @jheylove22

A post shared by Bleacher Nation (@bleachernation) on Aug 9, 2019 at 5:38am PDT

https://twitter.com/NBCSCubs/status/1159796466321203200

The joke is too obvious:

Per @sportslogosnet, the Cardinals are tweaking their logo in extremely subtle ways: https://t.co/d0YR1KF7if pic.twitter.com/vIGyR4DEqr

— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) August 8, 2019

Thanks to Paul for the heads up on a great deal at Amazon – save money when you buy a combo of household products that you probably need anyway.

written by

Brett Taylor

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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