Special Road Wins, Rizzo’s Power, Darvish’s Hilarious Shift, and Other Bullets

Good weekend at the Taylor Household. Lots of play time with the kids. Lots of cooperative play among the kids. A nap! And, of course, two Cubs wins …

• Look, I get the position that the Cubs did not actually just win a “road” series – instead, it was a two-game road series that they split and then they won a single neutral site game – but from the psychological perspective, both fans and players, I’m totally calling that one a road series win. For one thing, the third game came against the same team immediately after the other two games, and it was in the same state where the “home” team is located. For another thing, the Cubs were still on the road throughout the process, away from Wrigley Field. For still another thing, it was a special event and therefore anything goes because that’s how it works.
• That, my friends, is a road series win. We’ve waited three months for one of these – and all year for one of these against an NL Central opponent – so don’t deprive yourselves of the monkey off your back. He’s gone. He’s back in the jungle somewhere eating fruit, swinging from trees, and terrorizing the Marlins about playing on the road.

• Anthony Rizzo asked for his ball to go, and appreciated it when it did:

https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1163258547058171905

• That homer was Rizzo’s second homer in the last four days, or as many as he hit in the previous TWO MONTHS. Never fails: note a weird performance issue with a player, and he shakes right out of it. Just doing a public service.
• More on Jose Quintana’s latest brilliant outing later, but for now, I mostly just want to L OH FREAKING L at Yu Darvish’s 31.5 K/BB ratio over this stretch:

June 29-present

José Quintana: 7 BB, 57 K
Yu Darvish: 2 BB, 63 K

Combined: 9 BB, 120 K#Cubs

— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) August 19, 2019

• And now you can LOL (a different, more sarcastic kind) that he’s still only 31st overall in baseball in K/BB (3.29) because of how profound his early season walk problems were. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a pitcher flip a switch like this on control. Back to a happy LOL:

• If he stays healthy, Yu Darvish is an ace. Full stop. It’s a fact.
• If you can’t get enough from the Cubs’ Little League Classic experience, more here:

Stories from Williamsport on…

• A welcomed detour and win: https://t.co/CHc8a6h9J6
• A whirlwind day: https://t.co/2VsEv3Jbet
• In-game moments: https://t.co/2yDnsjhCiW
• Visiting The Grove: https://t.co/N4HB7Tuye5 pic.twitter.com/6AejZIIVUc

— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) August 19, 2019

• Also, how much does this look like he’s just taking infield practice, and yet it was actually a real play:

Be like @javy23baez, kids.#LittleLeagueClassic pic.twitter.com/89IBhIGBQ7

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) August 18, 2019

• Good deals today at Amazon, including air fryers and NERF toys.
• I’m surprised to learn that White Sox fan sentiment is sufficiently negative that it’s irking the man in charge (which is its own separate not-so-good issue). If I were a Sox fan, I’d pretty happy with the state of things, relatively speaking. Still a very bright future, IMO:

Twitter trolls clearly annoy White Sox GM Rick Hahn, who should just heed the advice of Astros GM Jeff Luhnow. https://t.co/QzCpMJjbsr

— Paul Sullivan (@PWSullivan) August 19, 2019

• DUDE. Our friends at Obvious Shirts are awesome:

We got THE Henry Rowengartner to announce our new Henry Rowengartner shirt! Now available! Huge shout to @tinband – give them a follow!

Shirt: https://t.co/sb2kg9BCYx pic.twitter.com/ev6E51S10b

— OBVIOUS SHIRTS® (@obvious_shirts) August 18, 2019