In the RizZone, Anthony with a Happy Birthday to Mom, and Other Bullets

As some of you know, The Littlest Girl (our youngest of three kiddos) has special needs. Today, she started at her new preschool, which meant she gets picked up by the bus. I was … a wreck. I’m so proud of her progress, and so happy that she gets more and more independent experiences, but, man, I’m still just her parent, you know? She’s my little sweetie. I wonder what she’s doing RIGHT now.

  • There is no magic influence in noting that a guy has done X over a very long stretch, despite Y and Z, which make X seem like a fluke … and then the guy suddenly starts doing normal stuff again. That’s just the nature of regression in this sport, which is observed on a daily basis, but best understood and contextualized over laaaaaarge samples. So, when we – along with lots and lots of other folks – noted that Anthony Rizzo had homered just twice in two months, despite otherwise hitting really well, it was only a matter of time before he started homering again. It just so happened that he did so immediately, and with great lust.
  • Rizzo homered twice last night, giving him four in his last five games (or, you know, TWICE AS MANY as he hit in the previous 50 games!). At 25 homers now, he’s well within striking distance of his customary 32 (which he’s hit an incredible three other times in his career, but never more), and he’s already tied his total from last year.
  • Thanks to an otherwise perfect night at the plate, Rizzo’s line is up to .288/.400/.528, with a 140 wRC+, which is his highest in three years. The current OBP is the best of his career. His .240 ISO (one way to think about power) is the tied for the second highest mark in his career. Power slump for a couple months? Maybe so. Power drought overall? Not even close.
  • A very cool milestone for a very cool Cub:
  • And how about this nice boy after the game:
  • https://twitter.com/NBCSCubs/status/1164012239713476608

    (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

  • What was happening at the game last night?!?!?! Duck and cover and such:
  • https://twitter.com/Cubs/status/1163975988281298949

  • Been thinking about this a lot lately while tracking the Red Sox a bit, and especially now that Chris Sale is out for the year:
  • The Cubs’ 2015-17 run (which hopefully does not stick out as an isolated three-year stretch when we look back 15 years from now) was really incredible.
  • Jim Deshaies has fans, as he should:
  • https://twitter.com/NBCSCubs/status/1164012567645380609

  • Blenders and ergonomic desks are among the Deals of the Day at Amazon today. Must be a life-hacker kind of day.
  • There are perfectly reasonable arguments against an electronic strike zone. But please do not make the very bad arguments:
  • Love seeing Obvious Shirts on the broadcast:
  • 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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