GTFOH With Any Other Greatest Hit of the Decade, Bote’s Improvement, and Other Cubs Bullets

Woke up at 4:00am this morning, unintentionally, totally alert, and with absolutely no chance to go back to sleep. That basically never happens to me, so I tried to just lean into it, start my day and all that. I know enough about sleep disruptions to know that the worst thing you can do is freak out about it and just lay there trying and trying to go back to sleep. So I’m good with my decision. The rub, however, is obviously that I’m now really tired and I feel like it’s almost lunch time when it’s barely 9am. Don’t, uh, do it again tonight, brain.

  • The MLB Stats account is one of my favorites on Twitter, because it frequently does surface interesting, well-considered, nicely-packaged stats. But, man, I have no idea what they were thinking with this:
  • As you can see before you even click play, that’s Ben Zobrist’s double – the one that gave the Cubs the lead in the 10th inning of Game 7 of their first World Series title in 108 years – being ranked only the THIRD most impactful hit of the decade. I have no doubt that there is some statistical basis for this number, though it must be absolutely and completely devoid of any thought or context, because it is ranked two spots behind Rajai Davis’s home run in the same game … from two innings earlier … in a game the Indians lost. Again, I’m sure there’s a statistical reason, but someone should have looked at this one with human eyes and realized it was a goof.
  • The number two hit was Howie Kendrick’s three-run homer in Game 7 of this year’s World Series, which gave the Nationals a 3-2 lead in the 7th inning. That’s a good one. But, also, it was in a game the Nationals went on to win comfortably 6-2 in 9 innings, and it was a game that, with apologies, didn’t carry quite the same weight as the Cubs’ win.
  • I guess what I’m trying to say is that, without any question whatsoever, THIS is the most impactful hit in all of baseball in the 2010s:
  • Obligatory bonus shouts any time this comes up: never forget that Miguel Montero’s base hit a few batters later gave the Cubs an insurance run that proved critical once the Indians scored a run in the bottom of the 10th. We can’t know if that bottom frame would have proceeded exactly the same way if the Cubs had entered it with only a one-run lead, but we do know how it actually played out – and Miggy’s hit was essential to the win.
  • I don’t think David Bote will get a crack at being the everyday second baseman to open the season (at least not right away), but Bryan does point out one very attractive chart:
  • Totally dig it. Good point, love the walk rate improvements. But something to keep in mind about Bote:
  • Until that red trend line gets up closer to 75% on a consistent basis (that’s slightly below league average), Bote’s overall production is going to be lacking because (1) the strikeout rate will stay elevated, and (2) opportunities to rake in advantageous counts will be suppressed. He has, at times, done a very good job adjusting to the high fastball – fouling them off – but it is still an area that pitchers attack aggressively. And, of course, there’s the low-and-away slider that gets him. Taken together, he’s lumped in there with that profile of guys on the Cubs (historically, almost every righty on the team – Bote, Kris Bryant, Javy Baez, Willson Contreras, Albert Almora, and Addison Russell, for examples – could be attacked fairly similarly, making it a lot easier on opposing pitchers for game-planning and execution).
  • Like I’ve said before: I love David Bote on this roster (or any roster in baseball, really). I have questions, however, about whether his above-average offensive performance would be sustained in a full-time role. Not saying it couldn’t! Just saying the profile leaves me with questions. There is also the still-open-question about whether he’s a good defender at second (or third), or merely a passable one.
  • LOL. The Tony Kemp one at 26 seconds still makes me so angry:
  • https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1210555265373888515

  • From the other Chicago sports:
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    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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