Darvish’s Calm Confidence, Wick’s Bad Inning, Kimbrel Live BP, and Other Cubs Bullets

Feb 25, 2020

You know, even if you set aside completely the idea that they work so well as rah-rah-SPORTS songs, I really think ‘We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions’ are just flat-out good songs.

I was curious about Rowan Wick’s implosion inning yesterday, so I went back to look at what exactly he was dealing with. By the results, it went quick strikeout looking, BABIP dribbler infield hit, wild pitch on a good attempt at a wipeout curveball, close walk, bloop single, hammered double on a get-me-over first-pitch curve, lazy fly out to left, obliterated homer on a dickball fastball. And that was the appearance.

Ultimately, not as bad as it looked on paper – without the dribbler or the bloop single, it’s a quick nothing inning. That said, he definitely wasn’t getting anyone to bite on his curveball (didn’t look bad to my eye, but obviously it wasn’t sharp because the only one that drew a swing got crushed), and he had no idea where his fastball was going half the time. Spring Training. Everyone was getting hammered yesterday, so who knows what else was going on with the conditions and the strike zone.

If you want to let yourself start the process of getting extremely excited about how good Yu Darvish can be this year, read this Patrick Mooney piece on the Cubs’ second half ace. Among the things you’ll see that will set your heart into motion: Darvish is pretty matter of fact that he still has the command and stuff he was showing in the second half last year when he exploded. His only focus this Spring seems to be adding to that performance in very specific ways (commanding fastballs away to lefties, for example), because he’s so confident and comfortable that he’s still good to go.

Bonus factoid:

Let’s all take a moment to appreciate the lengths Yu Darvish goes to to entertain us on Twitter. From @PJ_Mooney: https://t.co/TGczY7jWm6 pic.twitter.com/TROVFVs2RR
— Lauren Comitor (@laurencomitor) February 25, 2020

More from Yu Darvish, who may wind up the Opening Day starter in Milwaukee:

Yu Darvish on his live BP session and building up to games… pic.twitter.com/u3cjADIggR

— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) February 24, 2020

Craig Kimbrel did live BP for the first time yesterday, and all seemed to go well enough:

Kimbrel on facing hitters for first time this spring… pic.twitter.com/weeAvzPMJp

— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) February 24, 2020

I know firewalls have been erected and all that, but I still think it’s weird that teams are sending their top pitchers to work at a facility owned by the guy who is now the Reds’ director of pitching:

You’ve heard that the Dodgers’ Kenley Jansen and Alex Wood went to Driveline this offseason. Turns out Clayton Kershaw did too. https://t.co/GE2jKP4aMr
— Pedro Moura (@pedromoura) February 25, 2020

Great Deals of the Day at Amazon today, including gaming gear, running shoes, vacuums, and Ninja Foodi. #ad

Michael is cold:

You guys know the answer to this one? #Jeopardy pic.twitter.com/oNOukZGqzs

— Michael Cerami (@Michael_Cerami) February 25, 2020

I’m guessing this won’t continue …

Madison Bumgarner Is Secretly a Rodeo Champion Named Mason Saunders … Reallyhttps://t.co/FLb7wvolWe

— Baseball is Fun (@flippingbats) February 24, 2020

Love to Ron Santo:

https://twitter.com/Cubs/status/1232304239445188610

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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Darvish’s Calm Confidence, Wick’s Bad Inning, Kimbrel Live BP, and Other Cubs Bullets

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