The Cubs were not going to stay undefeated forever, even in fake baseball mode. There were rolled innings, so you can’t really say for sure what would’ve happened, but the Cubs lost 10-4 to the Indians today.
when you're not undefeated anymore pic.twitter.com/LAn6UrHkGr
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) March 5, 2021
Alec Mills looked very Alec Mills-like in his two innings (all the starters so far have pretty much just looked like themselves, which is nice). He had a really impressive changeup working, too:
Mills threw his changeup just 16% of the time last year, but it was an extremely effective pitch for him. .139/.275/.306 against, 32.5% whiff rate, solidly positive pitch by pitch values. Obviously it has to balance with the other pitches, but he could probably stand to increase.
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) March 5, 2021
Craig Kimbrel followed Mills, and although his velocity was solid for this time of year (95-96 mph, he typically builds up quite a bit from early spring, and this is the range he’s usually in right now), he wasn’t really locating well. It led to deep counts, hard contact, and a lot of the stuff we were seeing in his troubled stretch early last season. The good news is that he looked all out of whack for four appearances last year, and then after that he cleaned up his mechanics and was pristine the rest of the season. Since last year came without a real Spring Training, now he can just get those four funked-up appearances out of the way in March, and be good to go in April! Right?
Craig Kimbrel's inning ends after he logs 27 pitches (18 strikes) to six batters. Two whiffs within his 1 strikeout to start things off. But then Cleveland went single, HBP, ground-rule double, RBI single, stolen base, two-run single. Cubs closer sat 94-95, topped at 96. pic.twitter.com/HEeZATf3o3
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) March 5, 2021
On the flip side, the other Cubs pitcher who gave up a four spot was Dillon Maples. Ignore the box score if you didn’t see the game – he was actually fine, with his infield of utility reserves failing to convert three ground balls into outs before any of the damage happened. He looked fine, and the batters looked very uncomfortable. Well, except for the dude who hit a monster homer, but that came after Maples had already gotten five outs in the inning, so …
Nico Hoerner hit a homer and slapped another single, and he’s basically been perfect so far this spring. He really wants people to shut up about him having to start at AAA:
Things that are better when hot 🔥
– Weather
– Coffee
– Nico Hoerner pic.twitter.com/1iQMFIRMaT— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) March 5, 2021
Nico Hoerner after the #Cubs signed Eric Sogard. pic.twitter.com/WleOQU1JYa
— Russell Dorsey (@Russ_Dorsey1) March 5, 2021
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) March 5, 2021
In-game Kris Bryant love for where he is:
https://twitter.com/CubsZone/status/1367959803025387529