NEWSLETTER
The Cubs smoked the Dodgers so thoroughly that they have been awarded the NL West crown. That’s how the cookie crumbles. Sorry, Dodgers. You suck. After the 7-0 win, the Cubs remain undefeated on the spring.
The Cubs got five of their seven runs in the third, including Austin Romine’s first spring homer:
Five-run 3rd inning for the #Cubs! pic.twitter.com/XIR8jr0vp8
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) March 5, 2021
Ian Happ also ripped his first spring homer:
Sweet dreams. pic.twitter.com/D5imkPV9ft
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) March 5, 2021
We got our first look at Trevor Williams, Cubs Edition, and he struck out Mookie Betts twice, SO I’D SAY HE’S DOING JUST FINE. I kid, but he did look solid. Like we say about that type of pitcher when the Cubs pick them up: he’s had success in the past, he’s still fairly young, and the Cubs can sometimes unlock an extra gear.
Two scoreless frames for @MeLlamoTrevor. pic.twitter.com/kb2Oc2KvTr
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) March 5, 2021
Also looking good? Rex Brothers, who followed Williams with a scoreless frame. I’ve made this comparison before, but I’ll keep going to the well, because it plays: Brothers has a dominant fastball and wipeout slider, each a potential plus-plus pitch (coming from a funky angle, too), and he’s the lefty Dillon Maples. If he could just throw strikes consistently, he would have great success. That’s been the story of his career. Maybe the Cubs will unlock BOTH Maples and Brothers this year, and they’ll magically have two absolutely dominant relief arms seemingly coming out of nowhere! That’d be the dream, eh?
We got to see Cory Abbott pitch last night for an inning, and while he was nibbling, you could see the bones of a big league pitcher there. Although he was the Cubs’ minor league pitcher of the year in 2019 and is theoretically among the starting depth options on the 40-man roster, we will have to keep in mind that he pitched at AA in that 2019 season, and has yet to throw an inning at AAA.
Michael Hermosillo homered for the second time in as many games, this time off of a righty:
.@mhermosillo10 destroyed this ball. pic.twitter.com/MZN6fE4r1F
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) March 5, 2021
Like a lot of guys the Cubs brought in early in the offseason, Hermosillo is one of those guys who can hit at AAA. There’s more or less no question about that at this point. The question is whether he can get over the hump at the big league level (hitting righties is the big one) to be a decent 4th/5th outfielder, or maybe have a little upside from there (he only just turned 26, and has been a well-regarded prospect). He may have been my favorite positional minor league signing of the offseason for the Cubs.
Nico Hoerner continues to feast right now (he was 3-3), with a line drive stroke and a diet of pitches that don’t quite break as much as they would outside of Arizona in March. That’s not to say it’s not better than nothing that he’s raking, it’s just that guys with his preternatural skill set tend to do really well in Spring Training in Arizona in March. Doesn’t necessarily tell you a lot about what comes next.
That said, I did love seeing this:
Nico making it happen in the 1st! pic.twitter.com/GvBqx3RVH5
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) March 5, 2021
Meghan’s dead-on here, Nico’s SO fast, but since I’ve watched him always seems to be really careful picking his spots. If Cubs can increase his instinctual aggressiveness, I think it adds some value he hasn’t unlocked yet. https://t.co/n4T1289jkw
— Cubs Prospects – Bryan Smith (@cubprospects) March 5, 2021
Ildemaro Vargas is quietly hitting quite well this spring, too, by the way. There’s really only so much you can take away from any of it, but again, it’s better to see than the opposite.
