NEWSLETTER
Rough night’s sleep has me really behind the eight ball this morning …
• Shelby Miller’s success this spring – in results and in the eye test – continued for another couple quality innings yesterday, with plenty of emphasis on the slider. It’s a pitch he developed last year but never got to throw in game action, and it is a wholly new addition to his mix, which had previously been almost exclusively fastball-curveball. It seems notable that the one healthy year when he leaned more heavily on a third pitch – a cutter – also happened to be his best year, in 2015 with the Braves. It makes me wonder, too, if there’s a relationship between his cutter (which it appears he had and then lost along with the injuries) and his new slider, as they are sometimes kindred spirits.
• Speaking of the slider, Miller reminds us that it’s probably extra effective right now (Tribune): “Opposing hitters have to respect a whole other pitch that they haven’t seen. I’ve just got to keep throwing it, and hopefully it gets better. And I’m just going to go out there and get outs. That’s all I can say really.” He’s right: as hitters see it more and more, they will adjust, and the pitch, itself, will simply have to be more effective.
• Roster-wise, Miller is on a minor league deal, so unless he’s got a special opt-out built in (we haven’t heard of one yet), the Cubs can retain him at the alt site by paying a $100,000 retention bonus. After that, he gets a June 1 opt-out if he’s not yet added to the 40-man roster. (UPDATE: Right on cue, Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney report that Miller’s deal DID come with a special earlier opt-out in mid-April. So there you go.)
• It seems increasingly likely to me that Rex Brothers is going to be the second lefty in the bullpen early in the season, with Kyle Ryan still behind schedule a bit, and Brad Wieck only just making his Cactus League debut yesterday. Here’s David Ross on Brothers, who’s looked really good (Marquee): “Rex has looked really good. I threw him in the fire [Sunday] early on to real tough portion of the lineup for the Angels. Looked really good. Everything’s been around he zone. He’s throwing strikes. That’s really the only issue he’s had in his career is being around the plate. That hasn’t even been a blip on the radar for this spring training. 95-97 [mph] with a really good breaking ball, mixed his looks up, held the runner good yesterday. He’s looked really good.”
• Discrepancies in how we perceive defensive ability and at least one advanced defensive metric just got cleared up, and it further confirms the Cubs’ goodness:
The 2019 Cubs just added 46 net runs to their team DRS. https://t.co/7iFy3IF1YK pic.twitter.com/VHxdTmTh8i
— Brad (@ballskwok) March 8, 2021
• A quick scan of the stats show one of the biggest changes was Kris Bryant at third base. His DRS metrics go from where they had been – solidly below average – to right around average (which is where the other metrics have long said he should be).
• I saw Crawly post this, and it immediately made me wonder which homer was number one:
@WatchMarquee showing the top 40 homer runs in #Cubs history. Number 2 was the homer @miggymont26 hit in NLCS Game 1. One of the loudest I have ever heard Wrigley Field. pic.twitter.com/vIiLWrhG6U
— Crawly's Cubs Kingdom (@crawlyscubs) March 16, 2021
• I suppose I knew what number one was going to be, and it was the only one I could even see an argument for (Dexter Fowler’s Game 7 leadoff homer), but for me, the Miggy grand slam will forever be tough to beat. You can actually see the whole countdown here at Marquee, including David Bote’s ultimate grand slam only coming in at number nine. Jason Heyward’s walk-off grand slam against the Phillies came in at 25. I guess I’m just really focused on the grand slams today.
• We’re still multiple weeks away from Opening Day, but some states out there are already bumping fan capacity up:
🚨Breaking News🚨
PA Governor Tom Wolf is increasing fan capacity
Outdoors like Citizens Bank Park can hold 50% (over 20,000 Phillies fans) and indoors like Wells Fargo Center can increase to 25% 👍🏼
This would start Sunday April 4
Philly would need to match that pic.twitter.com/8iF033X0gB
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) March 15, 2021
• The Cubs still plan to be at 20% for Opening Day, but they’ve said increases from there could come swiftly.
