NEWSLETTER
Getting back on the exercise routine would be tough enough after a 10-day layoff, but the residual effects of COVID recovery make it all the more tough. My case was far from terrible, and even I’m clearly impacted in my fitness level. I can’t imagine being a pro athlete and having even a marginal case of COVID, and then being expected to be right back at your same level of performance a couple weeks later. Again, not even because your case was bad, but because even the slightest decrease in your fitness ability can have such a pronounced effect on your performance in a league where the difference between good and bad is so razor thin.
• Kyle Hendricks will make another start on the back fields today, rather than in the Cactus League game. Pitching prospect Keegan Thompson will get the start instead. No worries, though, as it’s just a matter of David Ross and the Cubs preferring to see other guys get those innings, since they aren’t concerned about Hendricks (Cubs.com): “I know what I’m getting when Kyle Hendricks takes the bump,” Ross explained. “There’s other guys I want to get my eyes on, to be honest with you. That’s important here on the back end.” Thompson, you’ll note, is not up for a big league job just yet, but you can presume his outing will be shorter than Hendricks’ would have, so you’re going to see more bubble relievers be able to get innings with Hendricks at the back fields.
• Even Craig Kimbrel was surprised to learn that he was touching 98 mph in his appearance this weekend. But he said that was a good sign (NBC): “You try to do too much, put too much effort into it, you lose life,” Kimbrel said. “I think that’s what I had a little yesterday. My ball had some zip on it, had a little more life than it’s had so far this spring training. When you can be nice and smooth and easy and try not to do too much, everything works out.”
• Generally speaking, there’s a reason Craig Kimbrel has been as good as he’s been for as long as he has (when healthy). He’s got some tough mechanics, but when they’re right, they help him deliver a high-spin, high-velocity, good-extension, low-arm-slot fastball that is really unique (plus a hammer knuckle curve that is among the best in the game). So *if* he can just get his mechanics into a good spot by Opening Day, then I am just not worried about him. Again, you look at what happened last year as your model – he was not right, it took him a couple weeks to get right, and then he was basically flawless in August and September. I understand that people feel burned by his 2019 season (where he got a rushed, late start and then was injured) and the beginning of 2020 (again, a late start and he was getting himself right). But he’s still Craig Kimbrel. You have FAR more evidence to suggest he’s going to be awesome than evidence to suggest he’s done.
• It’s a delicate balance when you’ve got a player like Jason Heyward, who does so much on a given day to help your team win, but who also struggles so consistently against lefties. Ideally, you’d sit him against most lefties, but the bat has never been the only consideration with him. And it’s not just the glove, either, as both he and David Ross tell Marquee in a nice profile of Heyward:
“He does all the little things right,” Ross said. “He is a leader in the way he carries himself, the way he speaks to others, the way he sees the game. He’s been around a lot of winning in his time playing and got a lot of hardware. He’s a real asset for us in so many ways …. J-Hey does a lot of those things that may not show up in the box scores at the end of the game, but he’s affecting the game in a positive way almost every time he’s out there.” ….
“I’ve been allowed to struggle and go play because what I bring wins,” Heyward said. “2016 showed that — the ultimate goal was winning the World Series. When I was on the field, I made a difference.”
Last season, Heyward enjoyed his best offensive year in a Cubs uniform, posting a .392 on-base percentage and .848 OPS. He was one of the team’s most consistent hitters throughout the shortened season and he attributed part of that success to knowing he had an everyday role on the team.
“I think Rossy has his mind set on what it takes to let me go play baseball,” Heyward said. “If I’m 0-for-4 or 4-for-4, I still help our team win a lot of ways. So knowing that he believes in that and playing the game that way and allowing me to just help everyone else settle into their roles, too. It was nice to know going into the box every day that I’m going to get a chance to go play, get a chance to fail, to struggle and come up out of that.”
• The reference to 2020 is interesting, as it was by far Heyward’s best year at the plate with the Cubs, but it was the same old story against lefties (he hit a miserable .167/.262/.306, 55 wRC+ against them). About 23% of his plate appearances last year came against lefties, though, and that was quite a bit less than the nearly 28% he was seeing them before 2020. Did he and the Cubs just get lucky in who they faced in the shortened schedule against only other Central teams? Or was he a little more righty-protected than in years past (despite the nice words about him feeling good because he was in there every day)? Well, he started 49 of the Cubs 60 games, missing three because of illness. In the other eight games he did not start, he sat in favor of Steven Souza, Jr. and Cameron Maybin, both righties. And of those eight games, just one – Josh Lindblom – was started by a righty. So, while Heyward definitely played a ton last year, it also looks like his manager did a very good job of managing his few off-days to come against lefty starters. Keep it up, David Ross.
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• This is a great read on how Kris Bryant generates his power – how he’s always generated his power – without top tier, or even top half, exit velocity:
David Ross talked about Kris Bryant's lack of power this spring. Then KB launched one of his typical, long, majestic homers deep to left. It made me think about what makes him great when he's on and why his poor exit velo numbers don't tell the whole story https://t.co/FijGTsOvnY
— Sahadev Sharma (@sahadevsharma) March 21, 2021
• A true hero:
What a time to be alive. A member of the ballpark security team at Roger Dean Stadium — wearing an official polo with SECURITY in big letters on the back — just spent Alex Bregman's entire plate appearance banging a trash can before every pitch. Bregman struck out looking.
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) March 21, 2021
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• Go win a Fergie card:
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— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) March 21, 2021
