Lordy that was a fun one. Gotta have those every now and again, right? We deserve it!
To be sure, one game does not change your overall perception of a player or a team or a unit on a team (good or bad). But that doesn’t mean (1) it isn’t a data point, or (2) just fun. The data point today is probably, yeah, the Cubs do still have a lot of power! And that made for the fun.
The Cubs' single-game season bests going into today: 5 runs, 5 extra-base hits, 3 homers, 11 hits.
The Cubs' offensive output today: 13 runs, 9 extra-base hits, 6 homers, 14 hits.
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) April 17, 2021
The Cubs hit SIX homers today, falling just one shy of their franchise record. Kris Bryant and Willson Contreras are the two Cubs who’ve actually been hitting all year, thus they had two apiece. Javy Báez went deep, as did David Bote. The Cubs scored more runs today than their last six games combined. They came into the game hitting just .166/.267./307 as a team, and they left it hitting .184/.281/.364, jumping their OPS a whopping 71 points in a single game.
Cubs win! pic.twitter.com/TEv9AijtWF
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) April 17, 2021
Trevor Williams was not overwhelming in this one, but he was certainly successful until hitting that wall the third time through the order and getting pulled with the bases loaded (Ryan Tepera came in and got a double-play grounder to expedite the end of that threat, so that’s where the charged run to Williams comes from).
Of all the good things today, I definitely found this to be the most fun/compelling: