Cubs Bullpen Love, Rizzo’s Back, KB’s Pocket Full of Candy, Trout’s Out, and Other Cubs Bullets

One thing you’ll never have to question: David Ross will always have his own players’ backs in any situation. That’s a given. You’d think it would be a given with most teams, but, well. Anyway.

•   The Cubs are back over .500 again, are one of just five teams in the NL with a positive run differential (wut), and are alone in second place in the NL Central, 2.5 games behind the Cardinals, whom they’ll play this weekend. The Cubs need to make a run now, while the schedule permits it, to put themselves in first place by late June. I tend to think that’s about the only way they don’t sell off, and even then, they’d probably have to hold onto first place – and stay healthy, project well, etc. – to keep the band together and/or become buyers right there at the July 30 trade deadline. Shy of that, even if it is a mild slip in late July, I still think the front office default is going to be to sell (and they wouldn’t necessarily be wrong to do it if the team doesn’t look like it can clearly make the playoffs). The Cubs just have to get some breathing room from .500, in one direction or the other.

https://twitter.com/WatchMarquee/status/1394857558830059527

•   Tentatively, I would expect Anthony Rizzo to miss a little time with his lower-back tweak, since it’s a long-term ongoing issue, and it’s a situation where no one is going to want to create a three-week absence instead of a two-day absence. Kris Bryant, who might fill in at first base, certainly had that attitude with Rizzo last night (Cubs.com): “I said, ‘Hey, get out of this game. Please don’t do anything stupid. We need you for the long haul.'” Bryant said after the game that he talked to Rizzo, who was in good spirits, and it doesn’t necessarily sound like a long-term injury at this point. But again, the guy will have to rest it and get treatment and all that, because no one wants to see it take him out for longer and/or degrade his performance the rest of the year. Fortunately, Rizzo has dealt with this issue pretty much his whole career, so I expect he has a good sense on how to handle it.

•   The last couple weeks have made it very clear where Dillon Maples stands in the bullpen pecking order, despite all his success so far this year. Maples has appeared just once in the last two weeks, which is a crazy lack of appearances, and it expect it’s probably difficult to stay sharp. That said, the Cubs’ bullpen is just full of great options right now, and there have been a ton of off-days that have made utilizing other arms very doable. Maples is just kinda last in the line of a bunch of good options, which isn’t necessarily a knock on him, but a credit to the group the Cubs are working with right now. And none of this is even considering the guys who are injured or optioned out (Rowan Wick, Alec Mills, Trevor Megill, Brad Wieck, Jonathan Holder, Jason Adam, etc.). It’s just a very, very crowded group, and Maples will have to make the most of the shots he gets.

•   (Oh, and on a couple of the injured guys: Mills (lower back) and Megill (forearm) are scheduled to throw off the mound tomorrow, per David Ross. Also, if Rizzo has to miss time, the Cubs’ bullpen will take a hit.)

•   Speaking of successful Cubs relievers, I just wanted to share data. 2021 Season ERA: Jacob deGrom – 0.68, Dan Winkler – 0.68 Really makes you think.

•   Oh, and also, Keegan Thompson had another scoreless outing (with an assist from Justin Steele), which means he is still tied with Aroldis Chapman and Kendall Graveman (both former Cubs) at a 0.00 ERA.

Cubs bullpen is now fifth in baseball and second in the NL with a 3.32 ERA. They’re tops in MLB with a 28.4% strikeout rate. Cubs starters have certainly struggled, but the relievers have stepped up despite covering 165 1/3 innings (second highest in NL).

— Sahadev Sharma (@sahadevsharma) May 19, 2021

•   One more on the relievers, here’s Craig Kimbrel doing an old friend dirty:

Craig Kimbrel, 87mph Knuckle Curve (swinging strike) and 97mph Fastball (swinging K), Overlay pic.twitter.com/2IXAwUWYeg

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 19, 2021

•   Speaking of that old friend, Kris Bryant was waiting with a pocket full of candy that whole inning the other night – man, it would’ve been crazy if there were some diving play for him and his pocket exploded like a piñata:

Kris Bryant on the Twix bar he left Kyle Schwarber in left field on Monday night: “I had about eight or nine pieces of candy in my pocket that whole inning and just left him a present. We were talking about bringing him a Miller Lite, but that would probably be frowned upon.”

— Patrick Mooney (@PJ_Mooney) May 19, 2021

•   There was a no-hitter last night, and any time you are using the word “another” in a tweet like this in mid-May, it’s actually kind of concerning:

Another historic night in Seattle. pic.twitter.com/jUpnLdVnxW

— MLB (@MLB) May 19, 2021

•   As we’ve discussed, there are suddenly a shitload of no-hitters (no surprise, given the changes in pitching and offense), with FIVE already this season. Going back 10 years, you very rarely see more than four no-hitters in a single season (2015 had seven, 2014 had five, and 2012 had seven), and going back 20+ years, you rarely saw more than two in a season. The modern era record is seven. “Pace” is not necessarily a thing when it comes to this particular topic, but if it were, you’d be talking about, what, 15+ no-hitters this season in MLB? That’s kinda scary if you ask me, which you did, because you are reading this sentence.

•   Oh, but legit congrats to Spencer Turnbull, 28, who has become a quality starter for the Tigers after a long and slow development as a notable prospect (2nd rounder back in 2014).

•   Shohei Ohtani continues to be absolutely absurd:

The Shohei Ohtani watch:

3 HR in last 3 games as a hitter
2 extra-base hits allowed all year as a pitcher

This is really happening. On the planet you live on.

— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) May 19, 2021

•   And he will have to continue to be that absurd if the Angels are going to hang around any kind of playoff race, because Mike Trout is expected to miss multiple months with a calf strain. Yikes. Joe Maddon, ever the optimist:

Joe Maddon: "(Mike Trout) will be one of the best August acquisitions in history."

— Taylor Blake Ward (@TaylorBlakeWard) May 18, 2021

•   What it’s about:

Javy Baez finds some friends in the on deck circle. @cubs @BleacherNation @realcubsinsider @javy23baez #CubTogether #elmago pic.twitter.com/7aCX4PkbEB

— MBDChicago (@MBDChicago) May 19, 2021