The Cubs kinda got smoked by the Diamondbacks today, a team that is among the worst in the last 20 years. I felt nothing.
Of all the things to feel good about in this one, Kris Bryant’s hustle triple was at the top of the list. Whatever your feelings on the trade side of things, you just wanted to know that Bryant was definitely healthy now – he is:
An unfortunate outing for Andrew Chafin today at an unfortunate time, given how flawless he’s been this year. He just couldn’t find the zone, and then when he finally started thrown strikes, they got hit. The guy was on a 24.1 inning scoreless streak before today, so it was bound to happen eventually, and it’s not as if ONE SINGLE OUTING changes the entire course of his trade value, but, well, you just don’t want outings like that. On the flip side, Ryan Tepera looked great again, and cleaned up that inning. He’s basically been the best version of himself once he got that respite on the IL, so I suspect there will be interested buyers in the week ahead.
Alec Mills once again pitched well enough to keep on keeping on in the rotation, and I’d like to see him just finish out the year in the role. Give us lots and lots of data on his adjustments (particularly against lefties), providing information for the offseason.
The game went into a long rain delay in the 9th inning – after the Diamondbacks had plated two more to make it 7-2 -before resuming an hour and 39 minutes later later, which was totally worth the wait …