NEWSLETTER
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Wild, but it’s happened: the Cincinnati Reds have caught the San Diego Padres. The teams are now tied for the second Wild Card spot, and it was not that long ago that the Reds looked more like a deadline seller than buyer (they mostly just decided to tread water). Kudos to them, but also yikes for the Padres, who have been super injured, yes, but also didn’t do nearly enough at the deadline, and have lost 11 of 18 since that day. Here’s the real crazy thing: since May 21, the Padres are a sub-.500 team. When you get to a point where you have to rely on Jake Arrieta to take a start (which went poorly and then sent him to the Injured List), you know things are in a bad place.
Also, the next closest team in the Wild Card race? It’s now the Cardinals, at 3.5 games back of the Padres/Reds.
•  Meanwhile, the Cubs’ loss to the Royals brought them into a virtual tie for the 6th worst record in baseball. Never would’ve dreamed that would be possible just a month ago, when the Cubs were pretty locked into that 12 to 14 range. I still don’t know that I’d bet on the Cubs being able to hang onto the 6th spot (or move up to the 5), but it’s looking like there’s almost no chance they “fall” out of the bottom ten.
•  Hey, probably should start him every day:
A two-sport athlete who focused on football in high school, Michael Hermosillo has a lot of traits that indicate he could be a late-bloomer. With his offense clicking at Triple A, can he now seize a big-league opportunity these next six weeks? https://t.co/0l9Mqrv1zp
— Sahadev Sharma (@sahadevsharma) August 21, 2021
•  I won’t pretend that there’s *zero* information or value to be gained from playing a guy like Jason Heyward, but the reality is that there is much more information and value to be gained from playing Michael Hermosillo every day before the season is over. You already know what you have in Heyward, and you need as much as you can get on Hermosillo before the offseason. I think it’s already pretty much a lock that Hermosillo will last the offseason on the 40-man roster, but wouldn’t you like to know if he can be a guy in whom you have confidence as at least a fourth outfielder? It’s the same reasons for playing Rafael Ortega or Frank Schwindel or Patrick Wisdom so much. It will impact the offseason decisions, and we’re running out of time to get that data.
•  As for The Athletic article, it’s a great read on how and why Hermosillo broke out at Iowa after joining the Cubs organization, and why there are reasons to bet he might be a late-bloomer: he obviously has the talent and athleticism, he has really good swing data (apparently), he was a two-sport athlete who didn’t focus on baseball until a little later, he was blocked by other outfielders in the Angels organization, etc. None of that means he’s a lock to continue his Triple-A breakout into the bigs – he was a minor league free agent, after all – but it’s definitely a profile that you would look for.
•  Oh, and there are reasons to believe it’s even more likely it could happen with the Cubs than most other orgs, because they’d already had Hermosillo on their radar going back to last year – as in, the Cubs already knew how they might want to work with him to help him really break out. It’s the kind of thing we’ve been wanting to see the Cubs pull off for a long time on the positional side – what they’d done so well in the bullpen – and while we’re also seeing versions of it with Ortega/Schwindel/Wisdom, Hermosillo might have more upside than all of those guys, and he’s three to four years younger than all of them.
•  Crazy finish to the Tennessee Smokies game on Marquee last night:
What a finish, Smokies win!@smokiesbaseball pic.twitter.com/Dz2WMdldNH
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) August 21, 2021
•  Fans watching got to see one of the new pitching prospects spinning maybe his best start:
Caleb Kilian’s pitching line for @smokiesbaseball:
• 5 IP
• 5 K
• 3 H
• 1 RKilian, acquired from San Francisco, is @LanceBroz‘ No. 16 Cubs prospect. pic.twitter.com/qbUxnxiUfb
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) August 21, 2021
•  Nice summation here:
Here’s where #Cubs prospect Brennen Davis ranks across the various publications:
#14 MLB Pipeline
#15 FanGraphs
#16 ESPN (Kiley McDaniel)
#20 The Athletic (Keith Law)
#27 Baseball America— Michael Cerami (@Michael_Cerami) August 20, 2021
•  Haven’t had a chance to mention Yonathan Perlaza much, but he’s on another super hot streak, with a 155 wRC+ in his last 27 games:
Now he rips a 2-run double from the left side. pic.twitter.com/lq7kmjY8NQ
— Brad (@ballskwok) August 20, 2021
•  Perlaza, 22, is a switch-hitting utility man (though he’s exclusively played outfield this year, and that may have been a permanent post-pandemic switch) and former bonus baby. I’m not yet sure that he’s a GUY who should be getting a ton of attention – the hot streaks are met with cold streaks – but he’s going to be in the Tennessee outfield next year, and if he keeps developing (it’s been a really nice progression for him), he could definitely be on your radar as a top 30 type Cubs prospect sometime next year. (Given the state of the system, that’s quite a hypothetical future compliment!)
•  Another quality relief prospect reaches Iowa:
Wow. Rocketed up. He was showing some seriously impressive stuff in the spring, and has been on fire lately. Rule 5 eligible this year, and VERY much the kind of arm that gets poached. So I’m sure Cubs want to get a look at him at Iowa to help their own decision. https://t.co/L6KpERkmDN
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) August 20, 2021
•  If you’ve been thinking about getting a Fire Stick, a heads up that it’s 24% off today at Amazon. #ad
•  Patrick Mahomes took a stake in the Royals, LeBron James took a stake in the Red Sox, and now Giannis Antetokounmpo is taking a stake in the Brewers:
Welcome to the Crew, Giannis Antetokounmpo!
This afternoon, Giannis and the Brewers announced that the 2-time MVP is joining our ownership team.
@Giannis_An34 | #ThisIsMyCrew pic.twitter.com/vatZKVeN3a— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) August 20, 2021
•  I’m pretty well convinced that there’s a lot of value in these kinds of relationships, where a minority owner – even if it’s an extremely small stake – who can help you tap into other markets/sports/fan bases/etc., particularly where there are long-term city ties as with Mahomes and Antetokounmpo. Maybe Justin Fields will blow up and then take a small stake in the Cubs. Or maybe Zach LaVine signs an extension and takes a stake. You never know!
•  Smart move:
They did this in 2005 and almost outdrew the Cubs in 2006.
— jon greenberg (@jon_greenberg) August 21, 2021
