NEWSLETTER
For reasons tied less to conscious choice and more to availability issues, I had oat milk in my coffee the other day for the first time. I gotta confess, it was pretty much fine. I guess it’s good to have options.
• Look, I get that the Pirates suck. They suck even harder than the Cubs. But these last few games, with the Cubs just keeping on keeping on have been really fun. As much as I do want the reverse standings thing to wind up helping the Cubs, I can’t lose sight of the fact that the WHOLE POINT of fandom is to be entertained. So when the Cubs pull out a crazy 9th inning win like yesterday, I’m supposed to ENJOY it. So I did! When Pirates right fielder Ben Gamel dropped Rafael Ortega’s liner, tying the game and bringing Frank Schwindel of all guys to the plate for a potential MOMENT, I was hyped. Why feel any other way, if life is gonna toss you an excuse to be happy?
• You’ve seen the walk-off slide, but let’s enjoy the 450-foot tank that Frank Schwindel hit off the video board earlier in yesterday’s game:
Frank Schwindel crushes a 450-footer off the Video Board! pic.twitter.com/VJfCxIuFvf
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 4, 2021
• If it feels like it’s been a minute since someone hit the left field video board, that’s because it has:
Frank Schwindel tanked one off of the left field scoreboard.
450 feet, 107.9 mph off of his bat.
He’s the first player to hit the left field scoreboard since October 18, 2017. Game 4 of the NLCS against the Dodgers.
— Jared Wyllys (@jwyllys) September 4, 2021
• Crazy thing about that game? There were TWO PLAYERS who hit the board (Willson Contreras and Justin Turner), and then no one for four years (Wyllys).
• Schwindel, a 29-year-old just now trying to break through for the first time, is enjoying every moment of the opportunity he’s getting:
Frank Schwindel on the Wrigley crowd:
“It was a tough spot coming in here, with those guys being so loved, and it had to be tough for fans, losing their favorite players, and really a bunch of guys they haven’t really heard of to help fill out, but today was unbelievable.”— Jared Wyllys (@jwyllys) September 4, 2021
“One of the craziest years of my life.”
First career walkoff for Frank Schwindel 👏 pic.twitter.com/Sdzr1Vn8ZQ
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) September 4, 2021
Frank Schwindel has the 5th-best OPS in MLB over the last month (1.114). pic.twitter.com/wMh1z5RaDW
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 4, 2021
• Oh wow the data is the data:
Frank Schwindel, with the Cubs: .357/.403/.678, 183 wRC+
Mike Trout, career: .305/.419/.583, 172 wRC+
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) September 5, 2021
• It’s truly crazy how much value Schwindel, Rafael Ortega, and Patrick Wisdom have produced this year in limited duty. Each is tracking as like a 4 to 5-WAR player over a full seasons’ worth of plate appearances. You *NEVER* see that from three different fill-in guys like this, and it’s a damn shame it’s happening in an otherwise lost season.
• This was a hilarious moment in the game, with Willson Contreras not at all being a dick – he just genuinely assumed the pitch was so obviously a strike that the inning was over and it was time to hit the dugout:
That was amazing. Pitch 4 was clearly strike three. So Willson just walked off. Except the ump didn’t call it a strike. And Willson was like, uh, are you sure about that? pic.twitter.com/mts8C7nASo
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) September 4, 2021
• It sounds very much like Keegan Thompson going on the IL with shoulder inflammation was indeed one of those “cautious” things, and the hope/expectation is that he’ll return later this month. (Cubs.com)
• Cubs pitching prospect D.J. Herz made his debut at High-A South Bend last night, and wouldn’t you know it, he was just completely D.J. Herz again (and yes, the South Bend gun is definitely hot, but even 96 or 97 mph from that arm angle, with his other pitches, is so good):
Final line for DJ Herz in his Cubs debut:
5 IP, 3 H, R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 KWhat a start! #Cubs #CubTogether
— South Bend Cubs (@SBCubs) September 5, 2021
Holy Hannah, @DavidjohnHerz hits 99mph for his 7th strike out. Not sure if the gun is a bit hot or not be either way that’s NASTY! Get this man on @PitchingNinja! pic.twitter.com/wtnHBYJIUU
— Caleb Webb (@calebgwebb) September 5, 2021
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