NEWSLETTER
I had been waiting for – deeply anticipating – ‘The Many Saints of Newark’ for a very, very long time. Maybe that was part of the reason it underwhelmed me, or maybe it’s because I simply wanted a different story than the one we got. There were some good bits, for sure, and the stuff about how James Gandolfini’s kid plays a young Tony Soprano incredibly well is totally true. But I just felt like, as a movie, the thing wound up an unfocused mess. Too many disparate threads in too short of a time. Either it needed to be tightened up considerably, or it needed to be a limited series. Again, plenty to like if you were a ‘Sopranos’ nut, but just not quite its own great thing.
•  That was a pretty darn “Cory Abbott start” last night, with some strikeouts, a lotta work up in the zone, a lotta work below the zone, and two fastballs that wound up in the middle that got sent out for dingers (and the other two hits were also at the mid-level). The final line was a success, though if the two shots weren’t of the solo variety, that obviously changes quickly.
•  For the *most* part, he was locating reasonably well, but what you need to see are fewer non-competitive pitches when he elevates, and a few more of the fastballs that got fouled off getting just a bit higher in the zone to turn into whiffs:
•  Abbott, who just turned 26, finished the season on a hot streak at Iowa (after a brutal, brutal time for most of the year), and it could be enough to keep him on the 40-man roster through the offseason, despite a crunch. I tend to wonder how the fastball-slider combo would play in relief (each might play up a bit, and with that funky arm slot I could see him becoming quite a strikeout artist), but I understand why the Cubs mostly wanted to keep starting him this year since he was the dang pitcher of the year in the last full season in the system. But next year might be the time to make the switch. I can see a bit league pitcher there; I’m just not sure I see a big league starter.
•  Adbert Alzolay since returning from the Injured List as a multi-inning reliever: 17.1 IP, 1.56 ERA, 1.89 FIP, 28.8% K, 1.5% BB, 48.8% GB. That’s not to say that should be his role next year – you still want to see if he can get better against lefties and become a real mid-rotation starter – but he sure continues to show that his floor is a pretty freaking good multi-inning reliever.
•  I remember this game so well, and it’s funny to think about how extremely different the circumstances were:
Per @EliasSports, RHP Cory Abbott and C Erick Castillo are the first Cubs batterymates to make their first MLB starts in the same game since Sept. 14, 2017 (Jen-Ho Tseng pitching to Taylor Davis vs. Mets).
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) October 2, 2021
•  At that time, with the Cubs in the heat of a pennant race, Tseng had just been named the Cubs’ minor league pitcher of the year, and was set to be on the 40-man roster the next year anyway. So Joe Maddon and the Cubs wanted to take the opportunity to bump every other starter back a day, while also seeing if maybe Tseng could wind up one of those surprise, late-season contributors up from the minors. Meanwhile, Willson Contreras had only just come back from a long-term hamstring strain, so he was getting extra time off. Thus, the start for Davis and Tseng. Not a COVID outbreak that time!
•  The crazy thing about the Abbott and Castillo debut (yes, yes, make your jokes) is that they also did this:
Who’s on first? Abbott & Castillo.
Each had their first career hit today. That makes them the 1st Cubs batterymates in the Modern Era (since 1900) to get their 1st knocks in their 1st MLB start in the same game. Per Elias, again.
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) October 2, 2021
•  It didn’t wind up factoring into the final tally, but how about Rafael Ortega’s ultra-casual home run robbery:
The most casual home run robbery you may ever see. pic.twitter.com/jJ1d0IyPOm
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) October 2, 2021
•  You could argue the Padres have suffered one of the biggest in-season collapses – especially relative to expectations and efforts – in modern history:
The Padres had a share of the best record in MLB 54 games into the season, and have now missed the playoffs
That's the 2nd-most games into a season a team that missed the playoffs had best record in MLB, since there have been multiple WC spots per league (2012)
h/t @EliasSports
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) September 26, 2021
•  From the best record in baseball to a guaranteed finish below .500. The Cubs really wrecked them with that series sweep in Chicago, didn’t they?
•  More on the disaster of the Padres – how it got to this point, where they go from here, and how teams like the Cubs probably did well to deal with the Padres when they were scrambling a bit:
Inside the Padres’ collapse: Manager, GM draw scrutiny after club crumbles down the stretch. With @Dennistlin and @EnoSarris. https://t.co/7CORw9Bsd9
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) October 1, 2021
•  I got him a couple shirts, even if I was grumbling under my breath that he should want Cubs or Bears stuff:
The Little Boy has been pushing me to get him some Carolina Panthers gear (wut? why?), so I'm perusing Fanatics, and they do have a sitewide sale going on right now (including Cubs gear), so that's a plus: https://t.co/wxCUQkPa9C pic.twitter.com/kmtqhkw0R0
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) October 1, 2021
