NEWSLETTER
What sucks is the “I can no longer be frustrated by anything” portion of a bad Cubs season won’t kick in for me, emotionally, until at least late June. So if this is, ultimately, a bad Cubs season – even if I was already expecting it to be! – I’ll still be burning hot angry about games like tonight for at least two more months. Prost!
That is all to say: just an annoying effing game (like last night). Not like the Cubs were getting their doors blown off, but they just couldn’t put anything at all together at the plate. Yes, I was all down for a more contact-oriented approach, but I just need to brace myself for the reality that it will sometimes mean a game full of shitty contact. The Cubs had some singles, and maybe TWO batted balls that were really driven the entire night – Michael Hermosillo’s two-run double off the wall, and a Frank Schwindel barrell that got knocked down by the wind.
Drew Smyly didn’t pitch all that differently from his first two outings – it’s just that sometimes you net some poor contact that falls in, and is sequenced for run-scoring hits (the first two he gave up). Part of the game if you’re not a big strikeout guy. The two solo homers, though, that’s a different story. You can succeed as a groundball-command-control guy, but the dingers must be kept to a minimum – they won’t always be solo shots.
Keegan Thompson did his thing again, but it was a bet by David Ross that it would be worth the 0’s Thompson would put up to give the bats a chance to plate a couple runs. Didn’t work.
