Absolutely smoked by the Pirates. The laughing stock side of another team’s Happy Night. No position player pitching, so woo hoo, there’s that. With Frank Schwindel on the IL, the Cubs’ pitchers knew they had to go at least eight.
There have been so many double-digit blowouts lately that I’ve nearly lost count (it’s three of them in the last nine games; on the season it’s five, with a sixth that was merely a nine-run loss).
That was a game without much worthy of discussion beyond the concerning start from Caleb Kilian. And, honestly, I’m at a loss for how to talk about that at the moment (same as the last one). The total lack of control is really hard for me to wrap my head around, given the type of pitcher he’s been throughout the minors. Yes, there was an uptick in the stuff and velo in the upper minors, and a commensurate SLIGHT uptick in the walks, but this is an entirely different animal. I don’t want to speculate, and certainly not in the immediate wake of the outing. It was just bizarre. Bad, obviously, but mostly just bizzare.
How nice for Oneil Cruz and Bligh Madris that tonight went so well for them. Happy the Cubs could be of service to the youngsters coming up to the big leagues.