Winning Covers All, Madrigal Making Up for Lost Time, Morel, Miley, Girardi, and Other Cubs Bullets

Every time I smash one of my shins, I realize there was a pretty obvious design flaw there in the human body. I mean, I guess the bones being strong is good, but why does it have to hurt so much? Gimme some padding already!

  • The Cubs beat the Brewers in a wild one yesterday, their fourth win in a row and their 10th in their last 14 games.
  • They are legitimately hot right now, with a lot of players really clicking. Who’s to say whether it’ll last much longer now that the Cubs are in a really tough stretch of the schedule, but it’s impossible (for me? for you?) not to feel some reflected happiness as this plays out.
  • https://twitter.com/EliseMenaker/status/1560749847464054787

  • Speaking of which. Everyone knows that the most important thing for the Cubs’ future right now is player development. But I was curious, setting that aside, which of these two paths you think is “better” for the Cubs:
  • Nick Madrigal had three hits yesterday, continuing his upward trend since returning from his initial groin injury. Since that return, on May 31, Madrigal has been so much more Madrigal-like: .304/.368/.333/103 wRC+, 6.4% BB, 10.3% K. As you can see, there is good and bad there, but it ticks up a bit better since the return from the second injury (August 4): .325/.413/.375/129 wRC+, 8.5% BB, 10.6% K. Again, I see nits to pick – the .371 BABIP isn’t going to stick around, so he’s going to need to hit the ball a little harder in the air and/or get those strikeouts back down into his previously absurd 6-7% range, in order to keep producing at an above-average level. But mostly, I just like that I’m seeing more line drives and more overall success for a guy who probably REALLY needed to be reminded that he can succeed as a big league hitter, albeit in his unique/capped way.
  • Mostly just saying this for fun, but: the whole winning-ten-out-of-their-last-14 thing? It started the day after Madrigal returned.
  • Great to see a strong game from Christopher Morel yesterday, as he’s otherwise been in quite a slump: .140/.189/.320/38 wRC+, 34.0% K rate since July 25. Coincidence or not, Morel left the August 6 game with hamstring tightness, which makes you wonder if it’s been bothering him a bit since and/or whether it was bothering him a bit before that game. This has already been a long and intense year for a young player like Morel, so some physical wearing down would not be surprising. I hope David Ross keeps giving him that periodic rest.
  • Since he only tripled yesterday, Franmil Reyes’ wRC+ with the Cubs dropped from 200 to 195. FOR SHAME. Still did something fun:
  • What a bummer this whole year has been for Wade Miley and the Cubs:

  • The Cubs don’t need Miley, specifically, to return soon, but I do think they need SOMEONE to come up and start spreading around the starting innings a bit more. It looked yesterday like Keegan Thompson may need some rest soon.
  • What did folks think of Joe Girardi in the booth for yesterday’s game? I thought he was definitely doing some re-adjusting to that world, and there were a solid number of meaningless platitudes, but overall, I liked it. I thought he added a little something. If he’s not going to get another managerial job next year, the rest of this season might be a bit of an audition for him for a more robust broadcasting gig next year (not necessarily with the Cubs/Marquee, but wherever). It’s like a guy out there playing for his next contract. Put some good tape together and see what happens.
  • If you missed it in the Prospect Notes, Miguel Amaya might be missing a lot more time:
  • Josh Hader blew it AGAIN for the Padres. He gave up a walk and a homer, with this play sandwiched in between:
  • Old friend Mark DeRosa will be leading Team USA:
  • This is just delightful (and no ducks were harmed in the filming!):

    https://twitter.com/davenewworld_2/status/1560388476603965449

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    Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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