Despite striking out 15 times against just 1 walk, the Cubs won this one easily thanks to some well-time hits and ill-timed Mariners goofs. Oh, and thanks to more great pitching, but that’s kind of a given at this point. That’s six straight wins for the Cubs, and dang I wish this was a lock to translate in the big leagues ….
Hayden Wesneski was solid again today, even if less flashy than in his spring debut. He didn’t quite finish his three innings today, though some of that was due to a throwing error of his own, and then a miscommunication error by Tucker Barnhart. Wesneski seemed to be working “up” a lot today, which may have been an accident or may have been by design (he works up a lot anyway, but maybe it was a particular focus today). It was more successful than not, though Ty France and Cal Raleigh were all over him.
One France at bat, in particular, was interesting. He was absolutely sitting on Wesneski’s slider early in the count (ripping one deep but foul), and then was all over the fastball (ripping one deep and just fair for a double). Had the look of a guy who was very confident in what pitches he was getting, and then it repeated itself in his second at bat against Wesneski. I actually like that it happened. Might’ve been nothing, but since I didn’t really notice it for the other Mariners regulars (JP Crawford looked downright befuddled twice), I wonder if France was seeing something that tipped him off on pitch release, or had some other way to discern what was coming (good guesses on sequencing, for example). It provides some opportunity to discuss whether there was anything there before the games that matter.
I really like watching Ben Brown pitch:
Brown didn’t have his best command over his two scoreless innings, but the stuff pops off the screen.
Edwin Rios hits the ball a long way, but also has some good wheels:
That was Brennen Davis scoring on the play, after he’d hit a ground-rule double. He continues to look healthy. That’s what you wanted to see.
Rowan Wick looked really good for the second straight time, and I think he’s going to be fine for the opening of the season. I don’t have any doubt he breaks camp in the bullpen. He might have to pitch well from there to hold onto the spot all season, but I think the Cubs just have a lot of confidence in him.
Pete Crow-Armstolen:
I really hope we get a dedicated GIF of the replay on this, because Kevin Alcántara did a COMPLETELY ridiculous over-the-top slide, and it was fun as heck: