Like I wrote last night in the EBS, if that is how Hayden Wesneski looks this year when he’s not sharp, then it’s going to be a very good season overall for the Cubs rookie righty.
The final line doesn’t look great – 4.2 IP, 3 ER, 6 H (2 HR), 2 BB, 4 K – but there was a lot to like. Firstly, his 28% CSW (called strikes plus whiffs) was solid, and the overall contact quality was poor. One of the two homers was a Cincinnati special that wouldn’t have left most parks. And that fastball velocity? The fact that he can touch 98 mph with the fastball – even when a little extra amped – is really eye-opening. We’ve talked about it before, but if he could get that four-seamer, overall, to be a slightly above-average pitch, he’s gonna EAT this year.
I think it was an OK day, even if not one to go nuts about.
As for the appearance of amped-ness, Wesneski confirmed that he was, indeed, “amped” for the outing. And while it wasn’t perfect, he saw the positives overall.
“I’m not happy with it,” Wesneski said, per Cubs.com. “But I’m not upset with what happened. I threw a bunch of strikes. I gave our team a chance. It didn’t go as planned, but I mean they’re swinging it well. I’m glad I threw a bunch of strikes and I’m glad we got the win.”
That’s about what you’d expect/want Wesneski to say. He’s an ultra-competitive type, so you want him to expect more from himself than that outing, BUT he did do some things well and the team won the game. I think he was probably overthrowing slightly, which cost him a little bit of his typical sharpness. But again, if that’s what he performs like on a bad day, it’s pretty hard not to be happy.