Standard Loss, Velazquez Doing the Work, Hendricks and Heuer, Morel Tank, and Other Cubs Bullets

Apr 27, 2023

Happy NFL Draft Day to those of you who celebrate. Every year, by today, I think we’re all just ready for the mocks and speculation and rumors to be over (even if, at the outset of draft season, I am ALL ABOUT that stuff).

Something about this picture just looks like the perfect encapsulation of a loss, where you’re really sad, but where you’re also still kinda feeling hopeful for the future:

Final: Padres 5, Cubs 3. pic.twitter.com/C8DtTvMrkc
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 27, 2023

It was a pretty standard loss, as far as that goes, and I don’t have a ton to say about it. The bats couldn’t do much against Michael Wacha and Nick Martinez in a piggyback, which is annoying. The Padres’ bats were pesky and got Drew Smyly out of there early (despite him pitching well again), and the runs that came against the Cubs’ bullpen were mostly of the “sometimes hits fall in” variety (especially when those hits come from a star like Fernando Tatis Jr., who must’ve been charged up from his chant-repelling dances). Brandon Hughes walking Trent Grisham ahead of the go-ahead two-run single – that might be the only thing all night where you’re mad about failed execution. Everything else was just kind of, OK, the Padres are good and sometimes they’ll get theirs.

It was nice to see Drew Smyly effective again after his perfecto miss, and Trey Mancini is starting to heat up.

The Cubs will try to win the series this afternoon, needing Hayden Wesneski to put together a good outing. In turn, the bats will have to put together a good outing against Seth Lugo, who has been surprisingly great so far for the Padres as a starter. Three of his four starts have been quality.

They have been but two small sample appearances (the second of which is likely to end any day now when Cody Bellinger returns from the paternity list), but Nelson Velazquez has looked the part of a big leaguer this year in so many ways:

The way Nelson Velázquez battled against Padres' Josh Hader shouldn't be overlooked in the loss. He fouled off tough pitches up and in to stay alive and force the walk: pic.twitter.com/MGtDDkG098— Meghan Montemurro (@M_Montemurro) April 27, 2023

Maybe the Cubs decide to keep Velazquez up at this point, and option Edwin Rios (who never plays) or try to get Luis Torrens through waivers (who almost never plays)?

Velazquez has a great attitude about it all. “There’s some stuff we cannot control — the weather, suspended games, me going down to Triple-A and then coming back here,” Velazquez told the Tribune. “We don’t control those timelines. So either way, I stay positive to do my job every day and try to do my best on the field and show them that I really want to be here helping the team. Besides that, I can’t control it. If they send me to Triple-A, I have to go to Triple-A and keep doing what I’m doing and then one day I will have my chance.” That’s a great article on Velazquez and his maturity in knowing that he can’t be singularly focused on trying to win an everyday job, because then he will struggle in the opportunities he’s given.

Whole buncha pet gear is on sale today at Amazon if you want to check that out. #ad

Kyle Hendricks will start for the Iowa Cubs today, and could go 3 or 4 innings and upwards of 60 pitches, depending on how things go:

Cubs manager David Ross said Kyle Hendricks’ rehab start for Triple-A Iowa on Thursday will be in the 4-inning, 60-pitch range.

Said Cubs want Hendricks to get multiple rehab outing but “variables” can change.

More from Ross on Hendricks ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/wjITtr3F2R— Ryan Herrera (@ryan_a_herrera) April 25, 2023

My guess is the Cubs will not plan to bring Hendricks back after just one rehab outing unless the pitch analysis data is off-the-charts good (for Hendricks), and he’s saying, guys I feel great let’s go please please please. It’s just really rare that you’d have a guy out for as long as Hendricks has been out, and then make only one rehab appearance. (The flip side, though, is that this is less of a true “rehab” situation and more of a ramp-up like Spring Training. So, when he’s ready, he’s ready.)

Meanwhile, Codi Heuer has to be getting close to a minor league rehab assignment of his own:

Another midseason name for the Cubs bullpen: Codi Heuer, the reliever acquired from the White Sox in the Craig Kimbrel trade, threw around 25 pitches in a simulated game as he continues his rehab program off Tommy John surgery.— Patrick Mooney (@PJ_Mooney) April 26, 2023

Because Heuer is on the 60-day IL, he wouldn’t be eligible to return to the Cubs until the end of May in any case. So when he goes out on a rehab assignment, it’s going to be a long one. And maybe the Cubs don’t necessarily want to send him out for a month in the minor leagues, rather than continuing to let him do a lot of work there in Arizona. So maybe we’ll see him do several extended spring training games before a rehab assignment, and the Cubs even play it more cautious than that. I wouldn’t plan on him until sometime in June, on the early side, and you just hope he can be the guy he was before the elbow injury started impacting him. This all has been especially bad timing for him, because he definitely would’ve had a shot to close.

Christopher Morel isn’t just hitting a lot of home runs at Iowa this year, he’s hitting absolute TANKS:

Christopher Morel blasts a 447 foot home run 111.1 mph off the bat to cut our deficit in half! pic.twitter.com/C1OygDXpaz
— Iowa Cubs (@IowaCubs) April 26, 2023

I would bet my bottom dollar that the Cubs have started thinking ahead about how they will accommodate regular playing time for him in June (if not earlier), if there are no injuries that open up a spot. He’s going to get to a point where the Cubs know they might be squandering impact at Iowa. (Of course, I could – and do! – say the same about Matt Mervis, and he’s still there.)

Your word of caution on all things small sample and Triple-A/MLB: it’s still a big leap. Consider how Miles Mastrobuoni was frustrating a lot of folks with his big league performance, and yet he went down to Iowa and is immediately hitting .280/.419/.440/129 wRC+. I know you already know this, but it’s just an opportunity to say it: even the guys who are raking at Triple-A don’t always translate their performance to average in the big leagues.

(Of course, with Morel, we’ve already SEEN him be able to have average or better performance at the plate in the big leagues … )

All that Pirates winning is getting a little annoying, but this is a pretty special moment:

What a moment. 🥹🙌

After spending 13 years in the minors, Drew Maggi received a standing ovation in his major league debut

(via @MLBPipeline)pic.twitter.com/rbGPCdXdqK— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) April 27, 2023

A moment he'll never forget. pic.twitter.com/DRMoWbsc2W
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) April 27, 2023

Oof for the Mariners: they were expecting to get Robbie Ray back soon, but instead they discovered more damage in his flexor tendon and he has to have season ending surgery. I think about that trio of free agent starters a lot – Ray, Kevin Gausman, and Marcus Stroman were at the top of that class just before the lockout. The Blue Jays have to be over the moon about what Gausman has been so far (though they’ve got three more years), and the Cubs have to be happy about Stroman (though he can walk after this year). But Ray wasn’t all that great last year, and now this year is lost.

Speaking of free agent starters the Cubs didn’t get, I kept seeing impressive Kodai Senga highlights, so I kinda assumed he was doing very well for the Mets so far. Not really – 4.15 ERA (above league average), 5.45 FIP (yikes), 27.4% K, 15.4% BB (yikes), and a 5.56 expected ERA.

Baseball media news:

NEWS: ESPN MLB national reporter Marly Rivera has been fired after an incident in which she uttered "F—–g c—t" toward another reporter at Yankee Stadium, The Post has learned.https://t.co/DUgwe0XBk0— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) April 26, 2023

Pro Tip No. 1: Don’t say that to anyone ever. Pro Tip No. 2: Especially don’t say that to the wife of MLB’s VP of Communications.

Speaking of profanity-laced tirades, this week marks a very special anniversary:

40 years ago this week, a beleaguered former manager named Lee Elia ripped Cubs fans in a profanity-laced tirade for the ages. Now, at places like the ⁦@NiseiLounge⁩, he is celebrated.

Turns out they really, really are behind you around there. https://t.co/cb0twfh9jY— Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) April 27, 2023

written by

Brett Taylor

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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