I am digging ‘Ahsoka,’ especially because I watch it with my son, who was a haaaaardcore ‘Rebels’ and ‘Clone Wars’ fan. It’s clearer than ever that this show is meant to appeal most to that crowd, and give them a live action version of the things they loved about the cartoons. Once I get myself in that mindset, even though I was not a cartoon-watcher, I can enjoy it all the more. I mean, my son literally says things like, “Oh man, I’ve wanted to see this with real people for so long!”
We’ll see. We’ll see. Maybe the Cubs just had a “oh, things happen in Colorado, whatever” series, on the heels of a “they didn’t play THAT bad, just lost a couple coinflip games” agains the Diamondbacks. Or maybe the Cubs, who are a good but not great team, are wearing down a bit at the end of the year, having ridden a lot of surprisingly good performances that are hard to keep up the full season. I think they can still sneak into the playoffs even if it’s that second one, but boy would I like to believe it is only that first one. This series in Arizona is probably going to tell us a whole lot.
Here’s hoping that playing 27 games in 27 days was a factor in that Rockies series. I remember the last time the Cubs went through a stretch like that, the final series was the one in New York against the Mets. Then they got an off-day. That wound up being the last series the Cubs would lose for a month.
Multiple things are true:
1.) The Cubs just lost 5 of 7 for the first time since the start of July, and that is BAD. Concern about them wearing down is warranted.
2.) Coors/Colorado is just a weird place to play and this shit happens all the time to good teams.— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) September 13, 2023
You know how good Cody Bellinger has been this year? He’s been so good that, while it feels like he’s been in a bit of a slump the last couple weeks, a slump for him means that he has been … exactly league average at the plate during that stretch. That’s how good his season is, that when he’s merely average, it feels like a low point. (That said, the Cubs need him to be more than average. Hopefully he busts back out this weekend.)
Nico Hoerner stole his 40th base of the season yesterday, making him the first Cub to hit that mark since Juan Pierre in 2006. Pierre stole 58 bases in that season, which was his only with the Cubs.
Remember that whole deal, where the Cubs acquired Pierre to be their leadoff man, but he had a below-league-average on-base percentage? Which totally made sense? He was an interesting player, of course, never finding a pitch he could not put in play, regardless of the contact quality (4.3% BB rate, 5.1% K rate). Good defense in center field. There was definitely a place for him in baseball and on the Cubs, but not as the savior leadoff guy. Oh, and it didn’t help that he got caught stealing 20 times that year, meaning his success rate was just 74.3%, right on the border of where you are doing more harm than good. Different environment for stolen bases now, of course, but Hoerner has been caught just 7 times (85.1% success rate).
He got the day off yesterday, but I don’t think we’ll be seeing it too often, because Nick Madrigal really has been THAT good defensively at third base:
With each game taking on added importance down the stretch, Nick Madrigal has become the Cubs' answer at third base:https://t.co/iPcLbo7PBX— Tony Andracki (@TonyAndracki23) September 13, 2023
Sandy Alcántara’s injury is to his UCL:
Per #Marlins manager Skip Schumaker, Sandy Alcantara’s MRI revealed a UCL sprain.
Skip non-committal about a return for Alcantara this season but noted “watching him throw is a good thing. It’s a progression. We’re going to watch it every day and go from there.”— Jordan McPherson (@J_McPherson1126) September 13, 2023
A sprain simply means damage to a ligament (as opposed to a “strain,” which is damage to a muscle). That can be a tear – full or partial – or it can be an over-stretching that causes pain/inflammation. Given that Alcántara is still throwing, I am going to assume we’re not talking about a tear. But, since this is their ace who signed on a long-term deal, I am also going to assume the Marlins don’t want to risk him pitching his way INTO a tear. I’d be shocked if Alcántara returns to the Marlins this year.
Speaking of pitching injuries that have guys out for the year, Yu Darvish has been shut down with a stress reaction in his elbow, eyeing a healthy offseason. You may recall that a stress reaction is what was ultimately the diagnosis in Darvish’s sunk 2018 season with the Cubs, and is basically early damage to a bone (that can precede a stress fracture), caused by repetitive motion and irritation. In Darvish’s case, it sounds like he has a bone spur at the tip of his elbow that is causing the irritation. I might get it removed in the offseason.
And speaking of veterans being shut down, Max Scherzer is being shut down with a teres major strain (it’s in the upper arm), and it’s possible he won’t even be able to return in the postseason.
Heads up, Hawks fans. He has arrived. Make sure you’re following our Blackhawks coverage:
Caveats aplenty here. There is a whole lot of high-stakes incentives flying around to propel misinformation, especially around the Yankees-Padres trade talks, because they are CLEARLY using the media to get out some of their desired messaging. But another report...
Within a FIVE-MINUTE SPAN, multiple reports dropped all communicating more or less the same thing: the Yankees and Padres have hit a wall in their long-reported and long-active Juan Soto trade talks. The trio of reports: https://twitter.com/JonHeyman/status/1730714790102806825 https://twitter.com/martinonyc/status/1730715967234179146 https://twitter.com/martinonyc/status/1730716683709419917 https://twitter.com/TheAthletic/status/1730716395976151309...
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