Ultimately, the medical visits and scans on the back injury and worsening symptoms this week have all led to the same conclusion: I need surgery, and it is relatively urgent. So I’ll be getting that done tomorrow. Even though I’m told that the timing has some urgency associated with it (growing nerve damage risks), the surgery itself is very minor. It’s just a discectomy – removing the damaged portion of a herniated disc – and they do it all the time. I’m sure it will be fine, though any time you’re talking about doing stuff anywhere close to the spinal cord, it unsettles the mind.
So, then, a couple things: (1) I’m not sure what it’ll mean for my schedule around here tomorrow and through the weekend, though I expect to be around at least some (thanks for the assists, Michael!); and (2) I’ll accept all the positive vibes you care to send out.
On to the baseballs …
- Watching live, off the bat, I was hoping Seiya Suzuki’s first inning shot would find the gap or go off the wall. Once the camera panned and you could see Rockies center fielder Brenton Doyle giving up on the ball immediately, I couldn’t believe that thing was getting out:
- I had to check out the metrics, and when I saw that thing was just 16 degrees of launch angle, I immediately thought about Giancarlo Stanton, because he’s the guy I associate most with those types of homers (among other monster shots). The true laser beams that just don’t seem like they could possibly have enough loft to get out, but which are hit so freaking hard that they still go.
- In this case, Suzuki hit that one at a whopping 115.0 mph, which was the hardest hit ball of his MLB career, and, per Cubs.com, the third hardest hit Cubs homer in the Statcast Era (Kyle Schwarber (117.1 mph on April 24, 2018) and Willson Contreras (116.0 mph on May 31, 2022)).
- And sure enough, the homer was extremely Stanton-like. From the same Cubs.com piece: “Suzukiโs homer also came with a 16-degree launch angle. As long as Statcast has been recording blasts, there have only been 18 homers that featured an exit velocity of at least 115 mph with a launch angle no higher than 16 degrees. There a dozen names on that list, which is led by Giancarlo Stanton (six times).”
- That list doesn’t include the most memorable line drive shot (to me, anyway), since it happened before Statcast came around. But this thing had to be like 120 mph and 12 degrees, I’m not even exaggerating. It is a singular home run:
- Bonus on the Suzuki blast:
- OK, this is just absurd. I’m laughing:
- To be sure, the sample is tiny and this WILL CHANGE, but it’s also true that this is the kind of stat that stabilizes pretty darn quickly. I don’t expect this extreme of approach change to last for Christopher Morel, but like we all kept saying: HE’S YOUNG! HE JUMPED RAPIDLY TO THE BIGS! Significant offensive development in his early big league years was always possible.
- From Craig Counsell on Morel (Cubs.com): โReally, since the start of Spring Training, it’s just been hard-hit balls and a real controlled aggression, is the best way I can describe it. There hasn’t been chase. โฆ That’s just going to make him really dangerous.โ
- Morel has the 8th lowest strikeout rate in baseball among all hitters with at least 20 PAs. These are just silly, having-some-fun stats to point out. But I can’t help it.
- Poor Kyle Freeland:
- Freeland gave up 7 ER in 3.1 innings last night and his ERA dropped by 11.57 points. Both of his first two starts have been at Not Coors Field.
- I love hearing from new Cubs players about what they think of Wrigley Field and the fans when they first get acquainted. A night like last night is a pretty strong representation. Here’s Garrett Cooper, via Marquee: โThatโs what you do it for, right? The fans make you go. Itโs tough to to be a part of a team where the fans donโt show up all the time. For them to stay through that โ the 30-degree weather and some snow flurries towards the end just shows the character of the city of Chicago. How much they take pride in their sports and thatโs something that you love as a player.โ
- Seems pretty good for a leadoff man:
- The big combined stadium projects in Kansas City for the Royals and Chiefs has been rejected by the county’s voters:
- Of course this would be how Byron Buxton’s next injury could have happened: