Stellar Defensive Work, Swanson’s Rebound, Rehab, Alf, and Other Cubs Bullets

I am not yet able to jog or run, but in the recovery from back surgery, you can generally walk as much as you want/can take. That’s been good and fine – finished an audiobook of ‘The Wager,’ and it was great – but I am definitely getting bored of it. There are only so many routes I can take around my neighborhood to try to keep it fresh.

  • I mentioned the stellar defense from Dansby Swanson and Michael Busch yesterday, and it really was incredible. I’m not saying the game outcome definitely would’ve been different if Swanson and Busch didn’t make these four plays (more on Javier Assad’s awesomeness soon), but you’re talking about four different innings that would’ve been extended, at least one run in, and also two innings with two on and one out. It really isn’t hard to imagine things being EXTREMELY different without these four plays:
  • Between the stellar defense and the home run, it was a relief of a game for Swanson, who wasn’t hiding it post-game:
  • The same from Craig Counsell:
  • Here’s something else to remember on Swanson: he more or less ALWAYS starts the season slow at the plate. In his career, he’s a .235/.311/.370/85 wRC+ hitter in March and April. Guess what he’s hitting right now? .220/.287/.358/86 wRC+. Sure, that’s through May 5, but still, close enough. Virtually identical numbers when you adjust for league context.
  • Seiya Suzuki and Cody Bellinger hit and ran the bases yesterday (Sun-Times), and they continue to check boxes in their return to play. We could see Suzuki go for a short rehab stint as soon as this week, with Bellinger returning straight to the Cubs (no rehab assignment) as soon as this week. The Cubs’ offense really needs both guys back, and needs them both to be the hitters we know they can be.
  • Of course the Cubs don’t miss Yu Darvish or Dylan Cease in this Padres series (and got them both last time, too). Every other Padres starter has been really disappointing so far this year. Consider that a reminder that “strength of schedule” doesn’t always tell the whole story in baseball.
  • I generally think people have been too hard on the City Connect looks, but this one, I’m not so sure. I get what they were going for, but it just looks kinda bad to me:
  • The rumor about the Cubs talking to the Marlins about a reliever got lots of folks joking about other Marlins pitchers who’ve come over to the Cubs – there have been a lot of memorable ones! – but none stands out to me as much as Antonio Alfonseca. He wasn’t especially effective with the Cubs in 2002 and 2003 (league average the first year, and well below the second year), but you cannot possibly forget him because of the whole six-finger thing. Yes, if you were unaware, former Chicago Cubs reliever Antonio Alfonseca really did have six fingers on each hand. He was also involved in one of the wilder player-ump arguments about a foul ball, thanks in part to the bullpens being down the lines at Wrigley Field at the time:
  • The overlay here is really messing with my brain:
  • Tennessee Smokies walk-off winner from yesterday:
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    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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