"The Dioner Navarro Game?"
Navarro demolished White Sox pitching to the tune of 3 HR and 6 RBI yesterday. In his only PA in which he didn't hit the ball into the stands, he drew a walk and later came aroudn to score with the help of a Matt Lindstrom wild pitch and a single by pinch hitter Ryan Sweeney. Navarro raised his season wOBA from .271 to .365 in a single game. The explosion of runs meant that Scott Feldman didn't have to do all the work and drive in runs by himself, as he's done in his past few starts.
If the Cubs were going anywhere this year, it would probably get Player Name Game status, but unfortunately for Navarro this is going to be a forgettable season.
Michael Bowden clears waivers
Cubs RHP Michael Bowden cleared waivers and was outrighted to AAA this morning. It was kind of surprising that no team picked him up, given his good numbers so far this year. That said, it's hard to get excited about the Cubs hanging on to a replacement level pitcher with a ceiling as a middle reliever that had a good two months. ZiPS and Steamer both still project him to be replacement level despite his good start to the season.
Other bullpen news
The Cubs sent Alex Burnett to Iowa after one day on the roster, calling up Zach Putnam. Putnam was a waiver pickup from Colorado last November. Said Putnam of the callup: "I’ve always loved pitching in the back of the bullpen". Always good to be on a MLB roster, no matter your role.
The White Sox managed to beat the Cubs at one thing this week
Jeff Samardzija and Paul Konerko had a shootout between periods at last night's Blackhawks game. Shark showed that he is much better at baseball than hockey.
Pythagoras hates the Cubs
The Cubs now have a positive run differential on the season, and sit at 21-30. Insert Gambler's Fallacy here.
Keep Jeff Samardzija away from the Pirates Bullpen
Apparently the Pirates relievers have nicknamed themselves "The Shark Tank". You're not really allowed to give a nickname to yourself (as Isaac "Phillips Head Screwdriver" Jaffe can attest), but I digress. Pirates closer Jason Grilli bought an ACTUAL shark tank to put out in their pen, complete with sharks and fish and stuff. No word on any plans to attach laser beams to their heads. Too bad Grilli doesn't pitch for the Dbacks, it would be great to see their pool turned into a shark pit.
Could be the Year of the Seagull at Wrigley
Yesterday's Cubs-Sox game had an announced attendance of 31,729, which means the Cubs had roughly 10,000 unsold seats in what is usually one of the biggest series of the year. It was a weekday day game, but still. They're going to need Todd to throw out a lot of extra hot dogs this year.
Comment of the Yesterday
SVB wrote:
I think Lewis Yokum, Frank Jobe, and James Andrews should be in the HOF.
They need to take out everyone who has ever had surgery from the HOF until these guys are in.
