Did The Cubs Win?
OSS: Cubs celebrate 100 years of Wrigley Field in fitting fashion.
Three Up
1. Jeff Samardzija was brilliant (again). He deserved to win (again). He didn’t win (again).
2. Hector Rondon has to be the best Rule 5 pick of the past 5 years, right? A short reflection of the past Rule 5 drafts:
2013: too early to tell.
2012: Rondon is a legitimate back-end reliever. Josh Fields is a relief janitor for the Astros. Ryan Pressly didn’t break 2014 with the Twins, though he was serviceable last year.
2011: Ryan Flaherty and Marwin Gonzalez were both stolen from the Cubs, they both stuck, and they are both decent 25th men on the roster.
2010: Brad Emaus! For only having 42 forgettable PAs in one year for the Mets, I sure do remember him for no reason. No one else of note.
2009: No one of note.
2008: Donnie Veal took equal turns being ineffective, barely effective, and hurt. However, Everth Cabrera is the clear winner here. I’d rather have Everth Cabrera in 2008 than Hector Rondon now.
Anyways, I liked Rondon when we took him last year. The dream of a rotational presence is over (the slider never developed past “change-of-pace”), but Rondon still throws a 95.5 mph fastball that touches 97 in spurts. His huge problem last year was walks; he figured that out late in the season, and ever since, he’s been the Cubs’ best reliever. He’ll close games before the year is through.
3. I’m going with Darwin Barney. He only went 0-1 with a walk, but he had a really nice squeeze that ended up with him on first via a poor throw (incorrectly charged as an error to Goldschmidt – it should have been on Miley). He made one bad defensive play early on that eventually led to the first run of the game, but he made up for it and more with 3 web gems in the game.
Three Down
1. Starlin Castro‘s bobble gave the Diamondbacks 4 outs. If he makes that play, the Cubs win 5-2 or 5-3. He also went 0-4 and struck out 3 times. The relievers didn’t bail him out, but you can more-or-less put this game at Castro’s feet.
2. Pedro Strop has pretty much relinquished his chance at being the closer. He had very spotty control yesterday, especially of his breaking pitches. He missed badly early on in the inning, which led to him getting squeezed later.
3. James Russell marches onward towards his ignominious release. He’s a LNOGY at this point.
Quick Hits
Where the fuck was Sammy Sosa yesterday? He’s done for the Cubs than any current member of the franchise, and that’s including Ricketts and Epstein. I get that he left in poor circumstances, but suck it up and mend the fences. It’s pretty fucking petty not to have Sammy out there. He was never my favorite Cub (for some reason, I was always on Team Grace. That…didn’t work out. That guy is a piece of shit), but I still always loved him. He’s the best Cub of my lifetime.
The whole ceremony seemed a little off to me. I liked seeing all the Cubs HOF, but it was sad to see Ernie Banks so frail. He looked a little lost out there to me. The balloons were cool, but not that cool, and it was awesome that the wind blew them away immediately. I’m not sure what it was like at the stadium, but you absolutely could not hear the crowd singing “Happy Birthday” in the 5th inning, so that was pretty awkward. Lastly, the Diamondbacks are literally the most recent team in baseball. Couldn’t the Cubs have played the Reds? Too much to ask?
Anthony Rizzo is a joy to watch play these days. He swings at so few bad pitches now. He also has more walks (13) than strikeouts (12). That won’t stick, but Rizzo is quickly making his contract look like a steal.
Next Game
Today, 2:20 CT, Edwin Jackson vs. Mike Bolsinger
Will the Cubs Win?
