OSS: Cubs leave everyone on base, fail to bail out pedestrian Hammel.
Three Up
1. Bryant doubled and walked, scoring twice. However, he also recorded an out AT CENTERFIELD. I actually kind of thought we’d see him at center at some point in his career (there are a few teams right now that would be trying him at center full-time, and he played the position in high school and a little college), but I didn’t think it would be game 6 of his career. #NotaScout: he looked bad there, with a poor route to the ball and a long first step (he didn’t need to be good, he ranged 14 feet to his left). Still, best part of the whole game.
2. Rizzo has to be loving and hating batting in front of Bryant. He gets walked all the time to set up bases-loaded, two-outs for Bryant (which has paid off for the opponent thus far), but other than that, you pretty much have to pitch to him. The lineup doesn’t get much easier after Anthony anymore. Today he went 2-4 with a walk.
3. Welcome to the Cubs, Gonzalez Germen. He had two excellent relief innings.
Three Down
1. Soler has been very uneven this year. His good games are great, and his bad games are awful. This was the latter, striking out 3 times en route to a 0-4, BB performance.
2. Jason Hammel wasn’t awful, but he certainly wasn’t very good. He’s been hit very hard this season, getting fairly lucky that balls have found the deeper parts of the park (and he’s still given up some shots). He is without dispute the worst performing starter on the team right now, though we are a ways away from replacing him.
3. The middle infield combined for a 2-8, 2 E performance. They also looked a little lost on a ball that Russell backed up (thinking Castro was charging for it), and Castro backed up (thinking Russell was charging for it). Those will get ironed out.
Opponent of the Day
1. Gregory Polanco hit the most impressive HR of the year so far for a Cubs opponent. He sprinkled in a double for good measure.
Next Game
Cubs (Hendricks) @ Pirates (Locke), 12:35 PM CT