OSS: Haren dominates the best team in the National League.
Three Up
1. Dan Haren probably doesn't have another performance like the one he spun against the Cardinals in his entire career, but it was nice to see one last masterclass in soft contact. Haren allowed 7 hits and 2 walks, with maybe 4 really well-hit balls by St. Lou. He also struck out 5 and allowed no runs. It's easy to win games like that.
2. As Dexter Fowler goes, so go the Cubs. He went 2-3 with a walk and a game-starting home run to the shallowest part of right field. The Shark for Russell and Feldman for Arrieta trades are both robberies, but the Valbuena for Fowler trade is a really, really nice one too. On the season, Dex is .254/.352/.435, which combined with suddenly average defense in center makes him a 3.2 fWAR player this year.
3. While it seems controversial to the point of hot-take levels, I still think Addison Russell will be the best rookie the Cubs have when it's all said and done. Hustle had another dinger and a walk today, bringing up his line to .243/.302/.405 with 13 HR. He's at 2.1 fWAR this year, mostly on his defense (which is well above-average at shortstop). He's 10th among qualified shortstops in wRC+ this year, and he's younger than every player above him by at least a year. In fact, he's younger than every other Cub rookie that debuted this year, almost a year younger than even Schwarber! It's definitely possible that he could end up like Castro (another wunderkind shortstop that got worse), but Castro's success and Russell's success come from very different areas. Castro always had the tools to be a great shortstop, but he was prone to the simple mistakes. Russell isn't; if anything, he's been BETTER than what everyone expected there. Castro's offensive value was tied up in two ways: his ability to never strike out and his ability to dink singles through the infield. Russell strikes out a lot (perhaps an unhealthy amount), but he also takes his walks and flashes real power. Russell's 7.3% walk rate his higher than any of Castro's career rates in the majors, and his .163 ISO is higher than any of Castro's career rates as well. Russell shows promise as a .275/.350/.450 guy with premium defense at shortstop. That's the line of a guy who generally gets MVP votes, and crazily enough, Russell is hitting .270/.309/.562 ever since he moved to SS permanently and .268/.312/.484 since the All-Star Break.
Three Down
1. Kris Bryant didn't have an awful day: 1-4, 2 SO. That said, he left the most people on base and had the lowest WPA of the game for the Cubs so he gets the nod here.
2. Tommy La Stella didn't reach base and left a man on with 2 outs and RISP.
3.
@BestFansStLouis best fans in baseball would *never* leave early, right? 9-0 Cubs pic.twitter.com/UFQDoJEt26
— Kenny (@kfel20) September 7, 2015
Next Game
7:15 PM CT
Jason Hammel (3.65 FIP) vs Fozzie Bear (3.27 FIP)
Will the Cubs Win?
Big if true.