Technical Difficulties
I know that many of you are struggling with the question of whether life is worth living in the wake of yesterday’s Darwin Barney trade. Know that OVBlog is dealing with the same struggle. Hold fast, you patient ones. We will get through this together.
(Alternate theory: evil genius Brett is planning to shut down the entire Cub blogosphere tomorrow as part of a dastardly plan to raise money for a worthwhile charity. To test his system, he picked a site whose absence no one would notice).
Did the Cubs Win?
Yes. This is a big series in the Race to the Top. The Cubs also face the Rockies again next week.
Trade Deadline Update
Jon Heyman reports that the Cubs have turned away inquiries on Chris Coghlan and Justin Ruggiano. Both are under team control and are unlikely to net much in the way of a return. On the other hand, the 2015 Cubs are likely to feature lots of Chris Coghlan and Justin Ruggiano, and that makes me about as happy as when I learned that the 2014 Cubs were likely to feature lots of Nate Schierholtz, which is to say:
Sidebar: Oliver had Ruggiano projected at 4.5 WAR coming into the season. What the hell?
Oh, Those Hooker Types
Yesterday Deadspin ran a post looking at Greg Maddux‘s scouting reports over the years. The thing that jumped out at me was this take on Rick Sutcliffe from 1990:
Bad outing. Don’t like hooker type of delivery. Not my type first line pitcher. Pitches for himself, not the club. Age and money against him.
That made me chuckle.
Quick Links
- In my post on Chapman vs. Olt a few weeks ago, I noted that Aroldis Chapman‘s strikeout rate was likely to regress some as the season went along. Well, it hasn’t happened yet. As of today, Chapman’s K-rate is up to 54.6%. Last night he hit 104.6 mph, per PITCHf/x.
- Yu Darvish channeled Marty McFly’s grandfather last night. (But in a positive way!)
- MLB.com updated their Top 100 yesterday. They ranked Kris Bryant at #4. Draftees were considered, and Kyle Schwarber checked in at #79.
- Chris Archer wants young buck David Ortiz to understand the way things used to be.