Game 3- Put Some English On It

Wow does Hamels put some English/spin on his pitches or what? An insanely tight strikezone aside, Hammels was painting corners all day like an artist.

Schwarber also put some English on a long bomb to give the Cubs an earlier lead and then there was some English in balls hit in the 3rd with Almora getting a squibber through the infield and Caratini hitting a double that hit off a brick wall AND a security guard.

Of course, yet again the Cubs put up a great early offensive effort only to see their 4-1 lead evaporate on a grand salami and they are staring down the barrel of another loss. Heyward of all people came through with some timely hitting including a great single in the 6th to tie the game.

Then the Cubs started discovering small ball. Getting clutch slap hits. Some crazy bunt attempts. The Cubs seemed much more like the baseball of yesteryear than postmodern baseball of launch angles and true outcomes.

And I LOVE it! I mean, baseball is much more interesting than either a strikeout or homerun and this game had it in spades.

Still the pitching staff was atrocious and the Cubs ended up losing 11-10. I have no words on how insane it is that the Cubs put up 28 runs in 3 games and LOST 2!


Watched Cubs Games: 1
Listened To Cubs Games: 2
Ignored Everything and Read Bleed Cubbie Blue's Recap: 0


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Game 2- Fast Fits and Starts

It is really easy to win a ballgame when you get 3 runs in the top of the first. Of course, it is also easy to lose if it you give up big numbers.

The Cubs started off as well as you could hope for. Baez singled home Bryant (get used to hear that) and Schwarber and Contreras also singled in runs and wham bam thank you ma'am you are up 3 nothing.

Couple that with another Contreras hit (this time a double, which he will do again later in the game) and the Cubbies are up 4-1. However, Darvish is going to Darvish and he ended up throwing 75 pitches and was pulled in the third inning after giving back 3 runs, 7 walks and making the lead a slim one.

Thankfully for Yu, Quintana came in to settle things down and Schwarber mashed a huge tater. It is interesting to see the offense bail out the pitching so far this season, last year was the polar opposite.

The pitching definitely didn't bail out the clubs in the later innings allowing 5 runs in the 7th and 8th inning. This all lead to a Cubs loss that was disheartening given how well the offense hit.

Watched Cubs Game: 0
Listened to Cubs Game: 2
Ignored Everything and Read Bleed Cubbie Blue's Recap: 0

All pictures are used herein for news and commentary purposes only. All copyrights reserved to their respective owners. 

Game 1 - Bash Brothers

The Cubs went to Arlington Texas with a lot of question marks surrounding them. Would the hitting finally catch up to the pitching this year after falling off a cliff last year? Would the pitching now fall off the cliff with Lester getting older and seemingly a parade of relievers shuttling back and forth between AAA Iowa and Chicago?

Basically everyone thought the Cubs had the talent to be the best in the league but predictions varied wildly from winning the World Series to not even making the playoffs.

I would dare say a 12-4 shellacking of the Rangers was a hearty start to the season and now everyone has to be thinking of them as real contenders (I know, I know, 161 games to go this season).

The biggest takeaway from the game was the mashing of taters by Baez and Bryant. I think we have a new Bash Brothers on our hands here, I am calling it first! Baez hit 2 with 4 RBIs, Bryant hit 1 and came away with 3 RBIs.

Everyone hit as well (there were 13 hits overall) and even Heyward went 2 for 5.

On a slightly less positive note, Lester looked fine getting the W but not great. Strop and Montgomery combined to give up another 2 runs and the Cubs are counting on those guys to pitch clean sheets. At least Rosario made things happen with 2 Ks in 1 inning of work.

It is tough to quibble with a 12-4 stomping and with an off day tomorrow, I will be dreaming of victories this weekend in Texas.

This is Cubs Watch 2019, my blog attempting to watch every game of the Cubs in 2019 (something I haven't done, almost ever. So for each game I am going to let you know how I am doing on my quest.

Did I watch Game 1: No but listened on the radio.

Watched Cubs Game: 0
Listened to Cubs Game: 1
Ignored Everything and Read Bleed Cubbie Blue's Recap: 0

All pictures are used herein for news and commentary purposes only. All copyrights reserved to their respective owners.

Spring Training Blowout

Welp, I said I was interested in what the Cubs would do against the Reds given the increase in competitiveness in the NL Central and such. I say a lot of things but I didn't think the Cubs would get blown out 12-3.

Chatwood was...a disaster no two ways about it. The thing about him isn't how many runs he does or doesn't give up on a day, or the amount of walks or strikeouts. The thing is, he is inconsistent. That is the biggest strike against him, you never know what you will get and in an era where certainty backed by statistics is everything, Chatwood can't be relied upon.

Sure other Cubs pitches (looking at you Rosario and Ryan) gave up multiple runs and it is not all on Tyler but it is not NOT on him either.

Otherwise the replacements hit pretty well last night. Starters went 2-22 but the bench went 6-13. Again the bright spot of the preseason is that there is offensive depth in the minors which hopefully the Cubs lean upon with the Iowa shuttle this year.

Onward we go with games the rest of the week, which hopefully don't go as poorly as Tuesday's game.

Spring Training Twofer But Brewers Bust

On Saturday the Cubs split the squad but kicked butt in both games picking up 2 wins in the process. Everyone seems totally on board the Nico Hoerner train at this point and how can you not be with an explosive offensive game?

Regardless of his Cubs career, the potential that he and other members of the minor league squads have been demonstrating this preseason makes me feel bullish on the future.

Slightly less bullish after Sunday's game where the Cubs again lost to the Brewers. Almora had yet another hit (what else is new) as did Contreras but the rest of the squad didn't really show up. Not helping the cause was Hendricks giving up 3 earned runs.

Still the Cubs go into their off day with 11-7 record. Up next, the Cubs play the Reds, Athletics, Rangers, White Sox and D-Backs. Of these, I am most interested in the Reds to see how their new teammates are progressing since the NL Central is shaping up to be pretty tight this year.

Enjoy the off day everyone and see you on Tuesday! 

Spring Training- The Last Few Days

So the Cubs beat the Royals, lost to the Rockies and beat the Mariners. Here are a few takeaways from the last few days.

The Cubs Are Hitting! 

In the last 3 games, the Cubs have 32 hits. For a team that was primarily manufacturing runs via the homer last year this is a great development. The Brewers hit early and often in their games and I am all about the Cubs hitting, hitting and hitting some more.

The Pipeline Has Some Juice Still

The common wisdom is that the Cubs have sacrificed their minor league pipeline for the win-now window. Still though, there is some real talent in the minors that I am excited about. Including Trent Giambrone. Trent is absolutely raking it in spring training and is leading a trio of offensive talent that is looking better and better.

https://www.cubsinsider.com/2019/03/06/cubs-prospects-mark-zagunis-trent-giambrone-jared-young-making-major-noise-this-spring/

Pitching Is Meh? 

There isn't much you can tease out of Spring Training when it comes to pitching. Maddon has a strict pitch count, pitchers can't really get into a rhythm and the starters might look sharp one game and rusty the next. One seeming bright spot is the "righting of the ship" of Chatwood.

So far he is pitched in 8 innings sporting a 2.35 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. Solid numbers which I will take in a heartbeat given the absolute train wreck the second half of the season was with Tyler. Not sure what portends for Chatwood this season but at least this Spring he looks like a major league pitcher which could be a game changer for the Cubs this year. Time will tell.

Spring Training Game 11

I mean, just when you think the Cubs are starting to put together some mojo, they have another meltdown losing 9-2 to the Angels.

The game did feature one of my favorite things, defensive incompetence leading to an inside the park home run for Contreras.

The rest of the game was downhill in some many categories. Zobrist, Bryant, Heyward Happ and Bote went a combined 0-14 and Hendricks gave up 2 earned runs.

An interesting fact for this Spring Training is that when the Cubs have lost a game, they have lost by the average score of 8-3. Of course, as I mentioned yesterday when they have won, they have won big. Do these crazy swings mean anything? Probably not although I wish I could see the Cubs try to close the gap in these blowouts but in reality, these games don't count so I am not going to get too worked up over it.

Spring Training Game 10

It was the Almora show today folks. I have been going on and on about the Spring this guy is having but he really brought it today against the Reds. He had a home run and a great defensive effort (at least according to this great report by BCB) and is just having a killer preseason.

https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2019/3/4/18250570/cubs-reds-recap-albert-almora-alec-mills-mlb-scores

This squad was mostly minor leaguers but so many got hits off of Reds pitching (ending up with 11 hits) in a blowout of the Reds.

There isn't much I can say about this game so let's look at some overall trends.

Through 10-11 games (I note this as game 10 because I don't count the split squad game as 2 separate games) the Cubs have scored 77 runs with a 19 run differential. Sure major league hitting is beating up on minor league pitching a bit but still, that is a lot of hitting. The only team to have scored more runs than the Cubs are the Angels (88 runs) and they only have a 17 run differential.

Not only are the Cubs hitting but they are also selective. They are currently 5th in walks and 12th in strikeouts. Coupled that with the runs and the hitting, the Cubs are looking pretty good offensively.

On the pitching side, the Cubs are 12th in ERA and 9th in WHIP. Despite the facts they are trotting their pitchers out there for 2 innings max per game, to be above average in pitching is also a good sign.

Overall the Cubs are trending up, which I am all about!

Spring Training Game 9

The Battle of Chi-Town, Cubs vs White Sox. Yet all of this is taking place in Arizona of all places. The White Sox are slowly trying to build a "window" for winning but a few of their hot rookies have unfortunately been getting hurt. The Cubs meanwhile have a few draft picks making meaningful contributions to the squad but have mortgaged the rest of the farm for a win now "window".

This lineup is the closest we have seen to a MLB lineup so far. So given that, it no surprise that the Cubs won 13-4 scoring 10 runs in the first 3 innings. The Cubs were led by KB going 2-2 with 3 RBIs and Bote was no slouch either, with 3 RBIs.

Darvis looked really good throwing 3ks in 2 innings and said afterward that he was feeling really good and sharp. Good, this is exactly the type of game the Cubs needed after the Brewers loss. Explosive offense mixed with great pitching, well that is a recipe for success for any team.

Spring Training Game 8

Ahh the Brewers. The town and the team seem to be perpetually in the shadow cast by Chicago but recently the BrewCrew have been turning things around and definitely took it to the Cubs last season. Can Chicago turn it around in a pre-season setting? Let's see!

Almora AGAIN leading off, the guy has been on fire. Zobrist in the spring training DH role. My boy KB batting cleanup plus Baez and Contreras this is looking MUCH more like a MLB opening day lineup.

Almora AGAIN had a hit but the other big names really didn't come up with much. Lester got knocked around a bit with 2 earned runs in 3 innings. In the later part of his career, he seems to have a rocky inning or 2 before settling down. Hopefully that trend doesn't translate into 2019 but who knows?

Then in the top of the 6th, the wheels fell off. The Brewers just kept hitting and scoring. Last season the Cubs were much more feast or famine, home run or shut out. The Brewers then and the Brewers now show what contact and hustle can do to put runs up on the board. By the time we got to the bottom of the 6th the score was 5-2.

Now the Cubs did scramble back to make 5-4 at the bottom of the inning helped out with,  you guessed it, a home run. Ultimately however the Cubs fell 7-4. I am not sure if this game is emblematic or not of the last season but it sure kinda felt like it.

Also of note for Cubs fans, they are selling seats from Wrigley, if you have a spare $1k pick one up! https://www.mlb.com/cubs/fans/seat-sale

Spring Training Games 6-7

It was a tale of two games with the Cubs being beat up 10-3 by the A's then turning around and doing the same to the Diamondbacks (10-2).

What were some of the highlights?

Almora keeps hitting, I am really liking what I see out of him so far. Same goes for Heyward who picked up another hit in the As game. Quintana and Chatwood both looked good in the Diamondbacks game.

Some of the lowlights?

Well Tseng was again a disaster, I don't think he is making the roster. Outside of him, everyone looked pretty solid.

I really don't care about Spring Training records but at least the Cubs are 5-3 so far. I think the Central is going to be a dog fight this year with the Cardinals and Brewers looking tough (heck even the Reds and Pirates are more stocked) but I think the Cubs are going to give them a run for their money.