Game 47- Powerball

The Cubs seemingly had one goal last night. Get as many people on base as possible and then hope someone hits a home run. Down 3-0 Rizzo stepped up and hit a 3 run homer. 2 innings later, the Cubs loaded the bases and as soon as the announcing team stated that Almora has never had a grand slam, he hit one.

Capping everything off was Baez having a solo shot in the 7th meaning every single Cubs run was scored due to a home run.

I think what we have seen is the Cubs finding a way to win in a variety of circumstances. Earlier this year they have shown they can small ball the heck out of a team and now they are showing they can homer to death a team.

They needed all the homers they could get as Hamels basically threw an entire game's worth of pitches in the first 4 innings. Chatwood came in and got the W and looked sharp (except for the homer to McCutchen).

In the end though it is all about the dingers, er offense. The Cubs are averaging 5.38 runs a game which leads the NL (which is even more impressive that early in the season they were averaging 4 runs a game and middle of the pack). Last game against the Phils this morning/early afternoon!

Cubs Games Watched: 9.5
Cubs Games Listened To: 28
Gave Up Read BCB: 9.5

Game 33- Homers Club

Last season the Cubs lived and died on the homer. There were many games that a 1 run homer were all the Cubs could manage. Forget hitting, base running, etc. Were there any runners on when the inevitable homer was hit?

This season the Cubs are getting all types of hits and scoring in all types of ways. Still this game felt similar to last season. The Marlins were hitting here and there and the Cubs, well they were hoping something would click. Sac Fly to score Bryant (who it a doozy of a triple), homer by Almora.

Tonight was a night that I didn't mind the Cubs being a part of the Homers Club after Bryant hit this rocket against the wind (nonetheless!)

https://twitter.com/Cubs/status/1125963841102327808

Lester looked good although had his classic first inning almost-meltdown. The bullpen did its job holding the score to 2-2 through several innings.

After getting blown out in the first series, the Marlins decided to put up a fight and they are scrapping the hell out of this series. Still with KB at the bat, you can't stop him, you can only try to contain him. Cubs go for another series win tomorrow!

Cubs Games Watched: 7.5
Cubs Games Listened To: 19.5
Gave Up: 6

Game 23- The Offense Putters Out

It was inevitable that the offense couldn't keep up its sustained (and clutch!) performances over 162 games and last night's game was example 1A of the Cubs struggling uphill to score any runs. The fact that they left so many runners in scoring position and still only lost the game by 1 is a testament to the pitching staff.

Lester looked good and the pen only gave up a run. Almora's homer in the ninth made it close but as they say, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

Here is the BCB recap: https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2019/4/25/18516821/dodgers-2-cubs-1-grrrrrrrrrr

On a blog note, it is TOUGH to watch or listen to all the Cubs games in a season! So far I think I am doing a pretty decent job having watched/listened to a majority of the games but I can't help but notice the tracker has crept up in the "read a summary" category and I am now tied with games watched (the name of this blog). If current percentages keep up, I am projected to miss 32 games this season, hopefully I will keep it under 30.

Also hopefully you are enjoying my attempt to watch every game of the Cubs 2019 season and I am glad I have at least a few of you reading this madness. Onward to the next series!

Cubs Games Watched: 5.0
Cubs Games Listened To: 13.0
Gave Up BCB'd: 5.0

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 4

The big question mark going into today's game was one Mr. Yu Darvish. Yu signed a 6 year, $126M dollar deal (hatchi matchi!) and really hasn't delivered on the deal in any form due to his arm injury. Spring is a renewal of all things so will Yu-renew?

This lineup is slowly starting slowly resemble the regular season, how did everyone do? Well the catchers went a collective 0-3 with a walk so that's "good". Darvish gave up 2 runs and 4 walks in 1.1 innings of work. Also "good"! 

What is truly good is Almora who has been tearing it up this pre-season. So far he is averaging .400 with an OPS of 1.000 which is fantastic. Granted it is a small sample size but with the Cubs as offensively challenged as they were last year, anyone showing signs of hitting prowess needs to be cradled like a baby bird by this team.