The Cubs are 0-2 after dropping the 2nd game in Tokyo to the Dodgers today at 5 o clock in the fucking morning.
Pardon my language.
I’m a little salty about the Cubs playing like dick, getting shafted by the umpires and all of this happening before sunrise without a pregame show against the defending World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
I’ll get over it because I always do. But right now it still stings and that’s because the Cubs could easily be 1-1 or 2-0 to start the season.
And if my grandma had balls… she’d be my grandpa
The reality is they’re 0-2 and that’s almost entirely their fault.
Good news is there’s another couple weeks to tighten things up before the rest of the league starts play and I sure hope the Cubs take advantage of the time. No doubt about it – they looked like shit.
Here’s the rest of my notes from today:
- 15 walks in 2 games is complete bullshit and inexcusable. You deserve to lose any game you walk 6 or more hitters and the Cubs did it twice to start the season
- Justin Steele started sharp then fell off a cliff and that’s okay because it’s early and we trust him quite a bit. Same goes for Shota. It’s a huge challenge to go across the world to compete against the best player in the world on his home turf.
- On that front, Shohei was fantastic going 3-8 with 2 walks and 3 runs. Even if this wasn’t a home run.
- That’s bad luck and I honestly don’t know if I can be mad about them calling it a homerun because it’s Shohei Ohtani in the fuckin Tokyo Dome. Use your brain. Of course he’s going to get home cooking from MLB because their #1 goal is expanding/integrating with Japan. Like the NBA going all-in on China around the turn of the century with Yao Ming. Rob Manfred knows he’s shrinking domestically and while that’s an insane consideration for the middle of a baseball game, you have to be a complete moron to ignore it when wondering how they ruled that a homerun. It’s simple. Shohei was the batter and they’re not giving him a raw deal in front of 55,000 paid attendance, mostly his own countrymen.
- It still really bothers me they called that a homerun but I’m rationalizing it enough for it to not completely ruin my day
- People are also very mad because Kike Hernandez should have been called out on strikes here:
- But then he homered two pitches later to make it a 5-1 game
- And that’s why it’s hard to bitch about Justin Steele – he should have been out of the 4th inning of a 3-1 game, and instead it’s 5-1 and much uglier on paper.
- Stuff like this really makes me want to implement the strike zone challenge system we saw in Spring Training. So whenever that shit is ready to go… by all means Rob. I’ve got the time and patience.
- Matt Shaw made a nice play at 3rd base today and we’re going to highlight that because I called him out yesterday for sloppy footwork and generally not looking good. This is the complete opposite here and I want to emphasize him going left. That’s a big advantage for a middle-infielder converting to 3rd base. He’s got a great first step both left/right, which means he can cover more ground in the hole between shortstop. I’m soft on his arm strength but the range is superb and that’s a good building block for him to become a legit everyday 3rd baseman.
- 15 batters reaching base usally amounts to 5+ runs so there’s some more “bad luck” for the Cubs today
- I don’t love Michael Busch as a cleanup hitter and probably never will. He’s just not powerful or threatening and I think it’s kinda weird. Nice thing is Nico should change things big time when he comes back from injury, and I hope that means Seiya going to the cleanup spot.
- And honestly now I’m getting a little picky because it’s just two games into the season and it’s only mid March and there’s really no reason to overreact
- But let’s overreact anyways: I really like the bottom 7-8-9 of the order and I think that’s going to be a major differentiator for the Cubs later in the season similar to 2015 when we were hitting Coghlan-Montero-Baez at the bottom before the pitcher. Even more so when Nico returns and they can flip PCA to 9 and work like a 2nd leadoff hitter until he gets settled in. And it could be even better if Miguel Amaya is as good as he’s played so far this spring. Or is it just a nice stretch? I think he’s turned a corner going back to the 2nd half last year and that really makes this so much more dangerous.
- Speaking of danger
- MY GOODNESS THAT’S FILTHY
- Crazy to think he could have been in a Cubs uniform if we had more money or a better relationship with his scouting director. That was arguably as impressive as Paul Skenes and I don’t care about the 5 walks. I care about the 102 with Bruce Sutter’s split finger and Tim Lincecum’s explosiveness.
- Roki was so impressive that I’m inclined to say he finishes 6th in the Cy Young voting this year and then top 3 next year. This guy is a tier-1 unhittable ace and it really bothers me the Dodgers don’t even need him to win 120 games.
Other quick miscellaneous observations:
- I still don’t like Craig Counsell and will update you guys every day on where that stands
- I really like Alex Cohen in the broadcast booth for Boog because you hardly even recognized Alex this series and it was perfect. He stayed entirely in the game, engaged with JD and played it safe, which was such a nice change of pace from what we’ve gotten the last few years from Boog. So while he’s 0-2 to start his Cubs broadcast career, I actually think he’s a major upgrade and would gladly welcome more broadcasting from the new guy.
- If I’m alone on that, so be it. I’m not the biggest Boog guy.
- Really cool that Seiya and Shota got to spend a week home with the team. Scoff all you want but I’m huge on team relationships and the camaraderie as a competitive advantage. All the good teams come together uniquely and I think this could be a big step in that direction long-term when you consider they’re two of the best players.
- Great moment for both sides of the aisle:
BREAKING NEWS. Heartbreak averted as Kiké Hernandez faked out Pikachu but went back for the double high five. Whew. pic.twitter.com/sE90Z14nRM
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) March 18, 2025
Finally:
- You can’t challenge that last play if Shaw is obviously out. That’s just super busch league and a waste of time and not using the replay system in good faith. Sometimes you just have to take your medicine and I think it’s a good lesson for Cubs fans that were mad Craig didn’t challenge the last out. While harmless to many, I think it’s still really bad sportsmanship
- Dansby Swanson looks good
- Kyle Tucker does not (yet)
- And these are your game notes for March 19th against the Dodgers.
Now go get some sleep.