You have to be a real sicko to take in the full game highlights for an 18-3 drubbing in the middle of night but that won’t stop me from sharing. Consider this a completely unnecessary starting point to your morning Cubs round up blog:
I’ll have your traditional Cubs News & Notes ready at 5pm today but figured we should start the day with a healthy recap.
Let’s get to it.
- The Cubs are 3-4 after starting the series in Tokyo 0-2. With a decent bullpen and enough mental gymnastics, you could see the Cubs as 4-1 domestically with 4 straight victories. But that’s not how the sport works so don’t get too worked up. My point is they’re 3-4 but a very dangerous 3-4 and that’s good shit.
- Ben Brown made his first start of the season last night and was good enough to win with 10 runs of support and I don’t want to ask for much more from the young righty. The stat line in isolation isn’t pretty = 5 innings pitched, 3 earned runs on 6 hits and 5 strikeouts. But if you consider the the entire game, it’s exactly what the Cubs needed after a devastating loss Sunday.
- Specifically – the Cubs scored 4 in the top of the 1st and then Ben Brown threw 12 pitches in a scoreless bottom of the first. That was easily the biggest inning of the game and one of these weird spots that could have completely backfired if he labored early. Just imagine the bullpen getting rev’d up for 8+ innings of work this early. Thankfully that didn’t happen and thankfully we can turn the rotation back over to Justin Steele tonight.
- Carson Kelly hit for the cycle which was awesome. I blogged about it here:
- The catching should be much better than last year. Carson Kelly looks like an upgrade from Yan Gomes and Miguel Amaya has been sensational his last 80 games. So when you look for reasons/opportunities for the Cubs to be better than last year, I would circle catching as a big step forward. And that matters a lot when you’re looking at returning players in left, center, shortstop, second and first. You have to be different to get different and the Cubs catchers are on that sweet path.
- Speaking of better – Kyle Tucker is 10-31 with 7 extra base hits and 6 runs scored in just 7 games and that’s exactly why he should get $350M from Tom Ricketts right now. The price tag’s only going up and I hope you guys believe me. He’s not Judge but he’s at the very top of the next group of elite players.
- Most of Kyle Tucker’s success comes from his swing path. And more specifically – how long his barrel stays in the middle of the plate. The best analogy would be a paint brush. Kyle Tucker’s swing is the longest brush stroke on the canvas. It has the most paint and the juiciest spread and best consistency. Other players have shitty brush strokes that fade out way too quickly. This matters because Kyle Tucker’s brush stroke can match up against breaking balls and fastballs and changeups a lot better. There’s more room in the swing bath to square up different kinds of pitches. And he does that with near perfect balance and mechanics, which at his level can be considered a God Given Talent.
- MVPete is the fastests guy in baseball
- We have torpedo bats in Nico and Swanny now and I think that’s a huge advantage, which is a reversal of my original position.
- So let me use this opportunity to clarify that I have no idea how to feel about these torpedo bats. Part of me thinks it’s an overreaction because the Brewers suck. And then part of me wishes everyone used a Torpedo Bat after hearing Elly De La Cruz went 4-5 with 2 homers in his first night with the TB. So quite frankly I have no idea where to land on this other than I want a handful of guys testing them out. If that works, then we go full Torpedo Bat in a couple weeks. If they’re flawed, then we have protection from not adopting them wholesale across the lineup. In the words of Marv Murchins, it’s the best of both worlds.
- Michael Busch hit a homer in the cleanup spot last night and I should remember that when I complain about him again. There’s something missing from his game but I should probably just shut up already
- Finally – I don’t know the last time we scored 18 runs but I can’t imagine there’s been a better situation in Cubs regular season history. Coming off a horrific bullpen loss after a horrific season filled with extensive bullpen losses. And with the fanbase as mad and distant from Tom Ricketts and Cubs leadership then I can ever remember including Sam Zell days. So needless to say, we needed a sign of life from the lineup and I don’t know if we’ve ever gotten a stronger signal. 18 runs? Let’s fucking go boys. That’s how you fire us up for another 9pm tonight in Sacramento and I love it.
Let’s get #2 tonight and win the series.
PS – All Gas?
PPS – Go listen to the MMCS