This is going to sound crazy but I’m willing to call last night the Game of the Year just 20 games into the season.
And I know that’s dramatic but that’s kinda the point here.
We’ve been conditioned to losing that game over the last couple years. And if you polled Cubs fans in the later innings, I would guess around 85% would have guaranteed a loss.
That’s not negativity. That’s a hard reality. Nearly everyone expected the bullpen to choke and we were wrong lost night. So that’s awesome and hopefully becomes more of a recurring theme around the ball club. Get some momentum now and ride it into May when the schedule opens up.
That’s why last night was so important.
You just can’t get swept after taking a series from the Dodgers. Especially with an 8 game homestand coming against the Diamondbacks, Phillies and Dodgers to close out April. And as I’ve said a thousand times already, it’s the hardest month for any MLB team this year as measured by 2024 win percentage. As such you absolutely need to win 1-run ball games to grow above .500.
Lucky for us, we got an incredible performance last night from the pitching staff. Even if the defense continues to check out for innings at a time.
Again – I understand the drama behind calling this game of the year. But when you consider the scheduling, where we’re at with news and roster moves, and the overall lingering sentiment from last year that we’re bound to blow it… I really think last night will only stand out more over time.
For now though we need to be ready for a 3:10pm rubber match against the 14-4 Padres.
Some related thoughts as we move through the week:
- Our 3rd base situation is a mess. Gage Workman looks like a solid AAAA player and Jon Berti doesn’t have the arm or power to occupy the position. Matt Shaw just got sent down while former Rays standout prospect Vidal Brujan now gets his opportunity to play. That’s 4 names and it’s not even late April – a completely predictable situation given the Kyle Tucker trade in late December. So why is the MLB’s 3rd richest franchise unable to field a player at the position? Makes no sense to me.
- Porter Hodge is my favorite reliever since Carlos Marmol was purely a set up man for Kerry Wood in 2008
- Kerry Wood converting to closer was one of the coolest things in the career of my Cubs fandom
- I’m so happy the west coast road trips are over in mid-April. Nothing sucks more than having a June week destroyed with 9pm starts against the San Francisco Giants. Fuck that and welcome home this weekend boys. We won’t play another late night west coast game until deep into August and by that time we should be up double digits in the division.
- First place feels good and right and I’d like to stay here as long as possible
- Today: Matt Boyd vs. Nick Pivetta in my most anticipated start of the season for any starting pitcher
- Our bullpen is taxed to shit but off day tomorrow so clench your butt cheeks this afternoon and hope for the best
- After today, the Cubs face the following starters in sequence
- Corbin Burnes
- Zac Gallen
- Merril Kelly
- Dustin May
- As such, today becomes extremely important because it’s your best starting pitching match up for almost the next week. No pressure or anything. Just don’t fuck it up today.
Other programming notes:
- I need to go for a long walk today. I tried yesterday but only had 45 minutes to spare and it was too windy and I was being a huge pussy. We really gotta start limiting that behavior
- Bears draft is coming up quick and I hope we don’t draft a special teamer at any point in the 3 day event
- I got about 5.5 hours of sleep last night and that’s a good thing
- Just started a book about Teddy Roosevelt’s relationship with his daughter and her trip to the Far East in the early 19th century. My dad recommended and gifted it to me the other weekend and I’m smart enough to know how lucky I am to have that kinda relationship. Certainly not a topic I would have ever reached for on the shelf. But when dad hands you a book and says it’s important, you read it and then you talk about it. So that’s the plan and I just wanted to share something uniquely personal.
Everyone have a great day and don’t take shit from anyone.