Anthony Rizzo did not start on Friday night for the first time this season, but he had plenty to say before his teammates were bashed by the Brewers at Miller Park.
According to multiple reports, Anthony Rizzo was asked about the latest news concerning the restoration of Wrigley Field and admitted he and the players “are sick of hearing it’s going to be done and just want to see it get done.”
Rizzo follows the news and updates on the project. Rizzo said he and the players know the facilities are going to be updated, but they would like to see progress because the players are tired of just hearing about what’s going to happen.
Rizzo told the beat writers, “I’ve only been here for a few years, and guys before me have heard it before, that changes were going to happen and I don’t know what’s going on. Obviously it’s not my job to do it. Obviously we all want it. But when guys are promised things that are going to happen and they don’t happen, they’re not happy about it. When it gets done it’s going to be great. Now it’s just kind of ‘OK, when it gets done it gets done. We’re not going to have our hopes up or anything.”
News and Notes
Rick Renteria said Friday that Neil Ramirez would be used in the ninth inning with Hector Rondon out until Tuesday. Rondon was placed on the paternity list Friday to be with his wife for the birth of their child.
Pedro Strop was activated from the DL when the team placed Hector Rondon on the paternity list. With Strop back, the Cubs will have to make a roster decision before Tuesday’s game. Rondon can miss three games, under league rules, on the paternity list. Monday is an off day for the Cubs, so the team will have to send out a reliever before activating Rondon for the series against the Mets.
Starlin Castro is expected to get a day off on Sunday. Renteria said Friday the plan was to give Castro a breather on Sunday which would give him almost three days off with Monday’s day off and Tuesday’s night game (7:05pm CDT).
Scott Miller gave Anthony Rizzo a quiz.
Twitter started buzzing on Friday night when the Blue Jays scratched RHP Marcus Stroman from his Triple-A outing. Stroman is one of the pitchers the Cubs are believed to be interested in for Jeff Samardzija, so many jumped to the conclusion he had been traded. The Blue Jays called up Stroman and he will make his first big league start on Saturday.
Minor News and Notes
Kris Bryant homered on Friday night, his league leading 17th of the season. Bryant went 1-for-3 with a home run and a walk in the Smokies loss. Over the last 10 games, Bryant is hitting .455/.591/1.091 with three doubles, six home runs and a 1.682 OPS. For the month of May (28 games), Bryant has a .404/.492/.808 slash line with six doubles, 12 home runs, 17 walks, 32 strikeouts and a 1.299 OPS.
Andruw Green provided some fun facts about Kris Bryant homering for the third straight game on Friday night, the first time in his professional career he’s hit three homers in three straight games. Bryant joins Justin Bour (July 24-27, 2013) and Javier Baez (July 23-25, 2013) as the last three Smokies to hit longballs in three straight games … and each player accomplish the feat in Huntsville.
Arismendy Alcantara hit a pair of home runs behind Kyle Hendricks on Friday night in an I-Cubs victory over Memphis in what was supposed to be game one of a doubleheader. The second game was cancelled due to PCL curfew rules after rain delayed the start of the first game. Alcantara went 2-for-4 with two home runs, his sixth and seventh longballs of the season, and three runs scored. Alcantara has adjusted well to PCL pitching and his hitting .382/.432/.882/1.315 over his last 10 games with one double, two triples, four home runs, three walks and five strikeouts.
Daytona made a series of roster moves on Friday. LHP Tyler Ihrig and RHP Josh Davis were sent to extended Spring Training. RHP Zach Cates and RHP Jose Rosario were activated from the disabled list and RHP Michael Jensen was reinstated from the suspended list.
This Day In Cubstory
2008 – For the first time in 100 years, the Cubs entered June with the best record in baseball at 36-21
2006 – Cubs acquired Phil Nevin from the Rangers for Jerry Hairston Jr. and cash
2004 – Cubs traded Damian Jackson to the Royals for Travis Dawkins
2003 – Cubs released Rod Beck
2003 – Cubs beat the Astros 1-0 in 16 innings, the longest 1-0 game for the Cubs since a 17-inning win over the Boston in 1901. Houston set a franchise record with 23 strikeouts and the Cubs set a franchise record by striking out 23 times
1988 – Jeff Pico threw a four-hit shutout against the Reds to win his Major League debut 4-0. Pico became the first Cubs pitcher to post a shutout in his big league debut since Bill Lee in 1934
1967 – Kenny Lofton, born
1966 – Ron Santo established a National League record when he appeared in his 364th consecutive game at third base. Santo’s streak began on April 19, 1964 and will end at 390 games after he was hit in the face by Jack Fisher and suffered a broken cheek bone.
1948 – A record paid crowd of 46,965 at Wrigley Field saw the Cubs split a doubleheader with the Pirates. Cubs won game one 4-3 and lost game two 4-2. Andy Pafko collected five hits and homered in each game
1920 – Grover Cleveland Alexander homered in the bottom of the 10th inning to win his own game 3-2 over the Reds at Wrigley Field