Hello again, everybody. I hope all is well with all. Given certain schedules, an off day today, and an afternoon soiree at Wrigley on Friday, we thought we would just catch everyone off guard and with Ramblings … on a THURSDAY!
[Insert Hollywood-esque gasping sound for effect]
So, now that the shock has worn off, and you are ready to get to it, let’s not waste anymore time. Let’s get rambling …
• Kris Bryant absolutely monster-mashed that homer Tuesday. I know that word doesn’t really work, but no word really works. It was annihilated. So awesome.
• And his swing is just so pretty. It’s almost majestic. Also, this is my opinion so feel free to tell me I am wrong.
• Len just laid out the trade that sent Scherzer from Arizona to Detroit. If I heard correctly, the D-Backs only received Edwin Jackson and Ian Kennedy. Ouch.
• Paying a 30-year old $210 million is still hard for me to fathom. I understand the Cubs gave a lot of money to Lester, but Scherzer’s contract blows my mind.
• The bullpen needs help. I saw Balfour was cut again, but getting cut twice by the same team in the same year, let alone by the Rays, doesn’t give me much hope that he would be a great pick-up. But this has been rumored. However, almost everything in life has been rumored.
• If you told me in March that the Cubs would be 25-20, five-and-a-half games back and in second place on May 27, I would have taken that 100 out of 100 times. No two ways about it.
• Getting back to the bullpen. I see that Daniel Bard’s speed is rising again, but his control is non-existent.
• The bullpen is bad, and it is the level of bad that will keep the Cubs out of the playoffs. By my count, they are 11-19 in save situations. That is completely and utterly unacceptable.
• While I am on it, the defense should improve as the kids mature and get more experienced, but the ornery side of me is starting to get upset and annoyed. Double plays should be routine. I don’t get at “routine” feeling watching the Cubs turn two these days.
• It is hard to believe A-Rod is clean right now. I am NOT saying that he is NOT, but I am saying it’s hard to believe. But if he IS clean this season, how sad that he had to cheat so much because he truly did have talent. And a lot of it. Tarnished.
• Sorry to catch everyone off guard and go there, but I saw a highlight, the thought was in my head, I shared. Also, if you read this, I am a sharer, some call me an over-sharer.
• Speaking of, it never ceases to amaze me how bad I am at Fantasy baseball. I love this game and eat it up, yet for the life of me, I don’t grasp the concept, or put enough time into it, or many other things. But I am just plain crappy at Fantasy Baseball.
• I really like what I have seen out of Wada in his first two starts. Sticking around a 3.00 ERA as a fifth starter would be great.
• Speaking of starters, how fun has it been to watch the Professor deal his last two times on the mound. We can speculate and guess, and I will do so now. I think he probably felt a great deal of pressure to prove last season was not a fluke.
• When he came up last year, there was nothing on him. Now he is an important part of a playoff-caliber baseball team. That changes things so much. Let’s hope he has settled down and continues to throw the way he has the past 10 or 12 days.
• And another ugly-looking double play, and one that was rather close to being a “single-play” that was simply not reviewed. However, Scherzer didn’t appear to have actually reached second, so null and void.
• Junior Lake has acquitted himself quite nicely, but I hope Denorfia can return soon. The bench needs him. The pinch-hitting needs him.
• The offense has been sputtering lately. Outside of the nine-spot in Arizona, there have been a lot of games where the Cubs have scored less than four runs, and too often as of late, less than three runs.
• That is going to become a problem very soon. Castro is slumping and Soler has been very inconsistent. Some improvement from both of them should help, but other areas need to improve. Coughlan has been hanging just above that Mendoza line for awhile. Come June, things might change.
• Dexter Fowler seems like the kind of person you want to have as a friend. He appears to be a legitimately good person and great teammate. He is one of my new favorite players this year, and I am pulling hard for him no matter where he plays baseball. Good people need to be supported.
And another poorly played ground ball by a Cubs infielder. This needs to get better, much, much better. However, the Cubs are 25-21 and in second place leading the Wild Card. It’s May 28. I think it is going to be a fun summer at Clark and Addison and the real action has yet to begin.
Happy Thursday to all, and as always …
Stay Classy Cubs Fans!!