On the one hand, sure, pitchers will eventually adjust to Frank Schwindel.
But on the other, who else on the Cubs are they supposed to gameplan for right now? They should be adjusting already.
Other notes from last night:
- Not a great outing from Alec Mills, no, but not terrible or anything. For as much as Mills has been the Cubs’ best pitcher this year and should be locked into next year’s rotation already (as far as such a lock-in can go), it’s probably also good to remember that this is a guy who maxes out as the fourth starter on a good staff. Your hope for next year isn’t that Mills is the ace. It’s that he’s good enough to make the decision easy in the 2022 or 2023 NLCS when you have to decide whether to put Kyle Hendricks or Marcus Stroman out there on short rest or turn to Mills.
- Every time Matt Duffy hits a home run I don’t believe it. I expect it to have bounced off multiple heads and gloves to get there. But he does it sometimes! A decent amount, lately!
- A 40-man-crunch thing I hadn’t considered with Robinson Chirinos is that the Cubs might try to spend the offseason with just Willson Contreras and Miguel Amaya as catchers on the 40-man. There’d be no intention of having Amaya on the active roster, but he has to be on the 40-man, and then they’d try to get a non-roster spring training invitee on the 40-man once the 60-day IL opened back up. So, they might lose Chirinos to that process even if they want him back.
- With the cross-up…yeah, it stinks to lose that way, but the odds of that happening are so slim that I wonder how big a deal it is in terms of preparation. Doesn’t seem to be a wider problem. And with Trevor Megill…his numbers were bad already. This doesn’t seem like anything that should factor into the assessment of him. Partially because the assessment isn’t all that gray at this point anyway.
- Adbert Alzolay was good again in relief over multiple innings.
***
The Diaspora:
Jon Lester fanned seven, walked none, and allowed two home runs in a win over the Mets. Kris Bryant went deep in a loss to the Padres. Ryan Tepera’s on the IL now.
Around the Division:
The Cardinals are still a game up on the Padres, but with the Reds losing St. Louis is now a game and a half up on Cincinnati (up two in the loss column).
Up Next:
The rubber match.
***
Whom:
Cubs vs. Philadelphia
When:
5:05 PM Chicago Time
Where:
Philly
Weather:
Low chance of rain, but a chance. Temperatures in the 70’s. Wind blowing across and in a little from right at about ten miles per hour.
Starting Pitchers:
Kyle Hendricks vs. TBD
The Opponent:
The Phillies are three back of St. Louis and three and a half back of Atlanta in their respective playoff paths.
The Numbers:
Where lines are available, the Cubs are coming in at +150 with the Phils at -160, for an implied Chicago win probability of about 38%. The over/under’s at nine.
Cubs News:
Nothing big I saw.
Cubs Thoughts:
Hopefully we get a good outing from Hendricks. Hopefully Schwindel keeps raking.
