Yesterday was a good time, final result of the second game and all. Not a spectacular outing from Justin Steele, but five strikeouts and only two walks is a good ratio even if he didn’t make it through four innings, and he only allowed one home run, which is a performance I’ll take. Still has the upside, still more likely than not to end up back in the bullpen. Good outings from Rowan Wick and Adrian Sampson—maybe the Cubs’ll end up wanting to keep Sampson around? The 40-man crunch makes me think they won’t. But we’ll see. As much a chance to prove himself as anybody before what I believe is free agency this offseason for him.
Offensively, Austin Romine had a big day in the opener, David Bote had a nice day overall (though he did smoke another double play ball in the nightcap), Patrick Wisdom obliterated one baseball and struck out four times in his eight trips to the plate, Frank Schwindel had another great day (three for seven with a triple and a walk), Jason Heyward did well in the second game after sitting the first, and then, of course, Ian Happ:
It wasn’t actually all that huge of a day for Happ. He sat the opener, so he went two for six overall with a home run. But it was a dramatic home run, and it extends his hot streak to a month now, 31 full days, over which he has a 130 wRC+. He’s still below replacement level on the season by fWAR, but only narrowly, and he’s up to an 85 wRC+ that’s bad but not horrific. His strikeout rate is still high, but it’s below his career average, and it’s actually a little higher over this past month, so maybe Happ needs to…strike out more?
Now, granted, Happ has a .353 BABIP over this stretch. But his xwOBA’s dead even with his wOBA on the year, and his exit velocity is right around his career average as well.
There’s a lot of intrigue with the recent hot stretch—what comes from approach, what comes from swing, what comes from luck—but the results are there, and we don’t seem to be getting anything terribly outlandish on the luck front (though we’re certainly getting a bit of help). Hopefully it continues, hopefully Happ can develop into something like a three-WAR player, even if he’s not the six-WAR player he was playing like for much of 2020.
Oh, also: Great dancing on that stolen base, Ian.
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Draft Watch:
With the Twins winning last night, the Cubs are back to seventh in the draft order. FanGraphs, whom we probably don’t reference enough in this context, projects them to finish sixth in the order, passing the Nationals but not the Marlins.
The Diaspora:
Javy Báez made a sensational catch and made a terrible mistake on the bases for the Mets before Kris Bryant homered to help the Giants steal a win in Queens. Kyle Schwarber hit a monstrous home run in the bottom of the ninth to send the Red Sox to extras. Yu Darvish is listed as the Padres’ starter tonight.
Around the Division:
Tejay Antone is indeed back on the IL for the Reds, and I haven’t seen anywhere that it’s not going to be Tommy John surgery. Yadier Molina has announced that 2022 will be his final season. Nick Castellanos is reportedly likely to opt out of his deal with the Reds and become a free agent, albeit one attached to a qualifying offer.
Up Next:
A weekend set with the White Sox at Comiskey.
Cubs News:
Jake Jewell was the 27th man for the doubleheader, and what a sad way to be the 27th man for a doubleheader.
Cubs Thoughts:
Happ is under club control through 2023. Would be very nice if he could be productive over that stretch.
