Well, the Tyler O’Neill attack wasn’t pleasant, but Rafael Ortega robbing Paul Goldschmidt was fun, Trayce Thompson clobbered one, Cory Abbott had a pretty solid outing for a surprise starter, and Ian Happ reached base enough that he’s still above the league average by wRC+.Let’s dwell on those things. Oh, and this one (though it isn’t a good thing):
The Cubs have a little Covid outbreak.
Nick Martini and David Bote are the latest Cubs placed on the injured list without an injury designation, which generally means Covid these days. That makes four Cubs in this situation, we’ve got Johneshwy Fargas back on the active roster, Tyler Ladendorf got added as well, and I’m having trouble keeping straight who is or isn’t on the 40-man which means I’ll probably need to give this a thorough look with a good breakfast in my system in a week and a half so I can parse through who’s even in the roster crunch conversation.
In the meantime, obviously, hopefully everyone’s ok. Also in the meantime, the Cubs march on towards setting a record for the most players played in an MLB season, if they haven’t set that record already. Naming them all will be a good bar trick one day. Let’s dwell on that.
***
The Diaspora:
Craig Kimbrel had a nice outing for the White Sox tonight, and Ryan Tepera is back from the IL and pitching for them again (though he didn’t have a nice outing).
Around the Division:
Not a whole lot. Cardinals are one Dodgers loss or Giants win away from having their Wild Card opponent locked in.
Up Next:
Game 2
***
Whom:
Cubs vs. St. Louis
When:
6:15 PM Chicago Time
Where:
Busch Stadium
Weather:
Stormy day. We’ll see.
Starting Pitchers:
Adrian Sampson vs. Jon Lester
The Opponent:
It may be Lester’s final appearance of the year, and it could theoretically be the final outing of his career, which is wild to say. We’ll see, but keep it in mind if you’re watching, in case you’re watching that.
The Numbers:
The Cubs are +160 underdogs, with the Cardinals at -175 for an implied Cubs win probability of about 36%. The over/under’s at nine and favors the under.
Cubs News:
I think I covered it all above. This is really feeling like the last week of school when the teacher’s lost control of the class. I think the Cubs could carry a 36-man active roster at this point. Nobody would stop them.
Cubs Thoughts:
I would like to say something poignant about Jon Lester, but I am too tired.
