There is a stage of a rebuild in which you turn to people simply because they can technically perform the job. I have nothing but admiration for Adrian Sampson, a man who has made a career out of playing baseball but has a 5.82 career MLB FIP and a 6.37 FIP for Iowa this year over a sizable chunk of innings. He is pitching today because the Cubs need a man who can throw three or four innings without the universe imploding. This is where we are. Adrian Sampson bears no fault for this.
Other notes:
- The Cubs won last night!
- Kyle Hendricks worked six and allowed just one run, which came on a Nick Castellanos homer. Castellanos smoked it, but the rest of the contact wasn’t terribly damaging by nature. Hendricks did walk three, though, and he only struck out three. Not the most reassuring outing, result aside.
- Codi Heuer looked great as he locked down a two-inning save. Good flash from him.
- Ian Happ had three hits, including a home run. His wRC+ is only 75 but that’s better than it was yesterday.
- Frank Schwindel doubled again, obviously. 157 wRC+ for him now, and while his .408 wOBA won’t hold up, his .333 xwOBA’s still solid.
- David Bote did the thing where he hit the ball 108 mph or harder twice and only got a single for his trouble. I looked, and he’s in the top half of baseball in exit velocity and the bottom quartile in launch angle, neither of which is all that extreme, which I take to imply that his .324 xwOBA, which is close to league-average, actually might be the reasonable expectation and that he has just been outrageously unlucky. Maybe I’m wrong. Hopefully the Cubs don’t do anything rash with him.
***
Draft Watch:
Still eighth in the draft order, still one game back of fifth.
The Diaspora:
Steve Cohen is complaining on Twitter about Javy Báez and others as he evidently learns that sometimes baseball players don’t do exactly what you want them to. What a year for Steve Cohen.
Jake Arrieta pitches today. For the Padres. In Denver. The Padres are facing a sweep. At the hands of the Rockies. In August. The Rockies. I am so sorry, Padres fans.
Tommy La Stella homered for the Giants, Kris Bryant had what appears to have been a day off.
Anthony Rizzo could return for the Yankees at any moment, from the sounds of it. Could also be another week, from the sounds of it.
Around the Division:
The Reds DFA’d Heath Hembree, who’d been one of their best bullpen options earlier in the year. The Brewers got Keston Hiura back and have recently added David Dahl and Connor Sadzeck as minor league depth.
Up Next:
The rubber match.
***
Whom:
Cubs vs. Cincinnati
When:
11:35 AM Chicago Time. Where did the morning go?
Where:
Cincinnati
Weather:
Wind’s blowing out towards left at five to ten miles per hour. Temperature in the 80’s.
Starting Pitchers:
Adrian Sampson vs. Tyler Mahle
The Opponent:
Mahle’s up past 130 innings now, with a 3.51 xERA and a 3.81 FIP. Strong year for the 26-year-old.
The Numbers:
Cubs are a +250 underdog, Reds are at -300, that’s an implied Cubs win probability of about 26%. Over/under’s at 9½ and leans towards the over.
Cubs News:
Forgot to mention this yesterday, but the Cubs will be playing the Reds in Dyersville next year as the visiting team. Must have out-muscled having to give up a Wrigley home game.
Michael Hermosillo was called up yesterday as the Cubs released Dan Winkler. Johneshwy Fargas has been DFA’d to make room for Sampson. Keegan Thompson might start on Saturday on a short pitch count.
Cubs Thoughts:
There’s been this trend of quadruple-A guys coming up and raking (Wisdom, Ortega, Schwindel), and I don’t think we should bank on Hermosillo doing that but it’d be pretty fun if he did.
