Frank Schwindel, what more can you say, he is inevitable, he is the culmination of humanity, the Cubs are winning, things are fun, the falling draft stock is only a marginal hit especially compared to what this says about what guys like Frank Schwindel could potentially do next year.
Other highlights:
- Matt Duffy with two home runs??? Hell yeah, man. Get it.
- Jason Heyward with one home run?? A sign of life.
- Ian Happ didn’t smoke the ball, but he got three hits, and we like to see that.
- Adbert Alzolay was good again in relief. Remember: Alzolay wasn’t all that great as a starter this year, despite flashes of brilliance and some relative success compared to his cohort. If he becomes a multi-inning reliever, and a good one, that could still be good for the Cubs.
***
The Diaspora:
Javy Báez went 4-for-4 with a home run. Dan Vogelbach—yeah, we’re including Dan Vogelbach, mostly for the laughs—hit a walk-off grand slam for the Brewers against the Cardinals.
Around the Division:
Dan Vogelbach hit a walk-off grand slam for the Brewers against the Cardinals, while the Reds lost to the Tigers to send the Padres into the wild card lead. Reds are half a game back, Cardinals are three back, Reds are about to run into a buzzsaw (just you wait).
Brad Brach is back active for the Reds, who are mainly missing Jesse Winker and Nick Senzel amongst guys who could return (though Senzel’s a big maybe there). Willy Adames went on the IL for Milwaukee with his quad issue. Jack Flaherty is set to start playing catch again as the Cardinals try to stay alive.
Up Next:
Three with the Reds as the homestand continues.
***
Whom:
Cubs vs. Cincinnati
When:
1:20 PM Chicago Time
Where:
Wrigley Field
Weather:
Another beautiful day. Temperatures in the 70’s, wind blowing in from right-center at about ten miles per hour.
Starting Pitchers:
Justin Steele vs. Sonny Gray
The Opponent:
After wrestling some injury issues to start the year, Gray’s got a 3.83 FIP and a 3.33 xERA over 108.2 innings pitched (21 starts). He’s still Sonny Gray.
The Numbers:
The Cubs are +133 underdogs, with the Reds at -143 for an implied Cubs win probability of about 40%. The over/under’s at eight and leans towards the over.
Cubs News:
Nothing major that I’ve seen.
Cubs Thoughts:
Hopefully Steele can build off last week’s outing. Would be nice if he’d up the strikeouts again and cut back on the walks, but not allowing any home runs (or much hard contact at all) is always good.
