The Cubs are scheduled to open a four-game set with the Reds tonight on what is also this year’s Jackie Robinson Day in Major League Baseball. It is, of course, fitting that Jackie Robinson Day should come now, with Black athletes using their power to call attention to racism in the criminal justice system and elsewhere.
Jason Heyward sat out Wednesday night’s game as part of the Milwaukee Bucks-led strike, but encouraged his teammates to play. Reactions were mixed, with many wishing the Cubs had joined Heyward in the strike regardless of his wishes in a show of solidarity, and others wondering if even Heyward would have preferred to have been joined by his teammates, despite his urging them to play. It’s difficult to know what Heyward wanted, because we are not Jason Heyward, and we are not in the Cubs’ clubhouse, but on the whole, it seems the Cubs’ players and management—from Rizzo & Ross to Hoyer & Epstein—do care about racism, and do care about Heyward, and it does not seem likely at this point that there’s any rift within the team about it, though as always with these things, more could have been done.
That isn’t to say that the Cubs handled this correctly, or that they handled it incorrectly. I (and probably you, knowing the demographics of this blog’s readership) aren’t in a position to say what they should have done. It also isn’t over yet. A strike at any point remains a possibility, and that’s a good thing, because it forces us fans, as human beings, to sit with uncomfortable realities and remember the things we can’t let baseball distract us from.
As for the baseball itself:
The Cubs did not put their best foot forward in Detroit, dropping a series to one of three teams on their schedule against which they should not drop a series. Tyler Chatwood did not look sharp in his return from the Injured List on Tuesday. José Quintana allowed a lot of hard contact in his own return. Jon Lester bounced back from Armageddon against the White Sox to pitch rather well on Wednesday, but formerly rather reliable arms in the bullpen—Rowan Wick and Ryan Tepera—let the game get away.
There was good, too, of course. Javy Báez’s two home runs on Monday were a great sign. David Bote had a similarly big night that night. Ian Happ continues to produce. But overall, were it not for the Cardinals scuffling these past four days, managing to drop both halves of yesterday’s doubleheader against the Pirates, the Cubs would be only two games ahead, or possibly just one, and with the Braves sweeping a doubleheader of their own against the Yankees Tuesday, the Cubs are no longer in sole possession of second place in the National League.
Today marks the beginning of 18 scheduled games in 17 days, with a doubleheader tomorrow, an off-day Monday, and a doubleheader again next Saturday against the Cardinals. With two starters inspiring full confidence, two starters inspiring medium confidence, and a big set of question marks beyond that, there will be some uncomfortable games along the way, making winning Kyle Hendricks’s and Yu Darvish’s starts feel essential. There’s a possibility—even a likelihood, perhaps—that Epstein & Hoyer will make a move before the Trade Deadline Monday, most likely for at least a lottery ticket in the bullpen, but it’s unlikely that they’ll get in a bidding war for any top options, and the top options (Trevor Rosenthal?) aren’t exactly inspiring.
The bottom line? Halfway through, the Cubs remain what they were projected to be entering the season—one of four rather equivalent teams in the NL Central, nowhere near the level of the Dodgers but with enough pieces that they could conceivably be the second-best team in an open-behind-Los-Angeles league. They’ve given themselves a significant head start—three games over the Cardinals, five games over the Reds and Brewers—but with 15 of these 18 upcoming games against those three division challengers, things could change fast.
A split this weekend would be a fine result. A series win would be a great result. Beyond wins and losses, though, Black lives remain more important. Jackie Robinson remains more important. Jason Heyward remains more important.
