August 17, 2018
Chicago Tribune, Jon Lester breaks out of rut in Cubs' 1-0 win over Pirates after meeting with manager Joe Maddon http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-cubs-pirates-20180816-story.html
Chicago Tribune, The many sides of Joe Maddon: The best moments from 'The Joe Show' http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-cubs-joe-maddon-favorite-moments- 20180817-story.html
Chicago Tribune, Cubs’ Jon Lester satisfied with results over numbers: ‘I don’t even know what WAR is and how it applies to a pitcher’ http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-cubs-jon-lester-numbers-20180817- story.html
Chicago Tribune, Cubs' Kris Bryant progressing toward Sept. 1 return — or earlier http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-cubs-kris-bryant-rehab-20180816- story.html
Chicago Tribune, If the Cubs win the NL Central, which team would they least like to face in the playoffs? http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-cubs-possible-playoff-opponent- 20180816-story.html
Chicago Tribune, Mike Montgomery says a 10-day break between starts should help: 'It's been a heavy workload year' http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-cubs-mike-montgomery-rest- 20180816-story.html
Chicago Tribune, Joe Maddon applauds Cubs' quick pursuit of speedster Terrance Gore http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-cubs-terrance-gore-20180816- story.html
Chicago Sun-Times, After rocky stretch, Jon Lester punches back as Cubs KO Pirates 1-0 https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/jon-lester-ko-cubs-pirates-scoreless-start/
Chicago Sun-Times, Right here waiting for Yu: Cubs’ Darvish to head out for rehab start Sunday https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/right-here-waiting-for-yu-darvish-to-head-out-for-sunday- rehab-start/
Chicago Sun-Times, Cubs’ Kris Bryant makes progress, expects to make impact on pennant race https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/cubs-kris-bryant-shoulder-injury-pennant-race/
The Athletic, How Jon Lester found some answers and looked like the Cubs’ ace again https://theathletic.com/477111/2018/08/17/how-jon-lester-found-some-answers-and-looked-like- the-cubs-ace-again/
The Athletic, Preparing for impact: Kris Bryant expects to be a game-changer in playoff race https://theathletic.com/476907/2018/08/16/preparing-for-impact-kris-bryant-expects-to-be-a- game-changer-in-playoff-race/
The Athletic, ‘We hold ourselves to a high standard’: Cubs are experienced in the art of the pennant race https://theathletic.com/476130/2018/08/16/we-hold-ourselves-to-a-high-standard-cubs-are- experienced-in-the-art-of-the-pennant-race/
Cubs.com, Lester regains form with 6 scoreless, 8 K's https://www.mlb.com/cubs/news/jon-lester-beats-pirates-ian-happ-homers/c-290663468
Cubs.com, Baez's tag, Contreras' arm thwart steal attempt https://www.mlb.com/cubs/news/javier-baez-makes-slick-tag-on-starling-marte/c-290638524
Cubs.com, Darvish ready for rehab start; Bryant swinging https://www.mlb.com/cubs/news/yu-darvish-set-for-rehab-from-triceps-injury/c-290634818
ESPNChicago.com, Recapping the slam: An oral history of David Bote's big blast http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/24395970/mlb-cubs-give-oral-history-david-bote-historic- walk-grand-slam
NBC Sports Chicago, A stellar Jon Lester outing gives the Cubs more than just a win https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/cubs/stellar-jon-lester-outing-gives-cubs-more-just-win
NBC Sports Chicago, Kyle Hendricks embracing change as he looks to regain top form https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/cubs/kyle-hendricks-embracing-change-he-looks-regain-top- form
NBC Sports Chicago, David Bote, the Cubs and the case for slow development https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/cubs/david-bote-cubs-and-case-slow-development
--
Chicago Tribune Jon Lester breaks out of rut in Cubs' 1-0 win over Pirates after meeting with manager Joe Maddon By Mark Gonzales
Jon Lester never panicked during his second-half rut. He knew an assessment of his struggles that included a meeting with manager Joe Maddon would help him revert to his first-half dominance.
Employing his full repertoire of pitches with pinpoint control, Lester pitched six scoreless innings Thursday night as the Cubs held on for a 1-0 win over the Pirates that increased their lead in the National League Central to 3½ games over the idle Brewers.
Ian Happ’s home run with one out in the fourth provided just enough cushion, and Pedro Strop pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his 10th save.
Before the game, Maddon revealed that Lester approached him about ways to cure a seven-start slump in which he had an 8.65 ERA and allowed at least one home run in each game.
Maddon didn’t divulge details of Lester’s plan, but it was evident he relied on his curveball for strikeouts of David Freese, Josh Bell and Corey Dickerson in the second and third.
“When you get backed into a corner and you struggle, you run to stuff you feel comfortable with, and it’s just being a natural human being,” Lester said after scattering five hits, walking none and tying a season high with eight strikeouts. “That’s what I feel I was doing.”
Lester’s performance mirrored many of his first 17 starts, in which he posted a 2.25 ERA en route to an All-Star selection. Only one runner advanced past first base against Lester, who was aided in the sixth when catcher Willson Contreras threw out Starling Marte on a steal attempt with the help of a quick tag by second baseman Javier Baez.
“That’s a great one for him to build off of,” Maddon said of Lester’s start.
Lester said he felt comfortable assessing his recent woes with Maddon.
“Sometimes it’s nice to hear a different voice,” he said.
Even after Lester allowed nine runs on 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings against the Nationals on Saturday, Maddon wasn’t overly concerned because Lester’s velocity hadn’t dipped.
“He was highly focused,” Maddon observed. “He was not happy (about his recent performance), but we saw the residue. He had this way about him that he was not about to be denied.”
Even more encouraging for Lester was that his rebound occurred against the Pirates, who peppered him for seven hits in five innings of a 5-4 loss on July 31.
In four previous starts against the Pirates this season, Lester had a 4.70 ERA with 23 hits allowed in 23 innings.
“I still threw my fastball and cutter,” Lester said. “I was just better executing, getting a better angle on both pitches.
“Did we mix in more curves and changeups? Probably, but this is a team that you do that to. I don’t think we found the magic fix-all. But this was a step in the right direction.”
Lester wasn’t about to get carried away saying his issues were completely fixed, but he noted the Cubs (70-50) remain in first place with the league’s best record despite the rotation’s inconsistency.
“We must be doing something right,” he said. “We’re not worried about going on a streak or a roll. It’s a results-driven industry.”
This was another encouraging step for the rotation after Kyle Hendricks threw six dependable innings before fading Wednesday. Cole Hamels, who has been the Cubs’ best pitcher since arriving at the trade deadline, takes the mound Friday night.
“This is Round 1,” Lester said. “We’ll move on to Round 2 when the bell rings.”
--
Chicago Tribune The many sides of Joe Maddon: The best moments from 'The Joe Show' By Paul Sullivan and Mark Gonzales
It’s difficult to contemplate life without Joe Maddon, but one day he’ll be gone and we’ll all have a lot less to talk about.
No matter your opinion of the eccentric Cubs manager, the zeitgeist of the Maddon era will never be replicated.
Just think of all the things you associate with the Cubs thanks to Maddonisms the last four years:
“Try Not to Suck.” Cousin Eddie. “If it looks sexy, wear it.” American Legion week. Hazleton. “Embrace the Target.” Dress Like Pedro Strop Day. The Onesies trip. The Minimalist Zany Suit trip. The Shaggin’ Wagon. “The Office.” The Dye Job. Aroldis. Cubstock.
In Maddon’s first three-plus seasons on the North Side, he has won a World Series, taken the Cubs to three straight National League Championship Series and sparred with umpires from Joe West to Phil Cuzzi and managers from Mike Matheny to Clint Hurdle.
He’s an eternal optimist, a nonstop fun-seeker and a natural b.s. artist, all in one and with no apologies.
Maddon has one year remaining on his five-year deal, and President Theo Epstein said Tuesday they wouldn’t even start thinking about an extension until after the final game of this season.
No surprise.
Everyone expects Maddon to stay after 2019, but who knows? The Cubs are set up to compete no matter who is calling the shots in the dugout, and Maddon would be highly sought if the Cubs balked at his demands and he opted to play out his deal.
In a Tribune interview last year, Maddon said he couldn’t envision managing in any other city when his contract ends.
“I hope not; I don’t want to,” he said. “We’ll see how long everyone wants to stay together, keep the band together, and then I don’t even know what the next thing is for me. I know with my age (64), it indicates it should be (the last stop), but hopefully we’ll keep it rolling right.”
There are many sides to Maddon, and we’ve seen quite a few over the years. Here are some of our favorite moments from “The Joe Show” as the Cubs enter the stretch run.
Joe the Wordsmith
Along with his snappy slogans, including the ubiquitous “Try Not to Suck” (which some attribute to David Ross), Maddon is a chronic nicknamer. He pronounced Clayton Richard’s surname like that of former
Canadiens star Henri Richard. He gave old friend Bud Black a Spanish equivalent, “Pepe Negro.” Ben Zobrist is “Zorilla” and rookie David Bote is “Rebel Rebel” for the David Bowie song.
But Maddon saved his best for the 2016 Cubs victory rally in Grant Park. Wearing a “We Did Not Suck” T- shirt, he looked out on the huge crowd and channeled his inner Wavy Gravy, pronouncing the event “Cubstock.”
Like, wow, man. It was perfect.
Good-time Joe
Former Rays reliever Jamey Wright dubbed Maddon “the ambassador of all good times” for his penchant for coming up with the unexpected. Even President Barack Obama brought up Maddon’s “Shaggin’ Wagon” during the Cubs’ White House visit in 2017, a nod to the 1976 Dodge van Maddon drove onto the field during spring training while dressed as a hippie.
Obama said not many managers are “as cool as this guy,” pointing to Maddon’s casual attire, which included no tie.
“That’s pretty cool that the president calls you cool,” Maddon said. “I knew that I had a pretty good chance, being the only one that didn’t wear a tie today.”
The penguins, flamingos and other animals are history, and the Cubs have even cut down on the wacky dress-up trips, save for the recent flight to Kansas City, Mo., on which players impersonated reliever Pedro Strop.
The belief is players are weary of the dress-up trips after four seasons, and media interest has waned as well.
During his introductory news conference at the Cubby Bear in 2014, Maddon conceded you “have to have a little bit of crazy to be successful” in baseball.
“I want crazy in the clubhouse every day,” he said. “You need to be crazy to be great. I love crazy. I tell my players that all the time.”
Full-metal Joe
Maddon can dish it out if forced to defend himself or his players. He recently called ESPN analyst Alex Rodriguez “plastic” while defending Yu Darvish from A-Rod’s criticism, and he didn’t mind mixing it up during a reportedly tense meeting last week with Rodriguez.
“When you speak badly of our group, it brings out the Hazleton in me,” he said, referring to his Pennsylvania hometown.
Going “all Hazleton” on someone has been a recurring theme. When Pirates manager Hurdle ripped Javier Baez in April for flipping his bat, Maddon sniffed, “It reveals you more than it reveals the person you are talking about.”
In 2015 he likened Matheny and the Cardinals staff to fictional mob boss Tony Soprano, asking who put out a “hit” on Anthony Rizzo after the Cubs first baseman was plunked.
“To become this vigilante group that wants to get their own pound of flesh, that’s absolutely insane, ridiculous and wrong,” Maddon said. “We don’t start stuff, but we will stop stuff.”
Maddon’s arguments with umpires are always amusing, though seemingly just for show. During the ninth inning of a September 2016 game in St. Louis, Maddon was ejected by umpire Joe West, a longtime villain to Cubs fans, while trying to buy time for Aroldis Chapman to warm up. West knew Maddon was stalling and gave him the heave-ho, which Maddon called “inappropriate.” West said he was following the rules: “That’s not my problem, that’s his problem.”
In the end, Maddon laughed and admitted, “It was entertaining.”
During the last homestand, Maddon ran to first base to pantomime a play while protesting a call by plate umpire Bill Miller in which Willson Contreras was ruled out for running inside the baseline.
“I got upset, but I did respect 90,” Maddon said.
It was also entertaining.
Joe the pinata
Maddon has been a human pinata for Cubs fans who grumble over his lineups or in-game decisions, particularly during the postseason.
Chapman did Maddon no favors when he signed with the Yankees after the 2016 season and told the New York media Maddon was “wrong” in how he handled Chapman in the World Series.
“He abused me a bit on how much he made me pitch, and sometimes he made me pitch when I didn’t need to pitch,” Chapman said.
Maddon insists he doesn’t mind the second guessing, though he doesn’t believe a lot of it is very original.
“I think it’s a regurgitation of what they’ve heard a lot of times,” he said. “Whether it’s inter-family or talk radio or if they listen to one source and that source is pounding on that, they’ll regurgitate. Most of the times you hear that, it’s regurgitation, not usually a unique thought.
“I get it. It’s bar-room banter, something to do on the internet now, or you read it in the paper, or it’s your favorite talk-radio guy.”
But Maddon can also be self-deprecating at times, and he took a lot of abuse for dyeing his hair in 2017.
Joe the Philosopher
Maddon has gone back and forth on the manic-depressive nature of Cubs fans, sometimes feeding the goat and other times chiding their “woe is me” demeanor.
With the Cubs trailing the Indians 3-1 in the 2016 World Series, Maddon gave jittery fans the go-ahead to freak out.
“Please be nervous, absolutely,” he said. “You should be nervous. We have to win tonight, so go ahead and be nervous.”
But when the Cubs blew a five-run lead against the Reds in June in Cincinnati, he cried: “We just beat the Dodgers two out of three and we’re the best team since the ’27 Yankees. Cincinnati beats you up for three days, and all of a sudden it’s doom and gloom. I cannot live my life that way.”
Joe the Romantic
Maddon used to cite a favorite line from “The Office,” saying he was not “superstitious” but “a little stitious.”
Before Game 6 of the World Series, he revealed he had been toting around his father’s old Angels hat since his dad died in 2002.
“So it goes everywhere,” he said. “So that was the one thing I’m relying on today is my dad. So I held on to his hat a little bit this morning, and that’s probably the omen, in a sense, going into tonight’s game.”
The Cubs won to force Game 7, and you know the rest of the story.
While Tampa will always be Maddon’s home, he quickly learned to love everything about Chicago, except, of course, the cold weather.
“Living there for me, a guy from my background and how I got there, to be 60 years old and have this first-time event, first-time method of doing all this, I felt so revitalized and refreshed,” he told the Tribune last year. “It was kind of like being a freshman in college and going to the University of Chicago Cubs.”
At the Grant Park rally, Maddon got emotional talking about his relationship with Cubs fans, who made him feel like he was one of them.
“I’ve been around baseball for a bit,” he said. “Never, never have I experienced anything like Wrigley Field on a nightly basis, never have I experienced anything like the conversation like I have with all of you when I run into you on the street.
“It’s different. It’s spectacular. It’s comfortable. It’s warm, and it’s the way it should be.”
--
Chicago Tribune Cubs’ Jon Lester satisfied with results over numbers: ‘I don’t even know what WAR is and how it applies to a pitcher’ By Mark Gonzales
Anthony Rizzo cracked that Jon Lester’s eight-minute postgame interview lasted as long as he pitched Thursday night.
But Lester isn’t concerned with style points, even after pitching six shutout innings in leading the Cubs to a 1-0 win over the Pirates.
“I’m sure there are probably all kinds of stats out there about exit velocity or launch angle or how guys had a different approach against me,” Lester said. “We’ll let those numbers answer for how I did.”
One wise-cracking reporter, however, couldn’t pass up the chance to ask Lester what his performance did for his WAR (Wins Above Replacement).
“I don’t even know what WAR is and how it applies to a pitcher,” Lester said. “All I know is the Cubbies won the game, and that’s all that matters.”
This matched Lester’s longest outing since July 25, when he allowed one run on four hits but left with a no-decision as the Cubs rallied for a 2-1 win over the Diamondbacks. But there was more scrutiny on this start, especially after Lester was tagged for nine runs on 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings Saturday against the Nationals.
“It’s not like we figured out everything,” Lester said. “I’m not going to throw six scoreless every time I go out there. I think this is a step in the right direction.”
For Lester, the sharpness of his pitches indicated that he regained the proper arm slot and slope on his pitches that has been missing for the last month.
“I haven’t felt great since before the All-Star break, as far as my mechanics and how I’ve been throwing the ball,” Lester said. “But I should at least be able to maneuver through a lineup and get five or six or seven innings out of it. But that wasn’t the case.”
--
Chicago Tribune Cubs' Kris Bryant progressing toward Sept. 1 return — or earlier By Mark Gonzales
Kris Bryant’s deliberate rehab has progressed to the point where he could rejoin the Cubs before 25- man rosters can expand Sept. 1.
“I’d like to believe it’s possible,” manager Joe Maddon said. “At the best, before (Sept. 1).”
Bryant, who hasn’t played since July 23 because of left shoulder inflammation, awaits clearance to face live pitching. His program recently was accelerated to include hitting in the batting cage and off a tee. Another intriguing drill is tracking pitches in the cage or standing in the batter’s box during pitchers’ bullpen sessions.
“It’s something I’m confident I can pick up quickly,” Bryant said. “In the offseason, you start with your tee work and your front flips, and you’re already bored with that. After the first week, you want to see an actual pitch. That’s the next step in the process, and I’m excited about it.”
Tracking pitches helped Kyle Schwarber accelerate his recovery from left knee surgery in 2016, when he hit .412 in the World Series despite missing nearly the entire regular season and playoffs.
“(Hitting coach) Chili Davis said sometimes he wouldn’t even take batting practice and would just watch a bullpen and that prepared him for a game,” Bryant said, “and I feel the same way. You see pitches and the release point.”
Bryant estimated he might need three or four games on a minor-league rehab assignment before rejoining the Cubs.
“Or whatever (the training staff) recommends,” Bryant said. “It’s not my area of expertise, so I guess I’ll Iisten to the training staff. It goes back to me and whenever I feel like my timing is right and stuff like that.”
Maddon has kept abreast of Bryant’s progress through videotapes provided by trainer PJ Mainville.
In other medical news, Maddon confirmed that pitcher Yu Darvish will make a rehab start Sunday, likely for Class A South Bend. He wasn’t sure how many rehab starts Darvish would need before returning.
“One start, if he kills it, who knows?” Maddon said. “Two starts, might feel great. I’d say three would be the maximum.”
Closer Brandon Morrow (right biceps inflammation) and left-hander Brian Duensing (left shoulder inflammation) threw long toss.
--
Chicago Tribune If the Cubs win the NL Central, which team would they least like to face in the playoffs? By Paul Sullivan
Imagine the Cubs clinch the National League Central before the final weekend and have a chance to knock the Cardinals out of a wild-card spot on the last day of the season at Wrigley Field.
Do you go for the jugular or give Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez and Willson Contreras a day off to rest for the postseason and perhaps go with a bullpen day instead of using a starter?
The Cubs hope they’re in a position to make that choice if the game still has meaning for the postseason picture, though they could just as easily be on the other side, needing to beat the Cardinals for a wild- card spot.
Assuming the Nationals have been Bote’d into extinction since the walk-off grand slam Sunday night, the Pirates have run out of steam after their trade-deadline dash and the Giants have jumped the shark, eight teams remain in the jumbled NL race with 6½ weeks left.
They’re all in spitting distance of each other in the division and wild-card races. Heading into Thursday’s games, the team with the best record, the Cubs, was only three games ahead of the Brewers in the Central and three ahead of the wild-card co-leaders, the Brewers and Phillies. The contenders with the worst records, the Dodgers and Rockies, were only 5½ behind the Cubs.
“I know it’s very close,” Rizzo said. “I know a bad week for us and a good week for a lot of others could leave us out of the wild-card (spot). Should be a fun, exciting finish to the season for all parties involved.”
The way to avoid an “exciting finish” is for the Cubs to pull away from the pack, as everyone has been waiting for since the start of the second half.
“That would be nice,” Rizzo said. “I wouldn’t mind that.”
But they haven’t proved capable of doing so, letting the Cardinals creep within four games entering Thursday after trailing by 8½ as recently as July 27. The Cardinals also are within one game of a wild-card spot as they take on the Brewers this weekend at Busch Stadium.
If the Cubs do win the division, which team would they least like to face in a division series? Here they are, in order of which teams they most would like to face.
Rockies Season series: 3-3.
Games remaining: 0.
Lowdown: They haven’t met since May 2 at Wrigley, an embarrassing 11-2 Cubs loss in which Yu Darvish was booed off the mound after serving up three home runs in 41/3 innings. “That was awful,” Maddon said. “That was right out of the Roaring ’20s. Throw it away. I’m going to throw it out in my ’85 Oldsmobile driving back down Lake Shore (Drive).” Each team scored 33 runs in the season series, but that was 3½ months ago, so it’s all irrelevant now. The Rockies have managed to hang around despite ranking 21st in starting pitching (4.34 ERA) and 28th in relief pitching (5.15). Coors Field is always a factor, but the lack of quality pitching makes the Rockies vulnerable.
Phillies Season series: 2-1.
Games remaining: 3.
Lowdown: How the Phillies are doing it with their lineup is a question with no clear answer. They’re hitting .235, second worst in baseball, despite the addition of former Cubs hitting coach John Mallee. Adding Asdrubal Cabrera and Wilson Ramos in trade-deadline deals has helped, but this remains a team that will go only as far as its pitching takes it. Aaron Nola is the ace, though former Cubs ace Jake Arrieta has a reputation as a big-game pitcher dating to his wild-card win over the Pirates in 2015. The Cubs didn’t face Arrieta in their series at Wrigley in early June but might get a chance to see him in a three- game series Aug. 31-Sept. 2 in Philly.
Braves Season series: 2-3.
Games remaining: 1.
Lowdown: In the best game of the year (non-David Bote category), the Cubs came back from an eight- run deficit April 14 at Wrigley, scoring nine runs on three hits in the eighth with rain, cold and a hawk wind blowing in their faces. Afterward, the Braves complained that Cubs management opted to start the game in such miserable conditions. “We were just lucky no one got hurt,” Freddie Freeman said. “Win or lose, that was a tough one to play.” The Braves lead the majors with a .271 average against left-handed pitching, and the Cubs could have three lefties in the postseason rotation in Jon Lester, Cole Hamels and Jose Quintana or Mike Montgomery. They’ll face each other once more in a makeup game Aug. 30 at SunTrust Park, the start of an 11-game trip for the Cubs.
Diamondbacks Season series: 2-2.
Games remaining: 3.
Lowdown: There has been so much discussion about the possibility of a third straight Cubs-Dodgers playoff matchup, it’s easy to forget the Diamondbacks lead the NL West. It hasn’t been because of anything they’ve particularly done well, as evidenced by their 19-19 record since July 1. They’re last in the majors against right-handed pitching (.233), which bodes well for the Cubs’ predominantly right- handed bullpen. But the Diamondbacks pitching ranks fourth with a 3.61 ERA, and they held the Cubs to 11 runs and a .211 average in their four-game split at Wrigley, which ended with back-to-back homers off closer Brad Boxberger by Bote and Rizzo in the Cubs’ comeback win July 26. The three-game rematch Sept. 17-19 at Chase Field could be huge for both teams.
Brewers Season series: 9-4.
Games remaining: 6.
Lowdown: The Brewers took their “must-win” game Tuesday to assure themselves of a split in the two- game series and have shown the last two years they can hang with the Cubs. But whether they can finish off the Cubs when it really matters is unknown, especially if the bullpen doesn’t recover from its 7.74 ERA in August. Two more three-game series in September should have a playoff feel. Brewers manager Craig Counsell pointed to the cold weather and low-scoring games during the Cubs’ four-game sweep at Wrigley in late April as reasons to discount the significance of the season-series record. This would be a great matchup for baseball and for Cubs fans, who traditionally scarf up tickets at Miller Park. Nothing would feel worse than having your season end on Ryan Braun’s heroics, and the man Cubs fans love to hate loves to punish Cubs pitching.
Dodgers Season series: 4-3.
Games remaining: 0.
Lowdown: Bovada still was listing the Dodgers this week as the favorites to win the NL pennant, in spite of the loss of closer Kenley Jansen to the disabled list with an irregular heartbeat. The Dodgers bullpen has a 6.34 ERA and six blown saves in August. The additions of Manny Machado and Brian Dozier in July were supposed to bring new life, but they continue to underachieve. Still, they have Clayton Kershaw and Rich Hill, who can shut down the Cubs lineup, and the Dodgers mystique is always there. As bad as it has been this month, the Cubs don’t want to see them in October.
Cardinals Season series: 7-9.
Games remaining: 3.
Lowdown: No explanation is necessary. The Cubs don’t want to meet the Cardinals because they’re the Cardinals. Oh, and because they have Matt Carpenter, who has eight homers, 18 RBIs and a 1.213 OPS against the Cubs this season. He’s an MVP candidate if the Cardinals make the postseason. The Cubs could’ve left the Cards for dead with eight games in 11 days immediately after the All-Star break but went 4-4 and allowed them to loiter in the race. After firing manager Mike Matheny, losing struggling Dexter Fowler to the DL and dumping Tommy Pham and Greg Holland, the Cardinals are on a roll just in time for the stretch run. The Cubs beat the Cardinals in the 2015 NL Division Series and never looked back, winning it all in 2016 and getting back to the NLCS in ’17. The Cards are in a two-year postseason drought and would like nothing more than to turn the tables.
--
Chicago Tribune Mike Montgomery says a 10-day break between starts should help: 'It's been a heavy workload year' By Mark Gonzales
Cubs left-hander Mike Montgomery believes he has thrown enough since his last start Aug. 7 to remain sharp as he takes the mound Saturday against the Pirates.
Having pitched 99 1/3 innings with as many as eight starts left, Montgomery has a realistic chance to surpass his season high of 130 2/3 innings set last year.
“I think it’s going to help any time you can get extra time off,” Montgomery said of the 10 days between starts. “It’s been a heavy workload year for me, but I’ve taken advantage of it. I like to get out there and pitch, but I like to feel good.”
Montgomery threw an inning of relief Saturday and has felt strong after a couple of workouts. The extra time between starts has enabled him to sharpen his cut fastball “without overdoing it.”
“The progress it’s made in the last month is pretty good, but I don’t want to focus too much on it and lose sight of my fastball command,” Montgomery said. “It’s been good at times this year, but everyone goes in and out of having that command.
“If you can get your off-speed pitches to be sharp, that’s even better.”
--
Chicago Tribune Joe Maddon applauds Cubs' quick pursuit of speedster Terrance Gore By Mark Gonzales
Manager Joe Maddon was pleased that the Cubs aggressively pursued speedster Terrance Gore before the Aug. 31 trade deadline.
“That’s one of the things you want to be proactive with,” Maddon said Thursday, recalling that the Cubs acquired Quintin Berry and Leonys Martin in previous seasons.
Acquired on Wednesday from the Royals in exchange for a player to be named or cash, Gore singled, stole second and scored on a double in the third inning of Triple-A Iowa’s 9-3 win over Colorado Springs on Thursday.
Gore, 27, stole 21 bases in 25 attempts over four seasons with the Royals. He stole four bases in the 2014 and ’15 playoffs.
“It’s a great thought to get him at this time because the skill he has is unique,” Maddon said. “It’s a skill we really don’t possess. It’s fun to have. He’s had it in big moments and not (been) intimidated.”
Maddon recalled the effect Fernando Perez had on the Rays in 2008, from stealing five bases in September to scoring the winning run on a shallow fly in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series to stealing a base in the World Series.
Maddon loved Perez’s slogan: “We err on the side of aggressiveness.”
“Speed kills, and it’s one of those things that doesn’t go away,” Maddon said.
--
Chicago Sun-Times After rocky stretch, Jon Lester punches back as Cubs KO Pirates 1-0 By Gordon Wittenmyer
PITTSBURGH – After more than a month of getting knocked around, Cubs left-hander Jon Lester said Wednesday he felt “backed into a corner … like I’m a boxer.”
Then Thursday at PNC Park, he punched his way off the ropes in a 1-0 victory against the Pirates.
The fight, however, is not over.
‘‘The judges probably viewed it as I won the first round,’’ Lester (13-5) said. ‘‘And we’ll move on to Round 2 when the bell rings.’’
Jon Lester came out swinging against the Pirates Thursday, earning his first scoreless start since June -- third start of the season without allowing a walk.
If Lester’s six-inning, eight-strikeout performance was the result of some soul-searching between his previous start and this one, then could this just be the start of something? Could he be back to the first- half form that earned him a fifth All-Star selection?
If so, what might it mean for the Cubs’ tomato-can rotation if newcomer Cole Hamels backs it up with another strong performance Friday and they’re able to keep up any semblance of that one-two punch of lefties?
‘‘Don’t forget what Kyle [Hendricks] did, either,’’ manager Joe Maddon said of Hendricks’ victory Wednesday against the Brewers. ‘‘So you’ve got those three guys back-to-back-to-back. And beyond that, the other guys are highly capable, too.
‘‘When you get three throwing at the top of their game, that can make a very large difference.’’
Especially for a team in a tight division race with a rotation that had produced a 5.41 ERA since the All- Star break entering play Thursday.
‘‘We’ve struggled at times, but we’re still in first place with the best record in the National League, so I think we’re doing all right,’’ Lester said. ‘‘Do the numbers all add up to what we are normally expected to do? No. But we must be doing something right. All we can worry about is the night we take the ball.
‘‘We’re not worried about a streak or a roll or anything like that. Tonight was good. This has been a tough opponent for us this year. And hopefully Cole can come out [Friday] and throw the ball the way he’s been throwing the ball, and then we can move on to the next guy.’’
If the Cubs win behind Hamels (2-0 with two runs allowed in three starts with the team), it’ll give them their first three-game winning streak in a month.
For now, Lester’s first scoreless outing since he had three in June was a significant one-night success story for a pitcher who had an 8.65 ERA in his previous seven starts.
‘‘He had this way about him today,’’ Maddon said. ‘‘He was not going to be denied. He was locked in. He’d had enough, and he went back to pitching the way Jon’s capable of pitching.
‘‘I thought he was highly focused. You’re seeing a world-class athlete, highly focused, not happy with what he’d been doing, and you saw the residue of that.’’
Perhaps it was also the residue of a first-time chat with his manager about pitching after his last start. In their fourth season together, Lester sought out Maddon for his thoughts about the cause of his struggles despite feeling good physically and thinking his stuff was good enough.
‘‘I’ve been able to talk to a manager about pitching,’’ said Lester, who called the clubhouse climate unique for that comfort. ‘‘We have a very solid group of guys that care a lot about pitching [on the staff]. I think it’s good sometimes to hear a different view. He kind of had the same mindset I did, so we did some brainstorming there.’’
Maddon said he didn’t want to call their ideas getting back to ‘‘primal pitching,’’ but getting Lester back to being Lester and getting away from the pure scouting approach to the game.
Whatever it was, it worked. At least for Round 1. At least enough to get Lester off the ropes and give the rotation another strong left-handed punch.
‘‘Definitely a step in the right direction,’’ Lester said.
--
Chicago Sun-Times Right here waiting for Yu: Cubs’ Darvish to head out for rehab start Sunday By Gordon Wittenmyer
PITTSBURGH — After playing catch in the outfield Thursday, Cubs right-hander Yu Darvish considers himself ready to start a rehab assignment Sunday, likely at Class A South Bend.
‘‘He came in and said he felt great, so he’s ready to roll,’’ manager Joe Maddon said.
The $126 million centerpiece of the Cubs’ offseason hasn’t pitched since experiencing soreness near his surgically repaired pitching elbow in May. He subsequently suffered a setback after his first rehab start in June.
With barely two weeks left in the minor-league season and 42 games left in the big-league season, another setback likely would mean Darvish wouldn’t return to the Cubs’ rotation in 2018.
‘‘It would be difficult, no question,’’ Maddon said. ‘‘But he was very optimistic when I talked to him.’’
The Cubs plan to evaluate Darvish from start to start at South Bend before making a decision about when to activate him, though it seems obvious they’ll wait until rosters expand after this month.
Darvish threw a three-inning simulated game Tuesday at Wrigley Field.
‘‘One start, if he kills it, who knows?’’ Maddon said. “Three starts would be the maximum, I would think. After three starts, you would think that he has it dialed in.’’
--
Chicago Sun-Times Cubs’ Kris Bryant makes progress, expects to make impact on pennant race By Gordon Wittenmyer
PITTSBURGH — The Cubs have gotten this far into the dog days of August in first place in the National League Central with an MVP third baseman tied behind their backs.
Now they should expect to get a charge for their playoff run when Kris Bryant returns to the lineup, possibly by the end of the month.
At least that’s the way Bryant is looking at the effect he can have after being sidelined for the last three weeks by a sore shoulder that has him on the disabled list for the second time this season.
‘‘I expect the same impact I’ve always had,’’ said Bryant, who spent Thursday tracking pitches after taking light swings earlier in the week for the first time since last month. ‘‘I’m just going to go out there and be myself, and I know that’s pretty good to me.’’
Manager Joe Maddon, who said he anticipates Bryant to return before September, recently implied he might not be 100 percent even at that point.
But Bryant said he expects to be at full strength and, after ‘‘three or four’’ rehab games, to be in position to help right away — and in peak form by the playoffs.
Bryant’s next step is to take batting practice on the field sometime in the next few days.
‘‘Just looking at the schedule, I think the amount of games we have left is plenty of time to get ready for hopefully a long playoff run, and hopefully I might be a little more rested than some of my teammates because they’ve been out there grinding every day,’’ he said. ‘‘Hopefully I can provide that nice little push and cause some separation between ourselves and some of the other [teams] out there and all through the playoffs. But I guess it’s yet to be seen.’’
Maddon: ‘Neanderthal’ stuff
Maddon joined a chorus of baseball insiders in rebuking Marlins right-hander Jose Urena for hitting Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. with his first pitch Wednesday after Acuna had homered in five consecutive games.
‘‘Had it happened to us, I would have been very upset,’’ Maddon said, recalling first baseman Anthony Rizzo’s streak of three consecutive games with homers last season. ‘‘Had somebody thrown at Rizz based on that, I’d have been irate. Just go ahead and walk him if you want to. Or just make a better pitch.’’
Major League Baseball suspended Urena for six games Thursday.
‘‘There’s a Neanderthal part of our game that has to go away,’’ Maddon said. ‘‘It’s not necessary. It never was necessary in the beginning. But now with even greater scrutiny, it’s even more necessary for it to go away.’’
--
The Athletic How Jon Lester found some answers and looked like the Cubs’ ace again By Patrick Mooney
PITTSBURGH — “Yeah, we found all of ‘em,” Jon Lester said sarcastically, joking about all the soul- searching for answers and theories on what had happened to the Cubs ace. “Every last one of them. It will be that from here on out going forward.”
No, Lester wasn’t making any promises or pointing to a breakthrough moment or giving credit to the Geek Department after Thursday night’s 1-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. But this said everything about where the Cubs have been and where they think they are going and why they have so much faith in Lester.
Lester usually gets annoyed when reporters ask about his health after bad games, because the implication makes it sound like an excuse. He insisted that he physically felt strong while putting up an 8.65 ERA in his last seven starts, dismissing the idea of tipping pitches or a simple mechanical fix. He hadn’t won a game since the All-Star break, but he didn’t believe the nerds who analyzed the below-the- surface numbers and predicted this crash.
Coming off last weekend’s ugly loss to the Washington Nationals — nine runs and 10 hits allowed in 3 2/3 innings — Lester walked into Joe Maddon’s Wrigley Field office and started bouncing ideas off the manager.
“That makes our team unique,” Lester said. “There hasn’t really been a time where I’ve been able to talk to a manager about pitching. We have a very solid group of guys that care about the pitching side of the game and have a lot of information. Sometimes, it’s nice to hear a different voice. He had the same mindset I did: ‘Hey, the ball’s coming out, I feel like I’m executing for the most part, what’s going on?’
“There was brainstorming there, maybe some different opinions on things and we talked through it. The biggest thing is when you struggle, you kind of go into your corner and you try to figure it out yourself. When you [should] have other people involved and start talking through things and saying, ‘Hey, look at this, look at this.’
“We brainstormed a little bit. That’s not going to always be the outcome, but tonight was good.”
For six innings, Lester shut down a Pirates team trying to stay in the wild-card picture, allowing no walks and zero extra-base hits (five singles) while finishing with eight strikeouts. All year, the Cubs have been waiting for their rotation to start rolling, and yet they are still a season-high 20 games above .500, extending their division leads over the Milwaukee Brewers (3 1/2 games) and St. Louis Cardinals (five games). Maybe it starts now with Kyle Hendricks trending in the right direction, Cole Hamels feeling reborn in a pennant race and Lester getting back on track.
“Did we mix in more changeups and curveballs?” Lester said. “Probably, but also this is a team that you do that to, so I don’t think we found the magic [formula]. But this was definitely a good step in the right direction.”
While playing in such a high-pressure environment for a Boston Red Sox franchise steeped in tradition, Lester never really knew what to make of Maddon’s Tampa Bay Rays and their themed dress-up trips and zoo animals in the clubhouse. Lester understands the methods to the madness now — they bonded during three straight trips to the National League Championship Series — but he never had a meeting like this with Maddon until the middle of August in Year 4 of his $155 million contract.
Maddon doesn’t pretend to be a pitching expert. Going back to his years as an instructor doing grunt work in the minor leagues, he doesn’t like the concept of a bigfoot making sweeping changes and snap judgments. He offered some general advice.
“Whenever you’re having a hard time, I really suggest two things,” Maddon said. “Go back to your fundamentals, whatever those are. You know what you’ve always done in the past to get you right fundamentally. Good start there. And then No. 2: Whatever your game plan is – whatever it’s been – simplify it even more. Really, really bring this down to the grassroots.
“I don’t want to say primal pitching. But pitching the Jon Lester method primarily — and not necessarily the scouting report method — and then let’s see whatever happens after that.”
The Cubs have so much to fall back on during moments like this, when the fan base is restless and the media scrutiny is heightened and the pressure is increasing. The Cubs have their flaws and question marks — Yu Darvish is scheduled for a rehab start on Sunday (likely at Class-A South Bend) — but there are no super-teams in the NL this year or 1908-fueled anxieties. Lester wants his fourth World Series ring and competed like someone who will be ready for October.
“He’s always a little frustrated — you can see that on the mound,” said Ian Happ, who homered off Ivan Nova in the fourth inning to give the Cubs all the offense they would need at the start of a four-game series in Pittsburgh. “That’s the way he pitches. That’s why he’s such a bulldog and competitor. He’s just still always learning after being in the league so long and having so much success.”
“Jonny’s a pro,” first baseman Anthony Rizzo said. “He knows how to handle success and he knows how to handle failure with the best of them. He’s our horse. We lean on him and we’re going to continue to lean on him down the stretch. I know for a fact that we have all the confidence in the world when he goes on the mound to pitch well and get a W.”
That downturn didn’t erase an All-Star season (13-5, 3.72 ERA) or all that playoff experience (148 innings) or the perspective that comes from being 34 years old and married with children. But deep down, Lester is still a little insecure.
“Regardless of what you’ve done in the past, it’s crazy how we operate mentally,” Maddon said. “The world-class kind of athlete, they want to be that all the time, so when you get away from it, it’s disturbing. And then you’re always looking for answers.
“This is absolutely a game to build off of because he executed so well. Everything was there.”
--
The Athletic Preparing for impact: Kris Bryant expects to be a game-changer in playoff race By Patrick Mooney
PITTSBURGH – The Cubs have been getting by without Kris Bryant, using the versatility and depth built into their roster and enjoying David Bote’s sudden burst of fame. But there’s no way to fully replace the presence and production from Bryant, a Rookie of the Year/All-Star/MVP-level talent with three years of playoff experience.
Bryant says his left shoulder is pain-free now. Bryant has been hitting balls in the cage and off the tee and the next step would be facing live pitching on the field. Bryant has also been tracking pitches off the machine – like Kyle Schwarber’s crash course before the 2016 World Series – and sharpening his eyesight by standing at the plate while his teammates throw bullpen sessions.
What type of player will the Cubs be getting once Bryant is medically cleared to be in the lineup?
“I expect the same impact I’ve always had,” Bryant said before Thursday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. “I don’t necessarily think I need to go out there and try any harder. I’m just going to go out there and be myself. And I know that’s pretty good to me. I can’t wait to get back out there.”
Bryant still doesn’t know when that might happen – three-plus weeks after going on the disabled list with left shoulder inflammation for the second time this season.
“I don’t really have an answer to that,” Bryant said. “We’re definitely doing all we can every day. I feel like I’m doing more work now than I do during the season, which is different for me. But it’s all to get me back to perfect health.”
In the middle of a pennant race, that might be impossible to maintain for a powerful right-handed hitter with a violent finish to his swing, an instinctual baserunner who runs hard and an athletic third baseman playing a demanding position. But the idea is that the Cubs won’t rush Bryant and just hope he can give them something, because manager Joe Maddon has options and this is a valuable long-term asset.
“I want to be 100 percent when I get back,” Bryant said. “My intention is to go out there and play almost every game when I come back. Because I feel if you don’t do that, you’re just cutting corners, and it ultimately hurts you in the future.
“But Joe does a good job of keeping everybody rested, and days off here and there.”
Bryant estimated that he would eventually need three or four games in the minors to work on his timing and repeated his belief that this won’t be a season-ending injury: “There’s plenty of time for myself to get ready for hopefully a long playoff run.”
“I’m pleased that I’m not hearing anything bad,” Maddon said. “You don’t want to hear like, ‘Oh, my God, everything’s going in the opposite direction.’ I’m not hearing that. I’m hearing progress. I’m hearing slow progress. I’m looking forward to the moment we can plug him back into the lineup. But I don’t have any finish line kind of stuff with him, either.”
It’s already the middle of August, but still too early to worry about Bryant feeling rusty or running out of time to get ready, considering Schwarber once underwent season-ending knee surgery in April and made that dramatic comeback as the World Series designated hitter.
“In 2016, Kyle Schwarber missed a whole season and performed pretty well in the playoffs,” Maddon said. “Sometimes, under those circumstances, everything slows down. The ball looks big. You’re very fresh. You’re a lot more fresh than the guys that are out there, so it could actually work to your advantage. But we want to get him back to get to the playoffs in the first place and then take it from there.”
--
The Athletic ‘We hold ourselves to a high standard’: Cubs are experienced in the art of the pennant race By Jon Greenberg
David Bote had to laugh when I called Anthony Rizzo “good protection for you in the lineup.” “He’s got it,” he said after Wednesday’s win.
What “it” meant I wasn’t so sure, but Rizzo certainly has something right now and Bote had a bus to catch. (Just to the airport, with police escort down Irving Park Rd. He’s not in the minors anymore.)
In Wednesday’s 8-4 win over the Brewers that sent the Cubs to Pittsburgh with a three-game lead in the NL Central, Bote hit third and Rizzo cleanup in the latter’s return to a prime run-producing spot.
Cubs manager Joe Maddon’s latest lineup machinations, borne out of the offense’s malaise and Kris Bryant’s lingering shoulder injury, worked out as Rizzo clubbed a two-run homer in the first, scoring Bote, and drove in another run in the Cubs’ three-run fourth. The three RBIs were the most for Rizzo since driving in three on June 28 and the most for him at Wrigley Field since driving in three in a win over the White Sox on May 12.
Rizzo had a nice run at the leadoff spot. In games he started from July 13 through Aug. 14, he collected 34 hits in 101 at-bats with 15 RBIs on six doubles, a triple and five homers. He had 14 walks and 14 strikeouts. What was once a joke (The Greatest Leadoff Hitter of All Time) aimed partially at loosening up the team in 2017 has become a reality. Credit Maddon for that one.
While Rizzo didn’t love hitting leadoff as a vocation, he’s been on a tear the last two months, with a slash line of .346/.445/.589, and he has helped the Cubs win 17 of 29 games. Other mainstays like Ben Zobrist (1.106 OPS) and Javy Báez (.930 OPS, 15 extra-base hits) have carried more than their weight since the All-Star break.
Game by game, the Cubs are getting closer to their goal, the postseason. It hasn’t been pretty — big wins followed by uncompetitive losses have become predictable — but it’s been productive. Going into Thursday, the Cubs had 43 games left. How many wins do they need? The Brewers are hanging around, the Cardinals are surging. Who knows?
Rizzo has a goofy boyish charm during games, often looking like an overgrown Little Leaguer who just realized he gets ice cream because he hit a dinger. After games, he’s as chill as one can be with 20 reporters surrounding him as he gets dressed.
A win or a loss, no matter how exciting or deflating, just doesn’t get him fired up from April through September.
In an exciting win over the Nationals a week ago, Rizzo offered this Yogi-ism: “If the game went the other way, it’s another game.”
The Cubs have won 361 regular-season games over the past four seasons with 43 more opportunities left in 2018. Going back to 2012, Rizzo has also been on teams that have lost 529 games (to be fair, the 2012 Cubs had already lost 48 times by the time he was called up on June 26, 2012).
“Yeah,” he said when I talked to him about it after Wednesday’s post-game scrum. “It’s going to be a rollercoaster. You’ll win games and lose games. You can’t teach experience and we have it here. We’ve been through the ups and downs, the flow of playoff seasons, so it’s just kind of…”
It’s just kind of how it is now. Rizzo would much rather be talking about consistent victories like in 2016, but that’s not how it is now. A three-game lead isn’t much to hang your batting helmet on — a loss to Milwaukee on Wednesday would’ve whittled it down to one game — but the Cubs have a 73.1 percent chance of winning the division, according to Baseball Prospectus, and a 93.6 percent chance of making the postseason, by virtue of having the best record in the National League.
“Having a lead this late is nice,” Rizzo said. “But it means nothing until you win the division.”
Three games don’t feel like an insurmountable lead to the Cubs or anyone with eyes, but it’s a lead. Spend enough time around this team and you get a sense of their mentality. They don’t lead baseball in comeback wins by accident.
The Cubs didn’t clinch the division until Sept. 27 last year, 11 days after they did it in 2016. In the last two seasons, we talked a lot about resting position players for the playoffs and the problem of not being able to do so. The Cubs were gassed by their NLCS trip to Los Angeles. No one was surprised they got bounced.
The Cubs’ reasoned approach to rest and sports science is why you shouldn’t get your hackles raised when Bote, the Cubs cult hero of the moment, doesn’t start every game. This isn’t just Maddon going off his gut. Most things in Cubs World are group decisions based on information, not just anecdotal feelings. Maddon had an interesting answer to a reporter’s question about the Brewers’ slapdash lineups where defense is optional. He likes looking around and feeling comfortable about every position on the field. That’s why Tommy La Stella is really the only pure pinch-hitter on the roster. Everyone else can play, and will play.
But still, even with that in mind, Bote has been a godsend and no one should be shamed into not wanting to see him every day. Who said Theo Epstein’s first Cubs draft was just mediocre? The 18th- round selection matured at just the right time.
Rizzo said the players aren’t (yet) counting down the days until October, but a guy like Bote is a necessary spark for a team struggling with key injuries. On Wednesday, he picked up a single, hitting it past the shortstop, with two outs in the first. He added a two-out bloop single to center in the fourth and wound up scoring on another Rizzo hit.
But there were two plays that epitomized what he brings besides elite exit velocity and a heartwarming story.
In the third, Bote reached on a fielder’s choice, reached second on an Eric Thames error, went to third on a Junior Guerra wild pitch and then scored on another wild pitch while Guerra pitched to Schwarber. Baseball luck helped him get to third, but skill between his ears helped him score. The wild pitch wasn’t that wild.
“That was fun,” he said. “Oh and two, Schwarber up, he’s not going to throw him a cookie. He can do some serious damage. Anticipating the ball in the dirt, I got a good read off it.”
Even more impressive, in the top of the third, Bote barehanded a Lorenzo Cain grounder and threw him out at first to end the inning.
“Something I work on before every game during prep work,” he said. “Slow rollers, barehands. Cain runs fast so I knew it was a do-or-die type play, but also under control because you don’t want to throw it away.”
Bote’s attention to detail in fielding practice has stood out since spring training. Who knew the star of Brian Butterfield’s drills would turn out to be such a key component to the regular season?
Rizzo can be chill, because he’s been there before. Bote hasn’t, but he can learn from Rizzo on how to act in a pennant race. Ian Happ told me that was his biggest lesson last year as the Cubs went from a sub-.500 team at the break to another NLCS appearance.
The Cubs headed to Pittsburgh on a high, but they’re not feeling themselves quite yet. Yu Darvish still has to make a rehab start, Bryant has to really start testing his shoulder. There are miles to go before October. With games to react to every day, the pendulum swings from contender to pretender.
“We’re the best team today and if we go on a nice little run, we’re going to win the World Series,” Rizzo said. “If we go on a little rut, we’re not even going to make the wild card.”
That’s life as a Cubs in the Epstein era.
“I don’t think we’re necessarily counting down in here,” Rizzo said. “We’ve got to play well. We hold ourselves to a high standard.”
So do we. So do we.
--
Cubs.com Lester regains form with 6 scoreless, 8 K's By Mason Wittner
PITTSBURGH -- Jon Lester hadn't been quite the same since going into the All-Star break with 12 wins. The Cubs left-hander had gone winless in his last five starts while allowing more than a run per inning.
Lester appeared to return to form against the Pirates on Thursday, as he recorded a season-high-tying eight strikeouts without issuing a walk over six innings in the Cubs' 1-0 win at PNC Park. It was their fifth straight win in one-run games dating back to Aug. 3, moving them to 18-17 in such games this season.
"[Watching] from the side, I know it's Jon Lester. I've watched him a lot," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "But all of a sudden, it was like Jon Lester. He had this way about him today that was not going to be denied. That's what I saw. He was locked in, he'd had enough, and he went back to pitching like Jon's capable of pitching."
Maddon said before the game that he'd met with Lester sometime between his start against the Nationals on Saturday -- when he allowed nine runs (eight earned) in 3 2/3 innings -- and Thursday. Lester said the two "brainstormed" and talked about what was and wasn't working.
"When you struggle, you go back to what has made you successful," Lester said. "And you kind of sometimes, I think, forget about the other things that have made you successful. Still threw my fastball, still threw my cutter tonight. I think just better execution, better angle on both pitches."
Lester showcased his execution early by way of missing bats. After giving up a leadoff single on his second pitch of the game, Lester retired the next six batters he faced and eight of the next nine. He finished the third inning with six strikeouts, marking the first time he'd struck out six or more through the first three innings of a game since Aug. 1, 2017, per Inside Edge.
The Cubs were held scoreless through three frames, but they provided Lester with the run support needed to record the win in the fourth inning. With one out, Pittsburgh native Ian Happ connected on a 2-0 changeup from starter Ivan Nova over the heart of the plate and drove it out to right-center field for his 13th home run of the season.
"Always fun to do at home," Happ said. "Had my high school coach in the third or fourth row. Cool to see his reaction … I see the ball well here. Good hitter's eye. It's a fun ballpark. I enjoy coming back, enjoy playing in front of, well, for me, the home crowd."
Right-handers Steve Cishek and Carl Edwards Jr. allowed one combined hit over two innings of relief. Righty Pedro Strop worked around a two-out hit-by-pitch in the ninth inning to record his 10th save of the season.
"Our staff has done a great job of keeping us in it; of giving us a chance," Happ said. "We've had a couple comeback wins, but we haven't scored that many runs. And our guys have done a great job making sure that we keep those leads. Strop at the end of the games right now is lights out, so that's what we need."
The Cubs improved to 20 games over .500 and increased their lead in the National League Central to 3 1/2 games over Milwaukee. The Pirates lost their fourth in a row and dropped to 10 games behind the Cubs and 6 1/2 out in the NL Wild Card race.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Potential tying run stranded: After two quick outs in the fifth inning, Lester gave up back-to-back singles to Josh Harrison and Adeiny Hechavarria to put runners on the corners for Nova's spot in the lineup. Lester fell behind 3-0 in the count, but battled back to strike Nova out on the eighth pitch of the at-bat and end the inning.
It proved to be the only time in the game the Pirates would bat with a runner in scoring position.
"Every time you lose a game, it's tough. But having a game like this, in the situation that we are, we need to win," said Nova, who worked 6 2/3 innings. "We need to get W's, especially against the teams ahead of us. It's a tough one."
YOU GOTTA SEE THIS Starling Marte notched a one-out single in the sixth inning. Two batters later, he broke for second base on Lester's second pitch to David Freese. After catching it, Willson Contreras popped up and lined an 85.1-mph throw to Baez in an attempt to throw Marte out at second base. Baez corralled the throw and swiped his glove on Marte for the inning-ending caught stealing.
HE SAID IT "Regardless of what you've done in the past, it's crazy how we operate mentally. The world-class kind of athlete, they want to be that all the time. So when you get away from it, it's disturbing. And then you're always looking for answers. Like I said, I know he'll rest better, and I really believe this is absolutely a game to build off because he executed so well. Everything was there tonight." -- Maddon, on Lester's performance
UP NEXT Left-hander Cole Hamels will take the mound against the Pirates on Friday at PNC Park (6:05 p.m. CT). Hamels is 2-0 with a 1.00 ERA in three starts with the Cubs since being acquired from Texas. He faced Pittsburgh in his debut with Chicago, striking out nine while allowing one unearned run over five innings en route to the win. Right-hander Trevor Williams will start for the Pirates.
--
Cubs.com Baez's tag, Contreras' arm thwart steal attempt By Mason Wittner
PITTSBURGH -- Javier Baez continues to make the improbable seem routine.
With two outs in the sixth inning of the Cubs' 1-0 victory Thursday night, speedy Pirates outfielder Starling Marte took off from first on an 0-1 pitch from Jon Lester. Catcher Willson Contreras caught the ball, popped up and fired an 85.1 mph throw to Baez in an attempt to nab Marte at second base.
Falling to one knee, Baez fielded the throw and, in one fluid motion, swiped his glove on Marte for the inning-ending caught stealing.
"If you can break it down and slow it down, it's amazing how he puts his body in position," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "He lets the ball come to him, and he positions himself in a manner that's unique. Not everybody positions themself as he does in preparation for the ball. That, I'm certain, junior colleges, colleges are going to try to teach. They're going to get that and break it down, slow it down, and try to teach that, because it's pretty spectacular."
Contreras clocked a pop time of 1.86 seconds, marking his second-fastest pop time on a caught stealing in 2018.
--
Cubs.com Darvish ready for rehab start; Bryant swinging By Mason Wittner
PITTSBURGH -- Yu Darvish (right triceps tendinitis) will be returning to the mound to begin his Minor League rehab assignment on Sunday, Cubs manager Joe Maddon confirmed on Thursday.
Darvish threw on flat ground prior to Thursday night's game against the Pirates at PNC Park. Following the workout, he spoke with Maddon and delivered good news about his progress.
"I talked to him today, and he said he felt really good about pitching," Maddon said. "He's good to go on Sunday. He just told me that."
Darvish, who last pitched for the Cubs on May 20, threw about 55 pitches during a three-inning simulated game at Wrigley Field on Tuesday. It has not yet been announced where he will begin the rehab assignment.
As for how many rehab starts Darvish will need, Maddon was not sure.
"Three would be the maximum, I would think," Maddon said. "I mean after three starts, you would think that he has it dialed in. You just evaluate each start."
Bryant returns to swinging Third baseman Kris Bryant (left shoulder inflammation) continues to make progress as he's been hitting in the cage and off the tee.
"I've been doing it the last couple days, and it feels good," Bryant said. "It's nice to actually feel like a baseball player."
Bryant took ground balls on the field Tuesday. There is no timetable for his return, but Maddon said he is satisfied with Bryant's progression.
"I'm pleased that I'm not hearing anything bad," Maddon said. "I'm hearing progress; I'm hearing slow progress. Looking forward to the moment we can plug him back into the lineup, but I don't have any finish line kind of stuff with him either. But it's nothing negative, it's all been positive."
--
ESPNChicago.com Recapping the slam: An oral history of David Bote's big blast By Jesse Rogers
PITTSBURGH -- It'll be a night they'll tell their grandkids about, especially Chicago Cubs rookie David Bote. Last Sunday, on national television, Bote hit the only walk-off grand slam in baseball history in which a team was trailing 3-0 and down to its last out -- let alone the last strike. It had never happened before.
Five days later, it's a story worth retelling in this instant oral history of a moment that reverberated throughout the baseball world. Bote is still at a loss for words, so those closest to him will have to tell the story, beginning with his teammates.
The Cubs, playing at home against the Washington Nationals, had loaded the bases on an infield hit and two hit-by-pitches from reliever Ryan Madson. Up stepped Bote.
Albert Almora Jr. was on second base: "I remember there was a low strike called on him and I thought that was a tough one, so I was thinking with two strikes, 'Keep battling. Keep this game alive.'"
Tommy La Stella: "Me and a few other guys were talking. We just kind of had a feeling about it. We were saying he was definitely going to hit a homer. I'm not kidding."
Mike Montgomery: "I was on the bench. It seemed to be one of those games we were going to lose. Then [the Nationals] add two in the ninth and I figured the only chance we had is if they made errors or walked guys. Instead, they hit a couple guys."
Pedro Strop was warming in the bullpen: "Nobody was thinking about a base hit. Everyone was pushing for a homer. Just finish it. When you're thinking about something and it actually happens, that's unbelievable."
La Stella: "[Anthony] Rizzo and I were talking about it and he had his hand in front of my face, so I moved his hand out of the way and he took it to mean I wanted him to do something with his hands. So he was like, 'You want to give him spirit fingers?' I'm like, 'Yeah.' And then the next pitch he hit the homer. We were laughing about that after the game. We watched the replay. Him and I kind of looked at each other after he hit it. A group of four to five of us were talking about it on the bench."
Kris Bryant: "I was sitting in the same area as Rizzo and La Stella, and Rizz was kind of calling it saying, 'He's going to hit a grand slam. He has the mojo going for him right now.' Tommy was saying the same thing. Down to the last strike he goes and does it. And you're thinking, 'Unbelievable, he did that; unbelievable, Rizzo is calling it.' I was like, 'You guys should do that every at-bat.'"
Anthony Rizzo: "He had an at-bat the week before with the bases loaded and he struck out. I was telling Tommy, 'That at-bat set him up for this one. He's going deep.'"
Montgomery: "I told Brian Duensing, 'This is a big moment in his career. How is he going to respond?'"
About 1,000 miles away, near Denver, Bote's father, Bob, and the rest of his family were watching the game too.
Bob Bote: "In the ninth inning, I was downstairs folding clothes. I watched every pitch until [Ryan] Zimmerman got his base hit, then I got up and I said, 'The game is over.' I started folding some laundry."
Cubs play-by-play announcer Len Kasper was working radio for the game: "After the Nationals get the two in the ninth, I figure I don't have to go downstairs for a postgame interview. I stayed in the booth. When two got on base, I headed down to the field. I had this feeling, if the game doesn't end with [Willson] Contreras, the Cubs are going to win this game."
Cubs manager Joe Maddon: "What I'll remember is that I thought it was possible. I really did, before the at-bat began. Willy had been struggling, but once we got by him, I thought it was possible. [Contreras] kept calling timeout and I remember thinking to myself that seems to be screwing up Madson. Then he steps out, gets back in and he hits him.
"The other part of that at-bat, for Bote, there was a called strike which looked like a ball and it stood out to me he didn't blanch, he did not turn around, he did not get upset. He went on to the next pitch. All those things are good indicators."
On a 2-2 count, Bote hit a low Madson fastball into the center-field bleachers.
Ben Zobrist: "I felt confident that he was going to do something good. I didn't know it was going to be a grand slam ... I was sitting on the top of the bench. Most of the guys were standing. When the ball was hit, I just stood up with my arms in the air while everyone else is jumping over the fence. I was one of the last to get over."
Montgomery: "It was kind of quiet throughout that game, but it just turned on a dime. The place went nuts. My adrenaline level spiked immediately. It was an awesome experience."
Brandon Kintzler: "I had just pitched and I was in the gym, but there is a delay on the TV. About 20 seconds. I heard everyone screaming in the cafeteria but I didn't know what they're screaming about. Obviously, I knew something happened. Then I saw and took off running.
"For 20 seconds I had no idea, for sure."
Strop: "I told [bullpen catcher] Chad Noble, '[Madson is] going to give it up because he's afraid to throw his curveball because of the HBP. Justin Wilson said, 'He's going to throw a fastball and Bote is going to crush it.' And then 'boom.'
"We were jumping like kids. We don't have time to run out there to home plate, so we do our own celebration."
Almora: "When he hit it, I threw my hands up in the air. I knew it was gone."
Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Gregory Polanco was watching in Minnesota: "Oh my gosh. You love those moments. That's why we play baseball. It's why we love it. That moment was unbelievable. They are about to lose, then, boom, he wins it. I couldn't believe it."
Bob Bote: "I thought they would send a lefty up, but when they panned to the on-deck circle, I saw David. That surprised me a lot. My son Mark said, 'Dad, he's going to hit a home run.' All I said was, 'OK, Mark, sure.' I was thinking it, dreaming it, but I wasn't expecting it."
Willson Contreras, who had just been pinch-run for: "I was putting my helmet down in the dugout and walking into the crowd of teammates on the bench to sneak myself in there. Next thing I hear is the bat, then I saw the ball in the air and knew it was gone."
Brandon Morrow: "I was along the railing in the dugout. I was next to Duensing. I remember he was calling every possibility in the inning that could end with a walk-off. Like, 'Willson is going to hit a homer, then we're going to get a double, then something else.' And he would correct himself after each thing. Then, finally, when [Bote] homered and Duensing corrected himself for like the seventh time, we were like, 'You called it, you called the whole thing.'"
Javier Baez: "I had changeup, homer. Fastball, double. Right before the pitch. Instead, it was a fastball, homer. Then I jumped out of the dugout."
Zobrist: "After it happened, my memories are thinking he has the 'it' factor. My second thought was the Sammy Sosa running around first base. That's what it looked like to me."
Cubs first-base coach Will Venable: "I was watching the ball as he went by me at first, but then I see him rounding third base looking like he was flying around third. That's what I'll remember."
Almora: "So I hit third base and Javy was right in my face and I remember jumping up and down. I didn't know if there was a rule I couldn't touch other players, so I was like avoiding him. When I got to home plate, there was a lot going on."
Montgomery: "It was one of the best baseball moments across the board. And one of the coolest things I've ever seen."
Rizzo: "I think the picture of him coming around third will be pretty cool to look at later."
Bryant: "Those never get old. Just the way the game is going. When they add the two runs. We had no business winning that game. And then we did ... [Max] Scherzer is punching everyone out and grunting. It was nice to punch them in the chin and steal one from them."
Bote rounded third base with his arms out like he was a plane. A mob was waiting for him at home plate.
Zobrist: "I remember thinking, 'Why did he go to the ground?' I was in the back of the pack. I didn't know what happened. It was incredible."
Baez: "We were trying to rip his jersey off. The first pull it didn't break, so he went down. It was fun."
Bob Bote: "We were screaming, 'He did it, he did it, he did it.' We were jumping up and down and hugging each other. We were screaming like little kids.
"Then our phones started up."
David Bote: "My wife watched it at our place near Wrigley, then went outside and heard everyone singing, 'Go Cubs Go.'
"I still need some more time to let it sink in. Maybe the offseason. Ask me next year."
--
NBC Sports Chicago A stellar Jon Lester outing gives the Cubs more than just a win By Sean Sears
It's been a tale of two halves for the Cubs veteran Jon Lester, who after a sparkling first half of baseball that saw him win 12 games with a 2.58 ERA, has looked nothing like a 2018 All-Star. Prior to Thursday's start, Lester had posted a 10.32 ERA, allowed 4 or more runs in 4 of his 5 most recent starts, and had yet to win a game in the second of the season.
The 34-year-old veteran flipped the script Thursday night, throwing 6-shutout innings while striking out 8 Pirate batters in the Cubs 1-0 win in Pittsburgh. Lester surrendered only 5 hits and baffled the Pirates all-night, finally busting out of his slump and giving the Cubs his 2nd quality start since the All-Star break.
Lester attacked the bottom portion of the strike zone all night with his fastball, which topped out at 93 mph, generating 4 whiffs with his heater. Over the last month, Lester has said he's felt he can't quite execute his "out" pitches, explaining that when he has a hitter set up for a strikeout he hasn't been able to throw the ball effectively in those moments.
And while Lester walked off the mound after the 6th inning amassing 8 punch outs, the veteran starter never looked like he was trying to strike out batters. He just continued to dot the corners, occasionally raise the eye-level of the batter with an elevated heater, and threw his secondary pitches just enough to keep the Pittsburgh batters uncomfortable at the plate.
The Cubs offense once again struggled, facing Ivan Nova who has won four his last five starts against the Cubs, but Ian Happ's solo shot in the 4th inning was enough run support for Lester to push the Cubs to 20 games over .500. But the biggest takeaway from Thursday night's win isn't that the Cubs came out on top, it's that Jon Lester returning to form gives this Chicago rotation something they've lacked seemingly this entire season.
Stability at the front of the rotation.
With Cole Hamels impressive three starts in a Cub uniform and Kyle Hendricks finally figuring out his issues on the mound, if Jon Lester can replicate Thursday's performance throughout the rest of the season, the Cubs rotation may finally turn into the strength many thought it could be before the season started. At the very least, Lester showed that whatever he's been working through over the last month of baseball is fixable.
It's only one start in a string of poor outings for Lester, and while The Athletic's Sahadev Sharma did find some positives in his starts prior to Thursday's big win, Lester will have to show he can maintain this level of pitching through the remainder of this season. But I think our own Tony Andracki put it best tonight on Twitter.
With the Cubs pitchers finally starting to perform to their expected level, and the return of Yu Darvish looking closer each day, it could be the Cubs starting pitching that carries through the rest of the season.
--
NBC Sports Chicago Kyle Hendricks embracing change as he looks to regain top form By David Kaplan
Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks has had an up-and-down 2018 season due to some mechanical struggles in repeating his delivery, to maximize the movement on his four-pitch mix that he uses to compensate for a lack of overpowering velocity. However, over the past eight starts, Hendricks has worked extremely hard at fixing the mechanical flaws that he and pitching coach Jim Hickey identified. With several hours of intensive film study, the results are very encouraging.
Over those eight starts Hendricks has gone 4-1 and the Cubs have seen a much more similar version of the pitcher who dominated opposing hitters during the 2016 season.
In fact, a closer look at a handful of statistical categories shows Hendricks trending upward as the season moves into its final 40 games. His strikeout-to-walk ratio has gone from 72 K's against 30 BB's to 51 K's against just 6 BB's. His strikeouts per inning have gone from 72 in 97 innings of work to 51 in just 47 2/3 innings since July 9th. His home runs allowed have plummeted from 16 allowed in 97 innings to only 4 in his last 47 2/3 innings. His swing and miss rate has also increased as he has worked through his mechanical struggles. Finally, while there has been an uptick in hits allowed, it appears as if Hendricks has pitched to some bad luck, compiling a .346 BABIP (Batting Average On Balls In Play), which is unsustainable based on his career average of .278 entering 2018.
Add all of these factors together, along with a video study of Hendricks performances from 2016, 2017 and 2018—which indicated some stark differences—and the recent fix indicates that the best of Kyle Hendricks in 2018 is right around the corner. When Hendricks is at his best, he is standing tall on the mound and pitching downhill with outstanding rotation of his body, which contributes to the excellent downward movement that he gets on his variety of pitches. From his fastball to his change up and curveball, Hendricks relies on downward action to fool hitters. However, in 2018 he was seeing most of his pitch movement from side to side rather than up and down. A lack of body rotation and a lack of height on his back leg during his follow through—which is different from his 2016 mechanical approach—contributed to a flattening out of his pitches and dramatically increased hard contact.
"I just got out of sync and it is not easy to fix pitching mechanics overnight but Hick and Borzy (pitching coaches Jim Hickey and Mike Borzello) and I watched a lot of tape and we saw that I wasn't standing tall on the mound plus I wasn't getting enough rotation in my body and that contributed to my pitches flattening out and not getting that downward action that I was used to," Hendricks told me. In speaking with a major league advance scout who studied Hendricks over the course of several starts, he saw his arm much farther behind his body in 2016 and 2017, but his arm not as far back in the first half of 2018. This contributed to a lack of movement on his change up and he believes it also affected his ability to get hitters out on his fastball at the top of the zone, which he was able to do successfully in 2016 and 2017.
"I see a pitcher who looks markedly better and I would expect him to have a very strong finish to this season. I love the way he competes and as long as he stays in sync with his mechanics he should be the pitcher the Cubs expected to see whenever he takes the ball for them," the scout told me.
--
NBC Sports Chicago David Bote, the Cubs and the case for slow development By Doug Glanville
The first time I was called up to the big leagues was in June of 1996. Of course a big part of the excitement was dreaming about the future. The dream was fueled by an imagination that had run wild since competitive Wiffle ball against my brother. Thoughts of fairways for infields, white pearly baseballs to hit for batting practice, digging into the batter’s box against pitchers that were statues in my mind: Fernando Valenzuela, Dwight Gooden, Orel Hershisher.
But in time you look backwards with a new appreciation for the time spent, the lessons learned, the hard knocks of minor league baseball. It is much easier to see those experiences with gratitude when a major league future becomes real.
David Bote knows these lessons well. Six years of minor league service to tap. Touching on every level at least once, but mostly more than once. He had years when he had the tough job of trying to explain how playing at every A-ball level in one year is playing for three different teams in three different cities. A- ball can be short-season A, low A, or high A (there is even a middle A, like the Midwest League.) He even had years when he was in Triple-A and A-ball in the same season.
Bote’s stats were solid, consistent, steady; adjectives that may cause evaluators to overlook you or ignore you completely, especially when a player does not have the high draft status to garner extra attention. Bote was a player that had quick bat speed and he finally came around at the right time for his opportunity.
Today, exit velocity makes him a beneficiary of a modern metric system that appreciates this skill because we can now quantify the potential offensive numbers he could put up with it. But since he was not really putting them up against minor league pitching, evaluators had to dig deeper. (.262 with .411 Slugging over 7 seasons.) They did not have to dig too deeply to know that he was trending upward. His best seasons were at the higher levels. (AKA “He put it all together”)
I played with dozens of minor league players over my career. The vast majority of which did something better than I could, even with my first rounder status. There were plenty with more power, a few with more speed or arm strength, professional baseball life makes you humble enough to realize that in every category there is superior talent. Ego check is daily. By the time I reached Triple-A, most of the players, both teammate and opponent, replaced having a singular stand-out ability with a balance of different skills. You had to know how to play the game by then if you were going to go any higher, unless of course you were anointed or just had undeniable ability and productivity.
In Triple-A Iowa, I played with players like Todd Haney (13 minor league seasons), Jeff Gardner (10 minor league seasons), and Mike Carter (10 minor league seasons). Haney and Gardner had some big league time when all was said and done, but they also had over 1,000 minor league hits. When Gardner got his 1,000th hit I was his teammate, I remember he said after I congratulated him: “Well think about what that actually means.”
He made it clear that 1,000 hits in the minor leagues was a dubious honor. Whenever we admired him too much he would drop this other line “You want to trade futures?” He knew time was working against him and his steadiness was most likely going to get minimized in the long run.
Mike Carter put up the numbers, too. He won the Triple-A batting title with balanced splits in nearly every aspect of offense. In his exit meeting with our manager, he said the manager told him “in every category you did well, your numbers were great across the board.” He never got called up.
What stood out about these players was polish. You knew it when you saw it. It was a shiny maturity that comes with experience and allows players to truly know the game well. Ways that don’t make highlight reels or light up a scouts gun. They knew how to slide, they knew where to be on cutoffs and relay, they could bunt, they were an amazing double play combination, they understood how to cut down a slump, they gave advice that was helpful.
You come to understand that numbers do not stand alone, but they stand with time. The slow cooking of development that takes place in the minor leagues tells that story. Players that are productive, quick learners with talent (that may be under the radar) usually get better with time. This is not just better in the ways we count, but in qualitative ways, too. Bote is showing strong offensive capability, but it is the completeness that make us wonder how he was not in someone’s starting lineup sooner. He has been a fantastic defender, heads-up baserunner, and shown calm under pressure situations. He has clearly seen a thing or two.
When Kris Bryant was sent down after his monster spring in 2015, it caused outrage throughout baseball. It was understandable because of how dominant he was that spring. But he was also a top flight draft pick (1st round), a top prospect and in today’s game, when you have such pedigree and perform superbly even for a short period of time, you are supposed to advance. Teams invested a lot of money in you, you can extend your career the sooner you arrive and create a longer horizons for an organization to be relevant with other young, inexpensive players. So instead of dominating every level over time, you can dominate a situation, a month, a summer, and advance.
Yet even with a royal baseball line and a great work ethic, conversely, the “David Bote” big leaguer can have an advantage, the simple wisdom that comes with having to make constant adjustments at every level over a long full minor league seasons (and winter or fall ball.) There is no illusion as to what he must do to earn and sustain a shot, he has to stand out and produce to get an opportunity, every day and in every way. He has to be well-rounded, versatile, patient. He did not have the luxury of draft status or having a singular talent that stops a scout in his tracks.
A Kris Bryant is rare, even though there are a whole host of super talented and wise young players throughout MLB. Some have played a lot of baseball as our culture has adopted the year-round, travel squad environment of playing youth sports (or in their native countries) like they are producing mini- professionals. But you cannot replicate time or as Dusty Baker once yelled at us in 2003. “Some of you may be smarter than me, but none of you have been around as long as I have.” (My favorite Baker quote.)
David Bote has been around the block and back. On his journey, he hit every stop, and clearly learned at every corner. And we should never underestimate a player that has had the drive to endure the road to the big leagues one level, one year at a time. We may be waiting for him to come down to earth, but we should consider that part of his excellence is that he had to be rooted on earth from day one. For that, he knew this may be his one and only window.
And like any rabid underdog, you will have to close that window on his head if you ever dare try and close it. By then, he may already be on the other side.
--