Cubs Daily Clips

May 6, 2016 Chicago Sun-Times Rizzo’s numbers started to turn last month when baseball luck did By Gordon Wittenmyer Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo doesn’t believe in baseball luck as much as he believes in the power of the long baseball season. But good luck finding another way to explain his early numbers compared to the streak he’s been on the last two weeks. “Part of it is he had to have better luck,” manager Joe Maddon said, referring to Rizzo’s average on balls in play. “It was atrociously low, and that eventually comes back to you.” Rizzo’s average on those balls in play (BABIP) through April 19: .139 (an average hitter will be around .300). Until he went hitless with a walk Thursday, his BABIP (which excludes home runs and strikeouts) since then: .314. In those 12 games after April 19 (through Wednesday), Rizzo was 17-for-47 (.362), with six homers, nine walks and 16 RBIs. “Even when I hit the ball well, it was right at them,” said Rizzo, whose turnaround also coincides with opening his stance slightly. “The good thing is I know it’s a long season. So it’s not like I’m going to panic in April like I did four years ago. I know there’s a long way to go.” -- Chicago Sun-Times Cubs beat Nats in opener of marquee matchup of MLB’s top teams By Gordon Wittenmyer If these are the top two teams in baseball, as their records suggest, the Cubs made their biggest statement yet of the young season with a 5-2 victory over the Washington Nationals in the opener of a four-game series at Wrigley. “We played good ball tonight, and they got a taste of it,” said Cubs second baseman Ben Zobrist, who drove in the Cubs’ first four runs – including two in the eighth on his second homer in as many games. “Hopefully, we can continue to do that, but we’ve got three more games against them.” Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks (2-2) pitched six scoreless innings in his first start in nine days after rainouts and a rotation shuffle pushed him back. “Outstanding,” manager Joe Maddon said. The matchup played out as advertised until the last six outs, before the Cubs scored three off Felipe Rivero in the eighth, followed by Jayson Werth’s two-out, two-run homer off Travis Wood in the ninth. “It’s good to say you match up,” Maddon said. “But my term is I like to see what it feels like against a team that’s playing well. What’s their attitude? How are they playing? How do they go after it? We got a feel for the Cardinals; we got a feel for the Pirates, and now we’re getting a feel for the Nationals.” As he asks, he goes Cubs center fielder Dexter Fowler was ejected for the first time in his career after he said he asked umpire Vic Carapazzo what his strike zone was following a called third strike in the third inning – his second strikeout looking in the game. “He threw me out for asking a question,” Fowler said. “Never answered my question either.” Fowler said he was respectful when he asked Carapazzo if the called strike indicated the top of the ump’s strike zone – and, if so, where he should expect the rest of the zone to be during the rest of the game. “He walked away,” Fowler said. “I said, `You’re not going to answer me?’ He said, `That’s enough.’ “ And Fowler got tossed at that point, bringing an angry Maddon from the dugout. “I was arguing that we are a team that does not expand our strike zone,” Maddon said. “That was my argument.” Heyward sighting Fowler’s ejection led to the return a day early for Jason Heyward, who was out of the lineup for a fourth straight game because of a sore wrist. Heyward took batting practice Thursday afternoon and reported feeling well enough to play, but Maddon said he planned to check back Friday morning before putting him back in the lineup. He’s expected to start Friday, barring setback. Heyward was hitless in both at-bats Thursday, extending his hitless skid to 0-for-19. Notes: Reliever Neil Ramirez was placed on the bereavement list, which means a minimum of three days missed (maximum seven), because of a death in the family. …Right-hander Spencer Patton was recalled from AAA Iowa to take his place. Patton, who spent parts of the last two seasons with the Texas Rangers, pitched 10 scoreless innings at Iowa, with 17 strikeouts. … The Cubs are 33-17 in Hendricks’ first 50 career starts. The last Cubs pitcher to enjoy as many team wins in his first 50 was Hank Borowy in 1945-47. … The Cubs’ run differential is plus-96 through 27 games – more than double MLB’s No. 2 team in that category (the Nationals, plus-47). -- Chicago Sun-Times $cherzer, Arrieta have more in common than Cy Young$, no-hitter$ By Gordon Wittenmyer For all the impressive starting pitching on both sides during the Cubs’ 5-2 victory over the Washington Nationals on Thursday night, the stars – and dollar signs – start coming out in earnest the next three games of this marquee series. Consider all eyes on former Cy Young winner Max Scherzer of the Nationals Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field – including the eyes of the Cubs’ Cy Young winner. “I watch him just because he’s one of the best,” Jake Arrieta said. “He threw two no-hitters last year, I think. Right?” June 20 and Oct. 3, to be exact, with only 18 starts between them. But, that’s nothing. Arrieta, who starts Sunday, had only half that many starts between his no-hitters, the most recent just two weeks ago in Cincinnati. It’s no wonder that every time agent Scott Boras is asked about Jake Arrieta’s free agency future, the words “Max Scherzer” seem to be the first two out of his mouth. Scherzer got the seven-year, $210 million deal that topped the free agent pitching class before last season (the class that also included $155 million lefty Jon Lester). And his process looks like the template Boras is using for Arrieta – the backdrop against which Scherzer’s start against the team with the best record in baseball and Arrieta’s against the team with the second-best might be compared this weekend. “It’s a start,” Arrieta (6-0 with a 0.84 ERA) said of Scherzer and the seven-year deal that was eclipsed by David Price and the Red Sox a few months ago ($217 million). “I think it’s maybe hard to compare me to a lot of guys, especially recently. I know the bar’s set high.” Boras has equated Scherzer’s “low mileage” on his arm as a free agent to Arrieta’s and said they share similar workout and nutrition regimens. And just last month pointed out that “Every Cy Young Award winner I know gets a seven-year [free agent] contract.” “Obviously, Scott has compared Max and I as far as contractually, but the number continues to rise every year,” said Arrieta, who’s on a historic run over his last 26 starts. “The next free agent gets a little bit more the next a little more, and so on and so forth. We’ll see. But it’s so far out of my thought process right now. “If I continue to do what I’m doing, which I intend to do, the money’s going to be good.” Scherzer was in a similar position with the Detroit Tigers in the two years leading to his then-record contract. Like Arrieta during this past off-season and again during spring training, Scherzer turned down extension offers from the Tigers to avoid free agency. The last one was for six years, $144 million, a sum that caused gasps across the baseball map when he turned it down in 2014. “You just make a decision,” he said of that offer. “I had the things in front of me, injury risk factors and where I was at in my career. They appeared low. I just took care of the risk factor [mentally], and once I did that, I just said, `Hey, let’s go out there and compete and win,’ and that’s all that matters.” That mental hurdle might be even lower for Arrieta, who seems as confident in his strength and durability as he is in his ability to shut down lineups these days. And the Cubs weren’t going near the relative market numbers the Tigers did with Scherzer in recent talks, particularly in contract length. Like Arrieta, Scherzer said he kept his focus on teammates and competing for a pennant when he was going through the process with the Tigers. “If you just go out there and play to win the game, go out there with that mindset, everything takes care of itself, and it’s a beautiful thing,” Scherzer said. “Because everybody’s attention is on your free agent stuff, and the only thing you care about is winning. And when you win, everything falls right into place.” The Cubs’ front office can’t project their ability to keep Arrieta off the free agent market at this point and spent the offseason bolstering this team – and structuring its near-term payrolls — to maximize the two-year window they’re assured of having him.

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