August 19, 2019
Exhibition football games are garbage. Therefore, we’ll talk
baseball before delving into Bears related items prior to their next real game.
I know this sounds like a broken record but the Cubs’
struggles on the road continue. They went 4-6 on the road against mediocre
competition. I was not paying much attention when the Cubs started the road
trip with a four game set against the Cincinnati Reds. Although the Reds aren’t
very good, they seem to always cause the Cubs problems. They split the four
game series.
The road tour turned into a nightmare when they traveled to
Philadelphia to play the Phillies. To illustrate how good the Phillies are,
they lost two out of three to the White Sox. The Cubs bullpen is a disaster. In
game one they gave up a run in the seventh and eighth innings, wasting a good
start by Jose Quintana, losing 4-2. Next night the game was over after Cole
Hamels gave up seven runs in the first inning as the Cubs clobbered 11-1. In
the ‘you ain’t seen nothing yet department’, game three was the most
disheartening of the series. Yu Darvish pitched seven scoreless innings and left
the game with a 5-0 lead. The Cubs bullpen gave up one run in the 8th
inning and a Bryce Harper grand slam capped off a six run inning for 7-5
Phillies victory.
The story remained the same against the last place
Pittsburgh Pirates as the Cubs blew another save and ended up losing 3-2.
Thanks to excellent pitching performances by Jon Lester and Jose
The Cubs are now tied with the St. Louis Cardinals for first
place. Playing their few games at home should keep them atop the division. However,
there are still road games left and they are tied for most road losses in the
league with Miami with 39. Even if they reverse their fortunes on the road,
they still will be hard pressed to make it to the post season. The Cubs brass knew
the bullpen needed fixing at the beginning of the year. Pedro Strop flopped,
Carl Edwards Jr. has been traded and Brandon Morrow is not coming back. Not
only will manager Joe Maddon be gone, there will more moves needed to keep the
Cubs competitive for the next few years
.
Who thought Ivan Nova would be the White Sox best pitcher
after the all-star break? In his past five starts he is 4-0 with a 0.49 ERA.
The White Sox were just looking for someone to eat up innings and he wasn’t
considered as a part of the rebuild. If he continues to perform anywhere near
this level, the Sox will be forced to have him in the 2020 rotation. This
should not preclude them from going after a pitcher via trade or free agency as
they have no depth when it comes to starting pitching. The back end of the bullpen with Aaron Bummer
and Alex Colome have been excellent. The Cubs would be running away with their
division with this bullpen. Alas, getting them into the game with a lead has
been a problem. I can’t remember the
last time Jace Fry retired the first man he faced, usually a left handed
batter. His only job is to retire left hand batters. Evan Marshall has reverted
to the real Marshall and is currently having problems. The Sox need to look to
acquire some set up relievers.
A major positive, it looks like Eloy Jimenez is starting to
figure things out. Finally overcoming his latest injury he is stinging the
ball. Although his average isn’t where you would like it to be, he still has 22
home runs in only 88 games. Next year should be very exciting with a year of
experience under his belt. . The only problem is he is a butcher in left field.
He needs to greatly improve or be a designated hitter for the next 15 years.
I see where Luis Robert had another nice night with two
homers. I think General Manager Rick Hahn should reward the fans’ patience during
the rebuild. Bring him up in September. He is definitely ready and getting some
games in against major league pitching should make it easier to start off well next
year.
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