The Year of the Yerminator and Cubs Core

 

 May 19, 2021

Baseball teams have completed the first quarter of the season. With warm weather and fans returning, baseball in Chicago is looking good. Although it is early, after 40 games you can get a handle on what lies ahead.

Despite being ravaged with injuries, the White Sox (25-16} are in first place in the Central Division and tied for the best winning percentage in the major leagues. This is quite amazing considering they lost Eloy Jimenez, who was capable of hitting 40 home runs with 120 RBI. The only positive is this opened up a roster spot for 28 year old rookie Yermin Mercedes. He started the season with 8 straight hits and currently leads the league in batting average. While I know he won’t maintain this hot pace, he is the best DH the White Sox have had in years.

Luis Robert was just starting to put things together when he suffered a major injury. Since then, there have been many games where the Sox have scored runs in bunches. The offense will probably not continue this trend, especially with four automatic outs in the line-up. Jose Abreu has broken out of his slump and should help carry the team. However, he has missed the last 3 games due to an injury.

The outlook is still positive because the Sox the best 1-5 starting rotation in baseball. What’s surprising is the best two are number 4, Dylan Cease and number 5, Carlos Rodon. The bullpen hasn’t been as great as I thought it would be, but I believe it will be major asset as the season progresses.

One of the biggest problems is the defense. It’s not only errors, but plays that should be made are not. Every pop fly is an adventure. This should improve. The other negative is Tony LaRussa, who has already impacted many games in a short time. All managers make mistakes however, you should not mess up by not knowing the rules. The one thing you can count on with LaRussa is his arrogance, hence “Do you see my ring…I’m a hall of famer baseball person,” when stopped for a DUI; or telling a reporter “Maybe you know the rules better than me.”

The Cubs (21-20) have had an up and down season. At times they have looked really good. On the other hand, there are games when they look real bad. What’s good is the arrow seems to be pointing up. They should be competitive the rest of the way. If they go on any sort of winning streak, they could win the division.

Kyle Hendricks and Zach Davies got off to slow starts. No telling how much better the Cubs’ record would be if they started out well. Presently, they are both trending upward. Jake Arrieta has looked pretty good so far. The question is, can he stay healthy and continue to pitch well? Rookie Adbert Alzolay has a high ceiling and looks pretty good. The Cubs are handling his workload perfectly. The only problem has been Trevor Williams. With the additions of Justin Steele and Keegan Thompson, the Cubs bullpen is much improved. With Andrew Chafin, Rex Brothers and others they can get the ball to Craig Kimbrel who is pitching like he was as a dominant reliever.

Cub bats are hot and cold. To contend the offense has to be more consistent, especially from the big three. Kris Bryant is having an all-star season. He’s hitting .309 with 10 homers and 26 RBI with an astounding OPS of 1.027. While Javier Baez may not have the average, he has 9 homers and 27 RBI with .504 slugging percentage. Anthony Rizzo needs to improve his numbers. Remember, there are a ton of games left and if Rizzo can avoid injuries his numbers should improve.

The Cubs still are in search for a lead-off hitter. Ian Happ got off to an awful start and lost the job. In the Cubs’ search, manager David Ross continues to place run producers in the lead off position. The other problem is the Cubs can’t reach the 85% vaccine level to lower COVID protocols. While some players have advocated getting vaccinated, Arrieta and some others don’t believe the science regarding the vaccines’ effectiveness.