Baseball season is no longer in its infancy. We’re already in the toddler stages and at close to thirty games played, teams are starting to show us what they’ll be when they grow up. Stepping back to the first 20 games, the Cubs have shown that there’s still quite a bit of development left.
I also will have a decision to make. If you recall from my first installment, I plan to pick a player of the game and display a card for each. I was still able to stick to my player collections, but the next post will not.
To focus on the here and now…or the past, I guess, the Cubs won 6 of their second batch of ten games, but they sure couldn’t figure out how to string together more than 2 wins in a row at any point. Thankfully, they also didn’t string together more than 2 losses, either.
Starting with Optic for big-time game
Win #6 – Javier Baez – April was a good month for Javy. Here he went 2 for 4 with 1 walk. Both hits were home runs, giving him 4 in 2 days. Sure, one of the home runs was in garbage time of a blowout, but the first gave us the lead after being down 3-0. He also stole 3rd.
Howling Werewolf
Win #7 – Ben Zobrist – Baez had the game-tying hit coming back from 10-2, with the Cubs scoring 9 runs with 2 outs in 8th, but Zobrist was 3-3 on the night with 2BB, 2 RBI, and a triple. He had the better game.
Vintage Parallel #/99
Win #8 – Jon Lester – The first pitcher to make the list. Not an amazing performance, but he went 6 innings, giving up 2 hits, 1 walk, and 1 unearned run while striking out 7. That reduced his season ERA to 3.10
Regular Donruss for only hitting one home run
Win #9 – Baez – Continuing his slugging surge, he was a triple shy of cycle. 4-6 on the day, 4 RBI, and a 2-run HR in the first inning to spark the scoring.
Which team will Almora buy?
Win #10 – Albert Almora – He’s been earning a more regular spot in center field and built his reputation with Cubs fans through a couple of really good defensive plays (2 or 3 depending on who you ask). At the plate, he was only 1-6 with an RBI, so this was all about the highlight reel.
Catcher no more
Win #11 – Kyle Schwarber – Lastly for this grouping, Kyle bookends us with another 2 home run game. Those 2 hits were the only two in 5 ABs and both were solo, but it’s still an accomplishment. The bats were pumping overall that day. Stay tuned (or check the standings) to find out if that continued.
Recent Comments