On April 29, the Cubs were alone in first place at 18-11. Since then, over nearly the same number of wins (19), they have lost THREE TIMES AS MANY GAMES (33). By the results, the Cubs have been an A’s/Marlins/Rockies level team for two months now. Wrap your head around that. Or don’t, actually. It feels bad.
Who knows what would’ve happened if Ian Happ didn’t get thrown out at third base in the 8th inning with that attempted double-steal:
And it was an attempted double-steal, for the record, not just a pick-off:
I have beefed about trying to steal third base with two outs before, and although it’s not as horrible as I once thought, you still better be right if you’re gonna go (and you better not let the PITCHER be the one to catch you). With the trailing runner also going to second, in a one-run game, it does make more sense to try (that’s the lead run, and then a single could score him). Not saying I agree with it, but I can at least see the merit in the attempt. Didn’t work. Cubs lose.
Bonus note: Giants catcher Patrick Bailey is one of the best in baseball at throwing runners out, and Tyler Rogers isn’t necessarily brutal at holding runners. So it wasn’t as if this particular match-up screamed “take chances!”
Hayden Wesneski was pretty good last night given the spot-start context … except for the home runs. Which, you know, is a problem. It was his primary problem last year (especially against lefties), and it has exploded again this year after he was hardly giving up any earlier in the season. He’s given up an incredible 8 home runs in his last 15.2 innings pitched. That is pretty hard to do, and it’s a way to seemingly pitch really well on a pitch-by-pitch basis, but nevertheless wind up with bad results. If you’re giving up multiple homers every outing, the runs simply add up too quickly.
I wonder if it’s about time for Wesneski to head back to Iowa to keep working and also stay stretched out as an emergency starter. Just like last year, he remains THISCLOSE to being an effective big league pitcher, even in a starting role. Wouldn’t hate the Cubs trying to work on a little more development, especially if he’s no longer performing like a key arm in the bullpen.
More from Craig Counsell on Wesneski’s night and the loss:
Good appearances last night by Keegan Thompson and Porter Hodge in a tight game. It’s pretty wild to think about the possibility that Keegan Thompson has bounced all the way back from last year just like that, and the possibility that Porter Hodge is simply ready for the big leagues without really spending much successful time at Triple-A. The Cubs are going to get the bullpen really situated just in time for it to not matter.
Speaking of which, although this is a note worth making, it’s pretty hard to imagine it mattering at any point this season:
The bat boy saved Shohei Ohtani’s face:
Haydn McGeary grand slam just for something nice:
Overall, it’s been a very disappointing year for McGeary, 24, who was one of 2023’s big breakouts. The hope had been that he would crush in a repeat of Double-A, and force the Cubs to find time for him at first base in Iowa by midseason. That obviously hasn’t happened. BUT! He’s actually been sufficiently scorching hot lately that we can play the arbitrary cut-off game: if you chop off the first two weeks of the season, he’s hit .241/.306/.428/115 wRC+ since then. Suddenly, the season doesn’t look quite as terrible!
Old friend climbing walls:
Almora, 30, is playing for the Diamondbacks’ Triple-A team this year, with so-so results (.287/.341/.420/88 wRC+). I don’t know why it bothers me to think about the possibility that he peaked at 22/23 years old, but I suppose we know that does happen sometimes.
The NBA Draft happened, and a big name fell to the Bulls:
There is still time to enter our Old Style contest if you haven’t: