Please Start the Turnaround, Steele, Busch, Baserunning, Closer, and Other Cubs Bullets

The turnaround started last night! … is a thing I’d really like to believe. It’s possible. I know it’s possible. But nearly two months of annoyingly bad things take a whole lot of winning to unwind (in the standings and in the heart). And now I just made myself mad thinking about the game they blew on Monday, rather than being happy about the game they won last night …

  • Justin Steele has been on a tear. The two earned runs he allowed last night are the MOST he’s allowed in a start in nearly a month. That’s a 1.14 ERA over his last 31.2 innings.
  • Another great night for Michael Busch, and that wRC+ is up to 130, or 30% better than league average. For some wild context, do you know what Anthony Rizzo’s wRC+ in his time with the Cubs? 130.
  • Craig Counsell on the win, but also the passing of Willie Mays:
  • Keegan Thompson got the save opportunity, and all he did was strike out the side:
  • Sahadev jokes, but at this point … I mean, yes? There’s really ZERO POINT in giving Hector Neris another save opportunity any time soon. So just give it to WHOEVER. Maybe it’s Keegan Thompson again. Maybe it’s Tyson Miller. Maybe it’s Drew Smyly. Who cares. (Recall on Thompson, though, that the Cubs envisioned him becoming more of a one-inning, late-inning type last year, but not only did he struggle in results, he was also a guy who didn’t necessarily recover as quickly as the role requires. So that’s why he went back to more periodic, longer appearances. He’s got late-inning stuff, but it’s hard to use it that way if he can’t successfully pitch back-to-back days once in a while.)
  • Chicago Cubs baserunning is a land of contrasts:
  • Moises Ballesteros had a couple hits, including a double, in his Triple-A debut. A couple strikeouts, too, and I’m reminded that one of the adjustments for players coming to Triple-A is the automated strike zone.
  • Speaking of catchers, I couldn’t help but notice that the Mets have let Tomas Nido go. He’s a solid back-up catcher at best, but for the Cubs, that would be a MASSIVE upgrade. Hope they’re working the phones. That’s the kind of bullet that gets typed early in the morning before activity happens and wrecks it. The Cubs are reportedly indeed getting Nido and letting Yan Gomes go. Gomes was always great in the clubhouse, and I’m sure it’ll be a little sad there today knowing it was time to move on.
  • The Cubs on the passing of baseball legend Willie Mays:
  • Not saying it could’ve or would’ve happened with the Cubs. Not saying it wasn’t time to move on. But I will say that I hope the Cubs spent a lot of time digging into the entire Heyward process, learning from mistakes, and figuring out how it could’ve gone so terribly when the talent was clearly still there:
  • And before you say it’s simply that they are platooning Heyward and limiting appearances to good match-ups, I’ll remind that the Cubs tried to do exactly the same thing in his final three years (with very limited success – nowhere CLOSE to the numbers he’s put up with the Dodgers). (Oh, and also, the point is much broader, since the Cubs got almost nothing from Heyward offensively FROM THE START of the contract, before which he was very good. It would be arrogant as heck to presume there is nothing to be learned here.)
  • If you missed my (FINALLY) return visit to Wrigleyville, and an announcement of our OFFICIAL BEER SPONSOR (and, yes, you know exactly who it is):
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    Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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