EDITOR’S NOTE: This was supposed to post this morning, the editor got busy and spaced this out. This, of course, is for Thursday’s loss to the Blue Jays.
In the realm of things, my deep thought from today isn’t where you were on 9/11 or when JFK was shot or even when JR was shot. It was when it first occurred to me that Kyle Tucker is not going to win a Rizzo award. That doesn’t feel like a very meaningful thing. In case you’ve ever wondered, I don’t think I’m over here working towards one day winning
a Pulitzer Prize or any other sort of writing award.
I enjoy what we do here. But I don’t take it super serious. So take the thought for what it is. Kyle Tucker jumped out to a comfortable lead fairly early and then I wondered if he might have a chance for the highest Cub Hero and Goat score ever recorded. Then he slowed down a bit and made some jokes about maybe Matthew Boyd chasing him down. More recently, Shōta Imanaga has gotten into the picture with a deep outside line on repeating as Rizzo Award winner.
But this game. It’s one that Imanaga didn’t pitch in and Boyd didn’t end up on the podium. But Tucker did and not in a good way. July 30 was the last time Tucker landed anywhere positive (he is -6 since then). July 8 was his last Superhero (he is -8) since then. He’s not exactly in free fall. But he’s just not making positive offensive contributions at this point.
To be fair, it is a point I do try to make that what is happening right now isn’t permanent. The worm turns, so to speak. But Tucker looks cooked at this point. Could he maybe spend some time on the injured list or get a few days off or something and turn it again? It feels like he could. As recently as a few days ago, it felt like the plate appearances were still pretty good. Most of the time anyway. But it feels like it is slowly getting around that his power is gone. There isn’t specifically a lot of reason to pitch around him.
I can’t say this clearly enough. This team should be a playoff team. They should have 42 games to position themselves for being in a wild card series. That’s not set in stone or anything. But it’s pretty safe. They need to be careful and get people healthy and right. Guys like Tucker, Ian Happ and Dansby Swanson. If part of their struggles are health based, then get them some time off. Get them right. Guys like Cade Horton, Imanaga, and Boyd, if they are over worked, skip a turn or throw six starters. Something.
You can’t use the last 42 games as a spring training. It’ll be hard to get back locked in. But also, it isn’t that long ago that this team used exhaustion as a reason for a post season loss. Get things right. You have some time and some breathing room to do it. Not an unlimited amount of room. But a little room. Get it right.
This team is ordinary without a productive Kyle Tucker. Everything flows from Tucker. You need that thought for this postseason and you need it as you decide how to spend your money in the offseason.
Pitch Counts:
- Cubs: 94, 27 BF (8 IP)
- Jays: 112, 35 BF
A super kudos to Matthew Boyd. He threw just over 11 pitches and only needed 23 batters for 21 outs. That should win close to 100% of the time. Drew Pomeranz with a good eighth inning, closing it out. The Cubs pen should be fully loaded this weekend.
The Jays throw around 12.5 per inning. That’s pretty solid too. Particularly when you see they struck out nine Cubs. They held the Cubs to six hits and two walks. A combo of poor execution for the Cubs and poor sequencing doomed the Cub offense. Eight baserunners should get you more than one a good amount of the time.
Three Stars:
- Boyd gets the top spot. If the offense shows up, this outing wins.
- Michael Busch homered again. It was the only offense really.
- Nico Hoerner had two hits and a stolen base.
Game 120, August 14: Blue Jays 2, Cubs 1 (68-52)
Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.
THREE HEROES:
- Superhero: Matt Shaw (.202). 1-3, 2B
- Hero: Michael Busch (.117). 1-3, HR, RBI, R
- Sidekick: Nico Hoerner (.100). 2-4, SB
THREE GOATS
- Billy Goat: Kyle Tucker (-.253). 0-4
- Goat: Carson Kelly (-.194). 0-3, BB
- Kid: Willi Castro (-.167). 0-4
WPA Play of the Game: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s two-run homer with one out in the seventh turned a one-run deficit into a one-run lead. (.379)
*Cubs Play of the Game: Michael Busch’s solo homer with one out in the sixth for the first run of the game. (.176)
Cubs Play of the Game:
Yesterday’s Winner: Cade Horton received 147 of 156 votes.
Rizzo Award Standings: (Top 5/Bottom 5)
The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall. He also recorded the highest season total ever at +65.5. The point scale is three points for a Superhero down to negative three points for a Billy Goat.
- Kyle Tucker +24
- Matthew Boyd +23
- Shōta Imanaga +17
- Michael Busch +13.17
- Jameson Taillon/Miguel Amaya +11
- Carson Kelly -13
- Julian Merryweather -15
- Ben Brown -16
- Dansby Swanson -20.33
- Seiya Suzuki -29
Up Next: The Cubs head home for a homestand that feels important for reasons that are different than they were a couple of weeks ago. It initially looked like this homestand could decide the Central division. But now, it suddenly feels like the team has to get its stuff back together and they are running out of time to do so. They are home for eight straight games (in seven days) ahead of nine game away. Much of that nine game trip is spent on the west coast against teams fighting for their collective playoff spots.
Heroes and Goats for Friday’s game will post here at 9 a.m. CT tomorrow.
