The Cubs had a 5-2 week, which on its face is excellent.
The way it ended, with two losses to the Dodgers after sweeping the Phillies and mounting a stirring comeback Friday in Los Angeles, wasn’t great. But this team is still showing that it can compete with anyone, even with multiple bullpen injuries.
Here’s who was hot and not for the Cubs over the past week.
Three up
Seiya Suzuki is red-hot
It took a while for Suzuki to start hitting, which isn’t surprising as he missed most of Spring Training with an injury suffered in the World
Baseball Classic.
Despite going 0-for-4 in Sunday’s loss, Suzuki batted .400/.483/.880 (10-for-25) over the week with four home runs, three walks and six RBI. He’s got a chance to be named NL Player of the Week later today.
In addition to his good hitting week, Suzuki also made several nice defensive plays, including two sliding grabs on Sunday. Here’s the first of those [VIDEO].
Moisés Ballesteros is a hitting machine
Craig Counsell is still protecting Ballesteros from facing left-handed pitching, for the most part, as he’s just 1-for-4 with a walk vs. LHP this year.
Overall, though, he is crushing baseballs no matter which right-hander he faces. For the week, Ballesteros batted .500/.588/1.000 (7-for-14) with four doubles, a home run and three walks.
Eventually, I suppose, the league will adjust to him. Then it will be up to Ballesteros to adjust back. I’m pretty sure he will.
Here’s the home run he hit in Los Angeles on Saturday [VIDEO].
Michael Busch finally started to hit
After being in a slump for the season’s first three-plus weeks, Busch broke out with a 333/.394/.600 week (10-for-30) against the Phillies and Dodgers, with two doubles, two home runs and eight RBI.
Here’s his three-run shot against the Phillies on Thursday [VIDEO].
You knew a guy who hit 34 home runs last year couldn’t be held down too long, so hopefully this is a sign of better things to come for Busch.
H/T to Nico Hoerner and Pete Crow-Armstrong for playing strong defense all week.
Three down
Colin Rea got hit hard by the Dodgers
Rea had been really solid all year, no matter what role he was asked to perform, but the Dodgers hit him really hard — six hits, four walks and six runs over just 3.1 innings.
Hopefully, that’s just a glitch. Rea has been really good for the Cubs over the last year-plus. Assuming the rotation stays in order, his next start will be Friday at Wrigley Field against the Diamondbacks. Small sample size, but Rea has been better at home (2.79 ERA, 9.2 innings) than on the road (5.60 ERA, 17.2 innings). He was also somewhat better at Wrigley last year. Hopefully the home field will be friendly to him on Friday.
Javier Assad also had a rough time in L.A.
Assad also has a pronounced home/road split this year, again in a very small sample size, but that 10.95 ERA in 12.1 road innings is pretty ugly, and it includes six walks. He’s walked no one in 6.2 innings at Wrigley this year. Maybe try the glasses again, Javier?
The bullpen injuries are mounting
It’s getting difficult to even know who’s in the Cubs bullpen on a daily basis. Right now, only three relievers who were in the pen on Opening Day are still there — Ben Brown, Hoby Milner and Jacob Webb. (Colin Rea, who was in the Opening Day bullpen, is now in the rotation.)
Hunter Harvey, Riley Martin, Phil Maton, Daniel Palencia, Ethan Roberts and Caleb Thielbar, all guys who have contributed this year, remain on the IL, along with Jordan Wicks, who is currently on rehab assignment. Roberts’ injury was a laceration, not anything with an elbow or shoulder, and he could be back soon. Maton could be activated as soon as today. And there’s potential good news about Palencia:
So, perhaps a rehab assignment for Palencia could follow.
And even with all the injuries, the Cubs reeled off 10 straight wins. Impressive.
