What is the story about?
Rangers
3, Cubs 0
- What if we made the whole team out of Jacobs?
- When I did a write-up for Bleed Cubbie Blue before this series, I said that Jacob deGrom was no longer “best pitcher in baseball” good, but he is still “legitimate #1 starter” good.
- They would be forgiven for assuming I lied to them.
- While it is cool to have a pitcher with a deep repertoire who throws six pitches and mixes things up and keeps batters guessing, it is also cool to have a pitcher who just pumps in a couple of elite pitches, MC Hammer-style.
- (U Can’t Touch This).
- Of Jacob deGrom’s 94 pitches on Sunday, 44 of them were fastballs. The Cubs swung 26 times at them, whiffed 12 times, fouled it off 8 times, and put the ball into play 6 times. None of the 6 fastballs in play went for hits.
- Per Statcast, here are the xBAs of the six deGrom fastballs that the Cubs put into play: .010, .030, .010, .010, .140, .180.
- Also per Statcast, three of the six balls in play off of deGrom fastballs qualified as “hard hit.” The launch angles on those three balls were 69 degrees, 43 degrees, and 64 degrees. So yeah, if the hitter is hitting the ball straight up in the air, as a pitcher, you’re fine with it being hit hard.
- Jacob deGrom threw 39 sliders on Sunday. 22 times the Cubs swung at a slider. 10 times they whiffed, 6 times they fouled it off, 6 times they put the ball into play. They got one hit off of deGrom’s slider, a Nico Hoerner sixth inning single.
- Just to keep things fair, deGrom did threw something other than the fastball/slider combo occasionally. deGrom threw eight change ups. The only changeup the Cubs put into play went for a hit. He also threw two curveballs, both for called strikes. He threw one sinker, which Hoerner hit for a double, then decided there was no need to throw that pitch again.
- The final line for deGrom was 7 innings, 3 hits, 0 walks, 10 Ks. Unlike Saturday, when the Cubs had baserunners all over the basepaths but couldn’t get them home, Sunday’s game saw the Cubs with just three baserunners all game. Chicago was 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position, though three of those were in the fourth, when Hoerner led off the inning with the double.
- 23 swings and misses on 94 pitches for deGrom. The man did some things today.
- After that, Jacob Latz came in and retired all six batters he faced for a two inning save. Jacob Latz, fireman extraordinaire.
- Despite the pitching dominance from the Rangers I was still more antsy than I would have liked due to the lack of offense.
- For most of the game the only run was one the Rangers scored in the fourth, when Josh Jung led off with a single, went to third on a Joc Pederson double, then scored on a fielder’s choice where the Cubs tried to get Jung at home on an Alejandro Osuna grounder. It was close, Jung may have been out, but when the Cubs challenged the play the call stood, giving Texas a 1-0 lead.
- The next play, Danny Jansen hit into a GIDP that the Rangers challenged. Jansen might have been safe, but once again the call stood. Had it been overturned Joc Pederson would have scored.
- It looked like Corey Seager had given the Rangers an insurance run in the eighth, when he smoked a ball deep to center, but it was caught in front of the fence. Seager was 0 for 3 with a walk and a K, and there will no doubt be more fretting about Seager’s bat, but along with the blast to center he had another hard hit line drive that was caught. I am not going to worry about Corey Seager.
- Evan Carter did provide insurance later in the inning, when, after another Jung single, Carter lofted one high in the air to right that found the seats and made it 3-0. Not as well hit as Seager, but better located.
- Josh Jung had a three hit game, as he continues to amaze.
- Brandon Nimmo, on the other hand, has kind of stopped hitting. He took a collar, making him 0 for 10 in the series, though with two walks. His last extra base hit was on April 23.
- Texas is now 2 back of the A’s in the A.L. West, and a half-game ahead of the hated Mariners.
- Jacob deGrom topped out at 98.3 mph with his fastball, averaging 97.2 mph. Jacob Latz touched 94.3 mph with his fastball.
- Joc Pederson had a 110.6 mph double and a 101.8 mph ground out. Corey Seager had a 103.6 mph fly out. Brandon Nimmo had a 101.8 mph line out and a 101.3 mph ground out. Ezequiel Duran had a 101.5 mph ground out. Josh Jung had a 100.4 mph single. Evan Carter’s homer was 98.6 mph.
- That was a nice couple of games of baseball. It would be even nicer if they could play the next few games like that as well.
