Alzolay’s big night and the near future, Hoerner’s luck and other Cubs balls

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The 2020 BN Trade Deadline Dogathon is here! Short version? We are fundraising for Make-A-Wish by making me eat hot dogs ONLY for two days on the trade deadline. The more you give, the more I have to eat. I am afraid, but I am committed. Longer explanation here.

• The Cubs won this series against the Cardinals. 3-2. The Cubs win. How strange does that seem given how the series feels? It’s a good streak win anyway (as is every time you win 3 out of 5 in baseball!), Having to play five games in three days while using two replacement starters. The Cardinals were opposed to it as well and a few key contributors were missing, but really, the Cubs were too. I don’t think there’s any reason not to feel good about this win on the series.

• Adbert Alzolay was awesome yesterday, even if you don’t consider the context that he had NO REAL START this year in minors (because there are no minors), and then had to show up to the Wrigley Field and face the Cardinals. Five innings, no earned runs, two hits, one walk and six strikeouts? It’s just really good in every way. His contact quality was also excellent, with a single hit ball above a 50% chance of being hit by xBA. Yeah, there were some early reversals – it must be impossible not to get a little too amplified – but he quickly settled in, then let his things play.

• From David Ross (Cubs.com): “Adbert looked really good. The arm is super fast. He’s a guy who’s going to throw some big heats on us this season. It’s a piece of tremendous depth that we have, and you see what he’s capable of tonight. I was extremely happy.

• Individually, each of Alzolay’s four seamer, curveball, and changeup are heavy caliber shots, and he can usually throw any of them for a strike. Each can also be a swing-and-miss pitch. As far as what you’re looking for, traditionally, in a starting pitcher, Alzolay has it. Going forward, the question is whether he can maintain his health as a starter, if he can maintain tricks and the bike, consistently, through appearances in six innings, and whether the change and the curve ball are there for him every time he takes the ball. These, all together, have been the questions when you think about Alzolay’s future in the rotation or the bullpen. He’s out of options next year, so it’s going to be one or the other.

• For now, Alzolay has been brought back to South Bend. The Cubs will need a fifth starter early next week, and it’s conceivable he could come back for that one if Tyler Chatwood (returning) is still out, or if Jose Quintana (inch) isn’t. still not ready. Otherwise the Cubs have another double title exactly 10 days after yesterday, so Alzolay would be perfectly lined up for that one. He might make three consecutive starts for the Cubs. Otherwise, the Cubs will almost certainly try to figure out how to get some contributions from him ahead of the playoffs one way or another.

• Amazon’s Big Summer Sales Event is happening right now, so check it out. #a d

• He was sure * felt * to be true, and it was:

• The Cubs have actually had a lot of bad luck so far – Contreras (-.076), Heyward (-.043), Bote (-.037), Bryant (-.025) and Báez (-.024). Some of these guys do well despite the bad luck, others are mediocre * AND ALSO * unlucky. The Cubs luckiest hitter by that measure is Ian Happ (+.039), but even his expected wOBA is still a whopping .398, which is 37th in baseball. So he always rakes.

• Oh, and by the way, the Cubs xwOBA leader? This is not the case. It’s actually Jason Heyward at .402. He’s hitting people very, very well this year.

• From Tuesday evening, as hung by Bryan:

• I’m now suddenly against the clock for totally unrelated reasons, but we don’t need to get into the nitty-gritty:

• The Cubs released a great Blast from the Past video:

• Today it’s the NBA Draft Lottery, which is kind of a big deal for the Bulls. Make sure to follow Eli’s cover:



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