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Generally speaking, beating the Dodgers in two out of
three would be a good thing, and generally speaking that was the case this
week. Still, there’s a nagging feeling
the Cubs let one get away. The Cubs
missed an opportunity to sweep the Dodgers Thursday, losing 2-1. The Cubs had their chances, but couldn’t cash
in early.
Lester hamstrung by a lack of runs
Jon Lester was back and looked none the worse for wear
after coming back from a hamstring issue.
Lester went five innings, giving up only one run while allowing four
hits. He didn’t walk anyone while
striking out five. The Cubs starting
pitching continues to excel.
Happier times
Lester’s outing comes on the heels of a Cole Hamels performance
that had Cole being uncharacteristically wild.
Hamels gave up three runs in 5.2 innings while walking six. Of course the Cubs were able to bail Hamels
out with some late inning offensive heroics.
Javy Baez tied the game at three with a seventh inning three-run homer
and Jason Heyward put them up 6-3 with another three run homer. The Dodgers made things interesting but the
Cubs hung on for a 7-6 win. Pedro Strop
pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up the save.
Tuesday night Jose Quintana took the hill and gave the
Cubs seven strong innings in route to a Cubs 7-2 win. While the Cubs sit just one game above .500
at 12-11 there is reason for optimism.
The starting pitching really is a strength. But there’s more.
Reasons for Cubs fans to be optimistic
Javy Baez is making the jump from star to super star. Willson Contreras looks like an emerging star
after taking a detour in the second half of last season. Jason Heyward is hitting! After seeing weak ground ball after weak
ground ball off Heyward’s bat for three years, he’s driving the ball. He just looks better at the plate. Daniel Descalso has also been a nice addition.
Sneaky lefty pickups
While there is still cause for concern about the bullpen,
Kyle Ryan and Tim Collins have been nice additions. I like the Cubs lefties out of the pen better
than any combination of lefties they had last year.
The Brew has gone flat
After a sizzling start to the season, the Brewers have
tailed off and currently sit at 13-13.
Christian Yelich has mashed and Yasmani Grandal has an OPS of .970, while
Mike Mousakis has chipped in with an OPS of .899. but it gets pretty lean after
that. Jesus Aguilar is hitting .132 with an OPS of .393. The starting pitching has been shaky and Josh
Hader has looked human coming out of the pen.
The Brewers have reason for concern.
What do the Pirates and Reds have in common?
As expected the Pirates are getting good pitching and no
hitting. The Cincinnati Reds also haven’t
been hitting. Joey Votto currently sits
at .229 while Yasiel Puig is hitting .200 with three homers and an OPS of
.575. Actually the Reds hitting numbers
are strikingly bad. The Reds starting
pitching has improved this season, but the hitting has gone into the tank. Thus the Reds are sitting at 9-14. That leaves one team in the NL Central.
The Cards drew a strong hand
The Cardinals are now atop the division. Paul Goldschmidt looked like just what the
Cardinals needed when they picked up in the offseason and they has proven to be
the case. Paul has an OPS of .966 with
nine homers and 19 RBIs. Shortstop, Paul
DeJong is swinging a hot stick with an OPS of 1.024. Marcel Ozuna is also off to a hot start with
six homers and 19 RBIs. That’s in
addition to an OPS of 1.020. Even Dexter
Fowler is rebounding this season. Dexter
has an OPS of .818. The Cards are swinging
the bats.
While the Cardinals pitching hasn’t been overwhelming, it
does rank 11th in the majors with a team ERA of 4.18. They look to be the team that will give the
most trouble in the NL Central.
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