OSS: A 6-RBI day by Kris Bryant cruises the Cubs to an easy win
Three up
1. Kris Bryant hit a two-run shot in the first inning that probably still hasn’t landed. I think the people most upset by the bleacher expansion were probably the ballhawks.
2. Bryant then one-upped himself with a grand slam in the third inning, chasing Cosart and putting the game out of reach.
3. As much as I grumbled about Clayton Richard before today’s game, he had a solid outing, even managing to strike out four batters. None of them were even pitchers. My expectations are still pretty low, but Richard rocketed to the top of my list for my choice for the fifth starter almost entirely due to how quickly he works.
Three down
1. I wasn’t paying that close attention to this game after the early lead, but there were still four separate occasions where I gave the finger to the FOX broadcast. Shockingly, two of them were related to Starlin Castro, both his bad tag on the Dee Gordon play (warranted, but still annoying) and later discussion of the inevitability of him being traded to the Mets. Smoltz also spent a good chunk of airtime grumbling about how the stat models don’t properly appreciate the importance of moving runners over, and bunting. Except they do. He is right that Cubs pitchers ought to be a lot better than they are at it though. Then of course there were unfunny Bartman jokes, though to the FOX crew’s credit they did at least show Gonzalez’s error right afterwords.
2. Anthony Rizzo is still in a funk at the plate, going 0-4. He has just 8 hits over the Cubs last 3 series and change, but at least he isn’t striking out much (only five K’s in that span). Also, did you know that he changes his swing with two strikes? Who knew? I just noticed this myself today.
3. Jeff Baker is still in baseball.
Next game: Mat Latos vs Kyle Hendricks, 1:20 PM CT. I can’t wait to hear Latos’s scorched earth comments about the Marlins clubhouse after he inevitably gets traded. When all your coworkers are assholes, that usually means you’re the asshole.