Cubs vs Athletics — Splitting a four-game series in Arizona isn’t awful, but it sure feels that way when (1) your bullpen blows a four-run lead in the eighth inning of the final game, (2) your front office whiffed (or didn’t try hard enough) on higher quality relief arms in the offseason, and (3) your ownership group isn’t spending commensurate with their earnings relative to the rest of the league.
Throw in the fact that David Robertson is still sitting in free agency (kinda wonder if something is wrong there? It’s very strange he remains unsigned) and the fact that the Cubs just traded Cody Poteet to extract even MORE cash from the Cody Belling salary dumping trade and, yeah. I’m a little peeved.
The good news is that the Cubs have another three games in a row to make us feel better. And the Athletics, while not as woeful as usual after some nice offseason moves, are a much weaker projected team than both the Dodgers (duh) and Diamondbacks. The game is still on the road, on the West Coast, but the only “weak” opponent the Cubs have for literal WEEKS:
- Padres (3)
- Rangers (3)
- Dodgers (3)
- Padres (3)
- Diamondbacks (3)
- Dodgers (2)
- Phillies (3)
And that takes you all the way to the end of April. Truly, legitimately brutal stuff there.
But let’s worry about the future later. For now, how about some positivity?
First up? Kyle Tucker. After a quiet spring, the Cubs superstar outfielder has gotten off to a very nice start this season, slashing .250/.357/.583 (168 wRC+) with two homers and a 14.3% walk rate. And all that despite a .235 BABIP which is completely out of line with his insanely high 21.1% barrel rate. That’s just what happens in small samples. He looks good and I just love his loosey goosey swing.
Likewise, although Ian Happ has a few too many strikeouts to start the year, he has been getting on base (.345 OBP) and producing (115 wRC+) exactly like he always does.
On the flip side, Seiya Suzuki hasn’t quite locked in yet, though he did homer yesterday. So hopefully he’ll begin to emerge quickly. And Pete Crow-Armstrong has been smacking the ball hard (93 MPH average EV, 43.8 hard%) without much to show for it. Ultimately, I think this offense will score runs just fine. These guys are just still easing into the season … and they’ve faced Roki Sasaki, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Zac Gallen, and Merrill Kelly in four out of six games.
The biggest thing to watch in this series – for me, anyway – is going to be Justin Steele. One of the Cubs’ two best starters, Steele has not had a great start through his first two outings: 9.0 IP, 11H, 8ER, 2BB, 7Ks. Most troublingly, he’s already given up three homers, which isn’t really like him. You could once again point to the first start being in Tokyo, in mid-March, and against the Dodgers, but I’m already sick of that excuse, legitimate or not.
The Cubs rotation is simply not a strength this year, which means they will be relying very heavily on Steele to produce.
Speaking of the rotation, Ben Brown is getting his first start of the season tonight, though he did appear in a multi-inning relief role out in Tokyo, as well. I can’t wait to see what his numbers look like by the end of the year. Big upside in that arm and frame, but does he have the health and longevity to make it as a starter after so many missed months last year? We’ll see!
As a reminder, this series will be played in Sacramento at Sutter Health Park – it’ll be the A’s first game at this temporary stadium.
Cubs vs Athletics – Pitching Probables:
Game 1:Cubs vs Athletics – Monday, March 31 at 9:05 pm CT at Sutter Health Park
Broadcast Info:Marquee Sports Network, 670 The Score, WRTO 1200
- Cubs: Ben Brown, RHP
- Athletics: Joey Estes, RHP
Game 2:Cubs vs Athletics – Tuesday, April 1 at 9:05 pm CT at Sutter Health Park
Broadcast Info:Marquee Sports Network, 670 The Score, 1200 WRTO
- Cubs: Justin Steele, LHP
- Athletics: Luis Severino, RHP
Game 3:Cubs vs Athletics – Wednesday, April 2 at 2:35 pm CT at Sutter Health Park
Broadcast Info:Marquee Sports Network, 670 The Score, 1200 WRTO
- Cubs: Jameson Taillon, RHP
- Athletics: Jeffrey Springs, LHP
Cubs vs Athletics – Key Injuries:
- Javier Assad, RHP
- Tyson Miller, RP
- Vidal Brujan, UT
- Ryan Brasier, RP
- Brett Harris, 3B
- Zack Gelof, 2B
- Brady Basso, SP
- Michel Otañez, RP
- Ken Waldichuk, SP
- Luis Medina, SP
