The Chicago Cubs have lost one series since the All-Star break. They’ve dug themselves out of last place in the NL Central and are currently a couple games behind the Milwaukee Brewers, while also sitting firmly in the second Wild Card spot. Through all the bitching and complaining that I and many Cubs fans have had, David Ross has a competitive group that has played great baseball for a while now. And yet, Ross still finds way to piss off fans.
The Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds in game one of their Friday double header, winning 6-2 behind another strong start from rookie Jordan Wicks, while Cody Bellinger, Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ all homered.
Ross rolled the dice a few times, first trusting Wicks to come back in the fifth inning after a stressful fourth inning. Wicks ended up throwing a career-high 90 pitches in five innings, holding the Reds to only one run.
Then, Ross opted to use the returning Keegan Thompson in the eighth inning when the game was still relatively close at 4-1. Thompson, who struggled with his control and was in the minors since May, was called up at the end of August and this vote of confidence from Ross will hopefully lead to more good outings down the stretch.
Thompson pitched two innings and while he did allow a run in the ninth inning, the righty looked good collecting his first save of the season. Now, the Cubs have Mark Leiter Jr. and Adbert Alzolay fresh and ready to go for the nightcap in Cincinnati.
So hey, solid move from Ross. He got the win and saved his two best leverage relievers for the second game of the double header. However, the lineup came out and well, most fans were expecting to see Alexander Canario make his MLB debut.
He may end up coming in off the bench, but Canario, who was one of the team’s September call-ups, will have to wait another day for his first MLB start.
There are two clear spots that Canario could have definitely filled in at.
Mike Tauchman has been awesome when you look back at how important his play has meant to the Cubs overall success this season and especially in July, when he and the team got on a heater. However, the veteran outfielder has not been good for the better part of the last month. As a matter of fact, Tauchman has been awful since the second week of August.
Heading into Friday, Tauchman was 7 for his last 49 at the plate, dating back to Aug. 9. He does have 11 walks in his last 60 plate appearances, but even with that he’s only posted a .300 OBP the last three weeks. That’s not good coming from your leadoff hitter in most games.
Why not give Tauchman the night off after going 1-for-5, with two more strikeouts in game one of the double header?
And then there’s Christopher Morel, who was also in the lineup in game one on Friday. He went 0-for-2 out of the DH spot, getting pinch-hit for in the sixth inning. While Morel has provided some big hits in the past few weeks, his struggles at the plate stretch back to July 29, posting a .572 OPS with a 39.1 K% in his last 25 games.
I’m sure Canario will get a start here soon, but man, this really did seem like a good spot to get him in there, especially when you consider he’s seen the Reds starting pitcher recently in the minor leagues.
Lyon Richardson will be making his third MLB start Friday night to begin his big-league career with the Reds. On Aug. 17, Richardson and Canario squared off at Triple-A, and in their first matchup, Canario ripped a two-run double off the Reds’ prospect.
Richardson did strike out Canario in their next meeting. But hey, there’s some familiarity there for Canario. Oh well, hopefully Tauchman gets back on track and Morel can provide a big hit or two.
