Yesterday, the Chicago Cubs scored 21 points against the Pittsburgh Pirates. They were able to do this without Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez, Kris Bryant, Joc Pederson or any of the plethora of Cubs regulars who have left in the last few years. This puts away the belief that everything that made these Cubs teams great was shuttled out the window at the earliest sign of collapse.
Not everything. Not yet.
Why else would the Cubs leapfrog San Diego in the race for Seiya Suzuki? The Padres had him, Yu Darvish was helping him pick a neighborhood, it was a done deal...and yet he still chose the Cubs. Clearly he knew what this team still had. Because Suzuki has jumped right into the mix and is performing already like an MLB regular.
To give you an idea of the battery damage this team can do, everybody in the lineup except for Rafael Ortega was responsible for an RBI. Every Cub who appeared got at least one hit. 5 players got 3 or more hits- those players were Seiya Suzuki, Willson Contreras, Ian Happ, Nico Hoerner and, surprisingly enough, Alfonso Rivas. Rivas had a 5-RBI day as well, putting him onto the radar loudly, and giving the more modest Frank Schwindel some serious competition. Hoerner, Contreras and Jonathan Villar had at least 3 RBIs as well. And all the while Kyle Hendricks, who I thought was cooked last year, went 7 innings allowing only 2 hits and no runs.
I'm not implying that these same Cubs are going to show up every game. And I'm not saying it's because it's this specific Pirates team, and Zach Thompson, that bring it out. But if this is what this team is capable of...we really have been underestimating them.
Nico Hoerner is finally hitting at an MLB level. David Robertson and Mychal Givens have been on point in relief, and it's a joy to see Robertson truly excel in the ninth again. Of all the non-Hendricks starters, Drew Smyly has been the surest bet, though Marcus Stroman is working on it. Wisdom, Happ and Contreras are ensuring that the power core of this team isn't dissipating when the regulars leave. So many good baseball things are happening, and I'm glad that they seem to be in the race, even if the Cardinals and Brewers might be a bit more conventional.
I hope they, and Suzuki, keep it up.
Coming Tonight: One of the top free agents of the offseason. Wonder if he picked the right team.
They should have saved some runs for the other games :) We're hoping Suzuki can keep it up after the league has a chance to see him, unlike Fukudome years ago.
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