One of the upsides of the expanded schedule displacements is seeing matchups you may not always get, or seeing players come to markets that may not always get big stars like that. One of the downsides is sometimes these teams that don't always play each other end up delivering outmatched outcomes. How else do you explain the Twins completely obliterating the Cubs this weekend? 27 points the Twins scored off these guys, which is alarming considering how excellent this pitching has been lately. It was enough to completely humanize Marcus Stroman, and it was debilitating enough to send Hayden Wesneski right back to Iowa for the first time this year.
And now that they're playing the Astros, they've already lost Cody Bellinger to an outfield wall. Even for a feel-good team like the Cubs, things aren't looking great.
When looking at it from afar, this matchup seems straightforward. 2016's champ vs. 2017's champ, rebuilder vs. the perennial, upward trajectory vs. downward spiral. The Astros, with all their faults and absences, are still 22-19, while the Cubs, with all their triumphs, are still 19-22. They're inverted versions of each other, and though it's not certain which direction they're both heading in, it's curious that they've run into each other at this stage.
The Astros, as they are right now, are curious enough. Altuve, Garcia, McCullers, Urquidy and Brantley hurt, Springer, Gurriel, Correa, Cole and Verlander are gone, and the rotation is comprised of two veterans [Valdez and Javier] and three rookies [Hunter Brown, Brandon Bielak and J.P. France]. And yet even with all this inexperience populating the team, because the Astros have been conservative at deadlines and trusted their homegrown pieces, all these guys coming up and inheriting the team are quite good. France has been superb in his first few starts, Brown is an early ROY candidate and longtime minor leaguer Corey Julks is starting in left. What's odder still is that, with the exception of Brown, most of these guys are already in their late 20s, so these pieces are essentially being promoted in their primes, as the Astros have been so good in the early 2020s that they haven't needed to promote people like that. Which is why you get J.P. France already pitching like a pro in his first starts or Julks already stealing 5 bases. The initial buffering period has been circumvented, and these guys are already ready.
Which, compared to the Cubs, is a little over-the-top.
Right now, Christopher Morel is hitting .346 with 9 RBIs and 4 homers in 6 games. It makes it seem misguided, then, that the Cubs left Morel in Iowa to start the season, instead giving Miles Mastrobuoni the third outfielder spot out of camp. Then once Nico Hoerner got hurt, instead of giving Nick Madrigal more playing time, the Cubs let Morel take 2nd more often, and use that to get more at-bats to absolutely crush the ball with. In Chicago, because there's more open spots, some people get rushed into positions they haven't earned yet, and some people have to earn positions that the team isn't sure is theirs yet. Morel has to use a different ramp to a starting position than someone like Corey Julks. It also means that someone like Morel is a bigger name because he came on the scene more suddenly than someone like a gradual shifting of gears like Brown or Julks.
At the same time, the Cubs' big signing going into 2023, Dansby Swanson, has been phenomenal, hitting .280 with 15 RBIs and 11 doubles. The Astros' big signing going into 2023, Jose Abreu, has been less than phenomenal, only hitting .223 with more strikeouts than hits and NO HOME RUNS. Although I do think it's a bit unfair to exchange assets, seeing as an Astros addition just beat a Cubs addition last night, but enough about Bellinger and the wall..
Obviously in a series like this, I'm rooting for the Cubs. You want a team like the Cubs to come to prominence and take down a team that's always good, like the Stos. I'm not saying the Cubs WILL finish the series victorious, I'd just like them to. And I say this knowing how unable the Astros are to chill for just five seconds.
Coming Tomorrow- He's 35, he's having a hell of a comeback season, and he's facing my team tonight at home.
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