April 24, 2021: Kicking it Off

Back to that Friday afternoon game at Wrigley. Last week wasn’t so fun; this week though? Yeah, it went a little better. The Cubs wasted no time jumping on the Brewers putting up a 6 spot in the first. They piled it on from there, putting an absolute beatdown on the Brew Crew beating them 15-2. Now that’s how you kick off a weekend!

Before we talk about the bats, let’s talk about our #1 finally getting a win under his belt this year. I’m sure all those runs helped Kyle settle in and pitch a really good game, only giving up those 2 runs in his last inning of work the 6th. It was good to see. We already established the quality of the Cubs bullpen; it was nicely timed by the way, as the bullpen came up huge in the Cubs win over the Mets on Thursday. The presence of a true #1 in our starting rotation has been a missing ingredient thus far in 2021; Kyle took the first step in re-establishing that on Friday. We know he’s got it in him… all those big games in the playoffs. I wasn’t worried about Kyle, but certainly feel better seeing him pitch a good game.

And then there’s the offense… If you didn’t already know, it’s contract time for our big boppers. We see everybody, including myself, strongly recommending that the Cubs resign Rizzo. Then there’s the matter of KB and Javy; yeah, they’ll need to get paid too. I see polls asking which 2 should we keep; I fall into that thinking too, but why? Why do we have to settle there? The Cubs ain’t poor. On the flip side though, the recent performance of the Cubs offense, and by that I mean over the past couple years and before the recent surge, which one of them deserves the big bucks? They’re not making a great case at this point. Well, they all came out swinging in this game. KB and Rizzo with back to back doubles in the first; Rizzo and Baez with back to back homers. This is what we expect from these guys. I know before we had you go, we go with Dex… well, as these 3 guys go, the Cubs go.

How good has KB been? He’s been the hottest Cubs hitter in the early going. He’s looking like that rookie of the year, MVP guy we saw in his first two years. Is he finally healthy? Has he finally adjusted to what guys are trying to do to him? Stay hot KB. Javy needed a game like this. Oh yeah, he also had a phenomenal play on defense starting a beautiful DP. Javy didn’t have his finest moment on Thursday night vs the Mets; I think back to that Braves game too, when Acuna pulled a Javy on Javy… It’s been rough to see. Well, seeing Javy on Friday… he reminded us all why he is El Mago. When he’s got it going, he can do it all. We just haven’t seen it. Glad to know it’s still in there; keep showing us Javy.

Yes, it’s always good to win that Friday afternoon game. I was lucky enough to be in the car for a lot of this one, then mowing the lawn for the 2nd half. You know what that means? Pat Hughes and Ron Coomer. Love those guys, especially Pat. I knew because it was a blowout, we’d hear some extra stories; I wasn’t disappointed. When they started talking about Tatis, yes, the father of Tatis Jr, hitting 2 grand slams in the same inning OFF THE SAME PITCHER!!! That was great, and yes, Davey Johnson certainly let Chan Ho Park out to dry that inning. Haha… Nothing but good vibes coming out of the Cubs game; too bad the Blackhawks couldn’t keep that going on Friday night; more to come on that later. For now, let’s stay hot and win this series vs the Brewers. Go Cubs!