First, your recommended listening for this piece, courtesy of Matt Trueblood.
Top Play (WPA): Cubs manager Joe Maddon is fond of slogans. With the Rays in 2008, he famously preached that 9=8, meaning that nine guys playing nine hard innings every day would put the team among the eight going to the playoffs. It did. Later, also with the Rays, he pushed the idea of living in the present moment—still central to the Maddon ethos—with ‘What’s Important Now’ (WIN). And this spring training, in his first season with the Cubs, the name of the game has been Respect 90: respect the 90 feet between home plate and first base, and good things will come of it. Now, I don’t know for a fact that previous Cubs’ teams would not have won yesterday’s game the way they did, but I do know that Starlin Castro was barely safe at first on the ball he hit to the left side, scoring the winning run in the 11th inning, and that he was busting his butt down the line the whole time. Check it out:
It’s hard not to buy into Respect 90 after watching plays like that. Before that run came across in the 11th—improving the Cubs’ chances by 35.2 percent—it had been a frustrating game for both teams. Starters Jon Lester (Chicago) and Bartolo Colon (New York) traded zeroes for seven consecutive innings, stranding runners in scoring position to end innings on six separate occasions. The Cubs eventually ended the game with two runs (the second courtesy of a Miguel Montero single shortly after Castro’s knock), which doubled their output from each of their previous three games.
Bottom Play (WPA): Because baseball is a game that teaches you humility more than anything else, the bottom play of the game, by WPA, belonged to the same man who turned hero in the 11th. In the ninth inning, Castro came to the plate with runners on second and third and one out. It appeared to be the perfect moment for one of those patented Castro singles, where he shoots his hands out and pops the ball over the second-baseman’s head into right field. Sadly, it was not to be. Castro shot a soft line drive into center field, and New York’s Juan Lagares was there to make the play and reduce the Cubs’ chances by 20.7 percent. Eh. Baseball happens.
Key Moment: As I noted in yesterday’s recap of the month of June, Jon Lester has had a difficult go of it over his last few starts. Not so tonight, as he pitched effectively through seven innings, walking just one and striking out seven. That’s got to be a nice confidence booster for Lester, who’s generally managed to keep a steady head through his struggles, but must be as frustrated as anyone else that he hasn’t been able to fully deliver on the value of his contract. In any case, Lester set the tone for his entire game yesterday in the second inning, when, with the bases loaded and two outs, he managed to settle in and get a humpback liner from Curtis Granderson to end the threat. Check it out:
I like that pitch, more than for its result, but because Lester put it exactly where David Ross wanted it. For whatever reason, that’s been a struggle in the first part of the season, and if it’s been corrected it’ll make a major difference for Lester, and the team, as they push through the dog days.
Trends to Watch: The offense is still problematic, as I noted in yesterday’s recap. But today might be another good day to talk about how excellent the Cubs’ bullpen has been lately. Check out, for example, the season ERAs and performances of last night’s relievers:
| Reliever | IP | K | BB | H | R | ERA |
| Strop | 1.0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.80 |
| Rondon | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.14 |
| Motte | 1.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.93 |
| Russell | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.86 |
| Grimm | 0.1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.42 |
Yeah, that’ll play. Theo Epstein has recently talked about improving from within as the best way to pick up wins this month, and the bullpen—which has recently seen the return of Neil Ramirez—is one of the places that stands to see some of those gains. With performances like this coming on a fairly regular basis these days, though, the new additions will have a high bar to clear.
Coming Next: The series concludes this afternoon with a beautiful pitching matchup, Jake Arrieta vs. Jacob DeGrom, as the Cubs look to sweep the Mets and improve their season record against New York to 7-0. Let’s just play the Mets all year, all right? After finishing up in New York, Chicago returns home to take on the Marlins, Cardinals, and White Sox, in succession, before heading into the All-Star Break. Yours truly will be attending games in the latter two series, so if you’re planning on heading to the ballpark, give me a shout on Twitter. I’d love to meet up. All that said, however, the most important action for the franchise tonight might not be happening on the field. It’s July 2nd, which means we’ve entered a new signing period for International Free Agency; in this one, the Cubs are no longer encumbered by heavy penalties on spending, as they were in the previous one, and you can expect them to be active. Watch this space. For now, as ever, onwards.
Lead photo courtesy of Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports