Top Play (WPA): Kyle Schwarber’s triple in the top of the second kicked off what turned out to be a relentless offensive onslaught from the Cubs last night (.160). It was the first hit of Schwarber’s career.
Cleveland starter Shawn Marcum was chased after two innings and seven runs, and then the Indians bullpen burned through eight more pitchers, two of whom were position players. Tonight was Schwarber’s first MLB start, and—in an extremely small sample size—he showed why scouts say his bat is ready. He ended up 4-for-5 on the night, with two line-drive singles to accompany his triple and a ninth-inning infield hit against righty junkballer Ryan Raburn. I was particularly impressed with Schwarber’s third-inning single, in which he turned on a 95-mph fastball that was in off the plate and pulled hard it into right field for a hit. He’s clearly got extremely quick hands, and he seems to cover the whole plate very impressively.
Bottom Play (WPA): Anthony Rizzo lined out to the second baseman in the top of the first (-.072). This play marked the final out of Rizzo’s 0-for-20 slump, during which it never seemed like Rizzo was failing to make hard contact. In his next at bat, he hit a towering home run to right field, and he then doubled to round out his 2-for-4 night. The Cubs hit four homers in this one—Addison Russell, Chris Denorfia, and Kris Bryant* also went deep. After being shut out Tuesday night, it was great to see the power bats come around in this one.
* JD aptly described this home run as “A very strong young man hitting against an outfielder.”
Key Moment: Once the Cubs had their 10-0 lead in the third, the real key performance was turned in by Tsuyoshi Wada. Wada had come under some criticism recently after having back-to-back rough outings, but he did everything the Cubs needed from him tonight, pitching seven scoreless innings on 107 pitches, striking out six, and giving the bullpen some much-needed rest. For the year, he’s been very serviceable for a fifth starter, posting a 3.68 ERA, with middling peripherals (4.06 FIP/3.57 xFIP). But with Jacob Turner beginning his rehab in Tennessee, it will be essential for Wada to keep performing if he wants to keep his spot in the rotation. In Turner, the Cubs now have a very viable potential alternative.
Yoervis Medina, the reliever acquired for Welington Castillo, made his debut and pitched a solid eighth and ninth for the Cubs. He had two solid seasons for the Mariners before being traded, but his velocity remains lower than it has been in previous seasons. Last year, Medina’s fastball averaged 94.8 mph, and this year it has averaged only 92.4. He sat at around 93 again last night, which is somewhat hopeful. The potential is clearly there for a very solid middle reliever. He is unlikely to stick around when Neil Ramirez is ready, but he provides good Triple-A depth for now in a bullpen whose health has been very unstable this year.
Yoervis Medina’s Cubs Debut:
| Pitch Type | Velo (Max) | H-Break | V-Break | Count | Strikes / % | Swings / % | Whiffs / % | BIP (No Out) | SNIPs / % | LWTS |
| FF (Four-seam Fastball) | 93.2 (94.2) | -6.33 | 9.00 | 14 | 11 / 78.6% | 7 / 50.0% | 2 / 14.3% | 5 (0) | 6 / 66.7% | -1.57 |
| CU (Curveball) | 83.5 (84.5) | 6.54 | -3.75 | 5 | 2 / 40.0% | 2 / 40.0% | 0 / 0.0% | 1 (0) | 1 / 25.0% | -0.09 |
Besides the offensive outburst, the most impressive/coolest moment of the night was Russell’s diving play up the middle to end the bottom of the fifth.
Russell has been a treat to watch at second base this year, and this might be his best play yet. It’s still a small defensive sample size, and these things are hard to measure, but he does just look like someone who could stick at shortstop very easily in the near future. For now, though, I’ll simply enjoy watching him make plays like this.
Trend to Watch: The Cubs third and fourth outfielders, Chris Coghlan and Chris Denorfia, have continued to hit very well over the past several weeks. After a slow and unlucky start, Coghlan’s line is now up to .251/.333/.449, which is well-above league average, even for a left fielder. And his much-maligned outfield defense has rated out as about average this year. He made a beautiful throw to gun down Michael Brantley at the plate in the bottom of the first, and he produced three walks and two hits at the plate in this one.
Denorfia, meanwhile, had his first Cubs homer tonight and has hit .396/.420/.521 in very limited action this year. Nobody would expect this to continue, but he is showing why the Cubs picked him up this offseason, and he is setting himself up to be a very valuable bench player when Jorge Soler returns to the lineup. I was worried about the Cubs outfield depth heading into the year, but the performance of their fringier outfielders has really allayed my concerns over the past few weeks.
Just as a cool note, everyone in the Cubs lineup had a hit tonight, and Bryant extended what is now a thirteen game hitting streak. Even when his power is quiet, he’s been producing very effectively and consistently on the offensive side of the ball.
Coming Next: The Cubs will square off against the Indians again Thursday night, with Jason Hammel facing off against Danny Salazar. The Cubs will look to keep their offense going, but Salazar has been tough to solve this year, posting a 3.54/3.39/3.13/70 ERA/FIP/DRA/cFIP. Salazar is a hard-throwing righty, who has posted a 24.5 percent K-rate and a 6.4 percent BB-rate on the season. The Cubs will be looking to work deep counts and get Salazar out of the game early, so as to get to Cleveland’s tired bullpen. We can expect lots of strikeouts from the Cubs, but we can also hope to see last night’s offensive power carry over to tonight. Hammel, meanwhile, has been great this year in his mid-rotation role, and his 2.81/3.17/3.66/88 ERA/FIP/DRA/cFIP line backs that up. Ninety-two percent of his pitches this year have been part of his fastball/slider combination, and this combination will have to be effective if he wants to bounce back from a bit of a rough outing (season-high three walks and a season-low five innings pitched) last time against the Reds. If the Cubs score 17 runs again, they will probably win regardless, however.
Lead photo courtesy of David Richard-USA TODAY Sports