Sports

Fun With Frank, Enjoying What Weve Got, Herz Dominates, and Other Cubs Bullets – bleachernation.com

For reasons tied less to conscious choice and more to availability issues, I had oat milk in my coffee the other day for the first time. I gotta confess, it was pretty much fine. I guess it’s good to have options.

•   Look, I get that the Pirates suck. They suck even harder than the Cubs. But these last few games, with the Cubs just keeping on keeping on have been really fun. As much as I do want the reverse standings thing to wind up helping the Cubs, I can’t lose sight of the fact that the WHOLE POINT of fandom is to be entertained. So when the Cubs pull out a crazy 9th inning win like yesterday, I’m supposed to ENJOY it. So I did! When Pirates right fielder Ben Gamel dropped Rafael Ortega’s liner, tying the game and bringing Frank Schwindel of all guys to the plate for a potential MOMENT, I was hyped. Why feel any other way, if life is gonna toss you an excuse to be happy?

•   You’ve seen the walk-off slide, but let’s enjoy the 450-foot tank that Frank Schwindel hit off the video board earlier in yesterday’s game:

•   If it feels like it’s been a minute since someone hit the left field video board, that’s because it has:

•   Crazy thing about that game? There were TWO PLAYERS who hit the board (Willson Contreras and Justin Turner), and then no one for four years (Wyllys).

•   Schwindel, a 29-year-old just now trying to break through for the first time, is enjoying every moment of the opportunity he’s getting:

•   Oh wow the data is the data:

•   It’s truly crazy how much value Schwindel, Rafael Ortega, and Patrick Wisdom have produced this year in limited duty. Each is tracking as like a 4 to 5-WAR player over a full seasons’ worth of plate appearances. You *NEVER* see that from three different fill-in guys like this, and it’s a damn shame it’s happening in an otherwise lost season.

•   This was a hilarious moment in the game, with Willson Contreras not at all being a dick – he just genuinely assumed the pitch was so obviously a strike that the inning was over and it was time to hit the dugout:

•   It sounds very much like Keegan Thompson going on the IL with shoulder inflammation was indeed one of those “cautious” things, and the hope/expectation is that he’ll return later this month. (Cubs.com)

•   Cubs pitching prospect D.J. Herz made his debut at High-A South Bend last night, and wouldn’t you know it, he was just completely D.J. Herz again (and yes, the South Bend gun is definitely hot, but even 96 or 97 mph from that arm angle, with his other pitches, is so good):

•   Furniture, sheets, books, toothbrushes, and earbuds are among your Deals of the Day at Amazon. #ad

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