Article: Monday Morning North Sider: Michael Busch’s West Coast Scorcher, Assadmanaga, The Masters, & More

[Brandon Glick]

The Chicago Cubs went 3-3 this week on the first two legs of a West Coast trip. A couple of players are close to returning from injury. The Masters just wrapped up. Oh yeah, it’s mid-April alright.

Image courtesy of © Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

This week’s showing wasn’t nearly as impressive as last week’s 5-1 performance against the Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Dodgers, but the San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners are formidable opponents. There’s not a ton of shame in going .500 when traveling to the Pacific Standard Time Zone all week, and there’s also some good news on the injury front, as Jameson Taillon and Patrick Wisdom near their respective returns to Wrigley.

• The biggest story in the Cubs' world right now is Michael Busch. The first baseman, who was the primary return in the Jackson Ferris trade, has gone scorched-Earth over the last few days. He’s hit a homer in four consecutive games, which puts him one shy of the Cubs record.

• He leads the team in numerous notable offensive categories, from home runs (5) to OPS (1.087). He still has rookie eligibility, despite being a 26-year-old prospect, and his development as a middle-of-the-order bat is imperative to the Cubs' short-term and long-term success.

• Busch was happy to play on the West Coast again after coming over from the Los Angeles Dodgers over the offseason. If the Cubs can get him rolling like this at Wrigley when the wind is blowing out… oh boy. The power problem in the lineup may be solved.

• On the pitching side of things, Keegan Thompson made his return to the majors this week after Julian Merryweather was placed on the 15-day IL with a stress fracture in his ribcage. The expectation is that Merryweather may be out of commission until June, which should give Thompson plenty of runway to prove he still has the stuff to pitch in the big leagues.

• Thompson threw two shutout innings in his season debut on Saturday. He looked good (as he did in a few appearances at Triple-A Iowa to open the season), but his stuff doesn’t look the same as it did in 2022. His velocity is down, and his breaking stuff is lacking the late bite that allowed him to tunnel his pitches effectively. As long as Thompson keeps runs off the board, he’ll have a place in the Cubs’ pen, but don’t expect the leash to be overly long.

• Speaking of keeping runs off the board, how about Javier Assad and Shota Imanaga, ladies and gentlemen? Effectively the Cubs top two starters following Justin Steele’s injury and Kyle Hendricks’ apparent nosedive in efficiency, Assadmanaga (can I coin that?) has given up four runs in 32 innings over their first six starts.

• They both are striking out more than one batter per inning, their WHIPs are both below 1.00, and they’ve walked just a total of seven batters. They may be an unlikely duo to lead the rotation, but there aren’t two starting pitchers whom fans feel more confident in than Assad and Imanaga right now. Let’s see how long they can make this last.

• That starting rotation may soon get some (much-needed) reinforcements, as Jameson Taillon is nearing his return from a back injury. He climbed over 60 pitches in his latest rehab start at Triple-A Iowa, and if he makes his next appearance with no nagging issues, he should be in the Cubs rotation by next week.

• Patrick Wisdom is also rehabbing in Iowa right now, and he looks plenty healthy, with a triple slash of .333/.389/.800 and a 1.189 OPS through 18 plate appearances. There’s questions about whose roster spot he’d take once he’s ready (Garrett Cooper is far too hot to remove from the roster, and Miles Mastrobouni has a ton of defensive versatility), but expect the power-hitting righty to be back at Wrigley before long.

• If you missed it, Top 30 prospect Kohl Franklin left his most recent start with arm troubles. There’s no word on what the injury is just yet, but it didn’t look good. Wishing all the best to Franklin and hoping for a speedy recovery.

Elsewhere around baseball, the Brewers remain (unfortunately) hot, Justin Verlander and the Houston Astros are not, and Angel Hernandez continues to make an unimpeded campaign for the title of “worst umpire ever”.

• The Houston Astros, fresh off their seventh consecutive American League Championship Series appearances, find themselves at the bottom of the AL West standings in the early running here.

• Houston is scoring plenty of runs (they’ve put up 80 in 17 games so far), but they simply can’t keep opponents off the board. The 93 runs they’ve surrendered are the worst in the American League as of April 15.

• Sometimes, when it rains, it pours. Justin Verlander is on a rehab assignment as he recovers from shoulder inflammation. The expectation was that he’d make his next start in the majors after his most recent appearance, but after surrendering six runs (five earned) in four innings, the Astros may delay his season debut. 

• Including Verlander, the Astros have five starting pitchers on the injured list: Verlander (shoulder inflammation), Luis Garcia (Tommy John surgery), Lance McCullers Jr. (flexor surgery), José Urquidy (forearm strain), and Framber Valdez (elbow inflammation). It’s been a tough start to 2024 for the American League’s modern dynasty.

• On the opposite end of the spectrum are the Brewers, who sit atop the NL Central with a 10-4 record. Their offense has been steady as their revamped pitching staff (sans Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff) continues to dominate. It’s very frustrating, even after the Cubs poached Craig Counsell, that the Brewers won’t go away.

• Major League Baseball’s top prospect, Jackson Holliday, has had a rough start to his career, going 0-for-11 in his first few games. On Sunday, though, he notched his first hit (against the Brewers), and he’ll likely be a star before long.

• Lastly, let’s take a look at everyone’s favorite punching bag: umpire Angel Hernandez. You don’t need the debrief on the game’s most frustrating officiator at this point, but Hernandez entered himself back into the spotlight this week during an affair between the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros.

• We all know the jokes. At this point, if you fire up MLB The Show and the umpire misses a call, you can be sure that someone will bring up Angel Hernandez’s name. For goodness sake he tried suing the MLB for “discriminatory practices” and the judge ruled in the league’s favor because he’s such a bad umpire.

• It’s long, long past time that Hernandez be forced into an “early retirement”. He’s single-handedly making me question the necessity of unions at this point. There is no referee worse at his job in any sport worldwide that continues to be gainfully employed. Angel Hernandez is a blight on modern baseball, and it’s time that he goes (or, alternatively, continues being so bad that robot umpires are put into use faster).

Even on that sour note, it’s important to remember April is really baseball’s time to shine, as the other sports leagues are wrapping up their regular seasons (NBA, NHL) or preparing for the draft (NFL). Still, it’s exciting as the playoffs approach for basketball and hockey, and The Masters also wrapped up yesterday.

No entertainment bullets this week, but please do stay tuned for a personal announcement next week - I’ll be sharing the official trailer to my upcoming directorial debut. 

• The NBA Playoffs are set after a wild final week in the season. The Celtics are first in the Eastern Conference, and the Knicks somehow stole the second seed despite Julius Randle’s season-ending injury.

• As expected, the Bulls and Hawks are set to play in the 9 vs. 10 play-in game, and should they win that (they’ll be at home for that affair), they’ll draw the loser of the 76ers-Heat matchup in the 7 vs. 8 play-in game. Neither projects as a particularly strong matchup for the Bulls (especially since Joel Embiid is back for Philadelphia), but maybe Diar DeRozan will propel the Bulls to another playoff victory or two.

• In the Western Conference, the Thunder won the top seed over the Nuggets via a tiebreaker, and each of the top three seeds (including the Timberwolves) were separated by only a game in the final standings. The Lakers also stole the eighth seed in the final day of the regular season, and if they can beat the Pelicans in the 7 vs. 8 play-in game, they’ll grab the same seed they made a run to the Western Conference Finals as last year.

• Scottie Scheffler won The Masters this weekend as he ran away with the tournament over the weekend, finishing -11, or four strokes better than second-place Ludvig Åberg. He became the fourth-youngest golfer ever to claim multiple Green Jackets.

• A cool bit of history was made by Tiger Woods on Friday, as he made the weekend cut for the 24th consecutive time at the Major, which now stands as the all-time record. Even as he nears his 50th birthday, Woods continues to amaze on the biggest stage.

• Lastly, though it feels like a lifetime ago, UConn won the College Men’s Basketball National Championship, beating Purdue and Zach Edey 75-60. It’s a back-to-back romp from Dan Hurley’s squad, and UConn became the first school to win consecutive titles since the 2006-07 Florida Gators.

That about wraps it up for last week, folks. The Cubs remain out West to begin the week, playing the reigning NL pennant winners - the Arizona Diamondbacks - in a three-game series before coming back home to do battle with a wildly disappointing Miami Marlins team for four games. It’ll be the first time all season the Cubs play every day of the week (barring inclement weather), with their next scheduled day off coming on Monday, April 22. Let’s hope they stroll into that rest day with some momentum!

Have a great week, everyone! Go, Cubs, Go!

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[Derek_Lee_Truther]

Can't wait to watch the bulls lose to the heat again for the 8 seed... also Assadmanaga is not a thing (yet)