October Won't Have Miles Mikolases, But Cubs Get More Encouragement in Friday Rout

[Matthew Trueblood]

Image courtesy of © Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

The Cubs' dominant first half was fueled, more than anything else, by the shockingly potent offensive quartet of Kyle Tucker, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Seiya Suzuki and Michael Busch. Those four players hit the All-Star break with a combined 79 doubles, 14 triples, 86 home runs, 233 runs scored, 263 RBIs, and 55 stolen bases in 62 attempts. They were having a season for the ages—the kind of combined offensive onslaught teams only dream of.

The second half has been like waking up from that dream. Busch has hit into wretched luck, but he's the one who's managed to stay afloat the best. Suzuki went over six weeks between home runs, as his approach went haywire and he lost touch with his power. Tucker played through a nagging finger injury and slumped badly. then lost most of September to a calf strain just as he began to rediscover his productivity. Crow-Armstrong's overly aggressive approach caught up to him in hideous fashion, and he's been one of the worst hitters in the entire league since the break. The team has had to cobble together rallies and win with improved pitching of late, when they've won at all. Offensively, they've been carried by Ian Happ and Nico Hoerner, rather than the guys who looked to have them on track toward a 900-run season at one early juncture.

Just in time for the postseason, though, there's some evidence that the first-half boppers are back. Suzuki's two homers Thursday night were followed, Friday, by a huge grand slam, turning a likely win into a laugher in the seventh inning. That wasn't even one of the two best bits of news of the day, though. First on that list was Tucker returning to the lineup, and having a single and a walk in his first game. Only time will tell how well he's held onto his shored-up swing mechanics or his timing, and he didn't run well at all when he put the ball in play; he might have to serve as the designated hitter even when the playoffs start. However, he looked enough like himself to inspire some real hope.

Second on the leaderboard for best news of the day was Crow-Armstrong hitting his 30th home run of the season, a few innings before Suzuki did the same. It looks as though Crow-Armstrong owns Cardinals righty Miles Mikolas, who started Friday and looked as cooked as he has for most of the last two seasons. He won't get to face anyone who offers him such easy succor during the playoffs, no matter whom the Cubs play or when, but that swing looked more like the first-half version of Crow-Armstrong than anything else he's done in the last two months. The ball was gone the moment it left his bat, and you could see the surge of confidence in his bearing and the relief in his face when he got back to the dugout. He's been slowly—very slowly—coming around for the last fortnight, after a month and a half of failure so profound that it was very hard to justify his place in the lineup, even with his elite defense taken into account. He has four extra-base hits in his last 11 games. If he can be even that kind of occasional threat in the playoffs, the Cubs will gladly take it.

There were three cherries on the sundae of the game, too.

1. Busch cracked a double, hit a home run and drew a walk. The most games with multiple extra-base hits and a walk by any player this season is six, a leadership shared by Freddie Freeman, Aaron Judge and James Wood. Busch only has four of them, but if it feels like more than that, it's because three have come in the last 11 days. Again, October won't offer pitching as hittable as the Cardinals' hurlers from Friday, but Busch has gotten very hot, very quickly. Take over a game with multiple extra-base hits and draw a walk in any game in the postseason, and you never buy a drink in town again. That's looking more and more possible for Busch.
2. The bullpen trio of Andrew Kittredge, Daniel Palencia and Brad Keller (in that order) got what might well be their last tune-up appearances of the regular season, and they were stellar. The group combined for six strikeouts and zero walks, and allowed just two hits in three innings of work. Palencia's return from a concerning shoulder injury is a huge deal; the bullpen feels miles deeper with him in it.
3. Colin Rea was spectacular, for the second outing in a row. The Cardinals lineup doesn't pose an especially stern test right now, with Willson Contreras and Masyn Winn out for the year with injuries, but Rea sliced through them for 5 2/3 innings of two-hit ball, walking one and fanning seven. Late in August, as he began what has been an annual late-season swoon, I wrote that it was hard to feel good about Rea and his prospects of helping the team in the playoffs. To the immense credit of both Rea and Cubs coaches, he's back on track, having addressed a mechanical issue that emanated from fatigue and was eroding his ability to command his stuff. This version of Rea looks likely to slot into the playoff roster, although he might have to wait and see if they make it past the Padres to get his shot.

The Padres came back from an early deficit to beat the Diamondbacks, so the Cubs still need either a win or a San Diego loss this weekend to claim home-field advantage for the Wild Card Series. Winning their own game was huge, though, especially because of the way it unfolded. They also got Moisés Ballesteros into the game as a pinch-hitter, once the rout was on, and had him finish the game at first base—a possible preview of how he could fit into the postseason roster picture, should the team need the DH spot to revert to Suzuki and/or Tucker. Chicago just needs one more good day at Wrigley this weekend to ensure some fun ones this week, and in the particulars of their romp Friday, they gave fans ample reasons to expect just that.

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