Jason Ross

horsefeathers. Wicks has had some solid stuff, but he's also not good enough to consistently overcome defensive miscues. Left a few very hittable pitches to good hitters and he's gotten hammered for it.

Rare miscue from Swanson. Wicks hurt twice now.

Yeah, hand placement is new. Looks much more like Seiya in initial setup.

I mean, Christopher Morel has played all three games so far, the Cubs got super pissy with Nightengale over specifically Morel rumors and it's pretty clear by having him play third base, have worked internally with him at first...the organization is dedicated to finding him a home somewhere. But this also represents a goal post move...your initial issue was Happ is "just a guy" and Morel should be the LF'er which just isn't a good take at all. What exactly is the complaint, here? On the surface it appears the Cubs are trying him literally everywhere to find any sort of home for him.

Two really good swings by Amaya today. He looks really solid.

Ian Happ has been the fourth most valuable LF in baseball the last two seasons using fWAR and has been worth 7 wins over that span. That's not "just a guy". He isn't a star, but sits comfortably in "above average regular" territory. Secondly, Morel has all of the tools to succeed at center, left, right, second, third and short and yet consistently succeeds at almost none of them. That's a horrible take and you know it.

Morel has been awful during his time in center. Now, it's true that CF is a bit harder of a position, but there is no evidence that he is an OF'er in any capacity.

Few early walks but also a few extra swings and misses for Wicks.

Great sequence by Wicks to knock out Garcia.

Bummer for Hendricks. Neither pitch he's given up a home run on has been a "bad" pitch.

That $8m paying off. Cubs win the challenge. Good job.

Dansby.

Hendricks with the absolutely disrespectful K dance there. Wow. /s

Currently listed on Tennessee's roster. So...probably there, I'd assume. Weather would be my guess. Iowa has a very cold start this year.

The Cubs aren't going to clear that up until they have to I suspect. No reason to tip your hand.

Wiggins threw today at EXST.

I think if the Cubs were bringing up Brown for the BP, they'd have brought up Palencia. It isn't like Palencia doesn't have big stuff, so I would suspect the reason they wanted Brown was the stamina and ability to start.

Despite losing the game, the Cubs' biggest loss on Opening Day was watching their de facto ace, Justin Steele, injure his hamstring. Speculation was rampant about who would take the opening spot, but reports are that that has been answered. Enter Ben Brown. Image courtesy of © Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports When Justin Steele awkwardly fielded a swinging bunt in the fifth inning of Thursday's Opening Game, Cubs' fans held their breath as the lefty lay on the ground holding his hamstring. Despite walking off under his power, once the Cubs acknowledged it was "a hamstring injury" mid-game, the obvious outcome was that Justin Steele would miss time, leaving a hole in the Cubs' already thin rotation. Questions about who would take the open roster spot took hold of discourse, both on NSBB and Cubs Twitter, as there were three apparent candidates: Drew Smyly, Hayden Wesneski, and Ben Brown. While Smyly offered the easiest plug-and-play, Wesneski, and more specifically Ben Brown, offered greater upside. Today, we got our answer, as reports from Tommy Birch, who covers the Iowa Cubs, as pointed out that Ben Brown is no longer with the Iowa Cubs. The only possibility is that he's on his way to Texas to join the parent club. It's always hard to tell what a young player will do when given an opportunity on the highest level, but it's probably even harder to pin down Ben Brown. I wrote about Brown over the offseason a few times and again when I ranked him as my personal 10th-. If we're looking at his most recent MiLB data, it is fair to worry a bit about the powerful righty; he's got a fantastic fastball-curveball combination, but his fastball command has yet to show consistency at the Triple-A level. Our own Mathew Trueblood also highlights how high his release point is on the pitch and the issues it may cause. There's been a real fear that Brown's best bet to MLB usefulness would come out of the bullpen, especially at the start of that career. With the doom-and-gloom out of the way, some real excitement brewing with Brown. First, Brown showed significant improvement in his fastball command this spring. The 6"4 righty did walk five in fourteen innings but gave up only a single run. His calling card, his curveball, is especially deadly and is a true "unicorn" pitch based on its spin and tightness. CHGO's Brendan Miller highlighted in his tweet that Brown's curveball moves more like a traditional slider, and yet, no one in baseball throws a slider like him. This type of pitch, coupled with the uniqueness of where he releases his fastball, will give him a good leg-up as he continues to refine his command; MLB hitters will never have seen someone like this before. Brown is not the safe option here. There's a chance his command doesn't play, that the Cubs have brought him up too quickly. However, the Cubs are in a situation where their rotation is already a bit depleted with Jameson Taillon on the shelf, and Ben Brown offers things the Cubs don't have: a RHP who throws hard. While someone like Drew Smyly or Hayden Wesneski are more known quantities, the Cubs took the upside play here. Regardless of if you think he's ready, the Cubs do, and this will be a fun experiment. Make sure you clear your schedule because when Ben Brown debuts, whether it's great, awful, or somewhere in the middle, the Ben Brown experience will be something unlike any other starting pitcher in the entire league. Do you think the Cubs should have called up Ben Brown? Would you rather have seen Hayden Wesneski or Drew Smyly? Let us know the comment section below! View full article

Per Sharms, the rotation schedule will remain the same. No shuffling.

That certainly makes more sense than even my half baked justification of warm weather. They've pushed Caissie aggressively each level so seeing him start in TN was strange. Good find.

Also true. I initially wondered a bit if Ben Brown struggled with the transition from the Southern League pre-tacked baseball back to a traditionally tacked baseball which could have caused some initial command issues. but I'll admit that's not backed up by a ton of data. Brown really didn't pitch a ton in Tennessee, and he struggled for around his first 32.1 IP in Triple-A before he settled in a bit more. He showed improvement after, dropping his BB% by around 1% prior to his injury over his next 26.2 innings, but that's not a huge gain. As well, checking out Southern League data, walks decreased by 1% once the baseball was changed, so the league as a whole didn't really struggle. Combined, I think my initial hypotheses as best would be "seems pretty unlikely". I just come back to in the end, the Cubs have a lot more information over the last five months and the situation could have changed. On paper, what Brown offers (right handed velocity) is something the rotation is severely lacking and his ST showcased in small samples that the fastball command would appear to have made a jump. But with that, it could be a case of a good showing and something the Cubs haven't been seeing in bullpen sessions and practice, or apart of a greater trend. It's probably also just hopeful wishing on my end, too.

Whoops! I inverted the colors on the website. They're in Chatanooga/Rocket City in April. Regardless, much likely warmer than the Iowa/Buffalo/St. Paul mix in Iowa.

Which is also fair. But I think we have to remember that Brown was hurt last year and his struggles really amplified after the injury (they're not new though, and I know that, too). As well, 2024 is a new year. The information you and I have to work with is incredibly limited compared to the Cubs. Wesneski and Brown were working on things behind doors for the offseason, and while they're not in full game situations, that data matters to the Cubs as well. It'll help them make that choice. If Ben Brown's fastball command isn't brand new as of two or three weeks ago, that would change the equation here. It's not in-game data, but it's something internally the Cubs would have than I wouldn't. If that fastball progress isn't new...and if Wesneski hasn't made that progress, I'd lean towards Brown. If Wesneski has made progress and Brown's fastball progress was just what it may appear to be...ST magic...go with Wesneski. If they've both made progress...well we all win. The Cubs will be in a far more unique situation to analyze that.

Entirely. Even worse in things like English soccer. My favorite club is sponsored by a betting website. Their star player got busted for gambling on games (prior to his time at this club). He has a gambling addiction. Now he's wearing a shirt, every game, advertising what he's been in therapy for. It doesn't excuse his prior betting, but damn, that's rough.