Bertz

Did we seriously luck into a situation where Matt Shaw got nothing but routine fly balls for three weeks while he learned RF and he managed to get good at the position right about the time he actually start getting tested?

Really really good win. Obviously Nola/Rea is a mismatch and the bullpen was pretty shredded. Winning *AND* only using Milner/Martin? Huge.

Yeah I think as (primarily) a lefty Pedro's an easier complement to the starters than Shaw is. Also worth noting that we have two full time OFers and Conforto slated for FA. Plus hopefully some Mo Baller DH at bats get traded for Mo Baller catcher at bats. You're not backfilling all of that lost playing time internally but there's playing time to be had for some of the kids.

That is an insanely impressive to make that call two years ago. Like Pedro had a good '23 at Myrtle but damn. Also goes to show how much of *gestures* all this is superseded by age relative to league. We're seeing it here, we're seeing it with Mo. Guys who performed super young for every league they've been in continuing to perform up the ladder despite not having the loudest toolsets.

FWIW, Z-Contact numbers for various recent Cubs at AAA and MLB PCA ('23/'24) - 79.8% / 77.2% Caissie - 82.7% / 79.3% Mo Baller - 86.4% / 83.7% Matt Shaw - 85.9% / 86.4% Worth noting that PCA since the start of last year is at 84%, and Mo/Caissie's numbers are better this year than they were in their cups of coffee last year. So like, a 3 point drop is basically the high end of what you could expect, and generally it's less than that as guys get their feet under them. Pedro Ramirez at 95.2% is elite. Would rank 4th in MLB last season behind Nico. Even if you lop 3 full points off hes still ~90th percentile, in line with guys like Jung Hoo Lee and Jose Ramirez. Pedro is an absolute data darling.

Agreed. If he was older I'd move him up, but as a 19 year old I'd like him to do the whole "go into a slump and pull yourself out of it" deal. Even if we have to stretch a bit to call something a slump for him at that level.

Good, I never really heard a decent argument for why he didn't start there to begin with. Ayers presumably gets bumped to Tenn as well? Not sure if anything else feels all that pressing.

With all the guys on the IL this bullpen can't really reach good shape currently, but it's particularly rough tomorrow. Ideally they bash Nola's skull in, otherwise though a clunker from Rea (that, crucially, does not keep him from going 5) wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

10 Whiffs through 3 for McGwire

I assume this is why they swapped out Peterson for Meyers?

The contact numbers are apocalyptic but yowza

Hartshorn's double right before the Mathis dong brought his XBH:K ratio back to even