See How Clear It Is National Media Isn’t Watching The Cubs
It’s early, but the National League Central currently sits with four of five teams with winning records. The Chicago Cubs are one of them, going 4-2 through their first six games. They lost the first two of the season but have begun to find their stride by winning four straight.
How about the pitching? Shota Imanaga made history on Monday in his debut. Javier Assad matched him with a scoreless outing of his own. In a bullpen night Wednesday, Luke Little started with a quick, scoreless first inning. Then, Ben Brown made his Wrigley Field debut with four innings of one-run baseball, picking up five strikeouts. It’s worth noting both Little and Brown did their work with short sleeves on a cold, windy night. That’s how you make a statement.
Sure, it was against the Rockies. But the Cubs have looked great so far in this homestand. Offensively, Seiya Suzuki is shining as the Cubs’ two-hole hitter, batting .333 with a team-high eight RBIs and two straight games with a home run. Christopher Morel is also on an offensive tear, with a .375 average and two homers of his own. Additionally, we’ll be talking about this Belli Bomb from Tuesday for a long time to come.
Altogether, the Cubs offensively currently have a .380 OBP on the season, the best in baseball. Questions remain heading into a weekend against the Dodgers, but the Cubs are riding high. As good as the Cubs feel, the national media doesn’t seem to be picking up on exactly what’s happening in Chicago.
ESPN All Over The Map, Clearly Not Watching Cubs
It started yesterday when ESPN posted an article ranking each MLB team’s “watchability” and entertainment factor. The Cubs came in sixth because of their general youth, Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner turning double plays, the singing of Go, Cubs, Go, and Wrigley Field simply existing. What a deep dive. It’s also worth noting that the Cubs’ arguably most exciting player, Christopher Morel, was not mentioned once.
Today, they dropped this week’s power rankings. The Cubs entered the week of play in 14th and have dropped down to 15th. The reasons for the drop are Justin Steele’s injury and the upcoming gauntlet of a schedule, but they did say Shota Imanaga pitched “well” in his debut.
I’m not arguing about the Cubs’ places on these lists. My beef is the reasonings and how uneducated they are. Generally saying the Cubs’ “youth” is exciting does not tell the national audience just how stacked this farm system is. Ben Brown has already made his way up. Michael Busch broke out on Wednesday with three hits. Pete Crow-Armstrong, Owen Caissie, Cade Horton, Alexander Canario, and Matt Shaw are all major league players ready to come in at a moment’s notice, and that’s not even all the options.
Being ranked 15th is fine; this team is probably mid-pack right now. But saying Imanaga pitched “well” in his debut is criminal. HE MADE MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL HISTORY. Not talking about how Seiya Suzuki has driven in eight runs batting second is crazy. Javier Assad deserves praise for filling in on a depleted rotation.
Lists are fun; we all make them and are all biased and subjective. But you’d think a brand like ESPN would have their people doing a little extra work to give the people the whole story. The moral of this is if you want Cubs information, you come right here to Sports Mockery. Aldo and I have got you covered.