Bleacher Bums Forum

MLB set up a contract with a Utah based lab to avoid using up local tests. I’m not shocked that the results are slow at first. Usually it will get straightened out over time.

So Robb is doing all these in his basement?

Kimbrel gives up a HR in his first appearance. Baseball is truly back!

Sadly the Morrow Watch for Cubs fans is officially over...

Robert Murray, formerly of The Athletic, reports that the Cubs are releasing Brandon Morrow.

Baseball America also has Morrow's release listed in their transactions page. The right-hander was re-signed as a non-roster invite in December, but dealt with a Grade 1 calf tear that kept him from throwing for the final two weeks before the COVID-19 shutdown. The hard-throwing right-hander has dealt with a bevy of injuries in his career, and while this could just end up being a logistical move, it's also possible that Morrow's time with the Cubs is coming to a disappointing end.

Or Guffman.

https://theathletic.com/1917556/2020/07/08/why-the-cubs-arent-concerned-about-craig-kimbrel-or-their-bullpen-yet/?source=dailyemail

Article about Kimbrel and the Bullpen in Athletic.  I wonder what access the media has to any of the intrasquad games or anything?  Are they allowed to be present in Wrigley watching stuff, or having any socially distanced press conferences?  Or is any media coverage totally off-site?  They're texting somebody to ask what's happening, and texting Kimbrel to ask if they could have a phone or zoom interview? 

It was fun to have an article about players and baseball and optimism.  As you guys know, I love the optimistic spring-training, hope-springs-eternal articles.  This was one of those. 

Kimbrel has learned from last year, so he'll be better prepared for the summer start and short training camp. 
*He's been working with the data to try to improve himself. 
*Ross said his breaking ball has been looking good, for strikes.  (Ross, of course, was the bad scout who Theo sent to watch Kimbrel last spring, and Ross came back with a gushy report on how ready Kimbrel was... so I admit some mixed confidence in Ross as a Kimbrel-scout....). 
*Kimbrel has lost some weight, maybe in better shape.
*Kimbrel has been working with his changeup, thinks that might help him.
*Kimbrel says that if his curve is working better, and if he has a change besides, those will also make his fastball better. 

Article was generally positive about other relievers in camp. 

Kris Bryant, on keeping the core together as long as possible:

"It would be really cool to just have everybody stay here and play together and see what we've got , and when we're old and fat and we're tired, we're out of here. That'd be awesome."

Yeah it would be awesome.  Of course, the unspoken part of it is, "It'd be really cool if the Cubs were the high bidder for me and could keep everyone together."

Not that it's unfair, but with Scott Boras as his agent, the Cubs will need to be the high bidder to keep him.  I hope we are willing to pay up for Bryant and Baez and keep those guys together for a long time and still commit ourselves to build around them.   

I would like to think that Bryant's quite strong statements about how important the Cubs have been to him and how much he would prefer (not just like) to remain a Cub suggest he might be willing to settle for something short of what it would take for another team to sign him. Of course, given the nature of these things, we may never know.

Hey you can only hope!