{"id":58188,"date":"2022-08-27T17:57:07","date_gmt":"2022-08-27T17:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/happ-makes-history-twice-brewers-hate-cubs-steeles-lower-back-manrod-returns-alzolay-estrada-and-other-cubs-bullets\/"},"modified":"2022-08-27T17:57:07","modified_gmt":"2022-08-27T17:57:07","slug":"happ-makes-history-twice-brewers-hate-cubs-steeles-lower-back-manrod-returns-alzolay-estrada-and-other-cubs-bullets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/happ-makes-history-twice-brewers-hate-cubs-steeles-lower-back-manrod-returns-alzolay-estrada-and-other-cubs-bullets\/","title":{"rendered":"Happ Makes History Twice, Brewers Hate Cubs, Steele&#8217;s Lower Back, ManRod Returns, Alzolay, Estrada, and Other Cubs Bullets"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>It&#8217;s one of THOSE Saturdays, where every kid has some activity(ies), so the head is on a swivel.  It&#8217;s always tricky this time of year, because there&#8217;s also a game, and there are several non-Bullets things I&#8217;m hoping to get to today.  We&#8217;ll see what I can pull off \u2026<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Putting the best news up top: it doesn&#8217;t sound like there&#8217;s much concern on Justin Steele&#8217;s back after his exit with the athletic trainer last night.  It&#8217;s not nothing, but it&#8217;s also not necessarily something you&#8217;d yet characterize as a capital-I \u201cInjury.\u201d <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>The Cubs aren&#8217;t overly worried about Steele&#8217;s back injury.  They did n&#8217;t want to push their young lefty in this game, especially given the fact the organization is cognizant of his workload down the stretch.  His 119 innings this season represents the most he&#8217;s ever thrown in a professional season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe&#8217;ll see how he is tomorrow,\u201d Ross said.  \u201cHe was throwing the ball really good.  I don&#8217;t think he&#8217;s concerned.  I don&#8217;t think the trainers are concerned but obviously we&#8217;ll look big picture and make sure we keep an eye on the present and the future and all the decisions we make.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Steele said he initially felt the back tighten up on his final warm-up pitch before the 6th inning.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI kinda adjusted the way I was throwing a little bit just to throw some strikes but the coaches could tell something was going on so they came out and we were talking,\u201d Steele said.  \u201cThey were like, &#8216;this is probably your last hitter regardless,&#8217; so it just made sense to go ahead and come out.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li>The Cubs will have the option of putting Steele on the IL, as they did with Keegan Thompson and his lower-back tightness.  That could give him some real rest, which figures to be coming soon in any case.  Last night was another great outing for him, though.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"\/>\n<ul>\n<li>Justin Steele&#8217;s situation is also not so bad when it comes to results, where his 3.18 ERA is 27th best in MLB, and his 2.6 WAR is 23rd. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>That wound up being a really fun win \u2013 again!  It also guaranteed that the Cubs will win the season series this year against the Brewers, which is always fun.  If the Brewers were up 10-7 in the season series against the Cubs instead of down 7-10, they would be in a playoff spot right now.  They must really hate the Cubs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<noscript><\/p>\n<div class=\"ast-oembed-container\" style=\"height: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Cubs vs. Brewers Game Highlights (8\/26\/22) | MLB Highlights\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Z1wcC6xsMfs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><\/noscript>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>The Cubs have had a lot of those in the second half, and, as we&#8217;ve discussed, this all matters for a lot of reasons going forward.  It&#8217;s not that I don&#8217;t want the Cubs to have a higher draft pick in 2023, but where they are organizationally, I think there&#8217;s a corner to be turned this offseason if they have the motivation to turn it.  So keep winning fun games.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Ian Happ was the star last night, homering late to give the Cubs the lead, and then homering again in extra innings to give the Cubs the win.  Those were the only two hits in the game, which led to some history:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Ian Happ of the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Cubs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\">@Cubs<\/a> is the only MLB player in the modern era to have 2 multi-run homers for his team&#8217;s only 2 hits of the game.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Stats By STATS (@StatsBySTATS) <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/StatsBySTATS\/status\/1563369977020698624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\">August 27, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>And a fun fact from Marquee about some MORE history: the second homer, with the free runner on second base, made Happ the first player in Cubs history to lead off an inning with a multi-run homer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Oh wow, Ian Happ is basically a Hall of Famer now:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">With that homerun, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ihapp_1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\">@ihapp_1<\/a> ties Hall of Famers Honus Wagner and Ed Delahanty for 952nd all time in homeruns.  He&#8217;s now 1 homerun behind Lou Piniella and Hall of Famer George Sisler<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Caleb Webb (@calebgwebb) <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/calebgwebb\/status\/1563346776010407936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\">August 27, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>Manny Rodriguez&#8217;s return to the big leagues last night seems to have been a success, broadly speaking, even if not necessarily impressive.  The pitches looked fine (the swinging strikeout on the slider was naaasty), the one walk was a competitive one with a base open, and the two hits were hardly crushed.  Tense situation for your first game back, too!  Feet back under him, now I want to see the fastball and slider eat next time out.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Adbert Alzolay will pitch for the Iowa Cubs today, per multiple reports, though it hasn&#8217;t been stated explicitly yet in what role or for how many innings. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Looks like me in the cages at Sluggers trying to act like I used to ball:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"\/>\n<ul>\n<li>Just checking in on relief prospect Jeremiah Estrada and \u2026 <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Jeremiah Estrada strikes out the side in the 9th for the save in the 6-5 win for the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IowaCubs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\">@IowaCubs<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Estrada has not given up a run since being promoted to AAA and has 12 strikeouts in 6 innings pitched.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Alex Cohen (@voiceofcohen) <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/voiceofcohen\/status\/1563358989252890626?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\">August 27, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>Really the only question at this point with Estrada is about innings\/stress management.  He&#8217;s up to 48.1 innings on the year across 34 appearances, which is not a lot, but this is a guy who has dealt with major arm issues in the recent past (plus the pandemic year in 2020), so I do think there has to be some caution.  That&#8217;s especially true if you&#8217;re asking him to come up to the big leagues at the end of the year, and he&#8217;s going to feel like he wants to ball out to prove himself.  We know he&#8217;s going to be added to the 40-man in November.  There&#8217;s no question there, and there&#8217;s no need to \u201cevaluate\u201d him at the big league level right now.  We already know he can be a stud.  It&#8217;s all about health and development in his situation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Adidas saying peace out to Fernando Tatis Jr.  after the PED positive, with some harsh words:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Adidas has ended its partnership with Fernando Tatis Jr. <\/p>\n<p>From a spokesperson for the company: \u201cWe believe that sport should be fair.  We have a clear policy on doping and can confirm that our partnership with Fernando Tatis Jr.  will not continue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Alden Gonz\u00e1lez (@Alden_Gonzalez) <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Alden_Gonzalez\/status\/1563312061299302400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\">August 26, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s one of THOSE Saturdays, where every kid has some activity(ies), so the head is on a swivel. It&#8217;s always tricky this time of year, because there&#8217;s also a game, and there are several non-Bullets things I&#8217;m hoping to get to today. We&#8217;ll see what I can pull off \u2026 Putting the best news up &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/happ-makes-history-twice-brewers-hate-cubs-steeles-lower-back-manrod-returns-alzolay-estrada-and-other-cubs-bullets\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Happ Makes History Twice, Brewers Hate Cubs, Steele&#8217;s Lower Back, ManRod Returns, Alzolay, Estrada, and Other Cubs Bullets<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":37425,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/contreras-plays-hero-future-role-flexibility-steele-is-nasty-madrigal-hits-and-other-cubs-bullets\/","url_meta":{"origin":58188,"position":0},"title":"Contreras Plays Hero, Future Role Flexibility, Steele is Nasty, Madrigal Hits, and Other Cubs Bullets","date":"August 6, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm not sure how I avoided it all summer until now \u2013 I don't think I was doing anything better or smarter \u2013 but I finally got bit up by mosquitos last night. The itches sure are satisfying when you scratch, but I don't particularly want to be doing it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25205,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/a-rare-cubs-sweep-offers-thoughts-for-the-future-top-rookies-hendricks-shoulder-and-other-cubs-bullets\/","url_meta":{"origin":58188,"position":1},"title":"A Rare Cubs Sweep Offers Thoughts for the Future, Top Rookies, Hendricks&#8217; Shoulder, and Other Cubs Bullets","date":"July 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Just a week away from the BN Trade Deadline Blogathon beginning! We're so close to raising enough that I'll have to do the full 41 hours (yes, up from 40 hours). Your generosity for Make-A-Wish is so appreciated! It turns out there was a good reason I couldn't yesterday think\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6401,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/cubs-place-kyle-hendricks-on-injured-list\/","url_meta":{"origin":58188,"position":2},"title":"Cubs Place Kyle Hendricks On Injured List","date":"July 6, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"12:00pm: The Cubs announced that righty Anderson Espinoza is being recalled from Double-A to take Hendricks' place on the roster. 11:30am: The Cubs have placed right-hander Kyle Hendricks on the 15-day injured list due to a shoulder strain, manager David Ross announced to reporters Wednesday (twitter link via Gordon Wittenmyer\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43351,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/cubs-owners-says-team-will-be-active-in-free-agency\/","url_meta":{"origin":58188,"position":3},"title":"Cubs&#8217; Owners Says Team Will Be &#8220;Active&#8221; In Free Agency","date":"August 12, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"After a confounding trade deadline in which the Cubs held onto catcher Willson Contreras and (less surprisingly) outfielder Ian Happ, they're currently 15 games out of first place in the NL Central 19 games under .500 and 23rd in the Majors with a -74 run differential. It's a 67-win pace\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.bleachernation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/ian-happ-david-ross-cubs-Photo-by-Stacy-RevereGetty-Images-GettyImages-1418339714.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58188"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58188\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}