Chicago Cubs news and notes — Dansby Swanson, Nico Hoerner, Edward Cabrera

Today’s Reflections

When Rick Monday woke up 50 years ago yesterday, I’m guessing he would never have expected to become an American hero. Neither had I as my dad sat me down to watch a delayed TV clip when I was 11. I was still trying to figure out what a bicentennial was, why girls aren’t as fun as the guys, and was barely aware why my parents had shielded me from the war that had recently ended. My dad didn’t talk much. He said, “Watch this.” He explained a bit to a young kid what had been going on, then pointed at the TV and said, “That is an American hero.” Looking back, I’m sure he didn’t mean hero in the way death and severe injuries mean Hero. He meant that a regular guy, every one of us, can go out there and act based on what was in his (or her) heart for this country. April 25, 1976 was the day Rick Monday became one of my heroes.

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• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com): Hoerner’s defense vs. Dodgers so impressive, he simply has to laugh. (Video)
• Jason Rice (North Side Baseball): Hoby Milner Is Wildly Outperforming His Expected Stats. Can the Cubs’ Southpaw Keep It Up? “Hoby Milner has a sparkling 2.19 ERA and an ugly 6.07 xFIP. Which, if either, of these data points is trying to tell us the true story of the Cubs’ reliever?”
• Tom Albano (Deadspin): Surging Cubs count on bullpen ahead of rematch vs. Dodgers ””Nothing is really long-term (with our bullpen injuries),” Chicago manager Craig Counsell said. “Which we think is a positive in all this. But injuries add up, and we’ve lost a lot of bodies. When that happens, it gets hard to replace them with the same quality. But our guys have done a great job, a heck of a job. It’s one of the reasons why we’ve been able to put together this nice run.
• Zachary Davis (ClutchPoints): How Dodgers stunning loss to Cubs ended specific 71-game streak “In the process, the Dodgers suffered not just a stunning loss but also saw a little-known 71-game winning streak come to an end, per Jesse Rogers of ESPN. Before Friday, Los Angeles had won 71 straight home games when leading by four or more runs in the 7th inning and beyond.
• Matthew Trueblood (North Side Baseball): It Turns Out ABS is a Machine That Turns Dansby Swansons into Rob Deers. For several years, now, the league has trended toward filling up the strike zone more. Fastballs are harder and livelier than ever; pitchers have better command of their non-fastballs than ever; and fielders are better-positioned than ever. Now, it’s that the zone itself has gotten smaller. Hitters have noticed, too. Twice as many batters have substantially reduced their swing rate so far this year. Dansby Swanson isn’t just participating in that trend; he’s one of the foremost drivers of it.

Food For Thought:

John O’Leary (1944–2024) was a pioneering British blues harmonica player, recognized as a founder member of the Savoy Brown Blues Band in 1965 and a prominent figure in the UK blues scene for over five decades. Influenced by Sonny Boy Williamson and Little Walter, he played with numerous artists and led his own band, Sugarkane. (Blues Video)

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