A Tip of the Recap March 21st

The Cubs held on to win by a score of 12-10 over the Seattle Mariners today and are now 9-10 for the spring.

The Good

Kris Bryant is making baseball look a little too easy so far. He hit 2 more HRs today to give him 7  for the spring (8 if you count the “B” game earlier this week). His first HR was a 2-run shot off of King Felix, he then coaxed a full-count walk from Hernandez.

His final AB of the game ended like his first; this time he hit a 3-run HR to finish the day 2 for 2 with 5 RBI. He is now hitting a ridiculous .480 with 14 RBI to go with his 7 HR.

Addison Russell is having quite a March as well. He had two more hits, including a HR of his own off of Hernandez (his first of the spring). Russell is now hitting .409 and would easily be the story of camp if not for Kris Bryant.

Anthony Rizzo got in on the action with an RBI double and added a walk; it has been slow going for Rizzo this spring, so it was nice to get some life out of his bat today.

Mike Olt came in during the middle of the game but went 2 for 2 with a run scored to bring his spring average up to .286.

Chris Coghlan had himself a 2-hit day to bring his spring average up to a robust .318.

Beef is making the thought of saying goodbye a tough one for the Cubs. He went 2 for 3 with a solo shot (0ppo at that) in the 4th inning (his 2nd of the spring) and an RBI double. His average now sits at .375 and he has had an outstanding spring for a team that he should be calling his former in a couple weeks.

Another appearance and another scoreless outing for Phil Coke, who struck out 2 and walked 1 in his inning of work.

Pedro Strop worked a perfect inning with 2 Ks and Hector Rondon came in and closed out the 2 run lead for a win though he did give up a hit and walk a batter.

Eric Jokisch did great in a spot start for the fatigued Jon Lester. He went 3 innings and gave up 3 runs (all unearned due to an error from Soler). He gave up 3 hits (1 HR) and walked 1, while striking out 2.

The Bad

The defense struggled a little bit with the cloudless sky of Arizona. Fowler couldn’t keep track of a fly ball to CF that turned into a double for Nick Miller. The next hitter, Austin Jackson, reached on an error Jorge Soler in right that scored Miller from 2nd and allowed Jackson to reach 3rd base.

The Ugly

Blake Parker, Neil Ramirez and Andres Santiagoa  combined to give up 7 runs (all earned) on 6 hits and 3 walks. Their work kept the Mariners within striking distance, but thankfully the offense did enough to keep the Cubs ahead for good.

On Deck

The Cubs will go up against the Padres tomorrow at 3:05 PM (CST) with Jason Hammel on the bump going against James Shields.