The Rundown: Russell Homers, Giants Take Game 1, Work Begins on Triangle Building

Photo of Bryan O'Donnell Bryan O'DonnellOctober 22, 2014

Tuesday may have offered a look into the future for the Cubs, as C.J. Edwards got the start and Addison Russell homered to key an 11-6 win for the Mesa Solar Sox.

Russell, who was at DH, finished 2-for-5 with three RBI but struck out three times. The home run was his first of the 2014 Arizona Fall League.

Outfielder Jacob Hannemann led off and went 3-for-5 with a run scored and two RBI. Selected in the third round of the 2013 draft, Hannemann is an interesting Cubs prospect; he’s already 23 years old but actually has a relatively low amount of baseball experience.

That lack of experience is due to Hannemann going on a Mormon mission before starting college at Brigham Young University. 2015 will be an important campaign for him after putting up less-than-stellar numbers this year between Kane County and Daytona.

On the mound, Edwards gave up one run in two innings with two strikeouts. He also walked three.

Zach Cates gave up a whole bunch of runs and hits (five and seven, respectively) in only 1.1 innings. Gerardo Concepcion, however, pitched 2.1 scoreless innings with two strikeouts.

Concepcion was signed as a 19-year-old out of Cuba in 2012. Since then, he has battled illness and ineffectiveness, although he did show signs of turning things around in A-ball this season.

Giants take Game 1 of World Series

James Shields continued to struggle in the playoffs, as the Giants defeated the Royals 7-1 in Game 1 of the World Series.

Shields will be a major free agency target this off-season and I’m a fan of his. I’d like to see him with the Cubs as a Plan B, after Jon Lester. I think.

You have to wonder if the “big game” struggles are a real thing though, as opposed to being the aberrant result of a small sample size.

One I guy I know I would want, however, is Madison Bumgarner. He can deal. Bumgarner was brilliant again for the Giants in Game 1, giving up only one run in seven innings.

I picked the Giants in the World Series, just have a really good feeling about how they are playing. But I don’t think the Royals will go down without a fight.

Other notes

* Alexis Brudnicki writes about players’ reactions to the experimental pace-of-play initiatives in the Arizona Fall League. For the most part, it seems as if the players don’t like the changes, aside from the automatic intentional walk. That one makes the most sense to me as well, but how much time will that really save?

* The Wrigley Field renovations continue to progress. It looks like work has begun on the “triangle” building and plaza, which isn’t expected to be finished until 2016.

Photo of Bryan O'Donnell Bryan O'DonnellOctober 22, 2014
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