The Rundown: Cubs Sweep Mets…Again, Cardinals Fire Scouting Director Amid Hacking Scandal, Cubs Active in International Market, Donn Roach to Start Saturday
One of my earliest Cubs memories is going over to my grandparents’ house with my dad and bringing brooms with us. The reason for the brooms was that the Cubs had swept the Mets, much to the delight of my dad, who had despised them ever since 1969.
Looking back through the records and guessing my age at the time, it was probably the four-game sweep Aug. 6-9, 1992.
I feel like I need to get that broom out again, but perhaps a giant broom. Because not only did the Cubs sweep the Mets after a 6-1 win yesterday, but they managed to beat them in all seven games played this season.
It may not have been the prettiest series, as the Mets’ offense is absolutely pathetic, but I’ll gladly take the three wins in a row. Now to keep it going against the Marlins at home.
Return of power
After going well over a week without a home run, the Cubs finally broke through with the long ball. Twice!
The first came from the unlikely Jonathan Herrera (his first of the year), and Miguel Montero added his 10th of the year. Herrera, who was playing at third because Joe Maddon had given Kris Bryant his first day off of the year, also drove in a run with a safety squeeze bunt.
Really hoping this will get the power ball rolling, and the home runs continue to come in bunches throughout the summer.
Other notes
* Big news in the Cardinals hacking scandal, as the Cardinals have fired their scouting director, Chris Correa. According to the St. Louis Dispatch, Correa has admitted to hacking into the Houston Astros’ database, but “said it was only to verify whether the Astros had stolen proprietary data.” The scouting director is pretty high up in the organizational chain, so I really find it hard to believe that people above Correa had no knowledge of the situation. The investigation is ongoing, so we’ll see what else comes of this.
* The international signing period began yesterday, and the Cubs were very active. According to Jesse Sanchez, the Cubs signed five of the top 30 international prospects: SS Yonathan Perlaza, OF Yonathan Sierra Estiwal, SS Aramis Ademan, C Miguel Amaya, and 3B Christopher Martinez. The Cubs sat out last year’s signing period because they exceeded their signing pool the year before. I look forward to learning more about these players.
* Donn Roach will get another start — Saturday against the Marlins, the Cubs announced yesterday. Joe Maddon seemed to like what he saw from Roach, even though he lasted less than four innings and gave up four runs and eight hits in his first and only start of the year, on June 27.
* Patrick Mooney with some interesting stuff on the professional relationship between Joe Maddon and Theo Epstein. The article was prompted by the situation in Anaheim, in which manager Mike Scioscia forced out general manager Jerry Dipoto. The best example of a “disagreement” we’ve seen between Epstein and Maddon is when Maddon seemed to want Javier Baez in the big leagues after Spring Training. That didn’t happen, but it appears Maddon ultimately realizes the front office has the final say on roster decisions, and that’s the way he wants it. Tons of great quotes from Maddon in this piece, so give it a read. The best one probably being: “Sometimes people skip over the relationship building and the trusting part. And when you do that, it’s just going to be a battle. The guy with the biggest —- wants to be heard.”
