Cubs Corner with Joey Ricotta: Fast start by Cubs, Rossy, Quintana, Bullpen issues, more |
On this edition of the Cubs Corner presented by Coach’s Bar and Grill, Anthony welcomes Scorecrow reporter Joey Ricotta to the show to discuss the Cubs 8-2 start, analyze the brutal start by the bullpen, breakdown David Ross’ first ten games on the job and how the Cubs should handle the future of Jose Quintana.
The two began by addressing what Joey called the “elephant in the room” and that would be Craig Kimbrel in the closers role for this ball club. Thus far in Kimbrel’s two appliances he has only been able to record four outs and allowed seven baserunners and four runs — not what you’d like to see out of the closer you are paying nearly 16 million dollars per year for. Since Kimbrel’s second outing, Ross has elected to go with a combination of Jeremy Jeffress, Kyle Ryan and Rowan Wick to get high leverage outs. Jeffress saved a game that Kimbrel almost blew, and Wick has closed down the two most recent. Joey and Anthony agreed that some combination of Wick and Jeffress would be likely to take the ball in the ninth inning. Ross will give Kimbrel the ball in some lower leverage situations in an attempt to build up his confidence. Both also talked about Kyle Ryan, Casey Sadler, Ryan Tepera and Brad Weick stepping up to get big outs in the future, while also being very high on the upside and stuff of Duane Underwood Jr. and Dillon Maples. After that, the group talked about the potential of new signee and former Indians’ closer Cody Allen making an impact on the big league team in the future, as well as the possibility of prospects Brailyn Marquez and Burl Carraway coming into the picture in the future. But the biggest agreement that Anthony and Joey had, was that with Tyler Chatwood (2-0 with .71 ERA) and Alec Mills (2-0 with 1.38 ERA) pitching so well, when Jose Quintana returns to the big leagues perhaps a role for him in the bullpen is better suited for him during this shortened season when the Cubs’ starting staff has excelled without him. Both guys agreed that if the Cubs keep this up, it is a testament to David Ross’ impact — and maybe the rookie skipper could take home NL Manager of the Year in his first season. That and more on this edition of the Cubs Corner. You can catch this episode, past episodes, and future episodes on Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts, and the CubsHQ Website. Embed:
