Game of the Week: April 8: STL @ CHC

[Commissioner Erick]

St. Louis Cardinals (0-0) @ Chicago Cubs (0-0)

STL: Michael Wacha (12-13, 4.18)
CHC: Chris Sale (9-14, 4.08)


The Chicago Cubs were one win away in 2018 from taking a home a championship. Brandon Hillebrand spent the season acquiring All-Stars to make sure it doesn't happen again.

The supercharged Chicago Cubs look to defend their National League crown when they kick off the season against the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Cubs added plenty of new faces with star power over the offseason, including MVP runner-up Francisco Lindor, 2017 Platinum Stick and Gold Glover Freddie Freeman, All-Star Xander Bogaerts, and international pitching sensation Juan Carrizales. Even the team's new hitting coach is renowned Mark McGwire. Hillebrand has mentioned the team's World Series window being open and did his job in acquiring the talent needed to bust through.

Those new faces, alongside getting Kris Bryant back after he missed all of the 2017 regular season with injury, added to any squad would make the Cubs a formidable team. Chicago had the advanced metrics of a 100-win team though, so these enhancements could make them a juggernaut.

The Cardinals, however, went 9-10 against Chicago, battling them to a near draw. They have a new GM in town, John Kratz, and would love to take their archnemesis down a notch in the NL Central.

They'll throw Michael Wacha to the mound to face the Cubs, but he has a dubious history against them, losing twice, getting a no decision despite allowing seven hits, three runs, two earned over 4 innings, and getting injured in a fourth start. The Cardinals will need the arm that threw over 200 innings with a tick under 200 strikeouts last season, not the guy with 16 runs allowed in 15.2 innings against the Cubs.

Unlike the Cubs, Cardinals batters don't have a lot of hardware so they'll need their 2018 All Star, Randall Grichuk, to have a big game. After struggling with plate discipline in 2017—Grichuk had the lowest walk rate among qualified NL hitters—he improved from 3.3% to 5.1% last season. It's still a ghastly number, and was third worst among NL hitters last season, but it brings Grichuk into the realm of impatient whereas before he was hacking pitches in clueless territory. The result was a modest increase in on-base percentage, batting average, slugging percentage and OPS+. He had about 100 more at bats than the prior year but an increase in home runs to 27 from 18 is impressive.

Grichuk will be taking his hard swings against Chris Sale, who he is 1-2 against with a double. Sale's last appearance was a disappointing early exit in Game 6 of the World Series, where he lasted only 2.2 innings and allowed five runs on seven hits. Sale struggled through a 4.20 ERA with Boston last year, before going 4-7 with a 3.90 ERA with the Cubs. He fanned an impressive 196 hitters combined, but it was still down from an AL-leading 256 the year prior. After a disappointing year, he'll look to show everyone that he's back to being an ace. His lone appearance against the Cardinals resulted in a slog where Sale allowed five runs, four unearned in 3.2 innings of a loss last May.

If Sale can get the Cubs a lead late, we may see the big league debut of Bonkers Carrizales. Bonkers' ability to stare down any challenge—as well as his animated theatrics on the mound—have earned him the nickname. The pitcher deemed "Too Loco for Liga Mexicana de Beisbol" was a sought after commodity on the free agent market this year. He throws in the upper 90s from a wide angle, and features a wipeout slider. His angle leaves him susceptible to lefty power, but he should be a joy to watch. After all, with a 72.5 million contract, that's why the Cubs went bonkers to sign him.


Questions for the GMs:


For John Kratz, you had a relatively quiet offseason. Why the decision to field a 2019 team that looks similar to 2018?

This Cubs lineup looks awfully tough. Which player will be the most key to stopping in order to slow that lineup down?

Jedd Gyorko continues to be a valuable slugger on your team, albeit one without a great position to play. Will his bat get a crack against Sale?

For Brandon Hillebrand, Bonkers Carrizales was a player you spent a lot of money on. Why did you shill out a lucrative contract for his services?

Chris Sale struggled last year, both in the regular year and in the playoffs. Are you concerned he's hitting a decline phase?

Will your defense be better than your offense this year?

[brandoncubs]

Q 1) Bonkers Carrizales was a player you spent a lot of money on. Why did you shill out a lucrative contract for his services?

A 1) Carrizales, according to our scouts, has the ability to be a shut-down reliever, and help bridge the gap to Wade Davis. We also view him as a potential rotation piece in the future if we decide to go that route. Along with his high-strikeout potential and age, we felt he was a worthy investment and hopefully can help out an already studly bullpen.

Q 2) Chris Sale struggled last year, both in the regular year and in the playoffs. Are you concerned he's hitting a decline phase?

A 2) Chris definitely had an disappointing season last year, but we feel he still isn't declining. He performed better once he became a Cub, and we feel working with pitching coach Bryce Bence will help steer him back onto the right path. He will have to improve his strike-out to walk ratio if he is gonna get back to his normal level of production.

Q 3) Will your defense be better than your offense this year?

A 3) Hopefully our offense will be better than our defense this year. While both are necessary to win a championship, we really invested in offensive improvements in the offseason. We were one of the best defensive teams in the majors last season, and only improved with the additions of Lindor, Freeman, and Bryant. So if our offense is better than our defense at the end of the season, then we should be in very good shape.

[Commissioner Erick]

Cardinals 5 - Cubs 2


WP: M. Wacha (1-0)
LP: C. Sale (0-1)
SV: M. Bowman (1)


The Cardinals had heard all about the Cubs' supercharged lineup. They heard all about their Gold Glove defense. They heard all about Chris Sale's pedigree. The Cubs will now hear about how they couldn't beat the Cardinals.

The St. Louis Cardinals rolled into Chicago and beat the defending NL Champion Chicago Cubs 5-2 on opening day.

It was a disappointing game for Chicago because of their inability to execute. Chris Sale struck out 10 batters and walked only one in 5.1 innings, but he hit a batter and there was an error committed behind him. Cardinals hitters were 6-11 on balls hit in play against him. This is disappointing for a defense thought to be one of the best in baseball.

St. Louis didn't even get a lot of booming hits as they only had one knock go for extra bases. They scored in the first after Kolten Wong was plunked on a 1-2 count, and moved to third on a Maurcio Dubon single. Wong tore his quadriceps going to third on the play and was substituted for by Eliezer Alvarez. Matt Carpenter slapped a single the other way to make it 1-0 Cardinals.

The Cardinals expanded the lead to 2-0 in the fourth. With two outs, St. Louis strung together a pair of hits before a wild pitch plated a run. After a walk and an error in the sixth, Yonder Alonso hit the Cardinals only extra base hit, a double brining in Carpenter and moving Randall Grichuk to third. Sale exited, Paul DeJong hit a sacrifice fly off Cam Bedrosian, and the Cardinals plated four runs off Sale.

Each of Sale's runs allowed came with the help of a hit batsman, a wild pitch, or an error—an excruciating way to allow runs. He struck out seven in a row at one point, but the paper cuts did him in.

He didn't get much help from his offense and Michael Wacha was on his game. Despite struggling early in his career against Chicago, Wacha was effective on opening night. Wacha worked 6 innings, fanning six, allowing just two runs on a pair of walks and five hits.

Wacha struck out a batter in every inning save the second, and only ran into serious trouble twice. In the second Jeimer Candelario doubled with one out and Wilson Contreras walked with two down. However, Albert Almora couldn't cash in, grounding out to Alonso to end the threat. In the sixth, Anthony Rizzo and Xander Bogaerts started a rally by singling with two down. Candelario continued his strong game with a double, driving in two to make it 4-2 St. Louis. Wacha buckled down, getting Justin Upton to fly out to right to end the inning.

The Cardinals bullpen was also sharp. Brett Cecil worked through a walk to fire a scoreless seventh. Cory Gearrin allowed just a walk in a scoreless eighth. Matt Bowman retired the side, punching out Wilson Contreras to punctuate a stirring performance from St. Louis' pitchers.

Despite striking out 13 times and recording just one extra base hit, the Cardinals came through in an upset worth hearing about.


Questions for the GMs:


For John Kratz, Michael Wacha has been a solid starter the last two years, but nothing to write home about. After a strong outing against an excellent offense, where do you think Wacha stacks up among NL arms?

Wong went down really early on. What did you see out of Alvarez filling in?

Your team fanned 10 times, but still got a few runs across against Sale. What do you think was the key to your offense?

For Brandon Hillebrand, Bonkers Carrizales made his major league debut. How do you think he looked?

Chris Sale had a strange game. The walk to strikeout numbers are super, though he did uncork a wild pitch and hit a batter, and gave up hits when he couldn't put hitters away. He also allowed just one extra base hit among his six allowed, and one hit was an infield hit. What do you take away from his outing?

Freddie Freeman took a step back in 2018 and struck out three times in four plate appearances tonight. Any worries about his performance?