As a child, the Chicago Cubs were my favorite baseball team. Back then the Tampa Bay Rays didn’t exist, so thanks to the wonderful world of cable, the Cubs became the team I latched on to. I can vividly recall racing home from the bus stop after school, grabbing a quick snack, and turning on WGN to catch a matinee ballgame. Back then Andre Dawson, Ryne Sandberg, and Greg Maddux were my gods, Wrigley Field was my place of worship, and Harry Caray and DeWayne Staats were my favorite broadcast team.
By the by, DeWayne is still a part of my favorite broadcast team, but that’s neither here or now.
I remember the Cubs taking the NL East title in 1989. I remember both Jerome Walton (NL Rookie of the Year) and Don Zimmer (NL Manager of the Year) winning vaunted awards that very same year. I can also distinctly remember the lean years that came before, and followed, that fateful season. Good or bad, so many of my childhood memories revolve around my beloved Cubbies.
Yet I must confess there’s one thing that has always weighed heavily on my shoulders, I’ve never been to Wrigley Field. So when I saw that my Rays would be playing my childhood favorite team in the Friendly Confines this season, a decision was made — come hell or high water, I would make the trek to the Windy City for the three-game weekend series. Wrigley Field, here I come!
The Rays last faced the Cubs in 2008, in a three-game series at The Trop. I attended a couple of those games, mismatching a Rays shirt with a Cubs hat each game. I cheered when either side did something good, though I couldn’t have been happier with the ultimate outcome — Tampa Bay swept the north-siders, outscoring the Cubs 16-9. Tampa Bay leads the overall series 4-2.
I don’t need to remind you of the importance of a series win, especially against a sub .500 team. The Cubs have gone 10-10 over their last 20-games (as of 8/7/14), with eight of those 10 losses being rather convincing. In those games, opponents have outscored Chicago 79-34, for a differential of 45 runs. Though the Cubs have scored a few more runs than the Rays over the last month, their pitching staff posted a meaty 4.64 ERA and a 2.9 WAR in the same span. Compare that to the Rays 2.78 ERA and 4.3 WAR over the last month.
That’s not to say the Rays have fared well in their last 10 games, after all they’ve dropped six of 10 after winning nine in a row. However, Tampa Bay has been blown out only three times since June 10. Juxtapose that with what I mentioned above, and one thing becomes obvious: A series win should be all but certain.
A cursory warning; Chris Archer, Jake Odorizzi, and Alex Cobb will need to execute their pitches against the north-siders. The Cubs have pounded 29 homers over the last month. Compare that with the Rays who’ve hit 12 over the same duration.
Tsuyoshi Wada: Wada (1-1, 3.32) will make his fifth start since getting called up in July, in the series opener Friday. The Cubs 33 year-old soft tossing lefty is in his third season of professional baseball in America. His first two seasons were spent in the minors with the Baltimore Orioles, but after making only one start in the 2012 season, he underwent Tommy John surgery. Wada struggled with consistency in 2013 and eventually went looking for work with a new team following the season. Enter the Cubs. After he struggled in Spring Training — culminating in a release from his contract — the Cubs re-signed him, thanks in part to an adjustment he made gripping the ball. Wada was excellent in the minors, with a strikeout per inning and an excellent walk rate, and with a 39% ground-ball rate — though his success hasn’t quite translated in the big leagues. He’s got quite a repertoire; a mid-to-upper 80’s fastball, a forkball that gets whiffs, and a slider.
Edwin Jackson: You remember former Ray Edwin Jackson, (6-11, 5.66 ERA) right? You know, the RHP who was traded to Detroit after the 2008 season for Matt Joyce. Jackson hasn’t had much success this season, though he is coming off a win in which he allowed seven hits and two runs in six innings on Sunday against the Dodgers. He’s had a share of good outings this season (including a 7 IP shutout performance in May), they’ve been few and far in between. Key matchups: Logan Forsythe (1-3, 3B), James Loney (7-14, 2 2B, 2 RBI, BB).
Travis Wood: Wood (7-9, 5.08 ERA) has been pretty hittable over the span of his 23 starts this season, yielding 84 runs (75 earned) on 147 hits including 13 home runs. The fastball/cutter pitcher has had a hard time with stranding runners on the bags, and if the Rays can force mistakes, there could be some offensive fireworks on the part of the Rays in Sunday’s finale.
Noteworthiness
- Brad Boxberger hasn’t allow a run in his last 15 appearances.
- Chris Archer has allowed three earned runs or fewer in each of his last three starts.
- On the other hand, Kevin Kiermaier is 3-for-his-last-25 and Desmond Jennings is 6-for-his-last-33.
- Chris Coghlan of the Cubs went 9-for-20 on their most recent road trip. Starlin Castro was also hot, going 11-for-25.
- Former Ray Justin Ruggiano is in a 3-for-16 slump.
- Cubs über prospect 21-year-old 2B Javier Baez will make his home debut in the series opener. Baez made his big league debut Tuesday in Colorado and homered in the 12th inning to give Chicago a 6-5 win. He went 0-4 in a 13-4 loss Wednesday before going 3-4 with two home runs and four RBI in Thursday’s 6-2 victory.
- Marc Topkin writes, With C Ryan Hanigan’s return from an oblique strain unclear, the Rays are likely to have interest in bringing back C Chris Gimenez, who was designated for assignment Thursday by Texas. … OF Wil Myers (right wrist) joined Triple-A Durham on Thursday to continue workouts; he could start a rehab assignment Saturday, with about a two-week stay planned. … Ticket sales for the Aug. 15-17 Yankees series are strong, with at least one sellout likely.”