Cubs’ best-in-baseball glovework has pitchers jazzed to join: ‘This is the defense you want to pitch behind’
A legitimate shot at October glory and the electric atmosphere at Wrigley Field are selling points, sure.
But what excites pitchers more than anything about coming to the Cubs?
“I’ll tell you, I’m pretty excited to pitch with this defense behind me,” right-hander Kevin Gausman said Wednesday. “I’m really looking forward to that.”
Jed Hoyer’s front office got aggressive at the trade deadline, bringing in needed pitching to fortify a Cubs roster built for the postseason.
That pitching looks capable of helping the Cubs to a deep October run, not only because the likes of Gausman and fellow righty starter Clay Holmes are effective weapons on the mound, but because they get to pitch in front of the best defense in baseball.
“For me, this defense, this is one of the best places I could have come,” Holmes said Tuesday. “People around the league, you know the Cubs got a really good defense. You see them play, and it’s special.
“A guy like me, that’s what I do. I’m a sinker-ball guy, [and I] rely on the quality of contact. To be able to trust a defense like that and know that’s what you have behind you is a freeing thing.”
The field is littered with Gold Glovers – five of them, to be exact, in second baseman Nico Hoerner, shortstop Dansby Swanson, third baseman Alex Bregman, left fielder Ian Happ and center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong – and even those without that lustrous hardware are plenty capable of making stellar plays, just look at what infielder Pedro Ramirez and right fielder Seiya Suzuki did earlier this week against the Dodgers.
The Cubs have a reputation as a place where if a pitcher can keep the ball in the ballpark, it’s going to get gobbled up by an elite defender. And the numbers back up the reputation, too, with the Cubs tops in the sport in numerous statistical categories.
“We’ve got a really good defense,” manager Craig Counsell said Wednesday. “It is true, if you’re a pitcher, this is the defense you want to pitch behind. Hopefully, a lot of pitchers are recognizing that.”
The team’s newly arrived arms are thrilled to go to work.
“It allows you to be in attack mode in every situation,” Gausman said. “You feel like no matter what’s going to happen, the outcome’s usually going to be on your side.”
Rehabbing pitchers
A trio of injured Cubs hurlers made minor league rehab appearances with Triple-A Iowa on Wednesday.
Righty starter Edward Cabrera, working back from a hamstring strain, pitched four scoreless innings. Lefty reliever Hoby Milner, out since a late-June appendectomy, faced six hitters and gave up a run. And righty reliever Daniel Palencia, coming back from elbow inflammation, retired just two of the five hitters he faced, allowing a hit and two walks.
All three are slated for more minor league rehab work before returning to the big league team.
Another deadline add arrives
The Cubs brought lefty pitcher Braxton Garrett, acquired in a Monday trade with the Marlins, up from Triple-A Iowa ahead of Thursday’s game.
“He’s a name we’ve talked about here for a while, not just this year at the trade deadline,” pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said. “The role of coming in and being in the bullpen right now is a lot more for us to have some protection. I think long term, he’s definitely a guy we see who can start and be a good starter in the big leagues. Where we are in the season, though, that obviously changes things for this year.”