The Cubs and Cardinals travel to London to show off the Great American Pastime across the pond. With extra days off to accommodate travel, the Cubs are able to line up their top starting pitchers and hold Drew Smyly for a potential relief appearance. See below for matchupa.
Game 75, Saturday, June 24, 12:10 pm central
CHC: LHP Justin Steele (7-2, 2.71 ERA)
STL: RHP Adam Wainwright (3-1, 5.56 ERA)
The Cubs ended a five game win streak that despite a valiant effort in the final game of the series against the Orioles. They'll greet the Pirates for a return visit to Wrigley, only a weekend removed from sweeping them out of first place in the NL Central. The Cubs (33-38) enter the series in 4th place and four games behind the now leading Brewers. The Pirates (34-36) may enter with revenge on their mind, if they are not preoccupied by letting their surprising hold on the NL Central slip away. The Buccos bring along former Cub and well-travelled MLB veteran Rich Hill.
The Cubs climbed three games in the NL Central standings by sweeping the first-place Pirates. Having forestalled deadline seller status for now, they'll greet the 43-25 soaring O's for another three game set at Wrigley. Bellinger returned already to reinforce the offense, and Steele is expected to make his return to the rotation as well. See below for matchups.
Game 69, Friday, June 16, 1:20 pm central
CHC: RHP Kyle Hendricks (1-2, 3.09 ERA)
BAL: LHP Cole Irvin (1-2, 7.85 ERA)
The Cubs ended their trip to San Francisco on a low note despite coming a few outs short of a no-hitter the previous day. They return to Wrigley and NL Central opponents as they take on the 34-30 Pirates. The Pirates have clung to a surprising lead in the NL Central, now leading the Brewers by one game. See below for matchups (such as they stand).
Game 66, Tuesday, June 13, 7:05 pm central
CHC: RHP Jameson Taillon (1-4, 7.02 ERA)
PIT: RHP Luis Ortiz (1-2, 4.23 ERA)
Game 67, Wednesday, June 14, 7:05 pm central
CHC: TBD
PIT: TBD
The Cubs were no match for Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani and suffered a sweep in Anaheim as a result. They'll turn northward and try their luck in San Francisco next. The Giants enter the series 32-30 to the Cubs 26-36. See below for matchups.
Game 63, Friday, June 9, 9:15 pm central
SFG: RHP Anthony DeSclafani (4-5, 3.97 ERA)
CHC: RHP Marcus Stroman (6-4, 2.39 ERA)
The Cubs continue their tour of the West Coast with a stop in Anaheim. The Angels enter the series in third in the NL West, while the Cubs can console themselves that they still have a better record than the Cardinals--and that no one is really out of the NL Central "race" yet. The Cubs will dodge their 2024 Opening Day starter and primary DH question mark, Shohei Ohtani. See below for matchups.
Game 60, Tuesday, June 6, 8:38 pm central
LAA: LHP Tyler Anderson (2-1, 5.47 ERA)
CHC: RHP Hayden Wesneski (2-2, 4.81 ERA)
2023 Cubs Cactus League Extended Spring Training - Final Stats
There is no Official Scorer at Cactus League Extended Spring Training games, so all stats are unofficial
Arizona
Scoring
Service
Geuri Lubo (RBI triple), Dilan Granadillo (RBI single), and Jefferson Rojas (RBI single) contributed run scoring hits to highlight a four-run 9th inning, and closer Gabriel Agrazal struck out Cristian Garcia (swinging) with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th to preserve the lead (and the victory), as the Cubs rallied from an early 6-0 deficit to score three in the 7th and four in the 9th and then held on to edge the Angels 8-7 in Cactus League Extended Spring Training game action Friday evening at Tempe Diablo Stadium in Tempe, AZ.
Daniel Amaral (son of long-time MLB INF-OF Rich Amaral) reached base five times (a single in the 1st, an RBI double in the 3rd, a two-run double in the 5th, a two-run single in the 6th, and a walk in the 7th), collected five RBI, stole two bases, and scored a run, Cuba Bess tripled, walked three times, and scored a run, Francisco Ortiz belted a double, reached base on an HBP, and scored two runs, Juan Castillo ripped an RBI double and scored a run and collected another RBI with a sacrifice fly, SP Manuel Olivares hurled three innings of shutout ball, and the Rockies took advantage of twelve
The Cubs did a solid impression of a winning team, taking two of three from the Rays and coming up a few innings of relief shy of a sweep. They enjoy a day off today and begin again in San Diego. See below for matchups in this four-game series.
Game 53, Friday, June 2, 8:40 pm central
CHC: RHP Jameson Taillon (0-3, 8.04 ERA)
SDP: RHP Michael Wacha (5-1, 3.45 ERA)
Game 54, Saturday, June 3, 9:10 pm central
CHC: LHP Drew Smyly (5-2, 3.45 ERA)
SDP: RHP Yu Darvish (3-4, 4.61 ERA)
Recent comments
Arizona Phil 09/23/2023 - 09:02 pm (view)
The deadline for trading players on an MLB Reserve List (40-man roster) and players who were outrighted to the minors after signing a 2023 MLB contract was August 1st, but trades involving players on a minor league reserve list are prohibited beginning at 12 PM (Eastern) on the 7th day prior to the originally-scheduled conclusion of the 2023 MLB regular season (Sunday 9/24) through the last day of the MLB regular season (including a day on which a regular season game is played after the originally-scheduled conclusion of the MLB regular season).
Arizona Phil 09/23/2023 - 09:58 pm (view)
jdrnym:
As you know, the abbreviation "DFA" stands for "Designated for Assignment."
There are three types of assignments:
1. Trade Assignment (when a player is traded from one MLB club to another)
2. Outright Assignment (when a player is sent to the club's minor league Domestic Reserve List after Outright Assignment Waivers have been secured).
3. Optional Assignment (when a player is optioned to the minors, subject to being recalled at a later time).
So when a player is Designated for Assignment, the player can either be traded, outrighted to the minors, or optioned to the minors.
Normally a player is not Designated for Assignment and then optioned to the minors, because the club could just option the player to the minors immediately without a DFA.
Back in the day It was not that unusual for a player to be Designated for Assignment so that Optional Assignment Waivers could be secured (Optional Assignment Waivers were required before certain players could be optioned to the minors, and just like the old Trade Assignment Waivers, Optional Assignment Waivers were revocable if a player was claimed). Optional Assignment Waivers were eliminated in 2016 and Trade Assignment Waivers were eliminated in 2021, so all revocable waivers have been eliminated. What's left are Outright Assignment Waivers and Outright Release Waivers, and both are irrevocable once requested.
With the new five option limit whereby a player can (with a couple of exceptions) be optioned to the minors no more than five times in a given season before Outright Assignment Waivers must be secured (and it - IS - Outright Assignment Waivers that must be secured, even though it is for the purpose of an Optional Assignment), it now might be necessary for a club to DFA a player to clear a spot on the MLB 26-man roster (MLB 28-man roster in September) for another player and to allow for the two days (actually 47 hours) required to run a player through waivers. After the two day Waiver Claiming Period concludes (and presuming the player isn't claimed), the player can be returned to the MLB 40-man roster and optioned to the minors (even after being Designated for Assignment). But for that to happen, the player can - NOT - be replaced on the MLB 40-man roster by another player after being Designated for Assignment.
However, in the case of Jordan Luplow, he had - NOT - been optioned to the minors five times in the 2023 season prior to be optioned to AAA St. Paul on 9/18, so the Twins did not need to DFA Luplow in order to secure Outright Assignment Waivers so that he could be optioned to the minors a sixth time. But because he was Designated for Assignment and not replaced on the 40 by another player after the DFA, the Twins could option him to the minors (and return him to the 40) even after he was Designated for Assignment, because an Optional Assignment is one of the three types of assignments.
So Luplow was Designated for Assignment even though he didn't need to be, and then the Twins returned him to their MLB 40-man roster and optioned him to the minors a couple of days later (which they can do, since Luplow wasn't replaced on the 40 by another player after he was Designated for Assignment). What the Twins did (DFA Luplow and then option him to the minors a couple of days later) was within the rules. It's just very odd and doesn't make a lot of sense.
So I will offer the most logical reason I can think of to explain why the Twins did this:
The Twins DFA'd Luplow because they intended to reinstate Chris Paddack from the 60-day IL, but then Carlos Correa suddenly needed to go on the 10-day IL and so they decided they wanted to keep Luplow on the 40-man roster (and on Optional Assignment to AAA) and didn't want to risk losing him off waivers or by him electing free-agency after being outrighted. Luplow has Article XX-D rights (he has been outrighted to the minors previously in his career), so he would had the right to elect free-agency after he was outrighted. There was also the possibility that he would have been claimed of waivers, and obviously the Twins felt they might need his RH bat after losing Correa and with Royce Lewis having left a game with a hamstring injury that led to an IL assignment.
Also, if Luplow was outrighted instead of being optioned, he would no longer be automatically eligible to play in the post-season (except as a possible injury replacement).
Not only did Carlos Correa go on the IL, Royce Lewis went on the IL, too, two days after Correa went on the IL and two days after Luplow was optioned to AAA, so the Twins did in fact end up needing Luplow after all, and recalled him just a couple of days after he was optioned to replace Lewis on the MLB 28-man roster.
So that all I've got. That is the only thing that makes sense. The Twins DFA'd Luplow because they had intended to replace him on the 40 with another player (probably Paddack) and hoped that they would be able to run him through waivers and that he wouldn't get claimed and that he would accept an Outright Assignment, but then they suddenly changed their minds because of the injury to Correa and the possibility that Lewis might also have to go on the IL (which did, in fact, happen the next day).
So the Twins were able to return Luplow to the 40 because he hadn't been replaced on the 40 by another player after he was Designated for Assignment, then they optioned him to St. Paul, and then they recalled him after Royce Lewis was placed on the 10-day IL (the minimum 10-day optional assignment being waived because Luplow replaced a player (Royce Lewis) who was placed on an MLB IL.
crunch 09/23/2023 - 09:00 pm (view)
CIN out here blowing a 9-0 lead they built through 3 innings. 9-9 tie in the 7th.
crunch 09/23/2023 - 09:05 pm (view)
boxburger 10d IL, k.thompson back up. it's his right forearm (again).
crunch 09/23/2023 - 09:12 pm (view)
merryweather got out of it, but he loaded the bases with 1 out. of course ross got cuas up in the pen...thankfully he didn't need to come in.
looks like cuas gets the 9th.
crunch 09/23/2023 - 09:46 pm (view)
4ip 2h 0bb 6k, 49 pitches. no idea why they're giving the pen the last 2 innings when he's out there dealing like this and only threw 49 pitches. he was supposed to pitch tomorrow and he's fresh.
crunch 09/23/2023 - 09:52 pm (view)
...and assad is now a pen arm, evidently...odd move given recent success. i guess wicks starts tomorrow?
crunch 09/22/2023 - 09:16 pm (view)
ARZ, MIA, and CIN all lose. nice.
crunch 09/22/2023 - 09:54 pm (view)
stroman is now the saturday starter...okay, then.
jdrnym 09/22/2023 - 09:52 pm (view)
Phil,
Jordan Luplow was DFA'd by the Twins on Monday and was ultimately optioned and then recalled today. I didn't think that was possible since optional waivers were eliminated years ago. How did that work for the Twins?