The Cubs once again got embarrassed except that it just didn’t matter.
The Cubs string of Spring Training futility continued today as they were throttled by the Atlanta Braves, 13-4 in front of 12.003 fans at Sloan Park this afternoon.
The good news is that if all the wins the Cubs had at the start of Spring Training didn’t matter, then these losses at the end of Spring Training don’t matter either.
This was a bullpen game for the Cubs and if you’re looking for good news, Brad Keller pitched the first inning and was strong, retiring the side in order and striking out two. From his showing in Spring Training, you have to assume at this point that Keller, a non-roster invitee, has made the Cubs (domestic) Opening Day bullpen.
The next two relievers are expected to pitch in late-innings and close games and neither one of them looked good this afternoon. Ryan Pressly came on to pitch the second inning and he wasn’t fooling anyone. He allowed two runs on three singles in his inning of work and struck out no one.
Porter Hodge was no better in the third inning. The first two batters of the inning, Jurickson Profar and Austin Riley, reached on a single and a hit batsman. After a Matt Olson groundout put runners on second and third, a single by Marcell Ozuna and a wild pitch by Hodge let two more runs score.
Meanwhile, the Cubs played Gage Workman out in left field as they are giving the Rule 5 pick a chance to prove that he’s versatile enough to use a bench spot on. Workman has only eight minor league games in the outfield and all of those were in right field, so it shouldn’t have been a surprise that he misplayed a shallow fly that dropped in front of him. The good news, however, is that Workman was aware enough to field the ball on the hop and fire a strike to second base to get the runner that was on first in a force out.
The other good news from Workman came in the the second inning when he came to bat with a man on. [VIDEO].
That was Workman’s fourth home run of Spring Training, which leads the team. At this point, you have to assume that Workman has beaten out Vidal Bruján for the final spot on the bench. (And no, the Cubs can’t work out a deal with the Tigers to allow the Cubs to keep Workman in the minors because he will never clear waivers after his Spring.) But we’ll find out soon enough.
Julian Merryweather threw a scoreless fourth inning, walking one.
Next up was Ryan Brasier, and I certainly hope you didn’t have a worse day than Brasier did. The Braves took batting practice off of Brasier, greeting him with a double, a walk and three home runs. Brasier’s final line was four runs on four hits over one-third of an inning. Brasier is certainly a possibility to be designated for assignment to make room for Keller, so this game might have been his last with the Cubs. In any case, we’ll find out soon enough.
Cayne Ueckert finished out the fifth and was wild, walking three and allowing two more runs of his own. By the end of the inning, a close 4-2 Braves lead had become a 10-4 laugher.
Caleb Thielbar gave up a run on three hits in the sixth, but at least he struck out two. Jack Neely allowed two more runs in the seventh.
At least Daniel Palencia looked good, striking out the side in order in the eighth. Of course, the Braves starters had left the game by that point. Trevor Richards pitched a scoreless ninth before closing out the game.
The only other bright spot on the Cubs’ day was a one-out rally in the sixth inning. Jonathon Long walked and then Dixon Machado singled. Carson Kelly then doubled both of them home. [VIDEO].
So the Cubs are riding a six-game losing streak coming into the final game of Spring Training, but the good news here is that only two of those losses count. Tomorrow the Cubs will close out Spring Training with another game against the Braves at Sloan Park at 3:05 Central time. This game will be on Marquee Sports and the MLB Network outside of the Chicago and Atlanta markets.
Sorry. I didn’t have time for a drawing today. And Al will be back doing these recaps tomorrow.