The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Chicago Cubs and Brewers Series
The Chicago Cubs (1-2) dropped their first series of the year, despite earning an Opening Day victory against the Milwaukee Brewers. Before turning our attention to the Cincinnati Reds, let's look at some good, some bad, and some downright ugly from the series with the Brewers.
Good
Shortstop Dansby Swanson has not let the high-profile contract signed in the offseason impact his start. The 29-year-old is batting a cool .583 (7-for-12) through the first three games, and his play in the field has matched his stellar performance at the plate. Great start for the Vanderbilt product.
Good
Outfielder Patrick Wisdom flashed the long ball twice in Sunday's loss. He's hitting .286 (2-for-7) with a 1.518 OPS.
Good
Marcus Stroman and Justin Steele got the Cubs rotation off on the right foot. The duo became the first pair of starting pitchers to not allow a run through the team's first two games since at least 1906.
Good
Adbert Alzolay was excellent in his two innings of relief on Sunday. The game was already over -- raising the question of why he wasn't used earlier in the game -- but he fanned three batters and didn't allow any walks.
Good
The early return on the back end of the bullpen is positive. Brad Boxberger and Michael Fulmer have combined for 2.1 innings, no earned runs, and four strikeouts. I don't fault Fulmer for giving up Saturday's game-winning hit for the Brewers. Again, Mastrobuoni has to dive for that ball. Fulmer inherited Assad's mess and struck out Christian Yelich to get the Cubs within one out of escaping the jam.
Bad
The trio of Nick Madrigal, Cody Bellinger, and Eric Hosmer have combined for a 1-for-24 start to the year. Bellinger and Hosmer have yet to record a hit, with the former fanning four times in 11 at-bats thus far.
Bad
Julian Merryweather had a rough Cubs debut. The former Toronto Blue Jay recorded only two outs, gave up five earned runs and walked a pair of batters.
Ugly
Chicago's pitching has already allowed 15 walks on the year, third-most in the National League. Of the four walks allowed on Sunday, all of them came around to score. Perhaps the most notable in the series was Javier Assad's four-pitch walk to Garrett Mitchell, who was showing bunt. That sequence allowed Milwaukee to plate the go-ahead run on Saturday.
Ugly
Coming into the game as a defensive replacement, Miles Mastrobuoni has to dive for that ball on Saturday. That was essentially the ballgame right there, so if he had whiffed on it, at least an attempt was made. The Cubs made the right move in letting him walk, but Jason Heyward makes that catch.
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