CINCINNATI — Reese McGuire was not supposed to be in the Chicago Cubs’ lineup Sunday at Great American Ball Park.
McGuire made the short commute Saturday night from Columbus, where Triple-A Iowa played over the weekend, to join the Cubs with Miguel Amaya going on the injured list because of a left oblique strain. The 30-year-old catcher got to the stadium Sunday morning prepared to back up Carson Kelly in the series finale against the Cincinnati Reds.
As he caught a pregame bullpen 90 minutes before the first pitch, McGuire learned Kelly had become ill and was scratched from the lineup. Manager Craig Counsell slotted McGuire into the No. 9 spot of the order, and a career day followed.
McGuire slugged two home runs, including a game-tying solo shot in the eighth inning, to help fuel an 11-8 win by the Cubs for another late comeback rally over the Reds. Seiya Suzuki’s three-run home run in the eighth on a 116.2 mph rocket over the left-field wall put the Cubs ahead. The Cubs (32-21) scored eight unanswered runs in the final four innings.
“I’ve been watching these guys ball for the start of the season, and to be a part of that and watch it in front of my eyes is really special and special to be a part of,” McGuire said. “I can see where all the confidence is coming from because if we still have outs to give then we’re not out of it.”
Before Sunday, McGuire had hit 16 home runs in 1,038 major-league plate appearances. His first multi-homer game was also just the third by a Cubs player in his team debut, joining Jim Marshall (1958) and Earl Webb (1927). Impressively, both of the left-hitting McGuire’s long balls came off a Reds left-hander. He had previously hit only three lefty-on-lefty home runs in seven big-league seasons.
“It’s a dream come true to be able to put together a first game like that and help win the series,” McGuire said. “Never give up on your dream because this game can battle test you for sure.”
Here are three takeaways from the Cubs securing their fourth consecutive series victory.
1. Ben Brown again can’t avoid big innings.
Right-hander Ben Brown took accountability following another start plagued by ugly innings.
The Reds put up four runs in the first and fourth innings Sunday against Brown, quickly forcing the Cubs to play from behind despite being handed a 2-0 lead following the top of the first. Counsell attributed Brown’s shakiness to the lack of competitive pitches to begin the game and struggles getting through the third time in the order.
“Those are two things we’ve got to get better at, and we’ve got to help him get better at,” Counsell said.
Brown walked the first two Reds hitters he faced, landing just one strike in the sequence. He ultimately allowed seven hits and eight runs in 4 1/3 innings, which follows an outing in Miami that was also bookended by bad innings (six runs in 4 2/3 innings).
“I’m having periods of time where I’m the best pitcher I’ve ever been and I’m having times where I’m obviously struggling,” Brown said. “There’s two directions you can go: I can just have the worst season of all time or I can fix my attitude and my effort and really lock into what needs to be done, and I’m going to choose that route.
“There’s definitely something that needs to change, and I’m sure everyone in here is aware of it, it’s not a secret. So whatever I have to do to do that, whatever the avenue is to do that, I’m willing to do it and just keep on going.”
The Cubs need more consistency from Brown, who knows he must not create so much pressure on the bullpen and offense. They don’t have a ton of options, either, if they want to give someone else a look in the rotation and give Brown a reset at Triple A. Shota Imanaga is throwing his first bullpen Wednesday and will need a rehab assignment before he returns. Javier Assad remains sidelined with the reaggravation of his left oblique strain, and Jordan Wicks left his Triple-A start Saturday with a hamstring injury. The Cubs could shift Chris Flexen from the bullpen, though he would likely need to stretch out again.
All things considered, the Cubs need Brown to figure out how to stop the damaging, out-of-control innings.
“It’s just crazy, I feel so good, my stuff is really good,” Brown said. “A lot of times my intent is in the right place, and it doesn’t feel like I should be letting up runs. … For that three-inning span (from the second through fourth), the same thing as last week in Miami, there’s some unhittable baseball in there, and I’ve got to unlock that time and time out, pitch and pitch out.”
2. Losing Miguel Amaya to the injured list is a blow.
McGuire’s standout offensive performance Sunday doesn’t lessen the big-picture blow of losing Amaya for the foreseeable future.
The Cubs won’t have clarity on how long Amaya will be out until he gets imaging, which is expected to happen on Tuesday. But the way Counsell contextualized the playing time split between Kelly and McGuire is not a great sign that Amaya is expected to have a short IL stint. Counsell anticipates McGuire starting once a series until, he noted, the Cubs are in their stretch of 26 games in 27 days between June 3-29.
“Then he’ll probably be in a little bit more just because of the nature of the position,” Counsell said.
It’s an indication the Cubs aren’t anticipating Amaya, 26, will be back for at least a chunk of that stretch. The injury is a disappointing development for Amaya, who was off to a stellar offensive start to the season. The Cubs could have chosen to bring back top catching prospect Moisés Ballesteros following his first big-league experience last week.
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However, the organization wants Ballesteros to play as much as possible to continue the 21-year-old’s development, especially behind the plate, which would be limited in the majors right now, even with Amaya’s injury. Ballesteros has started only 247 games at catcher in his minor-league career.
“The experience of playing as much as he possibly can I think is really important in development still, and that’s a factor in this thing,” Counsell explained. “We called up Moisés to play, and he played five of the six games that he was here, this is a situation where there’s just not as much playing time. And so this is where we went with it.”
3. Justin Turner is showing signs of why the Cubs signed the veteran.
The Cubs thought veteran Justin Turner would be a good platoon complement to first baseman Michael Busch, giving them an experienced option for when teams started a left-hander.
Turner, though, got off to a slow start. He hit .156 with a .273 on-base percentage and no extra-base hits through his first 55 plate appearances (19 games). Counsell thought he would get on track at some point, and that finally has come to fruition over the last two weeks. Entering Sunday, Turner was hitting .296 with a .375 OBP, three extra-base hits and six RBIs in his last 32 PAs (11 games). He collected another hit in Sunday’s comeback win.
With his home run Saturday, Turner at 40 years, 182 days became the oldest Cub to hit a homer since Gary Gaetti (41 years, 6 days) on Aug. 25, 1999.
“I’ve been through this a lot, and you know that you just keep showing up and keep staying in the process, and keep taking good at-bats, things will change,” Turner told the Tribune. “So, yeah, obviously it’s nice to get results, but as long as the at-bat quality stays the same, I’ll be fine.”
Turner knows there will naturally be more attention when he struggles because of his age.
“Externally, like every year now as I go, as soon as I go 0-fer in a game it’s because I’m too old — that’s the frustrating part,” Turner said. “It’s like, wow, I’m not allowed because I’m 40 to have a bad week, that means I should retire.”
