While waiting on a plume of smoke to rise from the old Wrigley Field scoreboard to announce whether a decision on Cade Horton had been made, here are eight things to ponder after the Chicago Cubs’ 3-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants:
President Jed Hoyer’s decision on Horton might be his toughest of the season. Hoyer has made quite a few personnel decisions based on small sample sizes this spring, including the demotions of third baseman Matt Shaw and reliever Jordan Wicks, and dealing Gage Workman after designating him for assignment.
Those were small potatoes as compared to what he’ll do with Horton, a rising star in the organization who has dominated in his first six starts at Triple-A Iowa.
It makes perfect sense to keep Horton in Iowa a while longer to continue his development after he missed most of 2024 with a shoulder injury. But this is not a perfect world. Having already shown a sense of urgency with his previous roster moves, bringing Horton up in early May to replace the injured Shota Imanaga on Saturday against the New York Mets would be in line with Hoyer’s early-season aggressiveness in what could be a make-or-break season for the longtime Cubs executive.
Cubs fans obviously want to see Horton, perhaps the organization’s most highly touted pitching prospect since Mark Prior made his debut in 2002. Hoyer and manager Craig Counsell seem reluctant to show their cards, making the decision seem that much more important.
Will Hoyer do it?
Counsell gave no indication of Horton’s status after Wednesday’s loss, so the AI-induced smoke from Wrigley was black heading into the evening.
Ryan Pressly says he’s fine. The Cubs say he’s fine. That’s fine.
But the fact that he’s made only three appearances since April 21 suggests not all is fine with the veteran closer. Pressly had his knee drained on April 22, but Counsell afterward said it was nothing unusual for a 36-year-old reliever. Pressly allowed nine runs, including eight earned, in the Giants’ 9-run 11th inning on Tuesday night.
If that doesn’t raise any red flags then maybe the Cubs are in denial. It’s never too early to change your closer. But sometimes it can be too late.
The great debate: Third baseman Jon Berti refusing to eat the ball and making bad throws to first base on plays that can’t be made, which he’s done the last two games, versus former third baseman Christopher Morel’s double-clutching on throws to first base last May on plays that should’ve been made? Discuss at your leisure.
It’s early, but the Cubs seem better prepared to battle the fickle winds of Wrigley. The Cubs entered Wednesday’s game averaging 4.9 runs per game at home with the wind blowing in. Last year, they averaged 4.9 runs per game in the 21 games with the wind blowing out, and 2.9 per game in the 39 games with the wind blowing in. Naturally, they were shut down by Giants lefty Robbie Ray and the Giants bullpen on Wednesday with the wind blowing in from the northeast at 16 mph.
The Cubs had runners in scoring position in the second, third and fourth innings but came away with only one run on a windblown fly ball by Pete Crow-Armstrong that blew in several feet and eluded Heliot Ramos in left for an RBI double.
Counsell said the Cubs’ failure to get a leadoff hitter on hurt them.
“We didn’t make (Ray) make a bunch of pitches until two outs really in a couple of innings,” he said. “When it’s tough to hit on a day like today, and a home run was a tough thing, getting the leadoff hitter on and creating some traffic early in an inning seems like a pretty good recipe to score. They did it. And we couldn’t do it.”
Photos: Chicago Cubs lose again to the San Francisco Giants at Wrigley Field on Wednesday
Believe it or not: In a span of 10 games at Wrigley Field from April 18 through Tuesday, the Cubs bullpen has already allowed a 10-run inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks in a 13-11 win and a nine-run inning against the Giants in Tuesday’s 15-4, 11-inning loss. You could go years without seeing one of those things happen. In fact, the Giants’ nine-run inning was their most in an extra inning in franchise history.
Counsell followed through on his declaration over the weekend that he would get Seiya Suzuki a game back in the outfield. Suzuki played right field on Wednesday with no glaring issues. Counsell let Kyle Tucker DH as a kind of “semi” day off. The two were a combined 0-for-7.
New York state of mind: Some players fare better in some cities than others for no apparent reason. Jameson Taillon, scheduled to start Friday against the Mets in Citi Field, loves pitching in New York and has been nearly untouchable pitching there the last two seasons with the Cubs. Taillon allowed one hit over eight shutout innings at Yankee Stadium in 2023, facing his former team. He allowed three runs on seven hits over 14 1/3 combined innings in two starts at Citi Field in ’23 and ’24.
Media frenzy in the Big Apple? Don’t worry about Crow-Armstrong being affected by the media overload he’ll probably get this weekend in New York, where he was a former Mets prospect who succeeded elsewhere.
Crow-Armstrong said in Milwaukee that he doesn’t believe the media will be a distraction as more reporters seek him out.
“Talking to (the media) is such a small part of my day,” he said. “Media-wise, it’s kind of irrelevant to me. Sometimes it’s hard enough for myself to get past an at-bat. That’s really what I’ve got to work past every day. I love having so much focus put on this team. It’s nice to deal with you guys. You guys make it easy on us. That’s just part of (the job). I’ve enjoyed having to deal with you guys a little bit more.”
That’s something you rarely hear from modern-day baseball players in the post-pandemic era.
