Batter's Box Interactive Magazine: Chicago Cubs at Toronto, August 11-13

I have no memory whatsoever of any previous encounters between the Cubs and the Blue Jays. I have plenty of memories, not all of them pleasant, of games against the Yankees and the Red Sox, against the Tigers and the Orioles, against the Royals and the Rays. But these National League outfits don't mean much to me.

Well, the Blue Jays have only played 18 games against the Cubs, ever. (The Cubs and the Padres are the two teams the Jays have played the fewest games against.) The Cubs were here just last August - the Jays took two of the three from the Cubs, losing only the game started by Mitch White. The Jays are 10-8 against the Cubs all-time but they're 8-4 in the games played in Toronto.

The Cubs have been playing at Wrigley Field for more than a hundred years but the Blue Jays have only been there twice. Once was back in 2005, and the most recent occasion was in 2017, when the Cubs were the defending champions. The Cubs would go on to win 92 games and the NL Central in 2017, and they swept all three games on that occasion. I seem to have blocked the finale from my memory, so let me traumatize you with the grisly details. In the moment, Eephus said it would forever be known as the Raffy Lopez game. Roberto Osuna, on in the tenth with a two run lead, struck out Schwarber leading off. Alas, he reached base anyway on the wild pitch that Lopez couldn't handle. Zobrist singled him to third and he scored on another wild pitch. Osuna got Rizzo to ground out and struck out Baez - but Baez reached base on the third wild pitch of the inning. Osuna then hit Heyward with a pitch and Avila's two run single ended the game. Yeah, I'm glad I've forgotten that one.

Ten days before the deadline, the Cubs were presumed to be one of the teams that would be selling off assets at the deadline. After all, Marcus Stroman and Cody Bellinger are both free agents at the end of the season. Stroman had actually been pitching pretty badly for the last month before going on the IL, but he's a proven commodity and Bellinger is having a monster year and seems to have recovered all the ability that went so mysterously missing his last few years in Los Angeles. On July 20, the Cubs had a record of 45-51, and were 8.5 games off the division lead. But they ran off eight straight wins, part of a 13-3 run that has put them right back in the thick of things in the NL Central. And Bellinger and Stroman are still with the team.

We'll see ace southpaw Justin Steele on Saturday. A reminder that it's baseball and nobody knows anything. Steele, who turned 28 just a few weeks ago, had a career record of 8-11 in 33 starts over two seasons coming into this year. But here he is, second in the league in ERA, tied for the league lead in Wins, stuff which would probably put him in the Cy Young discussion. I think his workload might be catching up to him a little bit. In his last 9 starts, he's... well, he's gone 7-1, 2.72. Very, very little, I suppose. But hey, he's allowed 7 HR in those seven starts. He had a stretch of nine consecutive starts earlier this season when he allowed zero homers. Not a one.

The Blue Jays have, at last, signed a RH outfielder... oh, wait. It's Jose Bautista, who probably doesn't fit into any plans beyond this weekend. That's okay. I will always, always be happy to see Jose. Good times!

Chicago Cubs at Toronto, August 11-13

Friday, August 11 2023 @ 01:00 PM EDT