What would happen if the Major League leader in earned run average faced a Triple-A lineup?
An approximation of that scenario played out Friday at Wrigley Field as White Sox pitcher Lance Lynn brought his scintillating 2.07 ERA to the mound.
Of the eight Cub starters not named Kyle Hendricks, seven have played 227 games at the Triple-A level this season. Meantime, from Greg Deichmann making his big-league debut to Rafael Ortega with only 53 Cubs contests under his belt, the seven Cubs newbies had appeared in a combined 172 games for the club over their entire careers.
The other position player, Ian Happ, has struggled so much (. 179 average and .623 OPS -- both well below MLB norms) that perhaps a stint with the Iowa Cubs is overdue. Small wonder Lynn allowed just one run in six innings, dropping his ERA to 2.04.
Early May '22 crosstown
Since interleague play began in 1997, the Cubs and Sox have typically not squared off until June at the earliest. Other years, like this season, they don't meet until August.
The recently released 2022 schedule reflects a shift: the clubs meet for a pair of games at Wrigley Field May 3 and 4. It will be the earliest meeting of the teams ever -- eclipsing 2014's May 5 to 7 three-game set the Sox swept at home.
The only player from that series still playing locally: Sox first baseman Jose Abreu. (By the way, Abreu's career games in a White Sox uniform heading into Friday was 1,063 -- or 225 more than the total of all nine Cubs starters Friday.)
The other two crosstown rivalry contests in 2022 happen at the end of May. Heading into this season, the teams have had 17 seasons in which they played one another six times, five times when they played four games, and twice -- the first two years of interleague play, 1997 and 1998 -- they clashed only thrice.
Non-triple watch
Here's a record you didn't know was on track to be challenged this year: fewest triples by a National League team. The current Major League mark for three-base scarcity is five, by the 2017 Toronto Blue Jays. That squad scratched out one three-bagger over the season's final 94 contests.
The NL low is nine, by the 2018 St. Louis Cardinals. So far, two-thirds into the '21 season, two teams have six triples -- the Astros and Mets. New York is the biggest threat to topple the Cards for three-bag paucity preeminence.
Three teams managed only three triples during last year's 60-game season.
Cabrera's push for 3,000 hits
Former Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera has rebounded from a slow start. As a result, he is a virtual lock to reach 500 career home runs this season (he was two short heading into Saturday) and even has a shot at reaching 3,000 career base hits this season.
To attain that latter milestone in 2021, the Tiger will need to stay hot and healthy, neither of which has been a consistent characteristic over the past five seasons.
Entering Saturday's game, Cabrera had 2,946 hits, so he needs 54 hits over the team's final 50 games. My hunch is he will fall short, and end the season as close to 3,000 hits, without attaining that magic figure, as anyone in MLB history. That random distinction belongs to Cal Ripken Jr., the Orioles shortstop whose injury-riddled 1999 season ended with 2,991 hits.
Of the 32 men in the 3,000-hit club, nine reached the milestone after Sept. 1, and another six did so in August. The distribution is spread evenly over the prior four months -- five in May, six in June, five in July, and six in August. Only one -- Ripken -- ever notched No. 3,000 during the month of April. That's likely what's in store for Cabrera in 2022.
• Matt Baron supplements his baseball brainpower with Retrosheet.org for research.
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August 08, 2021 at 06:12AM
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