Chicago Cubs News: Strop’s role in the pen; Grichuk’s parting shot
The Chicago Cubs’ Pedro Strop has been an undervalued reliever in his time in Chicago. But what will his role be this season with so many new faces? And the HOF added four new faces to the hall.
The Chicago Cubs will have several relievers to pick from at the end of the game. With Brandon Morrow and Steve Cishek joining the bullpen, some of the roles of the late-inning guys could be shifted around. So how about Pedro Strop? The former set-up man might find himself being used differently this season. Will he still be an eighth-inning guy? Or will he come into the game a little sooner than that?
If there’s one thing that didn’t bother us about the St. Louis offseason, it’s the trade of Randal Grichuk to the Toronto Blue Jays. The man murdered the Cubs, and it’s nice to see him in the other league. But even better than that is his parting words for his former manager. Did Grichuk struggle with inconsistency because of his own doing? Or was a large part of it how Mike Matheny pressed these players into “get hits or you don’t play”? It’s made for a little bit of excitement for Cubs fans.
It was an exciting day for Major League Baseball as they saw four players voted into the Hall of Fame. Vladimir Guerrero, Chipper Jones, Jim Thome and Trevor Hoffman all got the call from Cooperstown. For Edgar Martinez and Mike Mussina they each fell short of the 75%, with Martinez just 20 votes short. But with a relatively clean slate in 2019, their chances should improve as each was trending upward this year.
These and other stories you might have missed:
‘Strop’s role going into 2018’ – Cubbies Crib
‘Resentment for Grichuk in St. Louis?’ – Cubbies Crib
‘Four new plaques will head to HOF’ – MLB.com
‘There’s only one Chipper‘ – ESPN
‘Looking ahead to the 2019 HOF class’ – ESPN
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