Chicago Cubs: Duane Underwood Jr, Rob Manfred and more

 The Chicago Cubs don’t have a lot as far as pitching, but it seems that Duane Underwood Jr. continues to be overlooked. And Rob Manfred is toying with the rules of the game just a few weeks before the start of Spring Training.

The Chicago Cubs had to make some pitching adjustments on the fly last season, and one of those was giving a spot start to the rookie, Duane Underwood Jr. His start against the Los Angeles Dodgers was short but effective. He allowed just one run on two hits while walking four over four innings. That should warrant at least another appearance or two, right? It did not. And we have to wonder why he continues to be overlooked in the Cubs’ system.

The pace of play seems to be all the league talks about as of late: that, and fan safety. While safety should be put on the forefront, the pace of play stuff is getting absurd. Now, just a few weeks from the start of Spring Training, Rob Manfred is considering making rule changes–possibly before the start of THIS season. And these aren’t small changes, as you’ll find out as you read.

With so many rule changes under advisement from Manfred, our David Miniel tried to take a stab at what might help bring in more fans. Those that don’t find the game exciting enough. His idea? Remove pitchers, bring back the pitching machine. You would then be able to put more money into the offense and avoid having umpires screw up games with terrible ball and strike calls. Home runs would go up, and the non-baseball fan always loves home runs. So why wouldn’t this idea work?

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These and other stories you might have missed:

‘Underwood, Jr. continues to be overlooked’ – Cubbies Crib

‘Manfred and his minions are at it again’ – Cubbies Crib

‘Let’s just get rid of pitchers, altogether’ *SATIRE* – Cubbies Crib

‘MLB mourns the passing of Frank Robinson’ – MLB.com

‘Disabled list will now be known as the injured list’ – ESPN

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