Chicago Cubs: Tyler Chatwood shines while David Bote plays hero

Filling in for an injured Jon Lester, right-hander Tyler Chatwood unexpectedly turned in his best outing as a member of the Chicago Cubs on Sunday afternoon.

Going into his spot start for the Chicago Cubs on Sunday there was not a lot of optimism when it came to Tyler Chatwood. He hadn’t given anyone even the smallest cause for hope since joining the team prior to the 2018 season.

We’re talking about a guy who led Major League Baseball in walks – despite being removed from the rotation in early August and only seeing the mound a handful of times down the stretch.

Right off the bat, we expected to get another Chatwood special – a short outing riddled with control issues. He threw his first pitch all the way to the backstop and promptly walked the leadoff man on four straight pitches. At that point, I, along with probably every Cubs fan out there, was saying “here we go again.”

But believe it or not, from that point on, the right-hander was in complete control and looked absolutely outstanding. Following the leadoff walk, he immediately got the next batter Wilmer Flores to ground into a double play and retired David Peralta via a ground out.