Chicago Cubs: Is it goodbye Bryzzo; hello Schwarbellanos?

Chicago Cubs: Every day is Opening Day for Castellanos

Castellanos has captured the imagination of fans since putting on the Cubs uniform.  He himself has said that he feels really transformed by becoming a Cub according to Matt Snyder of CBS Sports.

“Oh man, it’s awesome,” Castellanos told MLB.com after his latest two-homer outburst. “Not because of me, but because of where I’m at, who I’m playing with and where we are in the standings — and what these two months are. That’s what’s rewarding about it.”

And that’s just how Castellanos looks when he steps up to bat – like he’s about to beat the world and his numbers show as much. Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon has given Castellanos the two spot in the lineup pretty much every day and why not?

The former Detroit outfielder is hitting a home run just about every game or getting on base one way or another. Maddon and the rest of the team have embraced the guy who got a second chance on a popular club and just wants to show up for work and have fun again.

Chicago Cubs: Schwarbellanos take on the Brewers

In the Cubs return to Wrigley from the road against the Brewers, Castellanos already was sitting on a very healthy record of .352/.386/.685. That record accounts for nine home runs and nine doubles in only 26 games since being traded from the Tigers.

So what does he do in his first home outing against the Brewers? Castellanos decimates pitcher Chase Anderson by taking him to the bank twice with a pair of two-run homers.  After the second home run, Castellanos doesn’t flip the bat like a bored statesman; he coffin-slams the bat flat against the ground as if he just sealed the Brewers fate.

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The bat bounces up as if announcing, “This is OUR house, OUR division! Everybody in?” The excitement in Wrigley has returned. If Cubs’ shortstop Javier Baez is called El Mago (The Magician) for his entertaining play on the field, then the tall, lanky, Castellanos has got to be a superhero to Cubs fans like “Mr. Fantastic”.

With power hitters like Schwarber and Castellanos in the lineup, the Cubs scoring on the road has been soaring with 26 runs in the last four games, averaging six and a half runs per game. The Brewers on the other hand, have only scored 10 runs in their last four games.

The Cubs need to win as many as they can against the Brewers and look to sweep the Seattle Mariners to try and regain that first-place standing in the NL Central. All of the Cubs will need to be at the top of their game to make it happen.

Who Maddon chooses for pitching starters and bullpen relievers will be crucial over the next week. With Anthony Rizzo’s return to the lineup, maybe we’ll get to see some good ‘Bryzzo” play before the end of the season.  If not, fans seem to think ‘Schwarbellanos’ can get us into the postseason.

I’m still thinking what a shot in the arm utility player Ben Zobrist is going to be when he returns. Imagine how Castellanos is going to feed off the energy of our first Boy Scout, Zobrist, when they start batting around each other? Things are about to get fun for the Cubs…

We may just be looking at the future ‘Schwarbellanist’.