Chicago Cubs News: ‘The W is all that matters’ for David Ross

The Chicago Cubs’ David Ross is putting on the game face, saying the ‘The W is all that matters’ for the team–and it does.

The Chicago Cubs’ David Ross is all about the ‘W.’ And two out of three wouldn’t be bad. Unfortunately, the offense is going nowhere, and the pitching is befitting–but not enough to win–losing five of their last six. Still, the ‘W is all that matters.’ You better get going on that, because two ‘L’s’ and you’ll be wondering what happened as you meander back to Chicago.

Jon Lester, Ross’ best friend and free-agent to be, maybe tipped his hat to how ready he was for October. Last week, Lester had thrown 62 pitches against the Indians in five innings. But enough was enough, and he was pulled. Lester pulled out after 62 pitches? Are you nuts? Simple answer, yes.

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“Pulling Jon early was like, ‘I have an obligation to this group with a stacked bullpen and an off day the next day,'” Ross explained. “That factored into it.” h/t Jesse Rogers, ESPN staff writer

They won the game 3-2, but Lester was not a factor in it as they won it in the ninth inning. ‘Rossy’ was right on that one. But versus the Twins and the Pirates, they were 2-6 and the offense was sputtering. They were outscored 24-10 and were shutout twice–and that’s with five runs in the game against the Bucco’s.

The Cubs’ Kyle Schwarber over pursued a ball to left field. He turned a double into a triple, and he got pulled the end of the inning. Ross wanted to keep it ‘in-house,’ but Schwarber didn’t hide from it.

“Ross is the manager,” Schwarber said. “He’s also a mentor to me. To be able to learn and be able to joke about it now, it’s just who we are.”

Ross is a friend to Schwarber, Lester and others on the team he won a World Series with in 2016. He knows the in’s and out’s to every player on the team–but he needs to figure out if they want to advance to the LCS.