The Cubs swept Oakland on the road over the weekend in pretty impressive style. The pitching was more or less flawless, with Lester, Arrieta, and Hendricks tossing gems. Soler returned to the lineup and rather confirmed our earlier assessment of his talents and how much the Cubs missed his bat. He DHed during the series and hit two home runs and a run scoring double, all of which were key hits.
Right now this team is almost without any serious weaknesses. They have extended their lead in the division over the Cardinals to eleven games. They are 16-6 since the break and have won ten of their last eleven games, and seven in a row. This week they begin another long homestand against the Angels. The St. Louis series this weekend gives them an opportunity to virtually eliminate the Cards from contention even for a wildcard berth. What can you say?
The Cubs now are playing a weird numbers game, greedily trying to manipulate their roster to hold on to every available asset until rosters expand in September. One assumes they will swap out Hammel and Grimm on Wednesday. After that, they are likely to activate Cahill for a spot start in the Brewers double-header. I'm not sure what the rule is respecting Cahill after that. He is now on an extended rehab assignment and presumably out of options.
LaStella is kind of the mystery man. He was sent down more than a week ago, but he was reported to be quite upset and has not yet reported to AAA. I kind of think he was treated unfairly in some respects. He was a valuable utility player and pinch hitter and he certainly is more valuable an asset than Coghlan. The Cubs can use a good left-handed bat off the bench. One supposes that on paper Coghlan is the more versatile player, and, of course, the Cubs risk losing him if he is placed on waivers or DFAed. However, they pretty much sent him packing in the spring and got along well enough without him. Also, he is having a bad year.
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