Walk like a Bearcat? Cubs' Happ, Oakland's Noda among MLB leaders
The list of major-league walks leaders is interesting.
San Diego's Juan Soto leads by a wide margin with 86 heading into Friday's action. Cubs left fielder Ian Happ is second with 64.
Third is Oakland A's first baseman Ryan Noda, the rookie from Grant High School in Fox Lake. Noda and Happ were college teammates for one season at Cincinnati.
Asked if there's anything about being a Bearcat that teaches a player to draw excessive walks, Happ was stumped.
"(Kevin) Youkilis taught us," Happ joked. "I think that's just a natural thing for both of us. Maybe they recruit guys like that."
Youkilis played at Cincinnati from 1998-2001, then went on to have a nice career with the Boston Red Sox. He spent part of the 2012 season on the White Sox and, after retirement, briefly worked for the Cubs as a scout and player development consultant.
Youkilis played a role in the book "Moneyball" as a minor-league player who drew the attention of A's general manager Billy Beane because he wasn't particularly athletic, but was really good at drawing walks. He actually didn't walk a ton in the majors, though.
Anyway, another player among the walks leaders is former Cubs slugger Kyle Schwarber, who is tied with Noda with 60. Schwarber played at Indiana, but grew up a few miles north of Cincinnati in Middletown, Ohio.
"Must be in the water," Happ said.
A well-pitched loss:
The Cubs started 1-3 coming out of the all-star break, and in all three losses, the starting pitcher said after the game he thought he threw the ball fairly well.
Drew Smyly was the latest, following Kyle Hendricks and Justin Steele against Boston. Smyly gave up 5 runs in 6 innings, while striking out seven in Monday's 7-5 loss to Washington.
"I thought in a lot of ways I took a step forward and made a lot of good quality pitches," Smyly said. "But everyone who's played this game knows sometimes you don't get the results you want.
"We had a really good game plan going in and I thought me and Yan (Gomes) executed it pretty well all night. There weren't many hard-hit balls. I felt like my stuff was pretty sharp tonight. I had quite a few swing and misses and some tough luck at times. But that's baseball. You've got to make your own luck and pitch better."
Statcast backed up Smyly's analysis. There were 11 balls hit with an exit velocity of at least 100 miles per hour and the Cubs had seven of those, while three of the Nationals' four hardest hits were against reliever Daniel Palencia.
Still, Smyly's July ERA grew to 7.90 in three starts.
Around the horn:
Christopher Morel was a late scratch from Tuesday's starting lineup due to neck stiffness. Miles Mastrobuoni took his place at second base. ... Dansby Swanson (bruised left heel) took a day off from running Tuesday. The Cubs feel with a couple more days of running, Nick Madrigal (right hamstring strain) could be ready to begin a minor league rehab assignment.
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