Cubs solve Burnes, open season with victory over Brewers
The fans wanted to build through free-agency, but Cubs management clearly had eyes on the collection of young talent deep in the farm system.
The Next Great Cubs team that Jed Hoyer keeps talking about may be toiling in Class A Myrtle Beach this summer, or possibly the Arizona rookie league.
The current version of the Cubs could be mostly placeholders until the young stars develop. Or maybe there are some players here now who could accelerate the rebuild.
It remains to be seen which step the Cubs are on. Is this 2012, when they lost 101 games, but had one player who would later contribute to a World Series title in Anthony Rizzo?
Is it 2014, when the Cubs were on the verge of something special? Or is it more like 1950, when it would be a long, long time before the team found any success?
The first time taking the field went better than expected. On a cold, windy Opening Day at Wrigley, a couple of Cubs veterans made a case for being permanent pieces. Nico Hoerner belted a 2-run homer and Ian Happ collected 3 hits, including a go-ahead 2-run double in the seventh, and the Cubs held on for a 5-4 victory over Milwaukee on Thursday.
"It was fun," manager David Ross said. "A lot of back and forth, resiliency, it's just fun to see those characteristics come out really early and guys making big pitches in big moments. Really positive sign so far."
Last year, the Cubs could barely make contact against NL Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes. He piled up 36 strikeouts in three starts against the Cubs, with just 3 walks, and posted a 1.35 ERA.
Burnes also set a major-league record by starting last season with 58 strikeouts before walking his first batter.
So naturally on Thursday, he walked the first batter he faced, Rafael Ortega, on 5 pitches. Burnes finished the day with 3 walks and gave up the home run to Hoerner in the fifth, a line drive that landed in the low rows of the left-field bleachers.
"From the start of the game, we really put strong at-bats together, a couple hard-hit fly balls, some good takes," Hoerner said. "Against an ace like that, that's what you can ask for. If you bring that every day over the course of 162, you know have a good chance of good results up and down the lineup."
It was Hoerner's fourth major-league home run and first since Sept. 21, 2019. So he was an unlikely choice to smash MLB's initial home run in 2022. Ross walked into the interview room and yelled, "Who had Nico in the first homer pool?"
"I obviously knew that," Hoerner said of his home run drought. "It's not exactly on the front of my mind when I wake up. Of course, everyone wants to hit more home runs and that's a part of what I can do. It's something I can't force, but it will happen over time."
Happ had what was termed a right elbow cleanup procedure in February and was brought along slowly in spring training. He was Thursday's hitting star, going 3-for-4 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI.
"A few weeks before we broke, I didn't know if I was going to be able to get it done," Happ said. "To be able to feel as good as I do right now is pretty special. It's a huge thanks to all the people that were involved with that."
Just before Happ's 2-run double, Willson Contreras was hit in the back by a pitch from St. Charles native Jake Cousins. Contreras wasn't happy about it, but former Cubs teammate Victor Caratini, now a catcher for the Brewers, helped calm him down. Clint Frazier started the inning with a pinch-hit double and both runners scored on Happ's blast off the wall.
Kyle Hendricks, starting his third straight season opener, allowed 1 run and 5 hits, and struck out 7 in 5 1/3 innings.
Bullpen addition Dave Robertson collected his first save since 2018. He missed most of 2019 and all of 2020 due to Tommy John surgery before throwing 12 games with Tampa Bay last year.
Seiya Suzuki's major-league debut also went well, with a single and 2 walks. As the Cubs discovered last year with Matt Duffy, having people willing to take walks can set the tone for the full lineup.
"Having really good at-bats 1 to 9, I think that's how you put pressure on opposing pitchers, opposing starters," Happ said. "This team's going to figure out who we are and I think that's a big part of it is kind of starting that from Day 1."
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