Chicago Cubs Open 2021 with Series Win
The Chicago Cubs began their 2021 season with a three-game home set against the Pittsburgh Pirates, a divisional foe that was not projected for much success this year. Despite an Opening Day loss in a game that was played in very cold temperatures that affected both teams, the Cubs were able to rally back and win the last two games of the set to earn the series win and put them atop the NL Central to start the year.
Here is a quick recap on what happened in the series:
Game 1: Opening Day
As I mentioned in the intro Thursday’s season opener was played in extremely cold temperatures. The game time temperature was reported at 36°, but with the wind blowing in off of Lake Michigan that dropped the wind chill to below freezing. That cold weather definitely affected the pitchers in that game as they struggled to keep their hands warm and get a good grip on the ball.
Kyle Hendricks was the biggest victim of that as he started the game with a leadoff walk (which he hardly ever does), and served up a pitch right down the middle to Pirates rookie Ke’Bryan Hayes that he hit for a two-run homerun into the wind. Things did not get much better for Hendricks as he went on to walk three batters and allow three runs over just three innings of work.
The offense did nothing to help the cause either as they recorded only two hits in the entire game. One was a double by Anthony Rizzo in the first inning that put both he and Willson Contreras in scoring position, but they only got one run out of it on a sac fly by Joc Pederson. The other was a double by Eric Sogard — who came into the game in a double switch in the top of the fifth inning — and he was eventually brought home on a Contreras sac fly.
The most intriguing thing about this game to me was the fact that Contreras reached base on two separate occasions, and took off running both times. His first time reaching base was via fielder’s choice in the bottom of the first, and he took off on two straight pitches during Rizzo’s following at bat. The first pitch was fouled back, but the second was on the double that put Contreras at third base before he scored on Pederson’s sac fly. His next time getting on was on a fielding error, and he stole second base on the second pitch of the next at bat.
Contreras has decent speed, especially for a catcher, but to see him take off running on three separate occasions was unexpected. As I mentioned during my season predictions article the Cubs are not known as a team that takes a lot of chances on the basepaths, so perhaps this is a sign that manager David Ross may look to be more aggressive when guys with decent speed get on base this season.
Game 2: Jake’s Return
The second game of the series gave both teams much better conditions, and the Cubs took advantage of the warmer weather as their performance started to heat up alongside the temperatures.
Of course the headline of this game for Cubs fans was Jake Arrieta’s return to The Friendly Confines as a Cub. He did allow one run to score in the top of the first inning on a RBI single by Colin Moran, but from that point on he shut the door and kept the Pirates at bay. Over his six innings of work Arrieta posted a 5:1 K:BB and allowed just the one run to score, and the 2.53 FIP he recorded in that game indicates that the stat line he put up was no fluke.
If the Cubs are going to reach the postseason again this year, they are going to need this version of Jake every time he takes the mound. We know he won’t be the same pitcher he was in his 2015 Cy Young award winning campaign, but this version of him will work just fine.
The offense helped back up Arrieta’s quality start thanks to homeruns by Kris Bryant and Jason Heyward, and in total they got five runs to score in this game to help give them the victory. It was nice to see KB hit the first HR of the year for the Cubs, and hopefully it’s a sign that he is once again fully healthy and able to perform at his usually elite level this season.
Game 3: Davies Debut
The Cubs offense got things started off strong in the final game of the series as they manufactured two runs in the top of the first inning on a pair of RBI singles by Kris Bryant and Joc Pederson, respectively. They wouldn’t look back from that point as they never relinquished their lead to the Pirates.
Ian Happ added on to the tally in the bottom of the third inning with a solo homer, and Javy Baez added an insurance run — that they ended up needing — as he brought Bryant home to score on a fielding miscue by Pirates third baseman Phillip Evans. The fact that Evans was in the game to boot that ball was a key part of this game, as aforementioned rookie Ke’Bryan Hayes ended up being placed on the 10-Day IL due to a wrist injury that he suffered while diving back into first base in Saturday’s contest.
Sunday’s rubber match also saw the regular season Cubs debut for Zach Davies, who was acquired from San Diego in the Yu Darvish trade. While he did not record a quality start (6+ IP, 3 or fewer ER), he came very close to doing so by allowing just 2 ER over 5 2/3 IP. He cruised through the first five frames, but ran into a bit of trouble in the sixth as he allowed a two-run homerun to Moran before giving way to the bullpen.
Craig Kimbrel came in to his first save opportunity of the new campaign, and took the Pirates down 1–2–3 to record his first save of 2021 as he struck out two batters and threw 11 strikes in 16 pitches. In his two outings so far this season he has struck out 5 of the 6 batters he has faced and has not allowed a single batter to reach base, so hopefully this is a sign that the Cubs will be getting the same Kimbrel that posted a 0.00 ERA, .125/.125/.125 slash line against, and 13:0 K:BB in eight September outings last year.
The Cubs will start next week with a three-game home series against the Milwaukee Brewers, with the series opener being featured as ESPN’s Monday Night Baseball game of the week. After the conclusion of their series against the Brewers they will immediately travel to Pittsburgh to face this same Pirates team in another three-game set starting on Thursday, with an off day to rest on Friday.
Stay tuned to Wrigley Rapport here and on social media for future news and notes as we kick off the 2021 season. Go Cubs Go!
