Murphy’s Bleachers dubbed it “Stropening Day” on its marquee, and opening day 2023 at Wrigley Field actually was an eventful one for Chicago Cubs pitcher Marcus Stroman.
The Stropener was not your grandfather’s opener, however it undoubtedly was in tune with the occasions.
Before the sport, the Cubs starter crouched in entrance of the 400-foot marker on the center-field wall to gather his ideas. He then pitched six shutout innings in a 4-0 win over the Milwaukee Brewers and made historical past on the way in which by committing the first-ever pitch-clock violation in major-league historical past.
Stroman wore sun shades to his postgame information convention and talked about getting “chills” from Cubs followers celebrating opening day. He vowed to let these form of moments sink in, in contrast to the previous.
“There’d be a certain amount of times, you really want to just take it in,” he stated. “I feel like I’ve been better about that recently. I feel like in my past, my life has just been so ‘Go, go, go’ and I really don’t get to reflect or take in these special moments.”
Stroman ended his interview with an Academy Awards-style speech, thanking the clubbies and medical employees for making the whole lot doable. The solely factor lacking was an orchestra to usher him off the stage for a industrial break.
Capping issues off, Stroman went on his Twitter account, @STR0, and trolled somebody who tweeted earlier that he was “betting against that crybaby Stroman outta principle.”
It was a wonderfully imperfect ending to Stropening Day.
The 2023 season was off and operating for the Cubs, and it was the whole lot as marketed — sturdy pitching and protection, aggressive baserunning and a fast, 2-hour, 21-minute sport.
It was the Cubs’ quickest opener since 1986 in St. Louis and the quickest one at Wrigley since April 9, 1974, a 2-0, 2-hour, 9-minute win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Nico Hoerner scored the primary run in a four-run third inning by going from first to 3rd on Dansby Swanson’s RBI single to proper, then bought up and got here house on Willy Adames’ throwing error.
“It’s nice to be able to win games in different kinds of ways, and today was an example of that,” stated Hoerner, who credited third-base coach Willie Harris for sending him.
Taking an additional base goes to be a thematic motif of the Cubs season, in line with Hoerner.
“Baserunning is going to be a hot topic,” he stated. “We had Trey (Mancini) sliding into second, and he’s most likely out with the outdated (smaller) bases. That’s form of wild to consider, however it was a run.
“It’s just a little difference, but over the course of 162 (games), every little difference makes a big difference. If we’re able to take extra bases, especially earlier in the year when the (slugging) is maybe down at Wrigley, those things do seem to matter a lot.”
Now the Cubs simply should execute that blueprint for the subsequent two or so months as we await summerlike days with the wind blowing out.
It’s onerous to recall a Cubs crew constructed for the early months of a season when Wrigley turns into a pitcher’s park, however right here we’re … lastly.
Who knew?
Hosmer theorized the Cubs have to “base hit teams to death” with the wind blowing in, a technique they used off the Brewers’ Corbin Burnes in the one inning they scored.
“Especially on days like this, this is where we have the advantage, when the ball is not carrying like it usually does here,” Hosmer stated. “You’ve additionally bought to play some good protection and run the bases nicely. Nico going first to 3rd on (right-fielder Brian) Anderson, who has a plus-plus arm, form of set the tone for us.
“We kept getting big hit after big hit after that. We feel like (the weather) is a home-field advantage. Pitching and defense, and we’re an athletic team. I think we showed signs of that.”
It’s just one sport, in fact. And that’s the great thing about the season opener, even when it’s a Stropening Day.
It means nearly nothing within the context of a six-month season, however fan optimism exponentially will increase after a well-played opener.
“It’s not a sport where you draw too many big conclusions from one game,” Hoerner stated. “But it felt so good. Opening day does not feel like a normal game.”
Sometimes that feeling doesn’t final too lengthy.
Bill Bonham’s four-hit, full sport shutout in opposition to the Phillies in that super-fast 1974 opener and an extra-innings win the subsequent day proved to be anomalies in the course of the Cubs’ 96-loss season.
Left-hander Justin Steele, coming off a fantastic spring in Mesa, Ariz., takes the mound Saturday in opposition to Brandon Woodruff and the Brewers in one other intriguing matchup that would go by fairly rapidly.
Remember, in one other massive change at Wrigley, the gates on the ballpark open solely 90 minutes earlier than first pitch this season — or half-hour later than typical. A five-hour day at Wrigley might be lower in half with the later opening and sooner video games.
That means much less time for consuming and consuming too. Plan accordingly.
It’s a model new world. Cubs President Jed Hoyer even joked there might even be a backlash amongst followers if the pitch clock perpetually modifications the sport: “I was saying the other day, ‘When is the first time someone complains ”I didn’t get sufficient for my cash?” ‘ ”
Baseball is best when it’s faster.
Who knew?
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Source: www.bostonherald.com