2020 Cubs Dynasty-It's Opening Day! Right?

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I'm going to post a day by day Cubs thread here, with primarily my edited game recaps, I'll comment on things as we go, it will occupy me during all of this stuff. I'm very wrapped up in a Cubs 1983 dynasty that I started in 20 which I spend a lot of my time on and I know if I throw myself in to a 2020 dynasty I'll have a hard time keeping up on that one, so I'm going to treat this just like the season, because, who knows when we get real baseball back

I'm playing out all of the games for the time being, and I'll do that until it either looks like I'm not going to make the playoffs or if I have a big lead on the division or the WC. I may also simulate some of the games vs. teams that are pretty much eliminated from contention later in the season. If you're a Cubs fan, follow along and we'll see how this season full of question marks plays out!

Here's how opening day 2020 went.............

Cubs Win at Milwaukee, 8-3

Opening Day excitement was quickly tempered by injury concern Thursday as the Cubs opened their 2020 season with an 8-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park. Anthony Rizzo had to leave the game in the first after getting hit by a Brandon Woodruff pitch and in the 8th, Ken Ryan, currently the Cubs only lefty in the bullpen had to leave the game after only facing one batter with an unknown injury. Yu Darvish was less than his best but he managed to hang around for 6 innings, giving up 3 earned runs while striking out two and walking three on 96 pitches. The Cubs chased Woodruff early, scoring 7 runs in the second, the big blow being a bases loaded double by Javy Baez, and made the score hold up. Not to be lost on the effort was optimistic showings from Brandon Morrow and Jeremy Jeffress, both question marks coming in to the season. Morrow pitched a perfect 7th and Jeffress took over for Ryan in the 8th and was able to finish the inning unblemished. Cubs closer, Craig Kimbrel, himself somewhat of a question mark finished the game with a less than confidence inspiring performance. Kimbrel loaded the bases in the 9th on a couple of hits and a walk before ending the
inning unscored upon. Reports say Rizzo may miss a few days with a bruised right knee while the Cubs are still waiting word on the status of Ryan. After an off day tomorrow the Cubs will be back in action on Saturday and Sunday to finish the three day set.

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Yelich Slugs Brewers to 8-4 Win

Christian Yelich's hot bat was too much for the Cubs to overcome Saturday as the Brewers defeated the Cubs 8-4. Victor Caratini, getting the start for the banged up Anthony Rizzo at 1B got the Cubs on the board early , hitting a solo homer off of Brewers starting pitcher Bret Suter. The lead would be short lived however, and the only lead the Cubs would have. In the bottom of the first, after David Bote booted a Lorenzo Cain grounder, Avy Garcia walked. After Keston Hiura grounded in to a fielders choice, Yelich took Kyle Hendricks deep to give Milwaukee a 3-1 lead. Justin Smoak hit a solo shot in the 3rd making it 4-1 and Yelich took Hendricks deep again in the 5th. That would be all the offense the Brewers would need. did have the first bit of experience with the new "3 batter" rule as Cubs skipper David Ross brought in Rule 5 selection Trevor Megill to start the 6th. When Megill immediately walked the first two men he faced, Ross went out to make a move before being reminded that Megill would need to face one more batter. The Cubs did mount a bit of a rally in the 5th when Kris Bryant drove in a run with a double off of Suter, but it would be for naught. Hendricks gave up 4 earned runs in 5 innings on 5 hits, walking three, striking out three and giving up three home runs to fall to 0-1 on the young season. Suter gave up 3 earned over 7 innings to get his first win on the young season. The teams will meet in the rubber game tomorrow before the Cubs head home for the home opener against the Pirates on Monday.

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Cubs lose Kyle Ryan, March 28, 2020

The Cubs got some bad news after losing to the Brewers Saturday. Lefty reliever Kyle Ryan is going to be out for a substantial amount of time with a torn rotator cuff. Doctors believe he could return when rosters expand in September, but whether or not the Cubs decide to bring him back then is anyone's guess. It's a tough loss for the Cubs who have already started the season without their other projected lefty in the pen, Brad Wieck, who experienced heart issues early in spring camp. The Cubs placed Ryan on the 60 Day IL and called up Rex Brothers from AAA. Brothers had a solid spring training and there was some question to whether he may make the opening day squad. Brothers pitched for AAA Scranton last year, and as has always been the case, he was awfully hard to hit, but continued having troubles finding the plate. When Brothers can find the plate he can be as filthy as any lefty in the game. The control is the problem. The Cubs do expect Wieck back in mid to late April, so they'll have to make do for the time being. One can't help but wonder if the 3 batter rule is going to be an issue for Brothers on days when he just doesn't have it. Probably a good thing David Ross doesn't have much hair, he might be pulling it out as the Cubs try to straighten out the bullpen. Last year Ryan was 4-2 with a 3.54 ERA for the Cubs.

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Season Goes from Bad to Worse for Red Sox

2020 has not gotten off to the start Red Sox fans were looking for. First there was the trade of fan favorite Mookie Betts to the Dodgers. Then the Sox lost their ace, Chris Sale for the season. Now, after losing the first 3 games of the season in Toronto they have lost Rafael Devers for the season. Devers left the game in Toronto Thursday after banging his knee hard while running the bases. Now team officials say he'll miss the rest of the season with a broken knee cap. It's a crushing blow to a team that was counting on Devers to anchor the lineup after his fantastic sophomore season last year where he hit .311 with 32 home runs. The Red Sox are hoping rookie Bobby Dalbec can fill the gaping hole at third. Last year between AA and AAA Dalbec hit .239 with 27 HR's. The Red Sox really wanted to get him a year at Pawtucket but they now do not have that luxury. Meanwhile Red Sox fans everywhere are officially on suicide watch throughout all of New England.

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Cubs Bullpen Implodes, Brewers with the Walk-Off Win to take Series

Entering the season new skipper David Ross was aware that there was a lot of uncertainty in the bullpen for the 2020 version of the Chicago Cubs. After the opening series of the season, that has proven to be true. The Brewers beat the Cubs Sunday 4-3 in walk-off fashion as Orlando Arcia hit a game winning triple off of Casey Sadler. The game started off well enough. New leadoff man Kris Bryant made like Rickey Henderson and led off the game with a home run to give the Cubs a 1-0 lead and Jose Quintana settled in nicely. After 3 perfect innings Quintana ran in to some trouble in the 4th when Lorenzo Cain reached on a walk, stole 2nd and was driven in on a two out single by Christian Yelich. After walking Ryan Braun and Omar Narvaez to load the bases, Arcia gave the Brewers a 2-1 lead with a single driving in Braun. But after that Quintana pitched well through the 6th inning, giving up only those two earned runs on two hits and three walks while strikiing out 6. The Cubs had regained the lead in the 5th on run scoring doubles by Bryant and Ian Happ. With the Cubs leading 3-2, Ross brought on lefty Rex Brothers, just up from Iowa with two lefties scheduled to bat. Brothers walked the bases loaded while only retiring one. Brandon Morrow came on and worked out of a bases loaded jam, but after Jeremy Jeffress put men on first and third in the 8th after retiring the first two men he faced, Ross brought on Craig Kimbrel for the four out save. Kimbrel immediately gave up a hit and the lead was lost. It was the first blown save of the season for Kimbrel, but after how last year went, Cubs fans have every right to be feeling even more nervous about Theo's big investment. He's now pitched in two games and given up runs both times. Rowan Wick was called on to pitch the 9th, and after a perfect 9th he was brought back out to start the 10th. After giving up two hits, Casey Sadler was brought on to put out the fire when Arcia struck. As disappointing as losing the opening series of the season is, the Cubs faced some adversity with Anthony Rizzo unavailable for the series and losing Kyle Ryan for the season. The good news is it sounds like Rizzo will be back in the lineup for the home opener tomorrow vs. the Pirates.