Shep's Baseball Happenings

It wasn't the reason the Cubs lost on Tuesday night but it didn't help matters against the Cardinals, either. Trailing 5-3 in the bottom of the 8th inning the Cubs had nobody out with Addison Russell on first base and Jason Heyward stepping in against the left-handed Tyler Lyons, who had just replaced the struggling Greg Holland. Easy decision then for Maddon and the Cubs, right? Well, not so much. If you've watched the Cubs at all over the last 2 years what is the most obvious thing you walk away knowing? Jason Heyward can't hit. Especially against lefties. So what does Maddon do? With the more than capable Albert Almora available to step right into a role that was practically made for him on this given night, Maddon decides to stick with Heyward.  Heyward ends the at-bat in unsurprising fashion, popping out harmlessly on the infield. Maddon then decides to bring Almora in to hit for the pitcher spot, while Mike Matheny quickly pulled Lyons for th

The 2018 MLB season is not even a week old but some are already set to go changing the game again.   This time it’s extra innings and no, not by putting a runner at second base or anything silly to start the 11 th or 12 th , but instead just calling the game a draw after a certain amount of innings. Pardon me? I get baseball has changed.   When the rules were first written and the game first began to be played professionally 150 years ago bullpens were hardly even a thing, let alone such a key part like they are today. We’ve seen starters go from guys that were counted on to go get you 27 outs, to guys who were then asked to go get you 7 innings, and then 6, and now in many cases anything after out number 15 is a major bonus. Yes, we have more specialists than ever before, but it doesn’t mean they have to be used that way, either. During Tuesday’s Dodgers TV broadcast, Joe Davis mentioned that the night before LA was likely an inning from seeing position play