Cubs pitcher Jacob Turner on ESPN’s list of breakout players

Turner is hurt as I write this, out with a flexor strain and bone bruise but apparently without ligament damage, although we have all seen reports of it’s just a flesh wound turn into his ligament spontaneously combusted before. (Side-eye toward Citi Field.) But Turner had his arm slot back up to where it was when he was pumping gas earlier in his career and he’d reportedly hit 96 before his elbow, likely reacting to the renewal of a disused arm action, barked. I’m not saying he’s this year’s Jake Arrieta, but if he’s healthy enough to pitch after his month off and a few weeks of rehab, I think he can boost that strikeout rate from about 15 percent to well over 20 percent thanks to the restored arm speed.