The Cubs have started to see some of the pieces they acquired in trades, such as former White Sox reliever Codi Heuer, perform well, and another is now getting his opportunity.
Outfielder Greg Deichmann was recalled from Triple-A Iowa before the Cubs’ 8-6 loss to the White Sox in 10 innings Friday and made his debut, starting in right field.
Deichmann, 26, was one of the two players acquired in the deal that sent left-hander Andrew Chafin to the Athletics. He was having a strong season in Triple-A, batting .291/.425/.439 with four homers, 36 RBI and 54 walks. He has shown a knack for getting on base, and despite only having four homers in the minors, he has the ability to hit the ball out of the park.
Diechmann blooped a single to right field for his first major-league hit in the fourth inning and finished 1-for-5.
“A quality at-bat playing right field today,” manager Davis Ross said. “I’m excited to get him out there, get my eyes on him for myself, but I’ve heard great things.”
In a corresponding move, the Cubs placed outfielder Jason Heyward on the 10-day injured list with inflammation in his left index finger.
Cubs hard on Kimbrel
If there’s any team that knows how dominant Craig Kimbrel is, it’s the Cubs, who traded MLB’s active saves leader to the Sox at the deadline last week. They made sure his first appearance at Wrigley Field since the deal wasn’t an easy one.
The Cubs were trailing 4-1 when Kimbrel entered to start the eighth. Matt Duffy led off with a single before Frank Schwindel added a single of his own, bringing Andrew Romine to the plate.
“I’m no dummy,” Romine said. “I know who’s on the mound when I’m coming up in that situation. So I was really just trying to find a hole somewhere, trying to get a pitch that I could do something with.”
Romine worked a 3-2 count against Kimbrel before lining a three-run blast into the seats in right field, tying the game at 4. It was Romine’s first homer in the majors since July 14, 2017.
Kimbrel allowed another single to Robinson Chirinos before wrapping up the
inning. He allowed four hits for the first time in 10 years.
“I was really looking to try and stay inside the ball the best I could, and I know he throws hard, so trying to get on that fastball if he came inside, which he did,” Romine said. “I managed to get the barrel on it, and these short fences kind of helped a little bit but, you know, a home run is a home run.”
He said it
Third baseman Patrick Wisdom on his late-season approach: “Just kind of simplified a lot of things. I caught myself chasing hits, chasing contact, chasing the pitchers’ out pitches. So I just have to get back to what I know I can do and just keep it simple.”
Did you know?
Right-hander Michael Rucker became the 1,000th pitcher to appear for the Cubs in franchise history when he made his major-league debut against the Nationals on July 30.
