Chatwood believes he's ready to shine for Cubs
After two lost seasons with the Cubs, Tyler Chatwood thinks he's found himself.
On a 90-degree day with the wind blowing out, Chatwood delivered an impressive start on the mound in Sunday's 9-1 win over Milwaukee. In six innings of work, he allowed 1 run, 3 hits, struck out 8 and walked 2.
Manager David Ross has been predicting big things for Chatwood, so he was happy to see the results.
“I think Chatty has changed the narrative around here,” Ross said. “I have extreme confidence in him. His stuff is real, some of the best stuff we have on the staff. I think that outing was no surprise to anyone around here who knows the work he's put in.”
Chatwood joined the Cubs as a free agent in 2018, had a bad season as a starter (5.60 ERA), then spent most of last year in the bullpen.
“My first year here was tough,” he said. "I think just all the work I put in, especially in the offseason, I knew I was back to what I could be. So now I think it's just the best version of me.”
Chatwood talked about being able to have his pitches break to both sides of the plate, and also throw his curve for strikes. He routinely hit 95 mph with his fastball Sunday.
“I throw a cutter, I switched my grip up a little bit,” Chatwood said. “It's a big pitch for me. I think lefties had some decent numbers off me last year. Going back and looking at it, I never did any real pitching inside or mixing it up as much.
“So that was one of the points of emphasis this year, especially my sinker off of that too. So you're going both ways, it's tough to cover both, especially if I'm throwing that cutter in there for a strike.”
Chatwood also made the most of his downtime, often working in Arizona with teammate Kyle Hendricks, who opened the season Friday with a 3-hit shutout.
“We did most of our throwing in our backyards into a net,” Chatwood said. “The days we'd long toss, we'd go out there, long toss, throw a bullpen. So we did that twice a week at first.
“There were a ton of hitters out there, so once we felt (the season) was getting close, we started throwing live BPs. That was huge for us. We thought we'd rather be overready than trying to play catch-up during the season, that was our thought process.”
Wieck to DL:
Before Sunday's game, the Cubs placed left-handed reliever Brad Wieck on the 10-day injured list with a right hamstring strain.
Wieck pitched the sixth inning on Saturday, giving up 2 runs on a walk and Christian Yelich homer. Manager David Ross said Wieck will hang out at the South Bend satellite camp until he's healthy.
Meanwhile, the Cubs recalled right-handed reliever Ryan Tepera from South Bend. He was supposed to be a key addition to the bullpen after being signed as a free agent from Toronto, but the Cubs didn't put him on the opening-day roster because Ross said he needed more time to get ready after some processing delays.
#8220;I told him before I sent him down, 'I trust you,'#8221; Ross said of Tepera. #8220;He's proven, in my opinion, playing over there in that American League East is real, and those ballparks and those lineups. He's a guy that's battle-tested and you love his attitude. He continues to get locked in and sharp.#8221;
Tempers tamed:
While everything stayed calm at Wrigley Field on Sunday, Kyle Schwarber talked about the testiness between the Cubs and Brewers during Saturday's contest.
#8220;We're always having fun, whatever it is, talking a little smack always, just trying to rally the boys up,#8221; he said after Saturday's game. #8220;Sometimes things are going to be heard. Saturday was just one of those cases that both sides were going back and forth, and it is what it is.
#8220;It's not a big deal to us. I think the only thing is we're going to have to be careful with the new rules here, not being able to go into each other. You can't really bench-clear or anything like that (with the coronavirus restrictions). So kind of keep the tempers down to the best of our abilities and cheer on the boys.#8221;