Morel makes return to Wrigley Field, Velazquez sent down
Based on everything being said, it seemed like Christopher Morel's path to Wrigley Field would require some sort of injury.
After all, the reasoning behind Morel starting the season at Triple A Iowa in the first place was to make sure he got regular at-bats.
But surprise, there was Morel unloading his gear along Waveland Avenue on Monday afternoon. He officially joined the Cubs, but was not in the starting lineup against St. Louis. Nelson Velazquez was sent down.
"He's proven in Triple A, he's better than that league and deserves a shot here," Cubs manager David Ross said of Morel. "He's earned this."
So why now for Morel? Basically, the Cubs decided to rotate Morel and Velazquez. Morel was hitting .330 with 11 home runs and 31 RBI in 29 games at Iowa. Velazquez might have been getting stale without consistent playing time, so the plan was to switch places and have Velazquez spend a few weeks playing every day at Triple A.
Morel can play six positions, so it shouldn't be too hard to find spots to get him in the lineup. Some players may need a rest eventually. Nico Hoerner has played in every game so far.
Morel was at the Columbus, Ohio, airport on Sunday when told the news. And he thought Iowa manager Marty Pevey was joking at first.
When he first joined the Cubs last season, Morel was known for his positive personality and that didn't change, despite being asked to start the season in the minor leagues.
"They told me what happened," Morel said. "They told me you need more control with your strikeout approach. I said, 'OK.' I go through work on this. I understand that point. I just try to be not negative and try to be positive and make the adjustment."
Like a house of cards:
Veteran pitcher Adam Wainwright shared his thoughts on the Cardinals miserable start before Monday's game.
"I don't really know what got us going downhill, but that ball kept rolling and compounding upon itself," he said. "Before you knew it, it seemed like it was almost looking for bad things to happen instead of creating good things.
"Really, this first month was the perfect storm of madness for this team. We didn't lose all those games because of one player. We lost a lot of games from a different reason seemingly every day. We just brought a different reason to lose to the table every day."
A beautiful bullpen:
Here's the full quote on Hayden Wesneski's description of watching veteran Kyle Hendricks throw a bullpen session.
"That was one of my favorite bullpens I've ever seen," Wesneski said. "It's impressive. I'm going to nerd out a little bit, but he'll throw his pitch and he lands in the same spot, both of his feet. Then he goes one, two, three ... stands behind the rubber, gets on the rubber, does it all over again.
"It's the most incredible thing I've ever seen. You hear of guys going, 'Oh, his bullpens were really good and he's almost a robot,' and stuff like that. 'OK, whatever.' Then you finally get to see something that, I guess, beautiful. I did learn what a professional looks like."
Hendricks, recovering from a right shoulder strain, returned to Des Moines, where he's planning to make his third rehab start for Iowa on Tuesday.
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