Chicago Cubs right-hander Hayden Wesneski dropped his head and stared on the mud mound.
The Minnesota Twins had merely clubbed their fourth dwelling run of the game off Wesneski — the ultimate Jorge Polanco’s 409-foot, two-run homer throughout the fifth — to assemble a seven-run lead. Every bought right here from the bat of left-handed hitter who swatted Wesneski’s too many errors. The Cubs couldn’t overcome the home run barrage in an 11-1 blowout loss at Goal Subject.
Tucker Barnhart’s RBI single throughout the seventh prevented the Cubs (19-20) from getting shut out the first time this season.
“Making an attempt to make pitches and generally whether or not that’s mechanical or focus, what are these components, we’ll take a look at and attempt to get a plan these subsequent 4 days and get again to work,” supervisor David Ross said of Wesneski. “We haven’t had many clunkers like that early on (when) we’re out of the sport.”
Wesneski struggled to command his stuff throughout the zone in opposition to a Twins lineup stacked with lefties. When he wasn’t throwing balls out of hand, his pitches too normally moved into their swing path.
“I in all probability may have had a greater recreation enjoying going into it,” Wesneski said. “However I thought of it afterward, I was like I’m seven pitches away from it being a very good outing. So that you kind of try and take what you might from it.
“I used to be filling up zone, however not with one of the best pitchers. We managed the ball immediately, we didn’t command it.”
One lesson Wesneski must take from Saturday’s robust outing is more healthy understanding the place to miss on pitches. He’s conscious of he should elevate his misses as a substitute of down throughout the zone the place he can run a pitch proper right into a hitter’s sweet spot, like on Joey Gallo’s two-run blast throughout the third. Wesneski agreed with the pitch identify, a four-seam fastball, and the place Barnhart wished it thrown: pre-pitch the mitt was organize inside on the excessive of the zone.
“Clearly I’m a catcher, I’m not a pitcher, it looks like that may be a reasonably straightforward adjustment to make, and he has achieved that for almost all of the yr and immediately is simply a type of days the place it didn’t go our manner,” Barnhart said. “I assumed our recreation plan was good, simply couldn’t get sufficient outs immediately.”
Wesneski entered Saturday on a roll in his remaining three begins, allowing three runs in 17 innings (1.59 ERA) with one stroll and 11 strikeouts. Pitching coach Tommy Hottovy has seen enchancment in Wesneski’s between-start routine, considerably on the psychological facet, leading to additional centered work.
“It’s straightforward for him to get caught up in another ideas, like, this labored however I need to do this or need to do that, and it’s good to proceed to need to evolve and get higher and develop, but additionally coming again to what makes you a extremely, actually good pitcher and that model of you and the psychological focus,” Hottovy knowledgeable the Tribune.
“The issues he’s specializing in as this has gone on has gotten so much higher and his consideration to element’s been actually good.”
Kyle Hendricks’ impending return will rapidly drive the Cubs to resolve with the rotation. Hendricks will make his subsequent rehab start Sunday at Triple-A Iowa. The employees has not launched the next step in his rehab job.
How deep he pitches into his outing could play a component throughout the timing of his return. Ross not too way back touted the importance of Hendricks adequately construct up his pitch rely sooner than returning to stay away from taxing the bullpen. He cited how Jameson Taillon can be nonetheless working into sort coming off the injured itemizing. Competing with two starters on pitch-count limits would create a workload drawback. Getting his pitch rely spherical 75-80 pitches Sunday would bode successfully for Hendricks.
The Cubs don’t need to rush once more Hendricks, who nonetheless has a great deal of time to work all through the 30-day window pitchers receive all through a rehab job. Wesneski hasn’t been able to harness the sort of consistency he confirmed all through his September call-up. However some rising pains are anticipated with merely 12 big-league begins to his establish. That’s life throughout the majors.
“There’s no one that in my view for essentially the most half simply will get to the massive leagues and simply goes,” catcher Tucker Barnhart said. “You must alter to what the league is exhibiting you after which the league adjusts to you, that fixed battle forwards and backwards. I’m not nervous about it in any respect. He’s been so good of late for us and simply had a tough one immediately. He’ll be again on the market in 5 days, and I’m positive he’ll pitch effectively.”
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