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Cubs aren't waiting until the trade deadline to make more moves for pitching
Cubs aren't waiting until the trade deadline to make more moves for pitching

New York Times

time3 hours ago

  • Business
  • New York Times

Cubs aren't waiting until the trade deadline to make more moves for pitching

CHICAGO — Drew Pomeranz already had Craig Counsell's contact information stored in his phone when the Chicago Cubs manager reached out to welcome the 36-year-old left-handed pitcher to his new team. Pomeranz had just used the upward mobility clause in his minor-league contract with the Seattle Mariners, leveraging an April transfer from Triple-A Tacoma and appreciating an unexpected opportunity. Advertisement 'It's always good when (the manager) calls and the name pops up on your caller ID,' Pomeranz said. 'This is my 11th organization in 15 years, so there's a lot of those names that keep popping up. I'm just glad they're still calling, to be honest.' The sudden emergence of Pomeranz (0.00 ERA) as a key member of the pitching staff explains why the Cubs are continuing to monitor pitchers who have June opt-out clauses in their minor-league contracts, as well as relievers such as Jorge López, who was recently designated for assignment by the Washington Nationals. The small moves can add up throughout a 162-game season, and those types of transactions would not preclude Jed Hoyer's front office from making a big summer splash. If the first two months of a Major League Baseball season are figuring out what you have, the Cubs already know they possess the talent, depth and experience to compete with anybody. With two months to go until the July 31 trade deadline, what this first-place team needs is clear. 'To quote our manager, 'We just need to get outs,'' Hoyer said when asked whether the rotation or the bullpen would be a higher priority at the trade deadline. Counsell managed the Milwaukee Brewers when they acquired Pomeranz at the 2019 trade deadline. Though the baseball industry primarily viewed Pomeranz as a struggling starter at that time — he was 2-9 with a 5.68 ERA for the San Francisco Giants — the Brewers used the lefty almost exclusively out of the bullpen and watched him dominate (45 strikeouts in 26 1/3 innings) in shorter bursts. 'I loved playing for Counsell,' Pomeranz said. 'I was with him for 2 1/2 months. And probably the best 2 1/2 months I've ever pitched, to be honest. That's what I told him: 'I was pretty good for you last time, so hopefully I can give you something like that again.'' Advertisement That history factored into the decision to bring Pomeranz to Chicago. Though far from an unknown — Pomeranz was a first-round pick in 2010 and an All-Star in 2016 — he also had not pitched in a major-league game since 2021. In his debut as a Cub, Pomeranz struck out Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber, beginning this run of 15 consecutive scoreless appearances. The Cubs have also successfully incorporated Brad Keller (2.22 ERA in 26 appearances) and Chris Flexen (0.00 ERA in 14 1/3 innings), two pitchers who were signed to minor-league deals after being part of the historically bad Chicago White Sox team that lost 121 games last year. Internally, the Cubs stuck with Daniel Palencia, who did not make the Opening Day roster but continues to earn Counsell's trust. Since getting promoted from Triple-A Iowa in the middle of April, Palencia has notched five holds and five saves and taken over as the closer. 'It's almost hard to keep up with,' Counsell said of the bullpen turnover. 'But it just highlights the difficulty of the job, as much as anything. So you try to just embrace that it's a harder job. And how you find the answers is to say, 'I don't know the answers.' 'Always be on the lookout. It's a 365-day job, trying to get bullpen help. Some areas of the team, you can't go get a third baseman on April 1, right? But with relievers, that's how it works.' López, for example, was released by the New York Mets last June after he threw his glove into the Citi Field stands. López, a one-time All-Star who previously worked with Counsell in Milwaukee, latched on with the Cubs and became one of their better relievers after that change of scenery. López, who signed a one-year, $3 million contract with the Nationals, is expected to clear waivers. The Cubs would not be in a position to offer López a guaranteed major-league spot or automatically put him at the top of a Triple-A depth chart that includes Nate Pearson, Gavin Hollowell, Tom Cosgrove and Riley Martin. But all that roster churn represents a chance to be opportunistic. Advertisement 'You got to take shots,' Counsell said. 'You never get satisfied. You never stop looking for those opportunities, and that's something else that the organization is doing well. The quest for opportunities in pitching, it's 365 days (a year). It doesn't matter if it's the offseason, May 28, June 28, August 28 — you're trying to add pitching and develop pitching.' Right now, that focus is particularly heightened. Between Justin Steele (season-ending elbow surgery) and Shota Imanaga (strained hamstring), the Cubs have two All-Star starters on the injured list, and their pitching depth is about to get tested even further. Beginning Tuesday night at Nationals Park, the Cubs are scheduled to play 26 games in 27 days. Imanaga was scheduled to travel to Arizona this week and begin the next phase of his rehab program, which will progress from live batting practice to multiple outings in controlled game situations. (Counsell said it doesn't really matter if Imanaga got those reps at the Mesa complex or a minor-league affiliate.) If there are no setbacks, Imanaga would rejoin the rotation later in June. By that point, the Cubs might have clarity on whether disappointing clubs such as the Baltimore Orioles and Arizona Diamondbacks will become sellers at the trade deadline. Though the Cubs are still dependent on the health of their own players, many of their preseason needs have been crossed off the list. After years of wondering where the star power would come from, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kyle Tucker and Seiya Suzuki are performing at that level. Third base, the one big question mark among an established group of position players, appears to be resolved after Matt Shaw's mental reset and mechanical adjustments at Triple A. The bench is also noticeably improved. It is, and always will be, about pitching. When a team is already 15 games above .500, the goal becomes maximizing a tight-knit group and adding someone who can start a playoff game at Wrigley Field and help seize a World Series trophy. (Top photo of Drew Pomeranz: Geoff Stellfox / Getty Images)

Braves takeaways: Woeful hitting, Elder on replacing Smith-Shawver, Sale on ‘Schwelly'
Braves takeaways: Woeful hitting, Elder on replacing Smith-Shawver, Sale on ‘Schwelly'

New York Times

time17 hours ago

  • Entertainment
  • New York Times

Braves takeaways: Woeful hitting, Elder on replacing Smith-Shawver, Sale on ‘Schwelly'

ATLANTA — When Chris Sale was 25, as his Braves teammate Spencer Schwellenbach is now, he finished third in the 2014 American League Cy Young race after going 12-4 with a 2.17 ERA in 26 starts for the Chicago White Sox and leading the American League with nearly 11 strikeouts per nine innings. But their paths were distinctly different, part of why Sale is so impressed by what Schwellenbach, a former college shortstop, has done in his first calendar year in the majors. Advertisement Schwellenbach pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts and no walks in Saturday's win against the Boston Red Sox on his 25th birthday — his second consecutive start with 11 strikeouts and no walks. Only 15 other MLB pitchers since 1901 had at least 11 strikeouts with no walks in back-to-back starts. Schwellenbach and a resurgent Sale and Grant Holmes have buoyed an injury-plagued rotation that helped Atlanta stay afloat and briefly get above .500 after an 0-7 start. But even the recent return of Ronald Acuña Jr. from a year-long rehab following knee surgery hasn't done much to improve the team's offensive malaise. The Braves' 3-1 loss Sunday to the Boston Red Sox was their eighth in 11 games since getting their record a game above .500. The Braves fell to 27-31 and fourth place in the National League East — 9 1/2 games behind the New York Mets, 7 1/2 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies and a game behind the Washington Nationals, who've won three of five against them. Hard-throwing rookie AJ Smith-Shawver had turned a proverbial corner in his career to give the Braves another formidable starter in a unit that also returned 2023 MLB strikeouts leader Spencer Strider from a recent injured list stint for a hamstring strain. This injury happened days after Strider returned from rehab for elbow surgery. But Smith-Shawver tore his UCL last week and is out for the season, and Strider has made only three starts and is still trying to regain elite form. Bryce Elder was recalled from Triple A to replace Smith-Shawver and gave up three runs in the first inning Sunday on three hits and a walk, including Trevor Story's bases-clearing three-run double with two outs. He only gave up two more hits in 5 1/3 innings, but the damage was done. Elder's 4.56 ERA includes 8.00 in the first inning — eight earned runs allowed in the first inning of eight starts. Advertisement 'This is not an excuse at all, but it's— pitching in Triple A is just different,' said Elder, whose 11 hits allowed in eight first innings include five extra-base hits, with five walks. 'It's the same game, absolutely, but your lines are different, your fields are different, you've got more adrenaline. Like I said, it's not an excuse at all. I've got to get the job done. But I felt like in the first inning, I wasn't in a rhythm at all. Then I kind of settled in and made some good pitches. But I just gotta do better in the first.' Smith-Shawver, who tore his UCL Thursday at Philadelphia, is expected to have Tommy John surgery this week and be out 12-13 months. 'It's just terrible,' Elder said of Smith-Shawver, a fellow Texan. 'I'd rather stay in Triple A than be in here for this reason, honestly. I mean, that is the worst possible way I can get called up. I've gotten to know him very well, being in Triple A last year, and we've worked out together for a few offseasons. I've seen him since he was 19. And to see him get in a groove and really start doing what he was capable of doing, and then this happens. I'm praying for him and hoping that everything goes good in the next year.' The strain on the Braves' starting-rotation depth — they already were without Reynaldo López (shoulder surgery) — and uneven performances from some relievers, including closer Raisel Iglesias, have made it even more imperative that an erratic offense get its act together before the NL East deficit widens. Designated hitter Marcell Ozuna, the MLB walks leader with 48, went eight games without an extra-base hit before his first-inning homer Sunday off Boston ace Garret Crochet, who allowed only four other hits and had 12 strikeouts in seven innings. It was the 10th homer for Ozuna, who's been hampered for weeks by a hip injury. Advertisement 'I've been kind of slow because I don't want to rotate, because my hip is kind of shut down a little bit,' Ozuna said. 'I had a tear (in the) right hip, so I just … keep battling. I'm trying to help my team. That's the most important thing. I want to be in the lineup every single day, and do everything for my team.' Before Sunday, Ozuna had a .426 OBP while the rest of the Braves had a combined .306. The Braves' lineup can look like one of baseball's worst on any given day. It can occasionally resemble something closer to Atlanta's historically powerful offense from just two seasons ago. But only occasionally. 'We started 0-7 and then came back and (went) over .500 and then kind of lost (it) and go back and forth,' Ozuna said. 'We didn't score early like we used to. First inning, second inning we (used to) score four or five runs. I think we're going to (get) everyone in the same page and try to do some damage to the other team. Because everyone, like, worries a little bit. Maybe talk to them — like, let's go, let's have fun, let's pull everything together. We know what we can do.' The Braves hit .262 while averaging 4.6 runs during a 19-10 stretch through May 18 that got their record to 24-23, five games out of first place. In 11 games since, including eight losses, they hit .245 and averaged 3.7 runs, including four games with one or no runs. 'I don't know,' manager Brian Snitker said. 'I was thinking about that the other day, how quick this game can change and how things can change. And you never take anything for granted, because it's like, you can win five or six in a row, and you turn around and you've lost three in a row. It's just the way the game is. I can't explain it.' Since making his MLB debut last season, the day before his 24th birthday, Schwellenbach has a 3.27 ERA in 33 starts with 198 strikeouts and only 35 walks in 198 1/3 innings, a stunning strikeouts-to-walks ratio for any pitcher. What makes it all the more impressive is that until last year, Schwellenbach had not spent a full season as a starter at any level since high school. Sale said he's never seen anything like it. Advertisement 'I mean that's generally something that comes with experience, right?' said Sale, who won his first Cy Young last year at age 35. 'I guess you could say he took some of his lumps in his first handful of starts in the big leagues and then had a little bit of a rough stretch, two or three starts (early this season). But just his ability to learn, on the fly …' It's that ability that has left even some baseball lifers unable to come up with comparisons. 'He's a special guy,' Snitker said of Schwellenbach after Saturday's game, when the right-hander threw the 10 hardest pitches of his career, including two at 100 mph. Schwellenbach gave up 12 earned runs in 8 1/3 innings over starts at Toronto on April 15 and against the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 3. In his other 10 starts, he has a 1.90 ERA with 64 strikeouts and nine walks in 66 1/3 innings. 'He's a guy that can take some of the technology stuff and turn it into performance stuff,' Sale said. 'He doesn't get too lost in this. He doesn't get too lost in that. He knows how to blend them very well together. He doesn't rely too heavily on one or the other. He does a really good job of knowing what this stuff says, but also knows how to go out there and compete really well. And he did that (Saturday). It was really impressive.' Unlike Schwellenbach, Sale pitched three seasons at Florida Gulf Coast University — he was the Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Year in 2010 — and pitched out of the White Sox bullpen for part of 2010 and all of 2011 before moving to the rotation in 2012 at age 23. Schwellenbach pitched in only 24 minor league games, his only starts above the high school level before his MLB debut a year ago with Atlanta. He was a shortstop for three seasons at Nebraska and only pitched one season of college ball, when he added closer duties as a junior in 2021. Advertisement He was drafted in the second round that summer by the Braves, who took him as a pitcher, knowing he would require Tommy John surgery. He had the surgery and missed all of 2022, and Schwellenbach's ascent since then has been dizzying for someone with so little experience. 'Yeah, I give him a hard time because his first baseball card has two positions on it,' Sale said, laughing. 'Mine never had two positions on it. Not only that, when he was pitching in college, he wasn't a starter. When you're pitching one inning in college, you can just kind of get away with just throwing. He's always thrown hard, he's always had a really good arm. So watching him, seeing him know how to pitch so well, is really impressive for not having done it (long). 'It's not like he's five years into being a starting pitcher, you know? So it makes me a little jealous about that.' Schwellenbach is also unique among younger pitchers in that he has a varied arsenal — six pitches he uses regularly, compared to three or four for most young starters. 'But he's a baseball guy and he's freakishly athletic, in terms of how his body moves,' Sale said. 'And I think that helps him a lot. And being able to incorporate that into going from shortstop to the mound, I think being athletic and knowing how his body works, helps a lot.' (Top photo of Bryce Elder: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)

Netflix Showrunners Talk Shop and Compare Notes on the Art of Pitching
Netflix Showrunners Talk Shop and Compare Notes on the Art of Pitching

Yahoo

timea day ago

  • Business
  • Yahoo

Netflix Showrunners Talk Shop and Compare Notes on the Art of Pitching

The rituals of pitching, the magic of casting and the joy of working with mature actors were among the subjects tackled in a panel session featuring five showrunners who steer high-wattage series for Netflix. Mara Brock Akil ('Forever'), Mindy Kaling ('Running Point'), Molly Smith Metzler ('Sirens'), Eric Newman ('American Primeval,' 'Zero Day') and Michael Schur ('A Man on the Inside') gathered May 20 at Netflix's Tudum Theater in Hollywood to talk shop and compare notes. The session was moderated by Peter Friedlander, Netflix's head of scripted series for the U.S. and Canada. More from Variety What's Coming to Netflix in June 2025 Anthony Boyle to Play Sam Bankman-Fried Opposite Julia Garner as Caroline Ellison in Netflix's FTX Series 'The Altruists' Netflix's 'Dept. Q' Is an Emotionally Fraught Crime Thriller That Never Lets Up: TV Review The event came on a momentous day for Akil, as it fell on her birthday, and at a heady time for Schur, who celebrated the unveiling of his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame last week. 'I did not, in all honesty, know that writers were eligible. So when I got that call, I assumed it was a prank of some kind,' Schur confessed. 'I was incredibly honored by it. I am very glad that writers are eligible. I think more writers ought to be part of the landscape of the town. Also this the first event that I personally attended where I was like, Oh this is what your funeral is like. All your old friends are there, and they're saying nice things about you.' The 'FYSEE' session focused on shedding light on the pitching and development process. Friedlander pressed the group for details of any personal rituals that they engage in for good luck on the day of a pitch meeting. 'After I vomit?' Akil said, acknowledging that she does not enjoy the showmanship that comes with selling shows to buyers for networks or streamers. 'I just want to write. I just want to get to the script,' Akil said. 'One ritual I do is [listen to] music. The playlist actually helps me write. It also helps me get the tone, get the vibe, get the texture and then just really relax me before going in and having to talk about it.' For Kaling, it's the opposite. Pitching her wares as a writer and producer can be an outlet for her as an actor. The multihyphenate who became a star on NBC's 'The Office' and Fox's 'The Mindy Project' has taken a break from being on camera since she became a mother of three (her oldest is 7). 'I haven't acted since I've had children. For me, even when it's this grim pitch over a Zoom and there's just like tiny smiling boxes. I enjoy the performance of it,' Kaling said. 'You get to be funny and tell a rehearsed story to six on smiling faces, passing a show. As a performer, It just feels like it lets me act a little bit.' Smith Metzler goes minimalist when she's trying to make a sale. 'I don't know if I recommend this, but I have one little ritual, which is that I bring nothing with me, because if it's in front of me, then I end up reading it. So my way of preparing is to do a lot of prep and then bring nothing.' Schur has a full-time, in-house consultant who provides invaluable feedback before he saddles up and takes his ideas to top buyers. His wife, fellow writer-producer J.J. Philbin, is a tough audience. 'She has a terrible poker face,' he said. 'When she's bored, she just is immediately, visibly bored. She doesn't know she's doing it, but her writer brain is saying 'No, this is bad.' And it's wonderful. Because then I'm like, OK well, this part of the pitch stinks, and I should cut it or improve it or change it or whatever. And then I get to the end, and she's like, 'It's so good,' and I'm like, 'You physically hated it. You hated parts of it. I saw you.'' Newman has been a pillar of Netflix since its earliest days in original programming with series such as 'Hemlock Grove' and 'Narcos' and its iterations. Drawing on his experience as a film producer in addition fielding multiple TV series in recent years, he reflected on the circumstances that make a buyer say yea or nay. 'Every executive that you're going to pitch to wants to say 'No' because it's safe to say no,' Newman said. 'There are a variety of reasons for someone to say 'No,' and again, you don't get fired for saying no, unless you said no to 'Star Wars' or 'Twilight' or something like that. You get fired for saying yes to something insane. And so I feel it's my job always to go in and say, 'Here are the reasons why it's safe to say yes to this.' Because I do believe that as much as it's safer to say no, there's nothing that feels better than for someone like Peter to sit opposite any of us and get excited about an idea that we're excited about it and safely say 'I believe in this.' ' Friedlander shared a general practice that he feels is important for people in his position in the era of Zoom pitch meetings. 'I'm very conscious of how people typing into their computers' during video calls, Friedlander told the panel. 'I have this thing where if I'm on the other side of a pitch, both of my hands will always be in the frame. … I try to show that you have my undivided attention. I'm not shopping.' Akil and others thanked Netflix for the support they've received to execute their creative visions (read: generous budgets). Akil's location-heavy adaptation of Blume's beloved coming-of-age novel 'Forever' transports the story to 2018 Los Angeles and revolves around the sexual awakening of two Black teenagers from different backgrounds. 'The challenges of falling in love, above the 10 and below the 10,' she said. 'It's anchored by the beauty of Los Angeles every day. We're telling an epic and intimate love story within a love letter to Los Angeles.' Among other highlights: Newman thanked Friedlander for buying 'every show I've pitched' and for having never 'made me feel bad when one hasn't worked.' Schur urged his fellow showrunners to seek out seasoned actors over the age of 75 for their shows. He's done so for 'A Man on the Inside,' starring Ted Danson and adapted from a Chilean documentary about an investigator who goes undercover in a retirement community. 'It was just very lovely and heartwarming to see how many legitimately great, funny people there are who are 82 years old and love to work,' Schur said. 'If you want to have a messy, semi-bad read-through of a pilot, hire a bunch of young people. If you want the most metronomically crisp, perfect read-through you've ever had in your life, hire a bunch of 80-year-olds. Those sons of bitches were all lines memorized, timing perfect and had clearly worked it all out beforehand. They were just on it. From beginning to end, it was a total joy to watch a large group of 75-plus actors kill it every day.' Akil emphasized how she sought to stay true to the spirit of Blume's novel even as she adjusted many aspects of the story. No corners were cut because 'Forever' is part of Netflix's YA content slate. 'One of the things I love about Judy Blume was that she didn't talk down to the reader. She treated the young person as a full human being,' Akil said. 'She took their issues, their concerns very seriously. And one of the things off the bat I knew is that this seriousness had to anchor this YA show.' (Pictured top: Eric Newman, Michael Schur, Molly Smith Metzler, Peter Friedlander, Mara Brock Akil and Mindy Kaling) Best of Variety What's Coming to Netflix in June 2025 New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts?

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