My knowledge of Ethan Roberts was limited before I spoke to him at Wrigley Field’s home clubhouse in late August. I knew he was a 27-year-old, right-handed reliever with limited big-league experience and a high spin rate. He also had Tommy John surgery in 2022 and was an honorable mention on our 2023 Chicago Cubs Top Prospects list. Since then, Roberts has added to his résumé with 27 career appearances, including 18 this year, posting a 2.66 ERA and 23 strikeouts over 23-and-two-thirds innings. He secured his first big-league win three days ago by throwing a scoreless frame against the Washington Nationals. Roberts discovered his high spin characteristics early in his pro ball journey and learned that not all spin is equal. He described his fastball as a cutter with about 2,600-2,700 RPMs. Roberts also talked about his slider, categorized as a sweeper by Baseball Savant, with an average spin of over 3,000 RPMs. He recently started developing a two-seamer to add to his repertoire, aiming to give hitters a different look. Regardless of how he labels his pitches, Roberts is focused on utilizing his spin effectively.
Random hitter-pitcher matchups:
- Dick Schofield went 4 for 32 against Roger Craig.
- Dick Schofield Jr. went 0 for 28 against Mark Gubicza.
- Kirby Puckett went 4 for 32 against Danny Darwin.
- Darwin Barney went 5 for 8 against Justin Verlander.
- Roy Smalley went 10 for 27 against Rex Barney.
- Roy Smalley Jr. went 10 for 27 against Glenn Abbott.
In a Twitter poll comparing individual performances, Rick Wise’s two-home-run no-hitter in 1971 was considered better than Shohei Ohtani’s recent historic game. Wise’s no-hitter was thrown against a Cincinnati Reds lineup including notable hitters like Johnny Bench and Pete Rose.
Best game stories from players:
- Andrew Vaughn recalled hitting a walk-off grand slam against USC in college, and a Little League game where he hit a walk-off home run.
- Dominic Fletcher mentioned going 19-for-21 in a travel ball tournament as a kid, hitting two homers in high school games, and a Double-A game with two homers, including a grand slam.
Trivia Answer: Greg Maddux started the most games for the Chicago Cubs over the past 50 seasons, with 298 starts.
Foreign Affairs:
Tokyo Yakult Swallows third baseman Munetaka Murakami hit his 29th and 30th home runs, bringing his total to 238 over six NPB seasons. Yokohama DeNa BayStars second baseman Shugo Maki has hit 20 or more home runs in each of his seasons.
