by Michael Duca

Regarding the Chicago Cubs you can throw out that old label the “Lovable losers” during the series with the Giants at Wrigley Field they became more like the Headhunting Cubs it’s a little bit scary when the players reactions from getting hit in the mouth. Is Cubs manager Joe Maddon using pitchers to throw inside as part of the strategy to keep the Giants off balance? If you ask the Boston Red Sox they would say it’s more like 100 percent, it’s like the War of the Roses with them.

Maddon left Tampa Bay and the American League and who knows that’s why the Sox stopped playing MLB but it doesn’t seem to be happening this year. Maddon is an extremely good manager, he keeps his team loose, the team is having a lot of fun and he’s wondering what’s next. All of that is great when you got a young ball club which was Tampa which is now the Cubs.

Whether of not the propensity to appear to be throwing inside a lot and seems to try to intimidate good offenses is directly traceable to him or not I honestly don’t know and I don’t want to cast aspersions that I know for sure. It’s certainly a tactic and I can’t necessarily say that the Cubs are headhunting. Cubs Sunday starter Jake Arieta didn’t seem to be too remorseful about when it happened.

Arieta didn’t come off the mound after nearly hitting a batter or if he hit a batter he did send an Amazon drone delivering a package close to the Giants Hunter Pence right there after. This is a different Giants team that won the three previous championships, they won the championships with pitching and defense and the torture was are they going to score any runs?

Right now they’re wining with defense and offense and the torture is are they going to prevent any runs and what this does do it makes for a longer game. So they seem to be more torturous in that sense. All you have to do is try to understand what Maddon’s character is all about and go out and exploit it. All you have to look at what happened to the Dodgers and Pittsburgh to see what happens when an offense goes out and wins every game.

Michael Duca does the SF Giants podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to the podcast below