The Rundown: Assad Shines in Big Win Over Rays, PCA Embracing Leadership Role, Extracurriculars in Anaheim

“Slidell boy…big city night. Oh he tips his hat for dinner, an old stray begging for a bite.” – Christmas Katie by Widespread Panic with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band

Javier Assad might just be the Cubs’ most dependable pitcher, yet he finds himself just outside the team’s rotation plans season after season. He’s an old stray begging for a bite, as it were. As always, however, Assad comes up big when called upon, and yesterday was no exception. The veteran righty held the Rays scoreless and nearly hitless through 5.2 innings in last night’s 9-2 win, an unlikely stopper when the Cubs needed one most.

“Javy has done that many times,” manager Craig Counsell said after the game. “He’s stepped up when the team has needed it. And we certainly need it right now, and he delivered.”

Assad is now 19-12 with a career 3.37 ERA and a 121 ERA+ over parts of five seasons. Those are some strong numbers for a guy who is perennially considered a sixth or seventh starter. Despite the loss of Cade Horton for the remainder of the season and beyond, Assad could find himself on the outside looking in once again. The team is still saying Matthew Boyd will be back in 10 days, and Justin Steele will return at the end of May. Chicago’s front office is also counting on contributions from Kyle Wright and possibly Jaxon Wiggins later in the year. A trade for a starter is not off the table either, and free agent Lucas Giolito has been connected to the Cubs.

It’s too bad the team’s embarrassment of riches keeps Assad orbiting the periphery. He didn’t earn a quality start last night because he was pulled in the 6th inning, but he has a history of going deep into games and limiting damage. Last night was more of the same. The diligent junkballer wins despite his somewhat pedestrian stuff because he keeps hitters off balance. He works the edges of the zone, and each at-bat is a frustrating battle of attrition for his opponent. Assad is therefore overlooked because he doesn’t dominate in a game that has become obsessed with high velocity and prodigious whiff rates.

Regardless, and given Chicago’s current infirmary report, last night’s game in Tampa Bay was arguably the first must-win tilt of the season. Counsell has to feel good knowing he can count on Assad in almost every situation.

Cubs News & Notes

• Assad received a rousing ovation when he walked off the mound in the 6th inning of yesterday’s game.
• Expect a lot of incoming trade speculation linking starters to the Cubs. This one suggests trading Matt Shaw and Ben Brown to the Yankees for Luis Gil.
• Jon Lester explained on The Loveable Reunion how he negotiated with Theo Epstein to bring David Ross to Chicago as a backup catcher. The clip is fantastic, but for me, it contrasts the maverick style with which Epstein ran his front office to the more homogenized version under Jed Hoyer.
• Counsell said before yesterday’s game that he expected the offense to start lighting it up, and he was right on cue.
• Alex Bregman, Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Moisés Ballesteros led the offensive onslaught in yesterday’s 9-2 rout.
• PCA has become the face of the franchise and he embraces that role.
• Edward Cabrera will slide into the role of staff ace, at least for the short term. The Cubs have flipped his fastball usage and have him throwing more four-seamers than sinkers. It’s worked well for the hard-throwing righty, as Cabrera has yet to allow an earned run in his first two starts.
• Speaking of four-seamers, Shōta Imanaga has added 1.4 mph to that offering, including 13 pitches at 93 mph or higher. Imanaga seems almost forgotten this year. Maybe it’s just me.
• Do you remember the brief moment when Taj Bradley was linked to the Cubs? Oh my, what could have been.

Ball Four

We saw some wild extracurriculars last night in Anaheim featuring Reynaldo López and Jorge Soler. López hit Soler with a few haymakers while holding onto the baseball, and Walt Weiss got credit for an solo tackle.

Here’s the background: Soler has lit up López throughout his career, hitting a scalding .591 with four homers. The ex-Cub went deep in his first at-bat last night, so López hit him in his next at-bat. When Soler came up in the 5th inning, the stocky righty tried to drill him in the head. Here’s the uncut version of the incident.

Gotta love the ex-Cub/ex-White Sox connection, too.

Here’s what just took place in Anaheim: pic.twitter.com/hL1myd5PJd

— BravesVision (@BravesVisionTV) April 8, 2026

Central Intelligence

• Cincinnati (8-3): The Reds leveraged a two-out wild pitch in the 9th inning to force extras and stun the Marlins, earning their fifth straight win in doing so.
• Milwaukee (8-3): Shortstop prospect Cooper Pratt signed an eight-year extension on Friday, though the timing is unique because he just started at Triple-A this season. Pratt is also represented by Scott Boras. Things that make you go hmmm.
• Pittsburgh (7-4): The Pirates and rookie shortstop Konnor Griffin agreed to a nine-year, $140 million extension, the largest in team history.
• St. Louis (6-5): Catching prospect Jimmy Crooks is playing so well that the Cardinals may consider trading current backstop Iván Herrera.
• Chicago (5-6): This fan learned the hard way that the camera is always watching. Jim Deshaies was spot on in his usual deadpan delivery, while Boog Sciambi was left speechless.

How About That!

ESPN is very bullish on the Brewers but picked the Pirates to win the NL Central, if you like some heavy syrup with your morning hot takes. Where does that leave the Cubs?

The Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats scored 10 runs on one hit yesterday. Eight of those runs came before the hit. Even more unlikely? The defense didn’t make a single error in the wild frame.

Pitchers Joe Ryan and Sandy Alcántara will be the top names available at this year’s trade deadline.

Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk had thumb surgery and will miss six weeks while recuperating.

Apropos of Nothing

Assad, who hails from Tijuana, does not have a widely recognized nickname, so it’s time we gave him one. I prefer Honey Badger, an animal known to follow, harass, and fight with much larger prey until tiring them out. The Spanish version is El Rátel.

Son of Apropos

I’d like to see the Cubs get Giolito if only to keep him from signing with the Brewers. The last thing any of us needs is for Giolito to channel 1984 Rick Sutcliffe and lead Milwaukee to yet another division title.

Extra Innings

Seiya Suzuki looks ready to reclaim right field.

Seiya Suzuki's rehab is going just fine, thank you.

The @Cubs slugger doubles twice and finishes with three hits to lift his OPS to 1.082 in 4 rehab games with @smokiesbaseball. pic.twitter.com/i4YnI7W8lE

— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) April 8, 2026

They Said It

• “[Assad] was f**king sick.” – Crow-Armstrong
• “I feel for Cade. Things get thrown in front of you that are big. To have to process a day like today for Cade is really hard, because you start to look at what’s ahead of you, and there’s days of some monotonous work ahead of you. It makes you cherish the good days that you have and understand that you don’t get all good days. This certainly isn’t one of them for Cade.” – Counsell
• “We’re heartbroken for [Cade]. He’s a great teammate, great competitor and one of the best pitchers in baseball. It’s a tough blow. I don’t think anyone needs to try to be him. Be themselves, compete and execute their game plan and their pitches. We’ll find a way.” – Bregman
• “We have very good hitters. Some of them are not succeeding right now, [but] they will in a big way.” – Counsell

Wednesday Walk-Up Song

Thank you, Javy.