It is far from the main feeling and takeaway from last night’s season-ending Chicago Bears loss, but it makes me very sad to think about how that freaking truly insane Caleb Williams play – ANOTHER one, somehow even crazier than the previous ones! – will probably now be relegated to only adjacent memories about the season. Yeah, we’ll remember it and laud it and all that, but if the Bears had won that game, that’s the kind of play that lives on FOREVER-EVER, you know?
I was sufficiently bummed that I couldn’t even do a jokey “and now it’s baseball season” thing. After the Super Bowl, I guess.
The Braves have lost starting shortstop Ha-Seong Kim until perhaps midseason after he had to have surgery on the middle finger of his throwing hand. The Braves had only just brought Kim back on a one-year, $20 million deal, as he was looking to “prove it” after shoulder surgery limited him to 48 games last season without much offensive production. The shortstop market was so weak, though, that he still did very well on the one-year deal. But now the Braves won’t know what they’re going to get in the second half. Utility-man Mauricio Dubón was acquired early in the offseason for precisely this kind of reason, so the Braves might just accept limited shortstop production for a while, rather than go out and acquire another temporary option. A serious, surgery-requiring injury like this is quite rare in January, since you’re not playing competitive games, and guys are, at most, in a ramp-up process. On the rare occasion it happens, you’re likely talking about a weight room injury or some freak occurrence. Apparently it was the latter: Kim reportedly suffered the injury slipping on ice back home in Korea. Yikes. Every Cubs player: please be extra careful out there! There were a number of ways Nico Hoerner could’ve answered this one, which means any selected approach is going to be interesting:Could Nico Hoerner benefit from taking a day off with Matt Shaw in the fold? “No” #NicoHoerner #Cubsconvention pic.twitter.com/8ytwsAWAHA
— ESPN Chicago (@ESPN1000) January 16, 2026 Ultimately, Hoerner’s attitude is what you want – a guy who wants to be out there every day – even if you also want a manager to get the guy to be flexible enough to take rest days to stay at his very best. Generally speaking, you’d rather have a guy at 100% for 150 games rather than 90% for 162. That said, I do take Hoerner’s point (and the stats have borne this out) that he feels at his best when he plays every day and really gets into the rhythm of the season, taking at bats every day, facing pitchers, etc. That is certainly the flip side of taking too many days off. Much more on the state of things with respect to Hoerner, Matt Shaw’s role after the Alex Bregman signing, and the various rumors here, if you missed it. Although Shaw playing in the outfield, if it happens, is likely to be more akin to Javy Báez’s very brief dalliances out there as needed when he was younger, rather than a permanent move, I do think it’s very good that he’s going to have this guy available to discuss the transition:Ian Happ on Matt Shaw learning to play in the outfield, his personal journey making the switch himself and the tips he received from Ben Zobrist pic.twitter.com/y8Ob2ZjLF5
— CHGO Cubs (@CHGO_Cubs) January 17, 2026 Craig Counsell, by the way, definitely doesn’t look at this situation as having too many infielders (Cubs.com): “I don’t think we have enough guys, yet. If you think there’s too many, I don’t know what you’re looking at — really.” Had I to guess, setting aside pitching, Counsell would probably like to have another outfielder in the mix who can cover center field. Kevin Alcantara may well wind up being that guy, but it’s possible he’s not ready to be a big league bench guy (or maybe the Cubs decide it’s not best for him). It’s also possible there are injuries in the spring, and/or early in the season, and the lack of impactful outfield depth could rear its head quickly. Having a high-quality veteran fourth outfielder on the roster could be huge in that respect. The rub is that you’ve got only a four-man bench (counting Moises Ballesteros as the DH), and right now, one of those is the second catcher, one is Tyler Austin, and one is Matt Shaw. So there’s room, sure, but only barely, and that assumes you’re excluding Alcantara. It’s a fun note as far as bat swaps go, but indirectly underscores how defense can be a massive differentiator in player value:?? pic.twitter.com/H4bhLVTIhx
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) January 17, 2026 They really did a great job with this, though I still think the Cubs have at least one criminally underused throwback logo:Start using this baby more often and then we’re really cookin pic.twitter.com/Nw3slXWwZK
— Brett Taylor (@Brett_A_Taylor) January 18, 2026 Steve Politi is getting a lot of grief from all corners for his Hall of Fame vote for Rick Porcello, but at least UNDERSTAND this explanantion:My brother in Christ voted for Rick Porcello because he’s from New Jersey t.co/FBJlfDvdzp pic.twitter.com/wv61WlIbtl
— AT (@YankeeWRLD) January 19, 2026 He isn’t saying Porcello is a Hall of Famer. He was a good pitcher for a number of years. Politi just wanted to give him a nice tip of the cap, and he had an open spot with which to do it, because he wasn’t voting for anyone else in that spot anyway. Where I might beef, however, is in the decision to HAVE that open spot in the first place, instead of giving it to Felix Hernández:I wish I was kidding but I’m here to tell you that there is a baseball writer that made his HOF ballot public who voted for Rick Porcello and NOT Felix Hernandez.I couldn’t continue my day without letting everyone know that. Carry on. pic.twitter.com/yQ4E0HcOI2
— BigBobsCards (@BigBobsCards) January 18, 2026 As we’ve discussed before, and others have addressed at length, guys like King Felix and Cole Hamels are going to be important test cases going forward for the Hall of Fame standard for starting pitchers. The role is just so different now than it was 30 years ago, and there are right now lots of guys going through careers that we recognize as elite, but who aren’t going to have the VOLUME of stats that we’re used to seeing from “Hall of Fame starting pitchers.” Justin Verlander? Max Scherzer? Clayton Kershaw? Yes, obviously. They might be the last of that type. But Jacob deGrom? Zack Greinke? Chris Sale? I think those are Hall of Fame-caliber starters now, too. Obligatory share upon mentioning Greinke:After being called up to the Major Leagues, Zack Greinke wanted to go back to Single-A to try and be a shortstop ? pic.twitter.com/8MxDa4OVgZ
— Baseball Quotes (@BaseballQuotes1) January 18, 2026 The 2025 Cubs didn’t blow a whole lot of games, but they also weren’t especially late-comeback-y:Regular Season Games They Played in 2025 Where The Team Trailing After Eight Innings Ended Up Winning:13 ARI1211 SF10 TEX9 LAD TOR8 CWS CLE COL MIL SEA WSH7 CIN STL TB6 MIA MIN5 ATH BOS NYY PHI SD4 ATL BAL CHC HOU LAA3 DET NYM2 KC PIT
— Codify Baseball (@codifybaseball.bsky.social) 2026-01-18T21:22:30.463Z That stuff is largely the product of opportunity (which is, itself, largely randomness) and simply having a good club. It did stand out, though, that the relative number of exciting late wins for the Cubs was down a bit – the comebacking they did was mostly in the 6/7/8th innings, and they otherwise did a lot of scoring early and holding on. I can’t wait to see the 2016 tribute at Gallagher Way:The Cubs won't have a statue to honor the World Series-winning 2016 team outside of Wrigley Field because it only could've highlighted 5 players, Crane Kenney says.They'll do something bigger, literally, that will include every player and every member of the team."We're going… pic.twitter.com/NXsrE9MDsg
— 670 The Score (@thescorechicago) January 17, 2026 This certainly isn’t cheap, but still, it feels telling:Andrew Chafin talking about the Cubs 2021 combined no-hitter is hilarious? @batboysbaseball/IG pic.twitter.com/xDwdOehzLR
— RushingBaseball (@RushingBaseball) January 17, 2026 Spiegel didn’t hold back on his thoughts there this weekend:.@MattSpiegs already rooted against the Dodgers but did find most of them quite likable. For Spiegel, the silver lining of Kyle Tucker heading to L.A. is it makes it easier for him to root against the Dodgers.Spiegel felt Tucker was "checked out" as a Cubs teammate in 2025. pic.twitter.com/Aup6dQOzCS
— 670 The Score (@thescorechicago) January 16, 2026 If you missed any of 670 The Score’s weekend interviews at the Convention with Jed Hoyer, Anthony Rizzo, and Pete Crow-Armstrong, here are the full interviews: This is just delightful:Andrew Chafin talking about the Cubs 2021 combined no-hitter is hilarious? @batboysbaseball/IG pic.twitter.com/xDwdOehzLR
— RushingBaseball (@RushingBaseball) January 17, 2026 Pretty darn cool that Brad Keller gets to do this just one year after being a minor league signing:New Phillies reliever Brad Keller will join Team USA's bullpen pic.twitter.com/sTMXldpR8a
— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) January 16, 2026 MORE CUBS FROM BLEACHER NATION: Go Ad Free | Subscribe to the BN NewsletterBears Nightcap: Magical Run Ends in Overtime Heartbreaker Against Rams t.co/4yQPjnsijV
— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) January 19, 2026Rams 20, Bears 17: The End (But Also, Maybe the Beginning) t.co/Jlu24TJbMZ
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