The Opening Day loss was, by the weather and the score, a relatively ugly one. I won’t try to polish it up too much more than acknowledging that games like that will happen in any season, especially in those conditions, and it will necessarily stick out more because it was the first.
But that isn’t to say the game wasn’t without bright spots, including Michael Busch’s big day at the plate, the joy of seeing Pete Crow-Armstrong take the field after his extension, and retroactively watching Nico Hoerner playing all while knowing his big deal was already in the bag. That, plus I had a lot of fun in the bleachers with my friends.
There was also a play mid-game that, while not determinative of the outcome, was really impressive. We noticed it live, and then I was glad to see it called out in such eager terms by Cubs coach Jerry Weinstein:
Immense baseball IQ play here from three of the best HWA(How to win awareness) guys in baseball) Very subtle play. 1) With 2 outs & a runner on 1B Hoerner keeps the ball in the infield & makes 180 spin throw to 3B. 2) Bregman realizes that there is no play at 3B & comes out to… pic.twitter.com/Thnnd96cdQ
— Jerry Weinstein (@JWonCATCHING) March 27, 2026“Immense baseball IQ play here from three of the best HWA(How to win awareness) guys in baseball) Very subtle play.1) With 2 outs & a runner on 1B Hoerner keeps the ball in the infield & makes 180 spin throw to 3B.2) Bregman realizes that there is no play at 3B & comes out to get the ball & redirects it to 2B.3) Swanson fake cuts the throw to 3B & slows the runner(Wiemer) down enough to have a play at 2B.4) After the fake cut Swanson retreats to 2B in time to get Bregman’s redirected throw for the 3rd out of the inning.BE SURE TO EXPAND & SLOW THIS VID TO EXPERIENCE THE FULL AFFECT OF THIS PLAY”
It was just a brilliant display of heads-up baseball from THREE superlative defensive infielders on one play.
If Nico Hoerner doesn’t get to that ball quickly and immediately get it back into the infield, I’m not sure Joey Wiemer even hesitates in going to second. Matt Shaw was charging in hard and would’ve had momentum, but he was so much further away from the ball that I think Wiemer, with good speed, probably takes a hard turn and goes right for second if Hoerner isn’t right on it.
Then, you have Dansby Swanson trying to slow Wiemer from going to second with the fake cut-off. A real cut-off would’ve been fine, too, in terms of stopping Wiemer, but Swanson had no shot at actually catching the ball. So he fakes it, causing just enough of a slowdown.
Then, you have Alex Bregman knowing immediately that the throw had no chance of reaching third base in time to do anything of import, AND knowing that the runner at third wasn’t a serious risk to take a hard turn and head home. So he bolts, catches the ball way off third and immediately throws to second.
Which is where you have Swanson smartly having retreated to second base in anticipation of that possibility from Bregman.
And I’ve got one more, which Weinstein didn’t mention, but you can see in the replays: Pete Crow-Armstrong seeing exactly what was developing, and busting it to get behind the throw at second base in case it got by Swanson. That’s just fundamental right there, but it’s also a guy whose head is so thoroughly in the game that he’s looking for every way he can be involved, even when the play is far away from him.
Hoerner, Swanson, Bregman, PCA. The four guys the Cubs have on nine-figure, long-term deals.
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