Let’s Talk About That Pickoff Throw For A Minute

I had literally just left a co-workers office.

Jorge Solar had tripled and stood on third base in a cold and wet Wrigley Field. At this point (4th inning), we knew that runs were going to be at a premium.

Lynn pitches around Tony Rizzo (smartly) and sets up the double play. But he gets Starlin Castro to strikeout and Chris Coghlan to line out.

Inning over. No damage. And I said:

“This is the type of inning that can turn Lance Lynn from a ‘good’ pitcher into an ‘elite’ pitcher. He has all the tools to be an All-Star caliber player – the only question is can he mentally battle each and every inning of each and every start.”

I wasn’t recording myself, but that’s the gist of what I was laying down to this dude.

I was genuinely excited to see Lynn grind an inning out like that. Maybe this was going to be a breakout year?

Reality came back and gave me a weenie tap in the 7th.

Lynn lost control of a pitch that hit Tony Rizzo and put him on first. Frustrated, he went to a pick-off move that he botched and allowed the runner to get into scoring position, when he should have still been at the plate.

In case you’re wondering, Rizzo has 16 stolen bases in 438 MLB games played.

Castro singled in Rizzo and the Cubs had all the run support they needed to take down their first W of the season.

Now, listen, 2 runs over 6 innings? You’d take that start pretty much every time if you had the option. And, true, it’s the second game of the season in some crap weather where the Birds mustered no runs.

But that elusive ‘it’ factor that I always wanted to see from Lynn was on display in the 4th inning. It exited by the 7th.

Will he ever get from really good to great? Make the other team earn it?

For now, the jury is still deliberating.

Photo: SportsSpyder