Even though he couldn’t be at Wrigley Field managing the Cubs for the past nine days, manager David Ross kept close tabs on his team.
Ross watched every game with a binder of information that he likes to keep close by and would send texts to his coaches about things he was noticing. The chance to watch the games on television instead of from the dugout helped Ross to see the games a little differently.
“It was just a different perspective,” he said. “The main thing for me was seeing how pitches were coming out of guys’ hands, seeing the at-bats, seeing how other teams attacked our hitters. TV gives you such a different dynamic, and I hadn’t seen that in a while. It was good to be able to have that different perspective.”
It was tough not being able to be around his players, Ross said, because it’s much harder to read things like their body language watching from home.
That meant Ross had to spend a lot more time communicating with his coaches to see where different players were mentally as they scuffled. Patrick Wisdom, for instance, has not homered since August 28 and is in the midst of a .091 stretch at the plate. On Sunday, Ross went with Matt Duffy at third base.
Generally, the time away from the team was a reminder for Ross of how much he enjoys what he does.
“I think it’s clear I really like my job,” Ross said. “The ups and downs of it are what fuel you. I missed this passion, I missed these guys. Being part of a team, it feels good.”
Likes it so much that he watched his team and as well as the rest of the league, looking for ideas to improve his club. Most nights, Ross was sending clips of plays from other games to send to his coaching staff to show the players.
“I watched so much dang baseball I was grabbing stuff from other teams and other games that I would send to Andy (Green),” Ross said.
Ross was thankful not to experience any symptoms from COVID-19, other than boredom.
“Just counting down the days,” he said. “I never really felt bad at all. Thank goodness for college football.”
Nico rehabbing
Nico Hoerner (oblique) started a rehab assignment with Triple-A Iowa Sunday. He played five innings at shortstop Sunday and went 0-for-2 with a pair of groundouts.
The I-Cubs have an off day Monday, and Hoerner is expected to stay on his rehab assignment through at least Wednesday. The team will assess how he is feeling physically and whether Hoerner is ready to rejoin the big league club later in the week.
Hoerner has been on the I.L. since July 29.
(Still) home sweet home
Despite the losing season and being swept over the weekend by San Francisco, the Cubs have a winning record (39-36) at Wrigley Field this year.
The Cubs play six more games at home this season, and if they were to drop four of those, 2021 would be the first time they’ve had a losing record at Wrigley since going 31-50 at home in 2013.
