In his first start as a Cub, Tomas Nido made quite an impression with an RBI double on a fly ball to right field and a diving catch off a foul tip in the 8-1 victory Saturday against the Mets.
The Cubs hope Nido can provide some offensive and defensive production at catcher, which they’ve sorely lacked.
“Tomas was excellent back there,” starting pitcher Jameson Taillon said. “We mix it up a bunch. We’re throwing every pitch to every different area, which was just a lot of fun.”
To prepare, Nido watched Friday’s game with Taillon and caught his bullpen session, which was critical as they tried to jam as much as they could in a condensed period.
“It’s huge because it gives you a little bit of a track record of catching him, seeing how his ball moves and just building that muscle memory,” Nido said.
Nido isn’t a proficient hitter — he has a career slash line of .214/.250/.313 — but he still contributed with his sixth-inning double. It was the first time a Cubs catcher had an RBI since Yan Gomes on June 13.
Nido said he knew that if the ball dropped with Pete Crow-Armstrong on first base, the Cubs would get a run.
Part of the Cubs’ thinking behind the plate this year was that Miguel Amaya would make a leap, but Amaya’s performance dip and Gomes’ decline made for an untenable situation.
Entering the game, Cubs catchers had the second-worst batting average (.178), third-worst on-base percentage (.228) and second-worst slugging percentage (.259) in the majors.
“We did some different things than normal, while also establishing our strengths and stuff, so it was a lot of fun,” Taillon said. “[Nido is] fun to work with. I think he’ll just fit right in.”
Setting the tone
As the first inning concluded, the Cubs received applause from the crowd of 39,319 at Wrigley Field. The offense put up five runs, which was a positive sign after all the recent struggles.
Nico Hoerner set the tone with a walk. Getting guys on base has been an issue for the Cubs since May.
“He saw at least five pitches and worked a walk, so that just opens the door for us to do what we need to do when we get guys on base,” Crow-Armstrong said. “One thing that this team is capable of is putting pressure on the defense based on how well we run the bases.
“We can lay bunts down, and then you got guys like [Christopher Morel], who will hit a ball 450 feet, and that works, too.”
After Seiya Suzuki singled to drive in Michael Busch, the floodgates opened. A groundout by Ian Happ, a single by Morel, a double by Dansby Swanson and a triple by Crow-Armstrong led to four more runs.
The Cubs found holes in the gap and worked long at-bats — Tylor Megill threw 78 pitches, allowed six runs and five hits and was replaced after three innings.
Roster moves
The Cubs activated reliever Keegan Thompson from the paternity list.
In a corresponding move, they optioned left-hander Luke Little.