I watched ‘Stranger Things’ this past weekend, mostly because I didn’t want to be left out of the conversation. There was a lot to like about what the show was going for – mostly executed very well – though it was hard not to feel, eventually, like you’d seen it all before. More like ‘Pretty Typical Things.’

(OK, so that’s intentionally over the top. It was good. I enjoyed it. I am not good at hot takes.)

Having reached the 80-win plateau first in baseball this year, there are a whole lot of fun things to note about the Cubs: Those 80 wins put the Cubs 35 games over .500, their high water mark for the year. The win, paired with the Cardinals loss, puts the Cubs 13.5 games up in the NL Central, also a high water mark for the year. (Last year, the runaway Cardinals were never up more than 9.0 games, and that came in June.) The cellar-dwelling Reds are now closer in the standings to the second-place Cardinals than the Cardinals are to the Cubs. This is the fastest the Cubs have reached 80 wins since 1929 (Cubs.com). The Cubs have the best record in the NL by 7.0 games. The Cubs’ .640 winning percentage puts them on pace for 104 wins, the most in baseball since the 2004 Cardinals won 105 games. The Cubs can go 15-22 the rest of the way and still win 95 games.



At 99 pitches and working on a shutout, it’s pretty understandable that Jake Arrieta was not happy about being pulled from last night’s game after eight innings (CSN). But he knows what’s up, and Joe Maddon reminded him that the plan it conserve for, and build toward, October. Arrieta is on board with that plan, and if he can get better and better as October approaches … happy days.

Arrieta discusses his appreciation for Kyle Hendricks’ pitching style and execution here at the Tribune.

One more on Arrieta: he had seven “balls” called last night that were actually in the strike zone, which is crazy (the Padres had just one). You’ll recall, the same level of what-is-going-on occurred in his seven-walk start against the Brewers, which was his first with Willson Contreras behind the plate. The sample is just two games, so we can’t go crazy, but this is something to watch. “Stealing” strikes with framing is a nice additive feature, but being able to ensure that strikes are called strikes – even when the pitcher misses his spot with some seriously nasty movement – is critically important. It’s also the kind of thing that we wondered in advance of Contreras catching Arrieta whether he was ready for that challenge. I still don’t think we’re at the point where we can question anything about this pairing, but two games in a row with this level of one-sided head-scratching calls from behind the plate does make you pay attention.

John Lackey, who is on the DL with a shoulder strain, played catch yesterday and felt good (Tribune). He’ll do it again today, and if he still feels good, he’ll have a bullpen session this weekend. And if that goes normally, he could be right back into the rotation that next week. The Cubs will still be cautious, because they have the luxury, and late-September/early-October is when you really want him going full speed ahead. Hector Rondon (triceps) also played catch yesterday and felt good (Cubs.com), and Joe Smith (hamstring) threw a bullpen session.