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Earlier this month, the Cubs pitching coach Chris Bosio made a *nudge nudge wink wink* comment implying that the Brewers Eric Thames’ fantastic start to 2017 had something to do with Performance Enhancing Drugs.
Cubs officials reportedly ‘infuriated’ by pitching coach’s comments on Eric Thames https://t.co/x8atW52YHz
— CBS Sports MLB (@CBSSportsMLB) April 30, 2017
The 30-year-old surprise breakout 1B/OF is tearing the cover off the ball, currently slashing .350/.475/.838 with 11 home runs 19 RBI’s with 28 runs scored and eye-popping isolated power number of .488 (holy shit that’s almost impossible to do in a video game). The guy is mashing baseballs, in part because of his excellent approach at the plate, and the luck of his club already playing the terrible Cincinnati Reds seven times – he’s hit 7 of his 11 homers against their lowly division opponent.
Thames was as hot as he’s been all year when the Brewers came to Wrigley Field to face the Cubs on April 17th thru the 19th, extending his home run streak to five games during the road trip. Thames’ performance against the Cubs lead Bosio to make these less than ideal comments on the situation.
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“Well, the bottom line is [Thames] has hit the ball and we gotta figure out a way to get around [it]. All that other stuff, I’ll let other people worry about. But he’s doing stuff that I haven’t seen done for a long time.
“You start thinking about Ken Griffey Jr., Manny Ramirez when he went to the Dodgers, Barry Bonds … You’re talking about some of the greatest players to ever play this game. So, yeah, it’s probably a ‘head-scratcher’ because nobody knows who this guy is. And when he was here before, his body has changed. But, like I said, I’ll leave that to everyone else and we’re just gonna try to worry about how to pitch him better and get him out.”
While I love Bosio and the work he has done to get pitchers like Jake Arrieta and Kyle Hendricks to the level they are currently at with the Cubs, he freaking compared Thames to Barry Bonds – one of the most successful hitters in baseball history who just happens to be also one of the most infamous steroid users ever. While he may not have actually said anything directly saying that Thames was using, he did essentially everything but.
The ironic thing about this whole dramatically lame situation is that his own prized pupil in Arrieta faced similar criticism in 2015 during his Cy Young season, as ESPN’ Stephen A. Smith accused the Cubs starter of doping. It’s just unacceptable, and clearly the Cubs brass was displeased with the comments, as one person affiliated with the Cubs said, “It’s just the wrong thing to do,” according to Buster Olney.
For what it’s worth, Thames has been reportedly tested three times in the last 11 days, per Tom Haudricourt of the Journal Sentinel. Thames replied to the comments saying he, “Has a lot of blood and urine,” which was awesome.
