Forbidden Love is a Cubs DNA series where our staff waxes poetic about a player on a team other than the Cubs. Maybe even one you think they should hate. In this installment, Staci's embracing 2021 by giving some much needed love to new Cubs starter Zach Davies!
No one loves and respects Yu Darvish more than me. Well, except for Seiko Darvish, I'm sure, but that's to be expected. In fact, I've gushed over Yu as much or more than anyone on this website, and I'm not gonna lie--I had the same empty, angry feelings for a few days after the trade that a lot of you did.
All of that said, the trade is done, (And I'll have more to say on that in a future farticle.) Whether we love losing Yu or hate it, real live ballplayers came into the Cubs organization from the San Diego Padres, and one in particular could actually have value to the team in this very calendar year.
Yes, I've seen all the "Discount Kyle Hendricks" tweets and comments about Zach Davies. I'm sure he has, too, which... way to make the new guy feel welcome, Cubs fans! Stop being such twits already! Zach Davies did not ask to be traded into this currently surly, borderline crappy fan base.
If I may, Zach Davies is also a pretty good pitcher. Yes, I know we already have two soft-tossing guys in the starting rotation so he might be... redundant. This is also not his fault. The upside is that in a year when Yu Darvish had a 2.01 ERA, 8-3 record and 2.7 bWAR in 12 starts, Davies had a 2.73 ERA, 7-4 record and 1.7 bWAR in the same number of GS. In other words, while he's not Yu, he's not Homer Bailey either. In fact, his improvement going from a team like the Brewers where they don't really care about starting pitching to the Padres was pretty impressive. Imagine what #HOTtovy might do with him!
Davies is also a good Twitter follow--he loves good doggos and is all about helping shelters and rescues, has a pretty awesome sense of humor, particularly about the fact that he looks about 14, and was perfectly willing to call out the Cheating Asstros when that news broke.
Honestly, Davies seems like a good dude, and someone Cubs fans will probably like, especially when he starts contributing some W's. It's hard losing Yu, but it's time to be good eggs and embrace the new guy. It feels good... give it a try.
AssMatt here. If Zach had never played for the Brewers, he wouldn't get NEARLY this much hate. I also hate to lose Darvish, but I'm excited to see what Zach can do with the Cubs. Hi Zach, I wanna see you SHOVE this year and prove these terrible fans wrong.