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CHICAGO — Even when John Lackey is bad, he is good.

That’s not to say the Chicago Cubs‘ starting pitcher is never off his game. But nearly every time the 37-year-old takes the mound, he is good enough to win regardless of the quality of his pitching repertoire.

If that sounds too cryptic, think of it this way: When Lackey doesn’t have his best stuff, he is still able to keep the Cubs in a game. Lackey is some version of baseball’s Rumpelstiltskin. He can turn the most ominous-looking starts into gold.

His two-year, $32 million contract is looking like a bargain, and he’s had a huge impact on the Cubs’ rotation depth.

Take the right-hander’s most recent start, Monday against the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field, as an example. Rookie Cubs catcher Willson Contreras was making his first MLB start. The two were sometimes disjointed on how to attack a hitter, and Lackey’s pitches had less movement than normal.

Still, Lackey allowed only three runs on seven hits in six innings of work.

“That’s one of John Lackey’s better games,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. “The fact that he did not have it all going on and for six innings kept them to three runs, I thought that was outstanding.

“They worked really good at-bats early. They got his numbers up quickly. I think his fifth inning might have been the quickest one before the sixth. He wanted to go back out, but it was just enough. It was [at] 109 [pitches] at that point. He did wonderfully.”

Monday wasn’t an outlier. All but two of his 14 outings this season have been quality starts (pitching at least six innings while giving up no more than three earned runs). He has a 2.78 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP. He has pitched 94 innings this season and is averaging 98.1 pitches per start.

Sometimes, that number can be skewed, but that’s not the case with Lackey. He has made it through at least six innings in all but one of his starts. If that’s not consistent enough for you, ditch baseball and watch Groundhog Day on repeat.

“I’ve got no mental problems,” Lackey said of his Monday outing. “I’m going to get after it regardless. Early on, I definitely wasn’t locating quite as well as I could. I made some adjustments. We made some adjustments in between innings that paid off in the end.”

When a starter can be as successful as Lackey, it adds depth to the rotation.

Back-end starters Jason Hammel and Kyle Hendricks have been surprisingly good this season—Hammel’s ERA is 2.55, and Hendricks’ is 2.94.

Lackey’s consistency as the team’s No. 3 starter has taken pressure off Hammel and Hendricks to go deeper into games. And his durability has kept the team’s bullpen arms rested.

Hammel and Hendricks can throw harder earlier, knowing there’s greater availability in the bullpen.

Chicago’s bullpen has pitched only 188.1 innings—the fewest in baseball.

Last season, the Cubs bullpen threw 514.2 innings, the 14th most in MLB, and their starting staff had a 3.36 ERA. This season, Chicago’s starters have a 2.39 ERA; the second-place New York Mets starters combine for a 3.22 ERA.

The only notable change between 2015 and 2016? Lackey.

“I got more options nowadays,”  Lackey said Monday. “I had to go to some secondary options later in the game. You just keep battling, keep getting after it. Those are the kind of games that make you who you are.”

Those kind of games have also made the Cubs rotation what it has been this season.

Seth Gruen is a national baseball columnist for Bleacher Report. Talk baseball with Seth by following him on Twitter @SethGruen.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Injuries, as they say, are part of the game. But we can all agree they’re never the good part.

This week, the Pittsburgh Pirates placed pitcher Gerrit Cole and catcher Francisco Cervelli on the 15-day disabled list. The New York Mets announced third baseman David Wright would undergo surgery to repair a herniated disc in his back.

We want to see players, particularly of the caliber of the three aforementioned, play the game. Watching them rehab isn’t entertaining.

But nonetheless, in their absence this week, MLB still wowed us. Care to see what those who played did this past week?

Begin Slideshow

On Friday at U.S. Cellular Field, Kansas City Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer looked over his right shoulder in the first inning of his team’s game against the Chicago White Sox and stared down one of MLB’s best pitchers, lefty Chris Sale.

Hosmer won the battle. Kansas City’s left-handed slugger homered to left field.

Then, in the top of the fourth inning, he faced Sale again. Same result: an opposite-field homer that seemed to erase any doubts that Hosmer has solidified his standing as one of the game’s elite hitters.

The first of those home runs, by the way, marked only the fourth time a left-handed hitter had gone yard off Sale in the pitcher’s seven-year career. Hosmer was only the second lefty to hit two in a game off Sale.

So, it appears Sale is the American League’s litmus test for left-handed power hitters—if not every hitter—and it’s safe to say Hosmer passed the test. 

The 26-year-old is enjoying the best season of his career, hitting .317/.374/.525 through Tuesday’s games. All are career highs for the three-time reigning AL Gold Glove winner.

Credit Hosmer’s approach for his rise to elite status.

He has always been able to spray to all sides of the field. But this year, Hosmer has been hitting more balls the opposite way. According to FanGraphs, through Tuesday, Hosmer was pulling the ball 35.6 percent of the time, hitting to center at a rate of 27.8 percent and going opposite field on 36.6 percent of batted balls.

Previously, the highest frequency at which Hosmer went the other way was 31.4 percent in 2013.

“With lefties, that’s my approach,” Hosmer said. “I try [to] keep that front shoulder in and try to shoot it, and if it happens to be a breaking ball, that could help me stay on it a little better. So yeah, against lefties, that’s definitely the approach is try to look that way.”

Hosmer is having his George Clooney moment in 2016.

When Clooney starred on network TV, playing Dr. Doug Ross on ER, his talent went unheralded. Then, he left the show to do studio pictures and started making big bucks. His flair was finally recognized.

Playing in small-market Kansas City is to baseball what network television is to acting. Sure, you’re getting exposure, but not nearly as much as an actor in a studio picture or a baseball player in a larger market.

But after the Royals won the World Series last year, they earned more attention. Kansas City became a little more Hollywood with Hosmer as its star.

Now, the baseball world is captivated—or at least it should be—by the first baseman’s performance. And Hosmer’s numbers this season have helped his ascension to the short list of first basemen any team would want.

Hosmer’s batting average and slugging percentage rank tops among players at his position. Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera, who won the Triple Crown in 2012 and is a two-time AL MVP, is second in both categories. But at 33, Cabrera’s reign as the game’s top first baseman is nearing an end. Hosmer is the heir apparent.

As of Tuesday, only three first baseman were hitting above .300, including Cabrera (.305) and the San Francisco Giants’ Brandon Belt (.301).

“He’s been able to do it,” Royals manager Ned Yost said of Hosmer’s ability to hit to all fields. “That’s always been his strength. His ability to pull the ball now has probably been more of a product of the higher batting average—having a smarter, better plan when he steps into the batter’s box—and having the ability to go out and try to accomplish it. He’s just becoming a smarter, more experienced hitter.”

It’s no secret the rules of baseball are rigged like a casino game.

Baseball is designed so pitchers win the majority of matchups with hitters. In fact, the best hitters in MLB are less likely to get a hit than anyone is to win a hand of blackjack.

That’s not to encourage you to rush to Las Vegas and put it to the test.

It’s only to say that the compliment Royals second baseman/outfielder Whit Merrifield gave Hosmer is the highest any hitter can receive.

“It’s not surprising, but it’s very impressive,” Merrifield said of Hosmer’s season. “He’s got unbelievable power. When you put that with a great approach, it’s hard to stop him, and, really, when he makes outs, it’s because he gets himself out. Very rarely does a pitcher get him out, which is a huge compliment to him and the approach he has and the abilities he has. He’s done some great things this year.”

So, while hitters are traditionally the ones tested in matchups between great hurlers and batters, Hosmer is an exception.

The White Sox and the Royals play each other six more times this season. Hosmer and Sale are likely to face each other again.

But next time, it will be Hosmer administering the test.

Seth Gruen is a national baseball columnist for Bleacher Report. Talk baseball with Seth by following him on Twitter @SethGruen.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Clemson University’s Clate Schmidt was at Turner Field in July 2015 to meet Chicago Cubs star Jon Lester—anxious to discuss the many things they had in common.

Both are pitchers. Both were high school baseball prodigies—with Schmidt earning All-American honors. The Boston Red Sox drafted both, though Schmidt elected to return to Clemson for his senior season. He also chose not to sign after the Tigers selected him out of high school.

Unfortunately, they shared one more common bond.

Schmidt was amidst chemotherapy treatment for nodular sclerosing Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a diagnosis the right-handed flamethrower had received some three months prior. His hair had started to fall out. Schmidt looked pale that day.

Lester beat a different form of lymphoma in late 2006, when he was coming through Boston’s minor league system.

The conversation permeated a broad spectrum of topics, though Schmidt admits talking baseball with Lester was a particularly welcomed distraction.

Lester eased the nerves of Schmidt’s parents. He preached patience, underscoring that a return to the field will be as much a process as the treatment.

Chemotherapy took such a toll on Schmidt, it’s difficult for him to remember dates during that time. The conversation with Lester, though, is one etched in his memory.

“It was one of those conversations that I will always remember. … We got done talking about what was really worrying me and my mom and my dad and my family. It was just like, ‘OK,’” Schmidt, who is expected to be drafted, said. “Let’s take a break from all this stuff, and let’s just talk about [what] I really love, and that’s that mutual love for baseball.’”

Schmidt’s father, Dwight, a colonel and pilot in the Marines who also flies for Delta Airlines, called the meeting “a blessing.” He characterized Lester as a person “beyond measure” for his willingness to answer their questions.

Dwight asked Lester what his experiences were with treatment. He wanted to know how he overcame lymphoma. He wanted to know if his son would be all right. Lester answered every single question.

All Clate wanted to know was how he could get back on the mound.

Lester told him it wouldn’t be easy. He reminded Clate that immediately after treatment he would not look like the All-American who drew the attention of scouts around the country. Clate was cautioned he would, at times, be disappointed.

But that day, Schmidt was given a blueprint for an improbably quick comeback.

Before he could drive a car, Schmidt could already throw a baseball over 90 miles per hour.

By the time he was a sophomore, he received interest from schools around the country. As an upperclassman, he was invited to a wave of national showcases and was part of the USA Baseball program.

There, he became friendly with Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager (rated the game’s top prospect heading into the season) and Texas Rangers third baseman/outfielder Joey Gallo, currently rated by MLB.com as the seventh-best prospect in baseball.

“He was always very happy, funny,” Gallo said. “He’s quite a character. He’s a fun guy to play with.”

As a senior, Schmidt was throwing 96 miles per hour. Scouts descended on the Atlanta area to watch his games at Allatoona High School.

He had a serious decision to consider: go pro or go to school.

According to Schmidt, scouts told him he could be selected in the first round if he indicated he intended to sign. No team would want to burn a first-round pick on a player heavily considering accepting a college scholarship. And Schmidt isn’t the type of person to mislead them simply to see how high he’d be drafted.

He ultimately chose to play baseball at Clemson—rejecting the opportunity to become a millionaire before he even threw his first professional pitch. According to Baseball America, the No. 30 and final first-round slot bonus in the 2012 draft was $1.6 million.

“Knowing that baseball ends at some point, and you have to be able to further your education to be able to broaden your horizons as a human being and an athlete, that was something I really took to heart,” Schmidt said.

The Detroit Tigers drafted him anyway, making him the organization’s 36th-round selection in what’s called an “honor pick.” It was the Tigers’ way of showing their interest in advance of when Schmidt would ultimately decide to turn pro.

The plan was to remain at Clemson for three years, sign an MLB contract and finish his required classes in the offseason.

But that plan would eventually get thrown out the window with one fateful phone call.

As a freshman at Clemson, he immediately made an impact at one of the top baseball programs in the country. The team thrust him into a role as a weekend starter.

In college, teams start their best pitchers on the weekends, because that’s when the most important games are played—either against school rivals or conference foes.

That year, he started against heated rival South Carolina, pitching seven innings and allowing just two runs. Clate’s brother, Clarke, is now a sophomore pitcher with the Gamecocks.

“Both of the boys, you could see the talent level that they have,” Dwight said. “I’ve been around it long enough to know when you’ve got somebody that’s got that talent level, it’s pretty impressive.”

As a sophomore, Schmidt saw his ERA dip down to 3.68, an impressive number considering college hitters use metal bats. Again, scouts told him they were high on him. Schmidt said several teams expressed their interest.

Then, at the start of his junior season in February 2015, he found a lump in his neck while showering. He thought nothing of it, was prescribed antibiotics and the lump disappeared.

He found it again a month later but went through the season thinking it wasn’t a threatening health issue.

After all, at 21, cancer wasn’t even a consideration.

By May, the lump was becoming a mystery, so Schmidt skipped a weekend series with Florida State to get a biopsy. It came back inconclusive, but doctors told him he would need his entire lymph node removed.

Two days before his team left for the California regional of the 2015 NCAA Tournament, Schmidt drove back to Atlanta to have the procedure. He was so confident nothing was wrong that he had his bags packed—intent on meeting his team out West.

The Tigers lost their first two games in the double-elimination tournament, so Schmidt remained at home.

His doctor called the ensuing Tuesday and asked him to gather his family. They sat on the family’s porch while the doctor went through a preamble, which Schmidt doesn’t recall.

Schmidt’s earliest recollection of his diagnosis was hearing the word “cancer” through that phone. It didn’t take long to process before he did something Schmidt says most children in military families refrain from.

He cried.

His brother followed suit. Then his mom. Other surrounding family members were close behind.

“I just remember my mom’s dad had lung cancer, and I remember clearly helping him to the bathroom and all the stuff that goes with that and the chemo treatments and stuff. I remember how vigorous it is and how much it takes a toll on your body,” Schmidt said.

When emotion subsided, Schmidt asked the following, in specific order: Is it treatable? What are the chances of it being cured? Can I still play baseball?

Schmidt wanted to first tell his teammates, then baseball scouts, of his condition. He didn’t want to deceive anyone into drafting him without knowing the facts.

Then word spread among his friends. Seager first saw the news on social media. He thought he read it wrong.

“He texted me and it’s like, ‘Wow, it’s really true,’” Seager, then in the minors, said. “You don’t think of that happening to anybody you know. You don’t think of that happening to anybody you played with.”

While friends of his chased their MLB dreams, Schmidt’s was put on hold.

To deliver the chemotherapy—four treatments of which were given every Monday—doctors inserted a port into Schmidt’s chest that ran through his jugular vein.

He was specifically told not to throw a baseball. Doing so could rip the port through his vein, causing fatal injury.

Treatment came with some trepidation. But as Dwight recalls when asked at the time if he was ready, Clate replied: “Now or never.”

Schmidt sat down in a chair in the middle of last summer’s MLB draft. He was getting his blood work done when he was told to turn on the radio.

The Boston Red Sox were about to make their pick in the 32nd round. Schmidt’s name was called.

“I really cannot thank the Boston Red Sox organization for all that they’ve done for me just in support,” Schmidt said. “They called every chance they could. Every chance they could, they called. They helped push to meet Jon Lester and all those guys. Those guys, I can’t say enough about what they did for me.”

The chemo was wearing on Schmidt when he met with Lester, his dad recalled. But both knew the meeting was important.

Lester told him to be patient with his pitching repertoire. He said he would not instantaneously get his velocity back. The treatment would take a toll on Schmidt.

After chemotherapy, Schmidt underwent radiation on his neck and surrounding areas. It lasted between five and 15 minutes.

The treatment was so intense that it made it nearly impossible to swallow food. Schmidt lost a tremendous amount of weight.

“I would just force myself to eat,” he said. “It would suck. So I would try and get anything that was soft. So if I had a cheeseburger or something like that at the time, if it was soft. Macaroni and cheese, I would have to really, really, chew it up, and there were certain ways I would swallow it and just be able to choke it down.

“It was honestly the most miserable experience of my [life]. I would never wish that upon my worst enemy.”

When talking to him, though, friends were unable to tell.

“That’s the kind of guy he is, the kind of character he is,” Gallo said. “He’s not going to let that kind of thing drag him down and turn him into a different person.”

At the beginning of September 2015, Schmidt got the port removed from his chest. He had to wait two weeks until the scab healed to do anything with his arm, which happened the day of his final radiation treatment. Fresh from the hospital, with his truck packed his truck for school, despite still struggling to swallow, Schmidt immediately drove to Clemson.

He was on the field that afternoon.

With Lester’s advice top of mind, Schmidt only softly tossed the ball to his teammates. He didn’t put a gun on his pitches. It was simply about enjoying a return to the game.

“Let’s not have a care in the world,” Schmidt recalls. “Just throw it around and see how it feels.”

As Schmidt worked to develop his velocity, which he says came back in early May, he added a third pitch to his arsenal. He was primarily a fastball-slider guy, capable of getting hitters out with a limited repertoire.

But this fall, Schmidt began to better command his changeup. It helped him develop as a pitcher through a highly productive spring.

Even Lester might be impressed with how quickly he returned to form.

Schmidt started the first weekend of the 2016 season—some five months removed from his final treatment. He earned the win, too.

This past weekend, his brave comeback story received its first giant victory. He was selected in the 20th round of the MLB draft, again by the Tigers.

“I told him I would try to get him with the Rangers so we could play again,” Gallo said. “But obviously, I don’t have much say in that.”

The third time around, the path to his MLB dream is clearly in view.

Seth Gruen is a national baseball columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes were obtained firsthand. Follow him on Twitter: @SethGruen.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The melee between Baltimore Orioles shortstop Manny Machado and Kansas City Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura unquestionably headlined MLB’s Week 10.

Ventura, a reputed rabble-rouser, drilled Machado in the midsection with a fastball. The Baltimore slugger charged the mound, the benches cleared, and brawling ensued. Ultimately, both players were suspended, but the incident raised questions about whether MLB should take steps to eliminate brush-back pitches.

But as that storyline percolated throughout the past week of baseball action, other happenings provided us with great on-field theater.

What exactly were those?

Begin Slideshow

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — After digging in the left-handed batter’s box, a teenage Cavan Biggio stared over his shoulder at a familiar face.

Roger Clemens gazed back with his trademarked, surly, uber-competitive look any wannabe baseball player would recognize. But Cavan had a unique relationship with the 354-game winner, who was a teammate of his father, Craig Biggio, with the Houston Astros.

Clemens, by any measure, is one of the best right-handed pitchers of all time. But given that it was only batting practice for an elite travel team, and Rocket had an L-screen in front of him, Cavan, now a star second baseman at Notre Dame, didn’t expect to see Clemens’ best stuff.

Until he saw a nasty off-speed pitch head his way.

“He’s not that fun to hit batting practice off of, honestly. He’s not like my dad where he kind of throws it in there nice and straight. He’s got some run on it. Sometimes he’ll throw the split finger.”

Clemens wasn’t going to make it easy for Cavan. He would have to earn it. In fact, Cavan wasn’t given much of anything throughout his baseball development.

His pedigree came with perks, of course, which included access for him and older brother Conor to the Astros clubhouse, the opportunity to study the game with major leaguers and up-close exposure as to how the game’s best prepare.

“Cavan and Conor had the opportunity to see [them] prepare for a baseball game, and watching them get themselves ready physically and mentally to go compete in a baseball game,” Craig told B/R.

“I think for Cavan and Conor, having the opportunity to be in the clubhouse, be around big league guys, it definitely helped them. It definitely helped them a lot. I think that if you asked my kids, they will tell you the big league guys, they were like their friends.”

But the name on the back of Cavan’s jersey made it harder for him than other prospects. He became a target. The tamest just wanted a shot at beating Craig Biggio’s son.

Others lobbed lofty expectations on the Fighting Irish second baseman. The worst of them heckled Cavan, insinuating that all he has earned—a college scholarship and high praise from MLB scouts heading into June’s draft—was only because of his last name.

He plays the same position as his father. He leads off for Notre Dame as his father did throughout his career with the Astros. He has some of the same goals his dad once had as a hungry, up-and-coming major league talent.

Cavan’s mission, though, has also been to prove he is a different player from his father. And to prove his love of baseball wasn’t something he just inherited.

It’s innate.

“I kind of realized, who cares what people think? I’m not my dad,” Cavan said. “My dad is an incredible baseball player, and if I’m going to be just as good … I’m not going to be anything like the player he was because we’re two different players.”

Along with Conor, a four-year player at Notre Dame, Cavan developed a game when he was a youngster to work on fielding.

The two brothers would stand on opposite sides of a batting cage they had at home, one that pulled out to some 20 feet long. One brother would hit off a tee at the other as hard as he could.

The object: Field balls as cleanly as possible. Whoever got the most out of 20, while committing the fewest errors, would win.

Cavan was so competitive and hooked on baseball that he would play the game anywhere he could. The two brothers even took over the batting cage at Minute Maid Park.

Conor said when they played the game at the Astros’ home field, there was a soft area at the end of the home team’s cage where they could dive around. The bright lights of an MLB stadium made it even more competitive.

This game, without a name, was one of the many quirks in their development that the Biggio boys were tasked with inventing.

“So I guess I could take credit for his Gold Glove,” Conor said of the award his brother won last season, acknowledging him as college baseball’s best-fielding second baseman.

Conor was joking. Cavan doesn’t when he credits his older brother with his development. That far predates their two seasons together at Notre Dame.

Amid his professional baseball career, Craig would make every attempt to attend his sons’ games. Some weekends, he would pull the doubleheader—watch the first five innings of a son’s game, then head to the park to prepare for his own.

The boys would shower and join him later, in time to watch the “Killer B’s,” which included Craig, Derek Bell and Jeff Bagwell—who hit 1-2-3 in the Houston order.

They would often act as de facto “clubbies”—shagging balls in the home batting cage for players readying for a pinch-hit appearance. After games, they would clean cleats.

As much of a help as they were to the players, Cavan acknowledges the incredible influence it had on his success.

Practically speaking, though, it was difficult for Craig to maintain a constant presence in the baseball development of his young sons. The logistics of a professional baseball career were too difficult to juggle with his sons’ games.

Most of the time, they outright conflicted. 

For Cavan, having Conor at his side was critical. Conor, two years his elder, was the trailblazer—facing the bloodline expectations first and helping him adapt.

“Conor set the path for me,” Cavan said. “Obviously we pretty much played the same sport growing up and played on the same teams, and we both ended up being teammates at Notre Dame.

“He’s been a huge help and a huge leader in my life when my dad wasn’t around to be that father in the household.”

On a college visit to the University of Virginia, Cavan fell in love with the facilities. He liked the coaches and players he met. The program is a perennial contender for the national championship.

But something was missing.

“Conor is such a great older brother and such a great leader in his own way that having an opportunity to see how Conor went through things for his first two years being here [at Notre Dame helped Cavan],” Craig said. “The two things is being an athlete and also being a student-athlete. They go hand and hand; you’ve got to do both sides of it. So I think it absolutely helped him out a lot.”

It seems like the Irish land every son of a professional athlete.

Hall of Fame basketball player David Robinson’s son, Corey, is a wide receiver on the football team and student body president. Jerian Grant, son of former NBA player Harvey Grant, starred for the Notre Dame basketball team—leading it to the 2015 Elite Eight as a senior.

Torii Hunter Jr., son of the soon-to-be Hall of Fame center fielder of the same name, is part of that contingent. Hunter Jr. plays wide receiver on the Irish football team and outfield for the baseball team.

He has given Cavan a sounding board anytime the pressures of succeeding their fathers invaded college life.

The two often take a lighthearted approach to discussing the pressures. Both will joke about how, unlike many athletes, they don’t care about what number they wear—provided it isn’t the one their respective dad wore.

“That was the thing that brought us closer together,” Hunter Jr. said. “We had those commonalities.

“People have certain expectations just because of your last name. You just learn to shake those expectations and play the game you know how to play and just not let it affect you.”

Cavan met yet another legacy prospect while playing in the Cape Cod Baseball League—a wood bat league featuring the country’s best college talent. There, he was teammates with Preston Palmeiro, son of Rafael Palmeiro—a 20-year MLB veteran with 569 career home runs.

In August 2005, Rafael was suspended by MLB after testing positive for steroids. He vehemently denied knowingly doing so. According to ESPN.com, Rafael told an arbitration panel the positive test resulted from a tainted B-12 shot, given to him by Miguel Tejada—who was implicated in the Mitchell Report.

“He’s a great player, even better person,” Cavan said of Preston. “He’s gone through the downsides of [the son of] a major league baseball player just because of … what his dad has been accused of. It’s kind of taken a toll on him but he’s handled it so maturely and I think it’s very impressive for him to kind of brush it off.”

Writing his own chapter would take more than off-field counsel from other sons of professional athletes, though.

Cavan still needed to prove he had the skill set of baseball’s elite. Notre Dame and the ACC, the country’s best baseball conference, provided the stage.

But with the Irish, Cavan would fail for the first time in his career.

Cavan grabs a cross, hanging around his neck, out from under his shirt when he talks about his freshman season.

His struggles, in part, were the result of dealing with the death of a close family friend. Cavan found out about it during a doubleheader in which he recalls failing to get a hit.

The adjustment to elite pitching and off-field tragedy caused Cavan to struggle as a freshman. He leaned on Adam Pavkovich, then a coach at Notre Dame who now serves as an assistant at Georgia State.

“When things happen outside of the field out of our control, it affects anybody, but especially him being so young early in his college career,” Pavkovich said. “You just be there, continue to build him up, talk to him and tell him it’s an escape when you finally get to go to the baseball field.”

In 43 games his freshman year, Cavan hit .246/.329/.353.

But it proved to be the best learning experience of his career. Though Cavan hit only .258 his sophomore year, he had an OBP of .406, showing scouts he had great plate discipline.

“Baseball is a game of failure, and when you haven’t really experienced it that much, I don’t think you’re ready for the professional level,” Cavan said. “College level is a great way to figure yourself out as a person and as a baseball player. It kind of hit me hard my freshman year when I was failing a lot when I hadn’t before my whole life. But I think it’s helped me mature as a baseball player and as a person.”

This season, Cavan leads off for the Irish and was hitting .311/.473/.474 with a team-high 43 runs scored and 28 RBI, which ranked second on the team through Tuesday. Though there is no official college stat that tracks pitches seen per at-bat, Notre Dame head coach Mik Aoki surmises he is among the nation’s best at seeing pitches.

His game is indicative of a player exposed to baseball at a high level. The little things come easy to Cavan—knowing when to run on a pitch in the dirt, situational hitting or his positioning in the field.

“His identity is wrapped up in being a baseball player, and I certainly think he wants to carve his own path and be known for the things he has been able to accomplish rather than the things his dad was able to accomplish,” Aoki said.

“He sees the game at a really, really high level.”

In a breakout year for the Irish star, comparisons to his father have lessened. His play stands on its own. But like many college stars on the precipice of a pro career, Cavan is drawing parallels to other MLB stars.

“He reminds me a lot of Jeff Bagwell, in a way. If you walk him, you walk him,” Craig said. “If he gets a chance to hit, he hits. That’s the way he goes about his business.

“My maturity level, how was I at 20 years old, 21 years old? I was nowhere near half as close as what Cavan is right now. He is so wise and mature on the baseball field and a student of the game.”

Cavan is proud of his father and his name. But it finally appears he is first recognized for his own play, not Craig’s.

Scouts from several MLB organizations have flocked to South Bend to watch Cavan, but it’s too early to say what round that may be. As a junior, Cavan will be eligible to be picked in this year’s draft.

“The name can only take you so far,” Cavan said. “It’s going to catch people’s eye. But at the end of the day, if you can play, you can play.”

There are no longer questions about his talent. He will always be honored to be a Biggio, but it’s time for him to make a name for himself as Cavan—last name excluded.

Seth Gruen is a national baseball columnist for Bleacher Report. Talk baseball with Seth by following him on Twitter and liking his Facebook page.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

For fans of a Seattle Mariners franchise that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2001, doubt is a part of daily life.

Disbelief underscored the start of the 2016 season after the organization underwent a massive overhaul, with nearly half of the roster being replaced in the offseason and changes being made to the coaching staff.

This was supposed to be a year of transition for the organization. And maybe it still is, if you consider the categorical definition: Seattle has transitioned into a winner.

But more than semantics, it’s important to acknowledge this Mariners team, which stood four games out of first place in the American League West as of Tuesday morning, should inspire belief in those who have made doubting the organization a personal hobby the last 15 years.

The AL West is getting more competitive than it was the first month of the season. The division-leading Texas Rangers recently got top-of-the-rotation pitcher Yu Darvish back after Tommy John surgery, and a talented, burgeoning Houston Astros team that lost to the Kansas City Royals in the 2015 American League Division Series is playing better after a horrendous start to the season.

But more competition in the division doesn’t mean the Mariners won’t remain competitive.

Through Sunday’s games, the Mariners ranked fourth in MLB with 287 runs scored. Their offense has not been the class of baseball, but it has been in the upper echelon, ranking 10th in batting average (.262) and fifth in slugging percentage (.440). Seattle ranks second in baseball with 82 home runs.

But most importantly, the Mariners have received timely hitting, as they lead MLB with 26 homers with runners in scoring position. Their .477 slugging percentage in that circumstance ranks sixth in MLB.

The Mariners come up big in the game’s biggest moments. Think of the Seattle offense like your friend who fades into the background on a regular night out but is a key player in a Vegas bachelor or bachelorette party.

The team’s pitching staff has done its part, too: As of Sunday’s games, the Mariners ranked ninth in ERA (3.80) and 10th in WHIP (1.26). The staff has been able to maintain its play with ace Felix Hernandez on the disabled list since June 1.

But the team’s bullpen has been the hallmark of this Seattle renaissance.

Through Sunday’s games, the Mariners bullpen ranked third in ERA (2.94) and batting average against (.214). The Royals just won a World Series largely because they had baseball’s best bullpen. As of Sunday, Kansas City’s bullpen ranked first in ERA.

So naturally, other organizations have tried to mimic the Royals’ formula. This offseason, we saw several teams chase well-regarded bullpen arms. Examples include the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees trading for Craig Kimbrel and Aroldis Chapman, respectively.

Teams are always searching for bullpen help. It has proved to be baseball’s most elusive asset—have one, and it nearly guarantees you will be competitive.

As of Sunday, teams in the top five in bullpen ERA—which also included the Chicago Cubs, Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals—were either leading their divisions or holding second place.

Of course, the Seattle cynics are still singing with the panache of the Harlem Gospel Choir: Sure, we all know what the Mariners have done, but can they keep it up?

After all, USA Today had the Mariners winning only 77 games. Sports Illustrated predicted Seattle would only win 76 games. 

Offensively, the Mariners’ high OBP is more a matter of habit—the team has players with a discerning eye—than it is a skill with the potential to slump. So they should continue to put runners on base, with the opportunity for the team’s power bats to drive them in.

And the Mariners haven’t experienced a sudden power surge this season. Those who are driving in runs have proved capable in previous years.

So why wouldn’t they be able to continue that in 2016?

After seeing his season-ending slugging percentage dip below the .500s his first two seasons in Seattle, second baseman Robinson Cano is hitting .289/.348/.570 with 16 homers so far this year. In the five seasons prior to his signing as a free agent with the Mariners, Cano’s slugging percentage was above .500. Third baseman Kyle Seager and right fielder Nelson Cruz, who combined to hit 70 homers in 2015, had 10 and 13 homers, respectively, as of Sunday.

One big difference between this year and last is that the power bats weren’t hitting well with men on base in 2015. Seattle ranked 28th last year in OBP with runners on (.318 OBP) compared to 10th this season (.342).

But no statistic should excite Seattle about its potential in 2016 more than this: The team’s relievers had only thrown 171.1 innings through Sunday. That is only 26 more innings than the MLB-leading Cubs, who had played three fewer games.

That means Seattle’s bullpen will be fresh for its playoff push.

No team in the AL West has had a more effective bullpen. And no team in the division has used its relievers less than Seattle.

Too much losing has tormented Seattle’s fans. A negative mentality is understandable, if not warranted, in many cases. The franchise tied a record with 116 wins in 2001 but lost in the ALCS. The Mariners won 93 games in each of the following two seasons but missed the playoffs.  

But this season, it’s time for Mariners nation to stop biting its nails. Sit back and enjoy the ride.

Because every indication is that the team’s going somewhere in 2016.

Seth Gruen is national baseball columnist for Bleacher Report. Talk baseball with Seth by following him on Twitter @SethGruen.

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This week we said goodbye to some big MLB names, albeit some for a longer stretch than others. But no one was more publicized than Cleveland Indians outfielder Marlon Byrd.

Wednesday, the league suspended Byrd 162 games after his second positive test for performance-enhancing drugs.

His was not the first positive test for PEDs this season. So yet again, it sparked debate over whether MLB’s policies and punishments are successfully legislating PED use out of the game.

But you’re probably also wondering: What other goodbyes had an impact on teams around MLB?

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At their core, sports provide us with a stage for competition. We typically associate that with the contest between two teams.

But it extends to teammates, too, vying for at-bats. And also to a competitor’s drive to chase a record. That was the case with Boston Red Sox outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr., who was pursuing Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak.

Bradley fell short. The streak ended at 29 games, which again proved that DiMaggio’s record is one of baseball’s toughest to break.

Of course, Bradley’s streak wasn’t the only compelling theater over the past seven days…

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Even without a career that includes six All-Star appearances, four Silver Sluggers and three seasons in which he finished in the top 10 in NL MVP voting, Chase Utley would forever remain in the baseball lexicon.

All because of one play.

Utley became infamous when he launched himself toward second base in Game 2 of last year’s National League Division Series, breaking the leg of New York Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada leg but preventing a double play. This offseason, MLB legislated that kind of violent action out of the game, adopting what is known as the “Utley Rule.”

The ultra-competitive, highly controversial play was thought to mark the end of an otherwise stellar career. That is, until Utley, thought to be dead weight on a talented Los Angeles Dodgers roster, trotted out to second base this season.

Nearly two months into the MLB season, not only is Utley a crucial part of the Dodgers lineup, but he’s also proved that his latter years may yield some great baseball.

After a horrendous 2015 campaign in which he hit .212/.286/.343, Utley signed a one-year deal with the Dodgers. With the goal of chasing one final October, it seemed the 37-year-old was clinging to a talented team with World Series aspirations. That’s not an uncommon storyline for a star player nearing the end of his career.

Utley is hitting .289/.379/.408 this season. Those numbers are better than his 14-year career average of .281/.365/.477. As of Thursday, Utley’s WAR of 1.4 ranked seventh among all second basemen, according to FanGraphs.

He isn‘t writing the epilogue to his career, but an entirely new chapter.

It’s an unexpected turn of a events, given that a Philadelphia Phillies team beginning to rebuild traded him, with cash, to the Dodgers last year.

Think of it this way: Philadelphia had to pay Los Angeles to take him.

Apparently, the Phillies were right to do so. In his 34-game stint with the Dodgers last season, Utley hit .202/.291/.363. His one-year deal this season—worth $7 million, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts—was a low-risk move for the Dodgers. They took a flier.

For most teams, that much money is significant. But the Dodgers, with their mega-television contract, probably carry that kind of dough in petty cash.

Anything Utley does to help them win this season is a bonus, like ice cream on top of a brownie. But as it turns out, he was a necessary ingredient.

Given the talent in Los Angeles, the team’s struggles are as surprising as Utley’s success. The Dodgers rank 20th in batting average (.240) and 19th in on-base percentage (.313).

Utley ranks first on the team in batting average and OBP and fourth in slugging.

What’s most impressive is that Utley is doing all this while playing his home games at Dodger Stadium, which ranks last in MLB in park factor, according to ESPN.com.

Credit a different approach at the plate for an uptick in Utley’s offensive numbers. According to FanGraphs, 26.9 percent of the balls he has hit have been line drives, a career high. Only 24.4 percent of balls hit by Utley are fly balls, a career low.

While many players hit well in their twilight years, age has generally been a detriment to their performance in the field.

Utley, though, ranks sixth among second basemen at 2.8 defensive runs above average, according to FanGraphs. His 2.2 ultimate zone rating ranks him seventh among those at his position.

To some extent, Utley is the last of a disappearing breed: a group of players who ran the bases with reckless abandon, aiming to win at all costs.

But in this new era of the Utley Rule, he has reinvented himself, and his career appears far from over.

He isn‘t clinging to a talented Dodgers roster, hoping to hang on for the ride.

Surprisingly, Utley is among those at the wheel.

Seth Gruen is a national baseball columnist for Bleacher Report. Talk baseball with Seth by following him on Twitter and liking his Facebook page.

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