With all due respect to the Marquee documentary on Kerry Wood’s 20-strikeout game, I think the most impressive pitching performance I’ve seen in at least the last year came Monday night from Royals righty Josh Staumont. He needed just 13 pitches — a mix of a fastball that sat 99 and touched 101 and a curveball that bit like a saltwater crocodile — to dispatch the Cubs in order in the 8th inning.
We’re not talking about the bottom of the order, either, though the Cubs are actually pretty potent there as well. Staumont made Javy Báez, Willson Contreras, and Kyle Schwarber look like children at the plate.