Cubs get last laugh after trash talk from disgruntled former pitcher

At the end of the day, baseball is a business.

This needs to be the mindset of every player and front office member at all times. The owners are in the business to make money, however they can. That means that they will trade away players or prospects without batting an eye if they think it will make them more money in the long run.

This was the case when the Chicago Cubs dealt prospects DJ Herz and Kevin Made to the Washington Nationals for infielder Jeimer Candelario.

Herz took this deal very personally. He quickly spoke out in frustration with the Cubs, vowing to prove them wrong for trading him.

“I'm going to show them up, or I'm going to come out and I'm just going to put everything on the line and be a beast and do everything I can to make the Cubs know that they messed up a little bit," Herz said during Spring Training this year.

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Cubs get the better of their former prospect in Saturday's victory

The lefty has had quite a positive 2024 as well. He currently holds an ERA right around 4.00. His win-loss record isn't great, but the Nationals have been bad so that makes sense. He was given the perfect opportunity to prove the Cubs wrong on Saturday when he got the start against his former organization.

Herz was dealing threw four innings, holding his former team scoreless. He was up 2-0 heading into the fifth inning. That fifth inning is where everything went wrong for the young southpaw though.

The inning would begin with a single, walk and a single, loading the bases with no outs. Pete Crow-Armstrong would hit a sacrifice fly, followed by another single to tie the game at two. Herz would get an RBI groundout before being pulled from the game after 4.2 innings.

The Cubs would go on to beat Herz and the Nats, handing the lefty his seventh loss of the season. For those keeping track at home, that makes the score one for the Cubs and zero for DJ Herz.

His career is just getting started and he will match up with the Cubs plenty more times in his career. His revenge story against his former team is far from over.