After his first start in an intrasquad scrimmage at Cubs preseason camp, Tyler Chatwood described how strange it was to hop up the dugout steps at Wrigley Field and be greeted by the sound of … nothing.
Since then, fake crowd noise has been added to the daily atmosphere in preparation for Marquee Sports Network’s telecasts. Think: all cheering, no booing.
Chatwood could use a few cheers in 2020, a crucial season for him in which he’ll try to get back on track as a big-league starter. He went off the rails in 2018, leading the league in walks despite starting only 20 games, and regained some usefulness — mostly out of the bullpen — in 2019.