August 16 update: Former Cubs Javier Báez, Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Kyle Schwarber

It’s been a couple of weeks since the last update in this series, which posted on trade deadline day. How have these four former Cubs been doing?

Javier Báez

Javy is hitting .263/.276/.386 (15-for-57) this month with one home run, which is... about where he’s been all year.

The Tigers were in Chicago this past weekend to play the White Sox, and as has been the case all year, Javy got roundly booed by Sox fans. He talked with a reporter from Bally Sports Detroit about it:

During Monday’s Tigers doubleheader against the Guardians, Javy flied to center — on a pitch that bounced [VIDEO].

Kris Bryant

KB is still on the injured list, this time with plantar fasciitis, which can be quite painful:

“It really peaked for me in Milwaukee — we had some really long games standing out there,” Bryant said Thursday morning. “And after the day game, I was crawling to the bathroom on the floor of my hotel.”

There is no projected return date. The best Bryant can do is say he’s not shut down for the season, but he is in a walking boot and can’t place weight on his foot.

The Rockies begin a three-game series at Wrigley Field one month from today. It’s possible Bryant won’t be ready to play by then. They had a bobblehead day for Bryant at Coors Field last Saturday and even one of their beat writers got a bit snarky:

Bryant’s slash line this year is .306/.376/.475, which is good — but it’s in just 42 games and 181 plate appearances.

Anthony Rizzo

Since the last update here, the streaky Rizzo has stopped hitting — just .133/.212/.400 (4-for-30) over that stretch. Two of those four hits were home runs, though. He also missed five games with back trouble, something that bothered him frequently when he was a Cub, as you surely remember.

Monday night at Yankee Stadium, Rizzo got hit by a Ryan Yarbrough pitch — only to be told to get back in the batter’s box [VIDEO].

Plate umpire D.J. Reyburn ruled that Rizzo didn’t try to get out of the way of the pitch. Such a ruling is not reviewable, so Rizzo had to get back in the box. He wound up striking out.

I can see why Reyburn ruled that way, but — isn’t Rizzo entitled to be in the batter’s box? That pitch was way off the plate and all the way in the batter’s box (pitch 4):

The Yankees lost the game 4-0.

Kyle Schwarber

Schwarber’s 34 home runs still lead the National League, though he has hit only one this month. Overall so far in 10 games in August: .290/.405/.484 (9-for-31) with three doubles and that one home run [VIDEO].

That ball went a long way:

The Phillies currently inhabit the top wild card spot in the National League and if the season ended today, would host a wild-card series.

Lastly, I am very happy I didn’t have to add Willson Contreras to this article. Now, Jed, #ExtendWillson.