Fans fawning over mustachioed 'nut' Chafin

Andrew Chafin sports a mustache that stirs memories of Rod Beck closing games for the Cubs. The lefty reliever has an unruly mop of curly hair that juts out from under the sides of his cap.

And Chafin just pounds the strike zone.

"It's kind of like that old-school approach,'" Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said on Sunday morning. "It's like, 'I'm coming right at you. Here. Hit it.'"

Add it all up -- including Chafin's increasingly entertaining presence on social media since joining the North Siders -- and the reliever has swiftly become a cult favorite among Cubs fans. Just this week, Chafin took to Twitter to ask Cubs fans if they had an old car he could purchase for commuting to Wrigley Field.

"He's a nut," Hottovy said. "He's hilarious. But you love it."

Chafin's stock among fans has been helped by the fact that the lefty is off to a strong start, too.

Through his first four appearances this season, Chafin has racked up eight strikeouts against 14 batters faced. He has surrendered no runs with just one walk issued and two hits allowed in 3 2/3 innings, giving manager David Ross a veteran presence for key moments.

"Part of it is just knowing who he is," Ross said. "And knowing how he attacks hitters. One, throwing a lot of strikes. Strikes help. Hitting [is] hard. Pumping balls in the zone [works]."

During the current trip to Pittsburgh, the Cubs posted a photo on Twitter of Chafin, peering over the top of his sunglasses while wearing a shirt that simply read, "Baseball Player." The image was meme-ready for fans, and one rendering soon arrived depicting Chafin walking away from an explosion.

"Putting the fire behind there was pretty cool," Ross said with a chuckle. "That, in a one-shot frame, kind of does sum up who Andrew Chafin is, which I love."

Hottovy: Mills could be 'MVP' of staff
At some point, Alec Mills will start a game again for the Cubs. For the time being, the right-hander will continue to take the ball in a variety of situations out of the bullpen.

Mills has already filled in for Craig Kimbrel as the closer for a day. He has worked more than one inning multiple times. On Saturday night, the righty logged 2 1/3 frames when starter Zach Davies could not last beyond the second.

"A guy like Alec Mills," Hottovy said, "you could look back at the end of the year and say a guy like him is going to be like the MVP of our pitching staff. Just knowing the versatility, what he can do, his ability to come in and execute a game plan, even out of the bullpen."

Through four appearances, Mills has a 1.59 ERA in 5 2/3 innings, and the right-hander serves as the next available starter behind Chicago's current five-man rotation.

"When you have guys like him," Hottovy said, "that are unselfish, that just want the ability to pitch and can compete and give your team a chance to win, that's why you fight for guys like that."

Worth noting
• Right-hander Rowan Wick (10-day injured list, left oblique discomfort) recently threw a 35-pitch bullpen session, per Hottovy. The Cubs are still keeping Wick on a conservative throwing program, building in extra days off between mound workouts.

"Rowan Wick is still progressing," Hottovy said. "He's been throwing some bullpens. We're obviously giving him ample time in between, because the recovery is just the biggest part of that."

• Similar to Wick, righty Jonathan Holder (10-day IL, right shoulder strain) has built up to throwing off a mound, but he is on a gradual program. Hottovy said "recovery was still an issue" for Holder.

Quotable
"Whoever put the picture of him with his sunglasses with the explosion behind him, it looked like a Chuck Norris throwback action figure." -- Hottovy, on the Chafin memes on social media