2018 Hug watch thread..

[CSF77]

If he ever stops walking people, I want him to stay.

I hear that. Guy is talented for sure but my issue with him might be between the ears. I loved Rich Hill as a Cub but it took him years to figure it out and train himself to become elite.

That said even if he straitened out his fastball all he wants to do is go back to his old form in Col. IMO pitching in Col fucked him up in the first place. He was a talented over the top pitcher with a 4 seem/curve then he became a 3/4 cutter pitcher. Lets face it over the top you have the most command. 3/4 you have the most movement.

All said and done going back to his Col form is suspect to me. Might work out in the end but I would believe it would be from effective wildness vs any command gained.

Regardless his career BB/9 hovered 4 which is above avg. He gets back to that he is serviceable.

Now my main issue with him is really related to Theo. It was a stupid signing. He was a Col pitcher and he was going to have to adjust. So you really were guessing. This result was by far the most likely scenario and you commit 3 years to a potential mistake. Shit like this and E-Jax needs to be avoided in general.

Darvish was a good deal. Better track record going in. Injury is tough luck. If you are going to roll dice stick with a 1 year and keep Montgomery in the hip.

Again his bad deals follow a failure to sign a target. Knee jerk reaction.

 

[CSF77]

Redsox just got Kinsler....

As a cubs fan, I hope he goes no where, and especially not to an NL team..lol
Can you imagine him in Colorado for home games..

These AL teams are all loaded, imagine him with Houston or Cleveland







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Pedroia is doubtful returning. It was a needed move.

Cubs should be taking notes with Morrow’s situation.

 

[CSF77]

I don't want this to devolve into a long discussion but suffice to say I'm not sure I agree Russell goes before Baez. The long and short of things is essentially I think Baez is either at his peak or possibly playing slightly above it depending on how you view his analytics. With Russell, I think he has a lot more room to grow and if he finally has that break out season with his bat I think that version of Russell is more valuable than the current version of Baez. Baez is breaking out at 25. Russell is still 24. And just to be clear here, like I said if you're for keeping both I think that's a legitimate idea.

Also I doubt Schwarber gets traded rather than Happ. Simply put it's harder to trade Schwarber. Plus, I'm not really sure even if you could trade Schwarber that there is really an advantage to doing so. The obvious one or at least it seems obvious would be the question on Schwarber's defense but he's looked great in LF this year.

Having thought a bit more about it, I honestly think you just take Russell and Baez for the defense and anything more you get out of their bats is gravy. When you figure in the amount of offense especially with Almora breaking out and Heyward returning to form you don't need them to be all-star hitters though obviously Javy has been this year. And in terms of LF, I like Happ but I don't think his offensive potential is better than Schwarber. So, I'd likely still consider Happ the guy to go.

I think the answer is pretty simple to deduce. I see it as Schwarber is the starting LF just like Russell is the starting SSand Rizzo is the starting 1B. These are their core players.

Almora is getting there but I would concidered him 2nd tier still because his AB’s are sacrificed for others playing time.

Baez is a little unique where he plays full time but is moved around to give guys a breather. He is a product of Joe’s method. Not saying it is wrong when Javy is a luxury.

Zo is a role player now and Happ is around because Joe can’t use Zo like he used him in TB. Happ is a poor mans Zobrist. Weaker D. Worse SO rate. Can bash HR’s but a lesser player.

Bote is making things more interesting IMO. Can play all 4 IF spots and has less holes to his swing. Honestly I would make him my main UI next year.

 

[chibears55]

I think the answer is pretty simple to deduce. I see it as Schwarber is the starting LF just like Russell is the starting SSand Rizzo is the starting 1B. These are their core players.

Almora is getting there but I would concidered him 2nd tier still because his AB’s are sacrificed for others playing time.

Baez is a little unique where he plays full time but is moved around to give guys a breather. He is a product of Joe’s method. Not saying it is wrong when Javy is a luxury.

Zo is a role player now and Happ is around because Joe can’t use Zo like he used him in TB. Happ is a poor mans Zobrist. Weaker D. Worse SO rate. Can bash HR’s but a lesser player.

Bote is making things more interesting IMO. Can play all 4 IF spots and has less holes to his swing. Honestly I would make him my main UI next year.

Keep telling you all, next year were gonna see a couple new players on this team, which means a couple of these regulars will be moved...

Im not gonna guess who, i just feel Theo might want to change it up a bit..

Plus, who knows maybe he gets Machado or Harper





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[Parade_Rain]

I think the answer is pretty simple to deduce. I see it as Schwarber is the starting LF just like Russell is the starting SSand Rizzo is the starting 1B. These are their core players.

Almora is getting there but I would concidered him 2nd tier still because his AB’s are sacrificed for others playing time.

Baez is a little unique where he plays full time but is moved around to give guys a breather. He is a product of Joe’s method. Not saying it is wrong when Javy is a luxury.

Zo is a role player now and Happ is around because Joe can’t use Zo like he used him in TB. Happ is a poor mans Zobrist. Weaker D. Worse SO rate. Can bash HR’s but a lesser player.

Bote is making things more interesting IMO. Can play all 4 IF spots and has less holes to his swing. Honestly I would make him my main UI next year.

As good as Schwarber has been compared to most defensive LF this season, he is still getting removed in the late innings of close games for defensive reasons. I'm not 100% sold that they still think Schwarber is untouchable.

 

[fatbeard]

I hear that. Guy is talented for sure but my issue with him might be between the ears. I loved Rich Hill as a Cub but it took him years to figure it out and train himself to become elite.

That said even if he straitened out his fastball all he wants to do is go back to his old form in Col. IMO pitching in Col fucked him up in the first place. He was a talented over the top pitcher with a 4 seem/curve then he became a 3/4 cutter pitcher. Lets face it over the top you have the most command. 3/4 you have the most movement.

All said and done going back to his Col form is suspect to me. Might work out in the end but I would believe it would be from effective wildness vs any command gained.

Regardless his career BB/9 hovered 4 which is above avg. He gets back to that he is serviceable.

Now my main issue with him is really related to Theo. It was a stupid signing. He was a Col pitcher and he was going to have to adjust. So you really were guessing. This result was by far the most likely scenario and you commit 3 years to a potential mistake. Shit like this and E-Jax needs to be avoided in general.

This is nonsensical. It's like you're pretending that Chatwood never pitched outside of Coors Field until he got to the Cubs. Where do you think he made the other half of his career starts as a Rockie that weren't home games? He had a 3.49 road ERA in 2017, and 1.69 road ERA in 2016. That's a 160 inning simple size. The Cubs weren't "guessing" about whether he could do it.

This is not that hard. It's Jason Heyward all over again. Guy gets to the Cubs, they play with his mechanics and approach, he stinks, he loses confidence, maybe he gets a nagging injury, snowball effect, and they can't fix him in-season. That scenario is about a thousand times more likely than "Chatwood forgot how to pitch outside Coors even though he successfully did it in the recent past."

 

[CSF77]

This is nonsensical. It's like you're pretending that Chatwood never pitched outside of Coors Field until he got to the Cubs. Where do you think he made the other half of his career starts as a Rockie that weren't home games? He had a 3.49 road ERA in 2017, and 1.69 road ERA in 2016. That's a 160 inning simple size. The Cubs weren't "guessing" about whether he could do it.

This is not that hard. It's Jason Heyward all over again. Guy gets to the Cubs, they play with his mechanics and approach, he stinks, he loses confidence, maybe he gets a nagging injury, snowball effect, and they can't fix him in-season. That scenario is about a thousand times more likely than "Chatwood forgot how to pitch outside Coors even though he successfully did it in the recent past."

You realize that he did say that coors restricted ball movement and getting out made him wild back then. That messes up mechanics.

Right now he is full time out of there and has no control of his fastball. I really think that even he doesn’t know where it ends up. To say what you said is non sense. If it was not a factor then he would have just pitched normal zone numbers again.

Not just him though. Greg Holland fell off the bridge after spending a year there.

I see it as pitching mechanics are a fine tuning thing and when you have to hard adjust them to adapt to a environment it takes time to fine tune back. It is like trying walk up. A river then walk on land. Much easier but you are used to that extra effort to walk and it takes time to normalize.

Now I believe tinkering is part of it also. They did the same think to Starlin.

On Heyward. He has always changed his swing through out his career. They did a bit on this recently on a national Fox game and before he was leaning forward and his mechanics were off balance. He fixed this in his DL stint. Now he rotates more vertical and we are seeing better results.

Every thing ties into proper mechanics

 

[anotheridiot]

11th hour and Rizzo is asking what he can get for Bryce Harper. I guess he finally realized what Chapman did for the yankees. Somehow I think its the easy way out for Harper leaving washington, he wont have to deal with the traitor fans when he leaves this off season.

 

[CSF77]

11th hour and Rizzo is asking what he can get for Bryce Harper. I guess he finally realized what Chapman did for the yankees. Somehow I think its the easy way out for Harper leaving washington, he wont have to deal with the traitor fans when he leaves this off season.

Thought is if they can pull Realmuto then they make a run.

My personal opinion is they waited til the last minuet and this is just a ploy to get a team to give up the world. I see it as golden apple come get it and see the results. If a team gives up their top 4 prospects then they take them.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

Thought is if they can pull Realmuto then they make a run.

My personal opinion is they waited til the last minuet and this is just a ploy to get a team to give up the world. I see it as golden apple come get it and see the results. If a team gives up their top 4 prospects then they take them.

Rizzo has just stated that Harper will not be moved. As for Realmuto Miami is insisting on Robles and Washington has apparently agreed which is all kinds of stupid. Plus it isn't enough for Miami and they want more.

 

[chibears55]

Rizzo has just stated that Harper will not be moved. As for Realmuto Miami is insisting on Robles and Washington has apparently agreed which is all kinds of stupid. Plus it isn't enough for Miami and they want more.

I didn't think theyd trade Harper today..

Pham got traded to the Rays

Archer to Padres got cooled off for now

Yankees looking for an outfielder with 2 of theirs hurt now..

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[fatbeard]

You realize that he did say that coors restricted ball movement and getting out made him wild back then. That messes up mechanics.

And yet his BB% was essential identical between his road & away splits from 2016-2017. You are arguing something that is not supported at all by the data. If he was really more wild, why didn't it manifest itself in a higher walk rate?

 

[anotheridiot]

And yet his BB% was essential identical between his road & away splits from 2016-2017. You are arguing something that is not supported at all by the data. If he was really more wild, why didn't it manifest itself in a higher walk rate?

I would hope the road and away splits were identical, otherwise you slide rule guys are going to have a harder time defending these numbers

 

[Parade_Rain]

More ruminations on Tyler Chatwood...He did pretty darn good in Cubs Spring Training. His output in the regular season has been spectacularly opposite. Are we sure that Hickey worked on his mechanics and messed him up? Wouldn't that show in ST? 4.6 BB/9 in ST compared to 8.1 in RS. ST ERA 2.91 vs RS ERA at 4.98.

 

[Parade_Rain]

Additional comment about Baez... Baez leads Cubs in HR (21), RBI (79), SLG (.561), Runs (65) Stolen Bases (19).

 

[chibears55]

More ruminations on Tyler Chatwood...He did pretty darn good in Cubs Spring Training. His output in the regular season has been spectacularly opposite. Are we sure that Hickey worked on his mechanics and messed him up? Wouldn't that show in ST? 4.6 BB/9 in ST compared to 8.1 in RS. ST ERA 2.91 vs RS ERA at 4.98.

Think it always easy to point fingers at the pitching coach when a player(s) goes south...

Find it hard to believe that a new pitching coach would drastically change a way a veteran pitcher pitches in one month of Spring training that would make him more wild and then have him stick with it 4 months into the season ..

If you want to blame Hickey for anything, i guess it should be that he hasn't found a cure for Chatwood yet, unless Chatwood just wants to figure it out on his own or it just that he simply having a suckass year and nothing works for him now.

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[zack54attack]

Pham to Rays.

 

[anotheridiot]

More ruminations on Tyler Chatwood...He did pretty darn good in Cubs Spring Training. His output in the regular season has been spectacularly opposite. Are we sure that Hickey worked on his mechanics and messed him up? Wouldn't that show in ST? 4.6 BB/9 in ST compared to 8.1 in RS. ST ERA 2.91 vs RS ERA at 4.98.

The talk out of spring training was that Chatwood was the guy with the most wicked movement on his pitches. Its just past the point of being controllable. You add the herky jerk windup with far too many steps and its a recipe for disaster. Yes, it is very hard for a guy to change what he has been doing his entire career, but he needs to simplify. I would not be surprised if they would prefer he start with his hands over his head and just throw from the stretch. That is the only thing that they have mentioned about Hickey wanting to simplify his delivery. But we have heard from others on this team that they ask for help when they need it, so the pitching and hitting coaches do not pry around this team. I am pretty sure what Chatwood is doing is going to be found on film and someone needs to point it out to him.

 

[anotheridiot]

Pham to Rays.

After seeing his terribly timed leap at the wall for that Rizzo home run, I was wondering how long they were going to stick with him.

 

[anotheridiot]

Looks like the D backs are getting Ziegler and the veteran outfielder theo is looking for in Leonys Martin again is off the board going to the indians.