2025 Regular Season IGT

[CSF77]

Agree. Why not use someone who is ranked lowest in the ball pen or somebody who needs work..

Like a peanut vender. They seem able to throw a bag here and there.

 

[hyatt151]

POMERANTZ LISTED AS the starter tomorrow, so a bullpen game making sense for the Berti relief stint

 

[hyatt151]

Love seeing the Cards get buttfucked like that. But not a fan of putting a position player in to pitch when you are dominating them, seems disrespectful. I’m guessing the Cards are going to plunk someone tomorrow.

it's a bullpen game tomorrow, why waste an inning with an 8 run lead

 

[Probie2429]

Counsell is familiar with Houser from their time in Milwaukee. Wouldn’t be surprised if the Cubs reached out to the White Sox to see the cost.

 

[SilenceS]

Im watching Better Off Dead. Chicago boy, We got another W going tomorrow.

 

[Szlachcic]

I wasn't aware that today is bullpen day.

 

[DrGonzo]

Here's to extending the Cardinals losing streak.

 

[CSF77]

I wasn't aware that today is bullpen day.

They brought up Wicks. We will see how many innings they give to him.

I would not mind seeing Pomeranz getting more than a inning. He has been so good this year it would be amazing if he had a Boyd effect

 

[beckdawg]

I think Wiggins is the best cubs pitching prospect since Cease and his k/bb/hr per 9 rates are almost identical to Cease's minor league numbers. I also think fans should probably factor that in to their thoughts regarding the deadline. Cubs let him start 12 games in A+ between 2024 and this year. He's at 7 in AA with 11.38 k/9 3.71 bb/9 0.26 hr/9 and a 2.38/2.22 ERA/FIP.

Realistically he could probably be pitching in AAA now but I imagine they just let him finish the season in AA. There's often other considerations like depth at a league level that comes into when a guy gets sent up a level. The interesting thing about Wiggins is AA is the best number's he has put up excluding A ball where I think he was just too overpowering. This becomes a bit of a projection but if he continues at roughly the same numbers in AAA he very likely could be MLB ready by next July.

The 2025 situation makes things tricky. The easiest solution is probably going in on pure rentals. Shota, Steele and Boyd should be here for the next 3 years and Horton has been league average with potential to improve after a year under his belt. Jamo has 1 year $18 mil left and would in theory be a good bridge pitcher for someone like Wiggins to prove it in AAA and maybe pitch out of the pen post july and replace him in 2027.

I might add some more thoughts to this later. I'm falling asleep but i thought it was worth mentioning because we're nearing a point where the cubs finally are producing young pitching. You could be talking about Brown, Wicks, Horton and Wiggins as young depth pieces with upside as soon as next year.

 

[CSF77]

Cubs’ struggles against left-handed starters puts focus on another area of need

Since the start of May, the Cubs have been mediocre against left-handed pitchers, and their opponents have noticed.

www.nytimes.com

It is the biggest need right now. Lefties are smoking them and Jed and Craig can't gloss over it anymore.

 

[CSF77]

I think Wiggins is the best cubs pitching prospect since Cease and his k/bb/hr per 9 rates are almost identical to Cease's minor league numbers. I also think fans should probably factor that in to their thoughts regarding the deadline. Cubs let him start 12 games in A+ between 2024 and this year. He's at 7 in AA with 11.38 k/9 3.71 bb/9 0.26 hr/9 and a 2.38/2.22 ERA/FIP.

Realistically he could probably be pitching in AAA now but I imagine they just let him finish the season in AA. There's often other considerations like depth at a league level that comes into when a guy gets sent up a level. The interesting thing about Wiggins is AA is the best number's he has put up excluding A ball where I think he was just too overpowering. This becomes a bit of a projection but if he continues at roughly the same numbers in AAA he very likely could be MLB ready by next July.

The 2025 situation makes things tricky. The easiest solution is probably going in on pure rentals. Shota, Steele and Boyd should be here for the next 3 years and Horton has been league average with potential to improve after a year under his belt. Jamo has 1 year $18 mil left and would in theory be a good bridge pitcher for someone like Wiggins to prove it in AAA and maybe pitch out of the pen post july and replace him in 2027.

I might add some more thoughts to this later. I'm falling asleep but i thought it was worth mentioning because we're nearing a point where the cubs finally are producing young pitching. You could be talking about Brown, Wicks, Horton and Wiggins as young depth pieces with upside as soon as next year.

Shota has a opt in 2028
Boyd has a opt in 2027
Steele goes Arb 4 in 2027
Jamo final year 2026

So you can staple those 3 for now. Horton has shown enough to be part of it. Wicks has not. Brown strikes out a ton of hitters. He gives up a lot of hits also. I feel that he is too north south and needs to add some east west IE cutter, sweeper, kick change.

Wiggens is just another arm in the system. You never count on farm arms until they are in the majors. This is a nice to know topic.

Interesting that you noted Cease. He would be a solid F/A signing. There is a log jam ATM and this is less likely with Steele returning. Steele being the same guy is unlikely. We have seen pitchers return and struggle for months before finally showing some dominance. This year alone deGromm is finally turned it around and Alcantara is showing some life.

So I think there is a case to be made on signing Cease this off season. Trading for Lugo is a equal argument. If KC would take Wicks and Brown for Lugo I think I would do it. KC has been able to take pitchers and mold them. Let them take on the chore while CHC goes for rings.

Lugo is being paid 15M next year and he makes sense as Steele should be struggling in his return.

My view point on self developed pitcher and hitting is they are a problem until they are not a problem anymore.

When they are in a winning window then there is less opportunity to allow growth. Growth happen when players fail and it forces them to adapt.
Now when you have 2-4 studs in the line up it is fine to have some budding stars there. SP not so much. That is why you see many SP start out in middle relief until they adapt. This is pretty common on contenders. Crappy teams sure. Cubs are not a crappy team ATM.

 

[beckdawg]

Wiggens is just another arm in the system. You never count on farm arms until they are in the majors. This is a nice to know topic.

The entire point is he's not "just another arm in the system". If you want to say don't count on people in A ball ok but he's dominating AA and is one step away from the majors. But this is just like the argument you made about it was too early to say anything about PCA when i told everyone here he was having a special season in may. I understand sample size and I know what is abnormal statistically.

Wiggins will probably be a top 50 prospect soon. His AA numbers are better than Thomas White(#28). They are better than Travis Sykora(#30). They are better than Hagen Smith(#38). They are better than Jarlin Susana(#55). Trey Yesavage(#57) has similar overall numbers for the year but worse AA numbers. Jonah Tong(#59) has similar numbers but a better K rate. He has better numbers than Gage Jump(#68). He has better numbers than Jackson Ferris(#69). I would argue Robby Snelling(#81) has better numbers because his walk rate is lower but Wiggins has better k rate and hr rates.

That's ever top 100 pitcher at AA and he's pitching better than the vast majority of them and as I mentioned in the first post he's getting better with his control the higher he moves and that's the one obvious weak point in his game. Generally the opposite is true. Usually your flaws expose you the higher you go but in his case I think a lot of that flaw was the fact he spent most of last year getting back to pitching after rehabbing.

 

[CSF77]

The entire point is he's not "just another arm in the system". If you want to say don't count on people in A ball ok but he's dominating AA and is one step away from the majors. But this is just like the argument you made about it was too early to say anything about PCA when i told everyone here he was having a special season in may. I understand sample size and I know what is abnormal statistically.

Wiggins will probably be a top 50 prospect soon. His AA numbers are better than Thomas White(#28). They are better than Travis Sykora(#30). They are better than Hagen Smith(#38). They are better than Jarlin Susana(#55). Trey Yesavage(#57) has similar overall numbers for the year but worse AA numbers. Jonah Tong(#59) has similar numbers but a better K rate. He has better numbers than Gage Jump(#68). He has better numbers than Jackson Ferris(#69). I would argue Robby Snelling(#81) has better numbers because his walk rate is lower but Wiggins has better k rate and hr rates.

That's ever top 100 pitcher at AA and he's pitching better than the vast majority of them and as I mentioned in the first post he's getting better with his control the higher he moves and that's the one obvious weak point in his game. Generally the opposite is true. Usually your flaws expose you the higher you go but in his case I think a lot of that flaw was the fact he spent most of last year getting back to pitching after rehabbing.

Yet again I don't over value players in the pipe.

I see them as cost cutting tools for front offices to be able to afford high priced vets. But I don't get into this thought process that they are a golden goose.

Ownership can sign or trade for equal or better that have no growing pains. So no I will not get excited for Tom keeping more of his wad

 

[CSF77]

We are not talking about a generational talent like Skenes. We are talking about a pitcher that most teams have that level of talent.

Don't let the dry desert make the drop of water feel like a ocean.

Teams go through phases

They build a core. Then they add via trade and F/A. The farm becomes a resource of revenue then

Then teams will go through rebuild phases where they trade the core out and stockpile the system for a few years

Yin and Yang.

Doing both at the same time is multi tasking. That is a myth because you are giving less than 100% to a task and are distracted from the true goals

 

[DrGonzo]

I really hate MLB TV. For some reason MLB has decided that if I live in Albuquerque Cubs games in Colorado and Texas are automatically blacked out, as are games on a variety of broadcasts other than Marquee, including ESPN tonight. Rough estimate is about 50% of Cubs games in July have been blacked out here. I can watch them 90 min after they end, but then what am I paying for exactly? Reportedly ESPN will have it's own subscription for $299/year $29.99/month starting September, though the playoffs will be on broadcast TV I assume.

 

[beckdawg]

You mentioned skenes not me. The point I'm making is the cubs haven't had a pitcher with this kind of stuff since Cease and that includes Horton who was a top 10 pick. Horton was less risk averse because he has better control. 11 k/9 at the AA level isn't "just another pitcher". The irony here is I'm pretty sure I've seen you in particular rant on the cubs giving up Cease for Quintana in hindsight. I'm telling you with foresight their minor league numbers are incredibly similar.

In 354.1 innings in the minors Cease had a 11.4 k/9 4.2 bb/9 and a 0.4 hr/9 with a 3.02 ERA. Wiggins has 120 innings with a 3.23 ERA and 10.9 k/9 4.7 bb/9 and a 0.5 hr/9. Cease's numbers look slightly better you also have to account for the fact Wiggins was rehabbing from a year off with TJS and as I have mentioned numerous times at this point, Wiggins has looked his best at AA.

Steele - 3.48 ERA 351.1 IP 9.1 k/9, 4.3 bb/9, 0.7 hr/9
Dillon Maples - 4.38 ERA 361.2 IP 11.4 k/9 6.7 bb/9 0.3 hr/9
Kerry Wood - 3.59 ERA 338.2 IP 11.1 k/9 6.2 bb/9 0.3 hr/9
Mark Prior - 3.18 ERA 136.0 IP 12.9 k/9 3.7 bb/9 0.6 hr/9

This is the kind of stuff you're talking about. If you wanna sit here and say "well it doesn't matter til he proves it at the MLB level" then fine but that's a silly argument to make because no one is saying he's guaranteed to be a star. The point is this is a very talented pitcher who people should be considering in their future plans for the team. You don't get to complain about the team never develop pitching then ignore the process of actually developing that pitching.

 

[beckdawg]

Oh and just for giggles since he's kind of the new talk of the town....

Jacob Misiorowski - 3.04 ERA 233.2 IP 12.3 k/9 5.4 bb/9 0.5 hr/9

Granted, I think he has better pure stuff than Wiggins but the fact that the numbers are even close shows the point I'm trying to make.

 

[Diehardfan]

I really hate MLB TV. For some reason MLB has decided that if I live in Albuquerque Cubs games in Colorado and Texas are automatically blacked out, as are games on a variety of broadcasts other than Marquee, including ESPN tonight. Rough estimate is about 50% of Cubs games in July have been blacked out here. I can watch them 90 min after they end, but then what am I paying for exactly? Reportedly ESPN will have it's own subscription for $299/year $29.99/month starting September, though the playoffs will be on broadcast TV I assume.

Gonz, do yourself a favor and look into IPTV. Every game that's broadcast is available in almost any sport, with free movies and something like 10,000 TV channels...all in 1080P. Look around find one that gives multiple lines...my brother, my son and I split ours three ways. I think it's like $130 a year for each of us.

 

[beckdawg]

Nats have fired their manager and GM.... interesting timing before the deadline. Could have ramifications on who they are willing to move. Also should mention the draft being a week away and washington holding the #1 pick is very interesting timing.

 

[Discus fish salesman]

Oh and just for giggles since he's kind of the new talk of the town....

Jacob Misiorowski - 3.04 ERA 233.2 IP 12.3 k/9 5.4 bb/9 0.5 hr/9

Granted, I think he has better pure stuff than Wiggins but the fact that the numbers are even close shows the point I'm trying to make.

I agree completely on your Wiggins thoughts. He's as close to untouchable as anyone in the minor leagues in a trade for me. If I had to decide between trading Horton or Wiggins for an ace, it'd definitely be worth a conversation on which it'd be.