All Spring Training IGT

[Diehardfan]

Off the Cubs for a second has anyone seen what Travis Shaw has been doing for the Red Sox? He's hitting .474 with an OPS of 1.237 in ST. After a nice showing last year where he hit 13 HR and slashed .274/.331/.491 in almost 250 PA the Red Sox have an possible decision to make. There's a lot of reason to believe this kid is an everyday ball player with superior production to the two player he's ostensibly backing up in Sandoval and Ramirez but how to you sit down that money and deal with guys who have little value on the bench? Anyway just interesting, carry on.

I'll preface this by saying that there have been a ton of young players that have put up big, big numbers in ST and then fizzle out when the real games start. But on the other hand "Porky" Sandoval didn't exactly enamor himself last year with the Red Sox nation either.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

I'll preface this by saying that there have been a ton of young players that have put up big, big numbers in ST and then fizzle out when the real games start. But on the other hand "Porky" Sandoval didn't exactly enamor himself last year with the Red Sox nation either.

No question that you take ST numbers in stride and pay more attention to how the player looks and every scout and observer I read says Shaw looks fantastic and he put up good numbers once given a chance last year. To me it points out the problem with signing FA, if the guy doesn't produce you have to more or less play him anyway even if you have a better player behind him.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

Today's game against the Reds is fielding this lineup:

Dexter Fowler CF
Jason Heyward RF
Ben Zobrist 2B
Anthony Rizzo 1B
Kris Bryant 3B
Kyle Schwarber C
Jorge Soler LF
Addison Russell SS
Jason Hammel P

You see that lineup in the regular season and you're likely to see some runs scored. Love it.

 

[fatbeard]

Today's game against the Reds is fielding this lineup:

Dexter Fowler CF
Jason Heyward RF
Ben Zobrist 2B
Anthony Rizzo 1B
Kris Bryant 3B
Kyle Schwarber C
Jorge Soler LF
Addison Russell SS
Jason Hammel P

You see that lineup in the regular season and you're likely to see some runs scored. Love it.

Mother of God.

 

[DanTown]

Well the cubs are at 39 on the 40 man anyways. As for La Stella as I said before you're not cutting him. He has options. Whether or not you like La Stella the fact remains he's a bench player and that's all he's ever going to be. So while he's 7 years younger that really doesn't matter much because it's not like he's Baez and you have to get value out of him. On top of that, he's not been healthy. My view is both are throw away players to an extent. You use them for what you need at the time and I think a more versatile Kawasaki is a more useful player.

One, teams need 40 man roster spots all the time. Kawasaki is not a guy who's a MLB talent nor is he a guy who the Cubs want long term. Why are you keeping him? He can't hit at all. LaStella has a useful skill: late in games, he will come in and make contact with guys out of the bullpen who throw hard. Neither guy is going to play the field much, you're basically looking at them solely as a pinch hitter type.

LaStella's also on the 40 and he's a guy they hope is able to contribute in future years potentially. He's cheaper too.

 

[beckdawg]

One, teams need 40 man roster spots all the time. Kawasaki is not a guy who's a MLB talent nor is he a guy who the Cubs want long term. Why are you keeping him? He can't hit at all. LaStella has a useful skill: late in games, he will come in and make contact with guys out of the bullpen who throw hard. Neither guy is going to play the field much, you're basically looking at them solely as a pinch hitter type.

LaStella's also on the 40 and he's a guy they hope is able to contribute in future years potentially. He's cheaper too.

I'd argue Kawasaki's glove is a better skill. Also it's disingenuous to say he's not an MLB talent. He was on the Blue Jay's roster for most of last season.

Also more to the point this entire discussion started with TC suggesting La Stella might be hurt and that Alcantara not making the roster was a bad sign. I mentioned that you don't want someone with actual talent taking the 25th or w/e man spot. Well perhaps I should say you don't want someone who has a high ceiling who isn't there yet taking that spot. I brought up Kawasaki because he's pretty much the definition of the type of player for that role. La Stella would fit too. As I said before, I don't find either particularly amazing but if I were to pick one I'd take Kawasaki and that's especially true if like TC was suggesting that La Stella isn't 100%.

Regardless, it's doubtful that player sees many PAs. Baez off the bench will probably be the first guy you call on. If not him it will be Soler or Fowler or Schwarber depending on the OF configuration. So for my money, I'd rather have a better defender than La Stella if you're running a short bench. If you don't like Kawasaki that's fine but I don't particularly see much that's appealing about La Stella either.

 

[DanTown]

I'd argue Kawasaki's glove is a better skill. Also it's disingenuous to say he's not an MLB talent. He was on the Blue Jay's roster for most of last season.

Neither one's glove matters because neither guy is going to play defensive innings with Baez on this team. In most cases, either guy is mostly going to be a PH against bullpen arms.

Also more to the point this entire discussion started with TC suggesting La Stella might be hurt and that Alcantara not making the roster was a bad sign. I mentioned that you don't want someone with actual talent taking the 25th or w/e man spot. Well perhaps I should say you don't want someone who has a high ceiling who isn't there yet taking that spot. I brought up Kawasaki because he's pretty much the definition of the type of player for that role. La Stella would fit too. As I said before, I don't find either particularly amazing but if I were to pick one I'd take Kawasaki and that's especially true if like TC was suggesting that La Stella isn't 100%.

I understand your position. I simply don't agree with it.

Regardless, it's doubtful that player sees many PAs.

If the Cubs plan to carry 13 pitchers, they only have four bench guys. One of which is the emergency C so that really only leaves three bats available to the Cubs primarily: Montero/Soler, Baez, the fifth OF. LaStella gives them a bat off the bench to bring in a situation where contact is really needed. Kawaski is a fielder. Bats > gloves off the bench.

Baez off the bench will probably be the first guy you call on. If not him it will be Soler or Fowler or Schwarber depending on the OF configuration. So for my money, I'd rather have a better defender than La Stella if you're running a short bench. If you don't like Kawasaki that's fine but I don't particularly see much that's appealing about La Stella either.

Neither guy (Kawaski or LaStella) is likely to stay in the game and field.

 

[beckdawg]

With regard to the glove aspect I disagree. For example, let's suggest some non-pitcher goes down with a minor injury. Right now there's about an 80% chance Baez will have to take their spot. He's the back up at 1B and probably every other infield position. He's also possibly the back up in CF if they don't choose to go with Heyward. And the problem with that is in almost all of those cases he's your ONLY option. La Stella has played 3B albeit quite poorly and 2B below average. In other words, if you use Baez for anything else in a game you're suddenly really limited because as you suggested La Stella's not going to stay in a game.

My issue with La Stella is he's empty triple slash and that's literally it. He's iso is damn near Juan Pierre levels. And while he's got an OK triple slash, he's not amazing. If that's what you're after I'd rather they kept John Andreoli. Obviously there's some issues with that because he's an OF and not an infielder but he at least offers the ability to pinch run and is a better version of what La Stella gives you. Plus he can actually play all 3 OF positions.

And honestly, the last player on the roster's ability to hit really doesn't matter to me. The cubs probably have the strongest 8 position players in the majors. You then have either Soler/Schwarber and Baez as your top two off the bench. They have bat options. What they don't really have is defensive options. Also for what it's worth, Baez himself hasn't posted strong defensive metrics at any position except 3B. And while obviously that has strong sample size implications, this is a guy that had 40 or so errors at SS a few years ago. He's almost certainly there more for his bat than defense which is fine but it does illustrate the point that the cubs are weak defensively off the bench. I'm not even that concerned about Baez's defense but I'd like to see at least another option besides him because then you're not going to be in a situation where you second guess playing Baez.

I just don't see what you do that makes La Stella such a strong bench option. He can't pinch run. His defensive flexibility is poor at best. The only thing I see he has going for him is he's hit lefties well(.292/.370/.400). He's roughly league average vs righties(.246/.318/.318 where league average is .254/.317/.405 vs RHP). If you're going with a short bench in order to keep additional pitchers I'd much rather see more positional flexibility than a pretty good bat vs LHP because he's your third option off the bench in most cases. During a long season it's far more likely he'll have to play a position for days off than there to be a case where you absolutely have to have a decent bat vs LHP in a close game.

 

[beckdawg]

Also for what it's worth, that's the last I'm gonna say on the matter because it's honestly not that important. Just saying I don't think La Stella is particularly amazing in any regard.

 

[DanTown]

Also for what it's worth, that's the last I'm gonna say on the matter because it's honestly not that important. Just saying I don't think La Stella is particularly amazing in any regard.

Wow. No one is saying LaStella is awesome but he's clearly a better hitter than Kawasaki. He's also on the 40 man where as Kawaski isn't. If the roles were reversed and Kawaski was on the 40 and LaStella wasn't, I'd probably say that Kawasaki should make the team and LaStella hasn't outplayed them. This is essentially going to be even less playing time than Jonathan Herrera got last year and what did Herrera end up playing? 132 PA and 264 innings in the field. I'm much more concerned with 130 PA and how good a hitter is versus 250 defensive innings at a position like 2B.

The reason I doubt either guy fields (even with an injury) that much is that it would be a certain scenario where you'd want to take any of the regulars out to play Kawaski. You have to have a lead, have to be at a place in the lineup where you don't care about the massive downgrade in batting from Zobrist to Kawaski, and has to be late enough in the game that the Cubs feel they're increasing their chances of winning. I mean we're talking about 2B defense; not C or CF or even SS.

I think it's significantly more likely that the Cubs will want to use a LH off the bench late in the game who has some ability to make contact. LaStella's hitting tool is why he's in the majors; Kawaski is in the majors for his glove. Seeing as Kawaski is the 2nd IF off the bench, I think it makes a ton of sense to care more about a bat than a glove. Also, if the Cubs start Schwarber and Montero, their bench bats are mostly right handers (Soler, Baez, Ross).

 

[Walker]

Did the Cubs make any kind of effort to snag Greinke in the off season? Just seems we are one pitcher short of Heaven with this team.

 

[CSF77]

Did the Cubs make any kind of effort to snag Greinke in the off season? Just seems we are one pitcher short of Heaven with this team.

No and don't sell the staff short

 

[beckdawg]

LaStella's hitting tool is why he's in the majors; Kawaski is in the majors for his glove. Seeing as Kawaski is the 2nd IF off the bench, I think it makes a ton of sense to care more about a bat than a glove.

This is like the exact opposite of what they had in Herrera last year cuz he damn sure wasn't here for his bat. Either way, like I said I don't particularly think there's much here worth discussing anymore because you obviously are dug in with your beliefs which is fine. As I said before, I don't particularly care that much who they take. My point of contention with this all started with the Alcantara comments as I've already mentioned. La Stella vs Kawasaki is an entirely moot point if Alcantara hits AAA like he did in 2014 because he's a good defender and he can hit and he's a switch hitter and he can run and he can play OF.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

The circumstances last year that led to Herrera being on the squad have changed quite a bit. They lost La Stella early on and had no backup at SS to Castro other than Russell who was playing 2B. That was still the case when the roles were reversed until Baez came up. This year they're starting with Baez who is both the prime defensive replacement and is expected to give guys at at least 3 positions days off. If La Stella is on the team it will be for a left handed contact bat. My early comnents about Alcantara were related to how he could have beat out La Stella by being both a pinch hitting option and a defensive replacement making the role two dimensional. He actually hit pretty well this spring but was horrible defensively which made the decision between an erratic switch hitter with a little pop and a LH contact hitter who fits well in a PH role. While they are very different players Alcantara could have given them a preferable package of tools but was unable to provide that. Some type of bat seems to be what the Cubs want in that slot and extra defense would be a bonus. Kawasaki provides no bat so likely isn't an option unless La Stella can't start the season and in that case it really wouldn't shock me if they picked up a late cut from another team.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

There seem to be some whispering that Soler could actually start the season at AAA to put his game back together again. If that really is an option does Matt Murton come north? I would assume you wouldn't play Murton in RF so would Baez then become the primary backup in CF?

 

[beckdawg]

Apparently Hammel(along with Hendricks) have been really strong this spring. Just was reading some recap type stuff over at cubs den and they said Hammel has a 1.20 ERA ST ERA. Yet again, ST stats and all that but it's particularly encouraging that the two most iffy pitchers this spring have been relatively dominant. This encourage me to head over and get a bit more detail and here's an expanded listing

Hammel - 15.0 IP 11 hits, 2 walks 14 k's 1.20 ERA
Hendricks - 19.0 IP 14 hits, 2 walks 19 K's 1.89 ERA

It's actually kind of interesting because those two are very close to being reflections of each other. Hendricks has a 0.84 whip while Hammel has a 0.87 both are roughly 9 k/9. If Hammel pitches like he did in the first half(9.12 k/9 1.56 bb/9 2.86 ERA 3.12 FIP) and Hendricks pitches like he did in the second half excluding a terrible August where he was apparently battling mechanical issues the need for a pitcher in trade seems a lot less than it would originally have appeared. In particular with Hendricks, I'm admittedly a fan and perhaps a bit biased in that regard but when I see he's posting a 9 k/9 in spring training and that his monthly totals went from 8.27 to 6.19 to 7.88 to 8.13 to 8.81 and finally 10.74 that's particularly encouraging to me because it looks like some what steady progress upward for a young player. Undoubtably that number will come down some vs regular MLB competition but the months he had above an 8 k/9 were march/april, July, August, and Sept/Oct. And in those months his ERA/FIP were 5.23/3.28, 2.90/2.94, 5.40/3.92, and 3.03/2.58. August is the obvious outlier here but as mentioned there were mechanical issues he talked about and the fact that he posted a 3.98 bb/9 rate seems pretty obvious he wasn't right considering he's been at or below 2 most of his career.

As such, if Hendricks is posting a 3.25 or there abouts FIP, sure seems like we're in for a fun year. Just as a for instance here, Shelby Miller had a 3.02/3.45 ERA/FIP. You also had names like Sonny Gray(2.73/3.45), Cole Hamels(3.65/3.47), and Johnny Cueto(3.44/3.53) post higher FIPs than what Hendricks has basically been when hitting 8 k/9. Hendricks given his limited stuff probably is more likely to under perform his FIP but if he's even 80% of any of those 4 pitchers out of presumably the 5th slot the cubs probably do have one of if not the best rotation in baseball.

Needless to say I'm super interested in what his season looks like.

 

[beckdawg]

The circumstances last year that led to Herrera being on the squad have changed quite a bit. They lost La Stella early on and had no backup at SS to Castro other than Russell who was playing 2B. That was still the case when the roles were reversed until Baez came up. This year they're starting with Baez who is both the prime defensive replacement and is expected to give guys at at least 3 positions days off. If La Stella is on the team it will be for a left handed contact bat. My early comnents about Alcantara were related to how he could have beat out La Stella by being both a pinch hitting option and a defensive replacement making the role two dimensional. He actually hit pretty well this spring but was horrible defensively which made the decision between an erratic switch hitter with a little pop and a LH contact hitter who fits well in a PH role. While they are very different players Alcantara could have given them a preferable package of tools but was unable to provide that. Some type of bat seems to be what the Cubs want in that slot and extra defense would be a bonus. Kawasaki provides no bat so likely isn't an option unless La Stella can't start the season and in that case it really wouldn't shock me if they picked up a late cut from another team.

I'm not just not really convinced that Alcantara is ready for the type of position you're essentially suggesting he had a shot at taking. And there's probably no one here who's a homer for him more than me. Ultimately the problem I see with Alcantara is 1) he hasn't yet hit MLB pitching. And while he may over come whatever the hell happened in 2015, your not really setting up a young player to succeed by putting him on the bench because undoubtably the majors will find your weakness and exploit it. You get thru that by playing. It's one of the reasons I wasn't so keen on the idea of Baez off the bench to start. I've since changed that opinion some because I realized Maddon likes to shake up the line up a lot and if done right you can get close to full time playing time out of Baez. But you're not going to be able to do that and find the same time for Alcantara. So, ultimately I think it's better for him as a player to spend at least half a season in AAA. If he's raking there by July or whatever then sure, give him a call up. You then buy for time a bit and rosters will expand at some point. And if he's still playing well he's a great player to have as an option for the playoffs.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

Nobody is happier to see Hendricks and Hammel pitch well than I am. If they're beyond solid this is a dangerous staff. That said calling it the best staff in baseball is a stretch as I would take the Mets or Indians staff in a heartbeat, and depending on health possibly the Rays'.

 

[beckdawg]

Nobody is happier to see Hendricks and Hammel pitch well than I am. If they're beyond solid this is a dangerous staff. That said calling it the best staff in baseball is a stretch as I would take the Mets or Indians staff in a heartbeat, and depending on health possibly the Rays'.

Think it depends what you are defining as "best." To me when I talk about the best staff in baseball I'm generally referring to regular season because if you don't get thru the regular season post season doesn't matter. Undoubtedly you can make a strong case that with Hammel/Hendricks in the cubs staff(and to a lessor extent Lackey) they don't really have that ace of ace's type that comes in and dominates a series. So, in a short series yeah I can easily see someone taking the Indians or Mets. But over a long season them throwing 95+ to me is a bit of a negative. In some ways it mirrors Maddux career in my eyes. If there's any issue with his career it was he was kinda iffy in the playoffs. But where Maddux was great was staying on the field and not using himself up. I think he went something like 20 years without going on the DL.

I guess that's one of the reasons I find myself liking Hendricks so much because if you can be efficient you can be valuable. And in the case of the mets they've already had Harvey go down once via TJ and Wheeler as well. Not to jinx any of their current guys or anything but it wouldn't really surprise me if those pitchers get hurt.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

Think it depends what you are defining as "best." To me when I talk about the best staff in baseball I'm generally referring to regular season because if you don't get thru the regular season post season doesn't matter. Undoubtedly you can make a strong case that with Hammel/Hendricks in the cubs staff(and to a lessor extent Lackey) they don't really have that ace of ace's type that comes in and dominates a series. So, in a short series yeah I can easily see someone taking the Indians or Mets. But over a long season them throwing 95+ to me is a bit of a negative. In some ways it mirrors Maddux career in my eyes. If there's any issue with his career it was he was kinda iffy in the playoffs. But where Maddux was great was staying on the field and not using himself up. I think he went something like 20 years without going on the DL.

I guess that's one of the reasons I find myself liking Hendricks so much because if you can be efficient you can be valuable. And in the case of the mets they've already had Harvey go down once via TJ and Wheeler as well. Not to jinx any of their current guys or anything but it wouldn't really surprise me if those pitchers get hurt.

Ah, that's the trick isn't it? You have to build a staff for the 162 but you don't win a WS without either a great staff or something weird that offsets that a-la the Royals. This why Lackey was a great signing because they now have 3 pitchers that can win playoff games. I'm a velocity guy in I'm enamored with young power arms but injury comes with that. Still I'll take my chances with those kind of guys. That's why Dylan Cease is so intriguing. I'll agree though that this team will win a lot of games if Hendricks and Hammel perform. If they face the Mets again in the playoffs though it might kill me.