Cubs (14-20) at St. Louis Cardinals (20-14) 5/14-5/15 Series Discussion Thread

[dabynsky]

We're five games back of first place! IT'S GONNA HAPPEN!!!!!!

Going for the sweep tomorrow to make it four games out of first place.

 

[Rice Cube]

The Reds are smiling at that prospect.

 

[dabynsky]

As much as I hate to do anything that benefits Dusty Baker, I am more than happy to beat the Cardinals for them.

 

[ZAN]

Four things:

1. You don't ditch the fundamentals because you're struggling to do them. You keep calling it because playing by the numbers trumps playing by the seat of your pants with a blatantly obviously inferior team. We're building for the future. These are the types of things that everyone, 1-9 in the order should be held accountable for; including Castro...

2. I'm happy to see Soriano picking up Sveum. I was encouraged by how engaged Soriano was in their conversation yesterday during the Brewer game (it appeared Sveum was showing him about using his lower body to get him through the hitting zone more quickly and Soriano was both eyes locked on Dale, with great attention to detail).

3. When we got rid of Ramirez, I thought we'd see Castro start to mature and play the role of leader by example. I'm a little discouraged that we're seeing the opposite. He's looking a little "Hanley Ramirezesque" if you ask me. He appears to not care, and doesn't hustle like he did 2 years ago. I don't care if you don't get the bunt down EVERY TIME. That's baseball. But not hustling down the line is unacceptable. Don't be surprised to see Barney and Cardenas up the middle tomorrow.

4. Saint Louis handed us the game tonight. Let's take advantage and narrow the gap to 4 games tomorrow. Hustle beats talent when talent doesn't hustle....right now the Cubs are hustling (outside Castro)...even Soriano is.....I'm okay with this team losing 100 games, because they fight. This is more fun than I've had watching the Cubs since 2003.

 

[dabynsky]

I am sorry, but a team that was 5 outs away from the World Series is still the most fun I've had. I don't care if they weren't likeable or not, and it is still a really painful to think about game 6. But this rag tag bunch isn't going to top the fun we had that year.

 

[Shawon0Meter]

 

[dabynsky]

Four things:

1. You don't ditch the fundamentals because you're struggling to do them. You keep calling it because playing by the numbers trumps playing by the seat of your pants with a blatantly obviously inferior team. We're building for the future. These are the types of things that everyone, 1-9 in the order should be held accountable for; including Castro...

Just to be clear are you defending the decision to sac bunt with Castro?

 

[Rice Cube]

I didn't like any of those bunts :lol:

I'm kind of annoyed that DeJesus didn't try to squeeze bunt Mather home when Mather failbunted his way to 3B though :lol:

 

[ZAN]

I'm defending the decision to sacrifice bunt.

I'm not defending Castro's effort on the bunt(s) or his hustle (or lack thereof) when he failed to bunt it:

1. Far enough away from the dish
2. Down the correct baseline

 

[dabynsky]

I didn't like any of those bunts :lol:

I'm kind of annoyed that DeJesus didn't try to squeeze bunt Mather home when Mather failbunted his way to 3B though :lol:

Yeah I was kind of thinking the same thing with how bunty Dale Baylor was tonight.

 

[ZAN]

I am sorry, but a team that was 5 outs away from the World Series is still the most fun I've had. I don't care if they weren't likeable or not, and it is still a really painful to think about game 6. But this rag tag bunch isn't going to top the fun we had that year.

I'm 100% on board with this opinion.

See where I said:

This is more fun than I've had watching the Cubs since 2003.

 

[dabynsky]

I'm defending the decision to sacrifice bunt.

I'm not defending Castro's effort on the bunt(s) or his hustle (or lack thereof) when he failed to bunt it:

1. Far enough away from the dish
2. Down the correct baseline

Strategically speaking the decision to sac bunt was horrible even if Castro got it down. If it worked out we would have runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out with LaHair coming up to the plate. The Cards would have walked LaHair and faced Soriano who in most circumstances would have failed to come through. Bunting with Castro was taking the bat out of the hands of the most productive batter the Cubs had in a tie game with a runner already in scoring position.

Castro not running is another matter. I hope that Castro gets a day off tomorrow as Rice suggested as way of somewhat covertly disciplining Castro for not running down the line.

 

[dabynsky]

I'm 100% on board with this opinion.

See where I said:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khSIYmTzt6U]The Simpsons - Dohs - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Rice Cube]

It was a late-inning decision so the bunt in this case was defensible since any extra run in the later innings will increase your win expectancy dramatically, but if you're in the heart of your lineup, the bunt had better be a surprise rather than a telegraph.

 

[dabynsky]

It is still a terrible decision because it is taking the bat out of the hands of your best and hottest hitter.

 

[ZAN]

I can see that opinion.

But to play the Devil's Advocate...

Castro gets the bunt down (as a former leadoff/2-hitter should be capable of). 1 out, runners on 2nd and 3rd.

LaHair walks (most likely intentionall). Bases loaded and one out.

You almost HAVE to come to Soriano. Soriano, I agree, gets himself out a lot with his plate discipline. But you can almost guarantee that the Cards would have grooved him 1 or 2 pitches.

Hindsight is 20/20, but in the end, Soriano hit a tough slider into left, and Campana scampered home for the win.

Go Cubs!

 

[dabynsky]

I am happy to take the win, but you have to know your personnel. Soriano strikes out a lot, and Boggs doesn't walk a lot of batters. With Molina behind the plate, you know Boggs would have no fear throwing a few pitches in the dirt which in most cases Soriano can't resist. I just hate taking the bat out of the hands of your most dangerous hitter when you already have runners in scoring position. That is a bad call even when it works the way you want.

 

[Rice Cube]

You might play for the one run if you're the home team, but if you're the away team, with the pitcher in a jam and the heart of the order coming up, your job as a team is to score as many runs as possible to force the pressure on the home team to match you.

 

[dabynsky]

It was just setting yourself to fail. You can't tell me that the Cubs odds of scoring even one run was increased by having bases loaded one out and Soriano-Stewart coming to plate versus two guys on with no outs and Castro-LaHair coming to the plate.

 

[Rice Cube]

It was just setting yourself to fail. You can't tell me that the Cubs odds of scoring even one run was increased by having bases loaded one out and Soriano-Stewart coming to plate versus two guys on with no outs and Castro-LaHair coming to the plate.

I think the run expectancy chart is fairly clear on which option is better regardless of who was at bat. The win expectancy chart also is pretty clear on late/end-game situations where every run and out is magnified. Outs are particularly damaging to the away team.