Cubs trade targets (The Athletic article)

[CSF77]

Batting 1: .220/.304/.520

Batting anywhere else BA goes upto .241.

2017 as a lead off he ends up in AAA. Comes back strong lower in the order.

2018 puts up a 115 wRC+ out of the lead off.

This year struggles again in the lead off.

Gets hot right when they pick him out.

You would have to be a moron to not see that.

Are you one?

 

[Rory Sparrow]

I'm more scared of Lucroy just being a complete utter failure.

3 of 5 with 2 RBIs....this forum is great with this predictive baseball stuff.

 

[CSF77]

3 of 5 with 2 RBIs....this forum is great with this predictive baseball stuff.

1 game.

But winning is contagious. Derrek Holland doesn't smell like a turd anymore also.

 

[Rory Sparrow]

1 game.

Not really sure what your expectations were of Theo with Contrares getting hurt after the trade deadline. What should/could Theo have done differently? I was happy with the move at the time, happy that it paid immediate dividends. I guess its strange to comment on what actually happened on the diamond...that seems to be frowned upon here.

 

[CSF77]

Not really sure what your expectations were of Theo with Contrares getting hurt after the trade deadline. What should/could Theo have done differently? I was happy with the move at the time, happy that it paid immediate dividends. I guess its strange to comment on what actually happened on the diamond...that seems to be frowned upon here.

You can't predict the future. But having a 3rd catcher is not dumb.

What they should do differently?

How about having a legit rotation next year with Contreras and Schwarber in LF. They did this when they were both at AA. Then have Caratini mix in some games when you want to rest either.

Injuries happen but having a plan in place helps adapting to it.

It really shouldn't be Kyle running into Joe's office with a mitt on like a 5 year old. It should be Kyle putting on the gear because that is part of who he is.

So IMO they should have Kyle working on catching in the off-season.

 

[Rory Sparrow]

What they should do differently?

This is already wrong, unsurprisingly. I said, verbatim, "What should/could Theo have done differently?", the key being the past tense reference. Not sure how having Contrares/Schwarber platooning in LF next year helps out the Cubs on August 9, 2019. Good stuff, as always, but I need to take a break from this nonsense.

 

[CSF77]

If it ends up a personal catcher thing so be it.

 

[CSF77]

This is already wrong, unsurprisingly. I said, verbatim, "What should/could Theo have done differently?", the key being the past tense reference. Not sure how having Contrares/Schwarber platooning in LF next year helps out the Cubs on August 9, 2019. Good stuff, as always, but I need to take a break from this nonsense.

It is almost pointless to talk about the past. It has already been done.

But you can learn from it to help prepair for the future.

That is why I said train Schwarber this off season. That is a plan worth while vs crybabing over spilt milk.


But to appease you.

Not make the trade. Catcher is a higher injury rate position. Contreras already went down earlier which caused the situation. And you traded for another 2B when you had Happ and Russell in AAA.

You tell me what is a intellengent choice here?

When you plan you plan for the worst case.

 

[CSF77]

Good stuff, as always, but I need to take a break from this nonsense

Don't let the door hit ya on the ass and come on back ya hear.

 

[TL1961]

You can't predict the future. But having a 3rd catcher is not dumb.

What they should do differently?

How about having a legit rotation next year with Contreras and Schwarber in LF. They did this when they were both at AA. Then have Caratini mix in some games when you want to rest either.

Injuries happen but having a plan in place helps adapting to it.

It really shouldn't be Kyle running into Joe's office with a mitt on like a 5 year old. It should be Kyle putting on the gear because that is part of who he is.

So IMO they should have Kyle working on catching in the off-season.

Kyle is s catcher in the same way Caratini is a reliever and Javy is a left handed batter.

 

[DanTown]

Really?

smile. "I think we've always felt good about having that as a third catcher if something happened. Most teams have an infielder or something like that, but we have a guy that did it a lot in the minor leagues. He can certainly do it.

"I've always thought the challenge with that kind of thing is the bullpen. It's one thing to catch the starters; it's another thing to catch a series of relievers coming into the game throwing 97 mph. It's a lot different than playing in left field.

"He would do a good job if we needed him, but our goal here is to keep him healthy and keep his bat in the lineup. We made that decision to move him out from behind there for that reason."

Well he was going to catch Hammel in 2016 until he blew the knee out so I'm not really sure the team was moving him off catcher to keep him healthy yet wanted him to catch games. They moved him off catcher because he was bad at it and they had two ML C in Montero and Ross and knew Contreras was waiting in the wings. Most teams don't admit to the media that they're moving players positions because of ineptitude.

Schwarber leadoff split - .229/.304/.520.
Schwarber splits - .234/.332/.495

So what does that tell me? He has a fairly similar batting average (his .243 BABIP from the leadoff spot is about 20 points lower than his career numbers), his slugging is much higher leading off, and his walk rate is lower in the leadoff spot. Seeing as his walk rate is 10.8% in the leadoff spot, 15.5% not in the leadoff, and was 13.8% in 2017 when he was killing the team, there's a chance that his low walk rate was just a little flukey.

In 2017, Kyle wasn't hitting well at all anywhere in the lineup and it was really an issue. This year, he's simply not hitting for average or getting on base anywhere in the lineup so his entire value is predicated on slugging and that's not impacted batting leadoff.

I mean, Kyle's OPS+ is 110 on the year and 110 from the leadoff spot.

 

[Parade_Rain]

Kyle is s catcher in the same way Caratini is a reliever and Javy is a left handed batter.

I saw him at Indiana. He can catch. They stopped the experiment after he ran into Fowler in LC and tore his ACL. If he’s 100% having him work as a catcher whether in an emergency role or getting 1 starting pitcher as the personal catcher makes sense.

 

[CSF77]

Kyle is s catcher in the same way Caratini is a reliever and Javy is a left handed batter.

You are stuck in the box still. You need to think outside of it.

 

[CSF77]

I saw him at Indiana. He can catch. They stopped the experiment after he ran into Fowler in LC and tore his ACL. If he’s 100% having him work as a catcher whether in an emergency role or getting 1 starting pitcher as the personal catcher makes sense.

TL is a person who refuses to accept any standard short of perfection.

Fuck the capacity to learn and improve with time.

 

[CSF77]

Well he was going to catch Hammel in 2016 until he blew the knee out so I'm not really sure the team was moving him off catcher to keep him healthy yet wanted him to catch games. They moved him off catcher because he was bad at it and they had two ML C in Montero and Ross and knew Contreras was waiting in the wings. Most teams don't admit to the media that they're moving players positions because of ineptitude.

Schwarber leadoff split - .229/.304/.520.
Schwarber splits - .234/.332/.495

So what does that tell me? He has a fairly similar batting average (his .243 BABIP from the leadoff spot is about 20 points lower than his career numbers), his slugging is much higher leading off, and his walk rate is lower in the leadoff spot. Seeing as his walk rate is 10.8% in the leadoff spot, 15.5% not in the leadoff, and was 13.8% in 2017 when he was killing the team, there's a chance that his low walk rate was just a little flukey.

In 2017, Kyle wasn't hitting well at all anywhere in the lineup and it was really an issue. This year, he's simply not hitting for average or getting on base anywhere in the lineup so his entire value is predicated on slugging and that's not impacted batting leadoff.

I mean, Kyle's OPS+ is 110 on the year and 110 from the leadoff spot.

First topic is the lead off.

https://www.fangraphs.com/splitstoo...statType=player&autoPt=true&players=&sort=-,1

He has improved over all but we are talking 83=>110.

https://www.fangraphs.com/splitstoo...statType=player&autoPt=true&players=&sort=-,1

Body of work elsewhere.

This is his worst year. He has been around 115 as a standard.

Now this leads right into the second part of the question. Is that acceptable as a corner OF?

No it is not. He is bringing nothing to the table. LF is a position that you need to get a plus out of because the demands from the defense are less.

So there is a few ways to approach this.

1. Do nothing and solve nothing.

2. Trade him while he is hot.

3. Push him into a rotation with Contreras and Caratini.

1. is stupid.

2. Is the easy out.

3. Is the creative method. It solves a few things.

A. It justifies a lower production from Schwarber because now he is doing a vital role for the team.

B. It creates a personal catcher situation. That tends to be more beneficial towards the starter as they can better focus on their games together. Lester was at his best with Ross. That should be the goal.

C. It lessens the wear and tear on Contreras with out sacrificing PA's over it. That bit should be common sense.

 

[anotheridiot]

I saw him at Indiana. He can catch. They stopped the experiment after he ran into Fowler in LC and tore his ACL. If he’s 100% having him work as a catcher whether in an emergency role or getting 1 starting pitcher as the personal catcher makes sense.

Fowler ran into him in left field.

I think they need to make an adjustment as well. They figured keep Kyle healthy because he will take 100 walks a year with his good eye, and hit 40-50 home runs, so we gotta keep him healthy.

.230 hitter, 30 bombs, caught looking K's and still finding reasons to pull him late in games for defensive purposes regardless makes too much sense to give him one starter. Just like before, would you rather have Maldonados bat or Kyles bat in the game?

I guess its wait and see what the next manager feels about versatile players.

 

[CSF77]

Fowler ran into him in left field.

I think they need to make an adjustment as well. They figured keep Kyle healthy because he will take 100 walks a year with his good eye, and hit 40-50 home runs, so we gotta keep him healthy.

.230 hitter, 30 bombs, caught looking K's and still finding reasons to pull him late in games for defensive purposes regardless makes too much sense to give him one starter. Just like before, would you rather have Maldonados bat or Kyles bat in the game?

I guess its wait and see what the next manager feels about versatile players.

Schwarber was supposed to match up with Hammel pre injury. Hammel was talking about how they were working together in S/T and we're slated to work together for the year. Joe was onboard with the catcher caddy up until Contreras took over.

 

[Parade_Rain]

Fowler ran into him in left field.

I think they need to make an adjustment as well. They figured keep Kyle healthy because he will take 100 walks a year with his good eye, and hit 40-50 home runs, so we gotta keep him healthy.

.230 hitter, 30 bombs, caught looking K's and still finding reasons to pull him late in games for defensive purposes regardless makes too much sense to give him one starter. Just like before, would you rather have Maldonados bat or Kyles bat in the game?

I guess its wait and see what the next manager feels about versatile players.

Fowler ran into him in Left Center (LC). Both going after a gapper.

 

[CSF77]

Fowler ran into him in Left Center (LC). Both going after a gapper.

 

[CSF77]

He looked fatter back then.