Cubs Vs. Playoff teams

[chibears55]

For whatever reason there are some in here who think the Cubs are only beating the lil sisters of the poor this year and not holding their own against the big boys. .

Here a head to head look at their record versus teams that are in playoffs or within a couple games of..

Cardinals 4 9
Pirates. 7 5
Mets. 7 0
Nationals 4. 3
Dodgers. 2. 3
Giants. 5. 2
Royals. 1. 1
Twins. 2. 1

Overall 32. 24

As we see, besides the Cardinals, they have done pretty well against every possible playoff team they faced so far.

So to say their playing poorly against the good teams while beating up on the bottom feeders is very much... WRONG

 

[CRM 114]

The thing that troubles me is pitchers like Sale, Bumgarner and Kershaw have completely shut us down for the most part. Need to score to win in the playoffs.

 

[Chief Walking Stick]

The thing that troubles me is pitchers like Sale, Bumgarner and Kershaw have completely shut us down for the most part. Need to score to win in the playoffs.

Meh. You can never count on beating the other team's ace. In a 7 game series you're likely going to face them twice - need to hope to scratch and claw and win one.

 

[CSF77]

My issue has been they are a starter short.

Arrieta and Lester match up. Hammel and Hendricks do not match up in a series.

Hammel would match up vs teams #4's. Hendricks should be in the pen.

That is not even getting into a young line up getting schooled in a series.

I wouldn't bet on the Cubs.

It would be good for the learning process but I'm expecting a series looking like we are seeing recently.

Why I keep saying Price should be the main target this off season.

I would either use Baez or Castro in CF to drop payroll there. Wood and Wada gone. Motte gone. They should be able to dump 25 mil there alone. That would cover Price's first year.

It depends on what the bidding goes up to. The market should have Price, Cueto and maybe Grenke as legit aces. Zimmerman as a legit 2. Rest are MR or lower

 

[Chief Walking Stick]

My issue has been they are a starter short.

Arrieta and Lester match up. Hammel and Hendricks do not match up in a series.

Hammel would match up vs teams #4's. Hendricks should be in the pen.

That is not even getting into a young line up getting schooled in a series.

I wouldn't bet on the Cubs.

It would be good for the learning process but I'm expecting a series looking like we are seeing recently.

Wait til David Price doe.

 

[CSF77]

Wait til David Price doe.

I agree. I think he gets 250 mil.

I would use the Toyota deal and front a good chunk into a bonus which would lower the annual amount.

 

[chibears55]

My issue has been they are a starter short.

Arrieta and Lester match up. Hammel and Hendricks do not match up in a series.

Hammel would match up vs teams #4's. Hendricks should be in the pen.

That is not even getting into a young line up getting schooled in a series.

I wouldn't bet on the Cubs.

It would be good for the learning process but I'm expecting a series looking like we are seeing recently.

Why I keep saying Price should be the main target this off season.

I would either use Baez or Castro in CF to drop payroll there. Wood and Wada gone. Motte gone. They should be able to dump 25 mil there alone. That would cover Price's first year.

It depends on what the bidding goes up to. The market should have Price, Cueto and maybe Grenke as legit aces. Zimmerman as a legit 2. Rest are MR or lower

They are definitely a starter short as i dont see this team built for a long playoff run this year...

Arrieta and Lester would have to be perfect..

Actually Hammel would matchup against a team no.2 as i see it because either Lester or Arrieta would have to pitch in that WC game, so they wouldn't be available til game 3 of next series.

Hammel would be a big factor in the NLDS if they get there, but right now that not a good thing as we see him struggle the 2nd half. .

Im all in with believing Price is their main FA target this off season. . He puts their rotation 3 deep for playoffs

I think you can add Hammel salary as a dump cause i think they move him for prospects in off season and go with probably Hendricks as 4 and a rookie at 5..

 

[Chief Walking Stick]

I agree. I think he gets 250 mil.

I would use the Toyota deal and front a good chunk into a bonus which would lower the annual amount.

We'll see how deep Toronto gets this year. But if the Cubs can win the 1 game playoff and put up a fight in 1st round - I don't see any reason why Price wouldn't want to come to Chicago.

Price, Arrieta, Lester as your top 3... good lawd.

 

[Diehardfan]

I don't think I saw anyone say they weren't beating good teams....they're just not beating top pitchers on those teams, hell they're not beating top pitchers on bad teams (Sale). They've been fortunate enough to get some of these guys out of games on high pitch counts and have beaten their bullpen but when guys like Bumgarner, Sale, Liriano, Kershaw, Scherzer or Cole keep their pitch count in order...the Cubs are getting beat. If they get to the playoffs, they won't see 4s and 5s, they'll be facing 1's, 2's and an occasional 3...if they get that deep.

 

[Diehardfan]

They are definitely a starter short as i dont see this team built for a long playoff run this year...

Arrieta and Lester would have to be perfect..

Actually Hammel would matchup against a team no.2 as i see it because either Lester or Arrieta would have to pitch in that WC game, so they wouldn't be available til game 3 of next series.

Hammel would be a big factor in the NLDS if they get there, but right now that not a good thing as we see him struggle the 2nd half. .

Im all in with believing Price is their main FA target this off season. . He puts their rotation 3 deep for playoffs

I think you can add Hammel salary as a dump cause i think they move him for prospects in off season and go with probably Hendricks as 4 and a rookie at 5..

You are correct. They would need a minimum of 7/8 innings out both Lester and Arrieta...that would free the bullpen for heavy duty on Hammel's start which if he gave them anything over 5 strong would make Joe a happy camper. As you said, they have left themselves a starter short but hind sight is 20/20 and I don't think anyone saw that big run they had in their future. I just think they have a plan and they are sticking to it.

 

[SilenceS]

You know why the Cubs haven't gotten beat by guys like that. Because guys like that don't get beat often. What the **** are we talking about? Its all who gets hot in the playoffs. We see it every year. Step off the ledge. They lost to the two toughest lefties in the game. It happens. They both have been on ridiculous rolls. This is why they are paid the big bucks.

 

[Mr. Cub]

So, if we make the WC game, who pitches? Do you think they feel it's a must to start Lester because he has history and a fat paycheck? Or do you be smart and start Arrieta, who has been awesome this year?

 

[Boobaby1]

You know why the Cubs haven't gotten beat by guys like that. Because guys like that don't get beat often. What the **** are we talking about? Its all who gets hot in the playoffs. We see it every year. Step off the ledge. They lost to the two toughest lefties in the game. It happens. They both have been on ridiculous rolls. This is why they are paid the big bucks.

Furthermore, one of those two teams are likely to NOT make the playoffs, so some of that nasty pitching will be negated between Kershaw and Bumgarner and also Scherzer who probably won't make it either.

The have beaten Kershaw and Cole already, they won the game against Greinke and Harvey, they have beaten deGrom twice, Zimmermann, and Syndergaard too, along with Lance Lynn twice, and had it not been for bullpen implosions, probably a couple of wins against the Cardinals staff too.

They struggle against good lefties. One is going to not make it, so that would leave Kershaw/Bumgarner, or Liriano left in the playoffs.

I am not saying that the rotation is blessed with 5 good starters because they aren't.

The thing about the playoffs is you have to survive and advance.

Win the WC game first, and then move on as we seen BOTH teams do a year ago.

You never know when bats will come alive, and/or when the pitching will either.

If anyone knows what will happen in the playoffs and has a crystal ball, please let me know so I can make a fortune in Vegas. :saxy:

 

[Boobaby1]

So, if we make the WC game, who pitches? Do you think they feel it's a must to start Lester because he has history and a fat paycheck? Or do you be smart and start Arrieta, who has been awesome this year?

3 of the 4 analysts on ESPN said Lester, and the other one said Arrieta.

I am going with Arrieta because with the speed of the Pirates, especially in the outfield.

The last thing the Cubs would need is to have singles turn into doubles and triples with Lester. Just my opinion though.

Lets hope the Cubs are far enough ahead to pick and choose who they want to throw.

 

[CSF77]

depends on the match up. If the Pirates are using Lirano you are losing Montero anyways so pitch Lester then. If they go with Cole then don't waste Ross on a RH pitcher. Use Arreta then

Not that hard to figure

 

[Bear Pride]

For whatever reason there are some in here who think the Cubs are only beating the lil sisters of the poor this year and not holding their own against the big boys. .

Here a head to head look at their record versus teams that are in playoffs or within a couple games of..

Cardinals 4 9
Pirates. 7 5
Mets. 7 0
Nationals 4. 3
Dodgers. 2. 3
Giants. 5. 2
Royals. 1. 1
Twins. 2. 1

Overall 32. 24

As we see, besides the Cardinals, they have done pretty well against every possible playoff team they faced so far.

So to say their playing poorly against the good teams while beating up on the bottom feeders is very much... WRONG

I agree. The Cubs even beat Kershaw earlier in the season. For me, however, I'm glad that the Cubs saw this stretch of good pitching the last few games. This should be a great lesson for them moving onto a chance for the playoffs. This is the type of pitching they will face if they want to go anywhere in the playoffs.

This is also why the Cubs are making moves in the background like picking up Bonifacio and Q Berry. The Cubs will have to manufacture some runs against these types of pitchers. Maddon will use several pinch runners to do this, and will have a lot of depth to replace them in the field.

The Cubs depth could be a really huge factor with the call ups, imo. A guy like Baez could be huge as well if he stays hot. Maddon will probably call on him to fill in mostly after pinch running and so forth, keeping the pressure off him by starting. We'll have probably 4 catchers to play with and a bunch of OF's as well.

It might be Maddon's time to really shine in this scenario as well, imo. Bottom line though is we'll need our studs to come up with some big hits against these quality pitchers to get on base to make all of this work. I think Theo/Maddon are showing that they're stocking the team with all the tools they can to make a push.

As far as the Arietta vs Lester choice ...... I think Maddon will choose Arietta, imo. The worst thing for the Cubs would be losing a 1 game series after such a good season this year. It will be no time to not put your hottest pitcher in there for a 1 game series. And bottom line is that Arietta has earned that game this year, and I think Maddon will see it that way too.

 

[Chief Walking Stick]

I agree. The Cubs even beat Kershaw earlier in the season. For me, however, I'm glad that the Cubs saw this stretch of good pitching the last few games. This should be a great lesson for them moving onto a chance for the playoffs. This is the type of pitching they will face if they want to go anywhere in the playoffs.

This is also why the Cubs are making moves in the background like picking up Bonifacio and Q Berry. The Cubs will have to manufacture some runs against these types of pitchers. Maddon will use several pinch runners to do this, and will have a lot of depth to replace them in the field.

The Cubs depth could be a really huge factor with the call ups, imo. A guy like Baez could be huge as well if he stays hot. Maddon will probably call on him to fill in mostly after pinch running and so forth, keeping the pressure off him by starting. We'll have probably 4 catchers to play with and a bunch of OF's as well.

It might be Maddon's time to really shine in this scenario as well, imo. Bottom line though is we'll need our studs to come up with some big hits against these quality pitchers to get on base to make all of this work. I think Theo/Maddon are showing that they're stocking the team with all the tools they can to make a push.

As far as the Arietta vs Lester choice ...... I think Maddon will choose Arietta, imo. The worst thing for the Cubs would be losing a 1 game series after such a good season this year. It will be no time to not put your hottest pitcher in there for a 1 game series. And bottom line is that Arietta has earned that game this year, and I think Maddon will see it that way too.

r u gunna fuk2nite?

 

[Bear Pride]

r u gunna fuk2nite?

You're an idiot!

 

[chibears55]

So, if we make the WC game, who pitches? Do you think they feel it's a must to start Lester because he has history and a fat paycheck? Or do you be smart and start Arrieta, who has been awesome this year?

Most likely depends on when either one pitched last at end of season ..

With the WC game scheduled for the Weds. after season, If Arrieta and or Lester are scheduled / needed to pitch Sat. and or Sun. before to get in playoffs , then the one who pitched first probably starts the WC game..

If cubs clinch early and Maddon can set his rotation and actually choose who he wants..

I say Arrieta pitches in WC game..

I say Arrieta, only because if they get to NLDS they will face the Cardinals and the Cardinals on the season dont do well against lefties, so knowing that whoever starts in WC game will only have 1 start ( game 3) in NLDS and game 1 starter in NLDS will have 2 or 3 starts ( 1, 4/5, 7 ) then my guess is Maddon would prefer to have Lester start the NLDS.

 

[chibears55]

depends on the match up. If the Pirates are using Lirano you are losing Montero anyways so pitch Lester then. If they go with Cole then don't waste Ross on a RH pitcher. Use Arreta then

Not that hard to figure

I get what your saying but i really hope come playoffs, Maddon scratches the whole Ross/Lester thing and sticks with Montero..
Ross is as good as an Auto out no matter RH or LH pitching, at least with Montero, he gives a little chance against LHer..

But mainly i just hope he doesn't stay with Ross catching Lester in playoffs. .