IST Cubs @ ARI

[Diehardfan]

Does my heart good to see these guys score a few runs.....I would say the Cub starters probably agree.

 

[Parade_Rain]

I'd like to see Contreras get outnof his slump.

 

[fatbeard]

Will be funny if Milwaukee shits the bed the last 10 games and the WC ends up as St. Louis and the loser of the NL West division race.

 

[TL1961]

6 IP, 1ER thus far for Monty. Nice work.

 

[beckdawg]

Chicago Cubs
✔
@Cubs
#Cubs starters lead @MLB with a 2.50 ERA since Aug. 16. #EverybodyIn

That seems good.

 

[beckdawg]

And that makes the magic number 8

 

[fatbeard]

And that's a wrap. 3.5 game lead and magic number down to 8.

 

[beckdawg]

And that's a wrap. 3.5 game lead and magic number down to 8.

It's almost as though fangraphs may have a good idea about probability.

 

[Diehardfan]

 

[fatbeard]

It's almost as though fangraphs may have a good idea about probability.

It's almost as though the cooler heads are prevailing when it comes to sound analysis of the NL.

 

[Parade_Rain]

It's not over 'til it's over. As of today, the Cubs only have a 95% chance of winning the division.

 

[Parade_Rain]

And 538 lists the Red Sox (26%), Astros (24%), Dodgers (14%) and Cubs (10%) as the only teams with a double digit chance of winning the WS.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

When the team is losing this place is often a clown show, when the team is winning the intelligent posters come out to play. Well done, guys.

 

[Parade_Rain]

I don't know enough about the Dodgers, but the slight chance of 4% over the Cubs, I'm wondering if that has to do with the Cubs recent scoring struggles or the relief pitching injuries. Thoughts?

 

[Parade_Rain]

When the team is losing this place is often a clown show, when the team is winning the intelligent posters come out to play. Well done, guys.

Yes. Well done, Cubs. If the Cubs finish the division off and get 95 wins, surely Maddon is in line for MOY.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

I don't know enough about the Dodgers, but the slight chance of 4% over the Cubs, I'm wondering if that has to do with the Cubs recent scoring struggles or the relief pitching injuries. Thoughts?

Probably the scoring. Even injured I think the Cubs pen compares favorably to LA and while our guys may not have a closer Kenley Jansen is not all that reliable right now. What they have though is a dynamic lineup. I think the Cubs have one too but it's missing for a while. If Murphy and Bryant are back to hitting that bodes well as does Heyward returning. Say what you will about him but he's been clutch all year and was a welcome sight last night. So to answer your question, yeah I think the odds-makers respect the Dodgers offense more.

 

[TL1961]

I can’t root for the Cards to get in, but it would bebbetter for us to have Cards not LA.

Worat case scenario is happening now. Both make it.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

I can’t root for the Cards to get in, but it would bebbetter for us to have Cards not LA.

Worat case scenario is happening now. Both make it.

I think the Cubs beat the Dodgers in a 7 game series, I'd worry in a 5 game. Both the Cardinals and Brewers worry me in a 5 game because they know us so well. The Rockies don't scare me at all. If we get past the NLDS I'll be fairly confident we get to the WS.

 

[CubsFaninMN]

Yes. Well done, Cubs. If the Cubs finish the division off and get 95 wins, surely Maddon is in line for MOY.

Naw, they usually give MOY to the guy who engineers the greatest improvement, either since taking over the job or just since last season.

My money is on Snitker, since no one pre-season had the Braves even engineering a .500 season, much less winning their division. Especially after having many of their international draft picks stripped out of their farm system because, well, cheating.

It's interesting -- in '15, the Cubs were the big story nationally, as they came up from a horrible '14 to the NLCS (which won Maddon MOY). I don't get that kind of buzz from the national baseball media around this Braves team, which I bet is annoying all the Braves fans out there. Too bad they're having their pop-up year the same year an AL team is vying to win 120 games...

 

[CubsFaninMN]

I think the Cubs beat the Dodgers in a 7 game series, I'd worry in a 5 game. Both the Cardinals and Brewers worry me in a 5 game because they know us so well. The Rockies don't scare me at all. If we get past the NLDS I'll be fairly confident we get to the WS.

I think short series are impossible to predict. Under some circumstances, I could see the Marlins taking a 3-of-5 series from the Red Sox. The exact same teams might end up a 15-game series with Boston winning 12 games, but the first five games could see Miami taking advantage of rare mistakes, etc. I mean, look at the Reds owning the Dodgers this year -- and no one would suggest the Reds are, at base, a better team than LA.

The Dodgers were not that much better than the Cubs last year, as far as the teams themselves were concerned. That NLCS was a classic example of two pretty evenly matched teams where one went cold and hit into the worst luck possible, and the other got so hot that their pitcher could have bunted and hit the ball out of the park. It was that hard of a swing and counter-swing between the two teams.

I always look at the post-season as a total crapshoot. The goal is to get into it. Once there, it's nice to be Goliath, but you always have to be aware that your next opponent might be David...