IST:Cubs at Reds

[SiDe WaYs]

Well, the Revenant is on pay per view

Fucking aye. Thank you. I'm gonna watch it.

 

[Bear Pride]

**** you..........oh, did I forget to say **** You?

A sad old Man, trolling for decades, hoping, maybe, wishing for someone, anyone, to think he has something to say. Unfortunately, he doesn't.

Furthermore, what he does say, shows his loneliness, his lack of being anything relevant, and reduced to Internet shout outs for attention. Omeletpanties tombstone will say "No one cared, not even Peyton Manning".

 

[Bear Pride]

Yep. Tomorrow is a different day.

One series at a time is good for me, and tomorrow we can win another one!

 

[CSF77]

This is why you try to trade up later season for a starter. Lackey has aged pure and simple. If he is flat that day he can get wrecked. Love his approach to the game but lemons like this will happen with pitchers past their prime.

 

[fatbeard]

This is why you try to trade up later season for a starter. Lackey has aged pure and simple. If he is flat that day he can get wrecked. Love his approach to the game but lemons like this will happen with pitchers past their prime.

Most pitchers will get "wrecked" if they're flat. Did you type this on a "Jump to Conclusions" mat?

 

[Parade_Rain]

Let's trade Soler. Baez was 0-5.

 

[fatbeard]

Soler hasn't been *THAT* bad. He was like -10.7 UZR/150 in RF and almost all of the negative came from range portion. From watching him play, that seems more an issue with route running rather than speed. I mean he's not the fastest guy in the world but if he took better routes don't think he would look nearly as bad. The good news is that's probably something he gets better with over time and given his injury history in the minors it kind of makes sense that's not his strongest area.

I'm going to largely avoid talking about Baez because I've already made my feelings on him well known. However, I think you're vastly overrating his defense. To put into context what 2 fWAR looks like, Jason Heyward was like 2.3 fWAR between his baserunning portion and defense. And not to shit on Baez but simply put this widely held belief that he's a plus or plus-plus defender does not agree with the defensive metrics. Even if you go to the more rudimentary errors as a measuring stick, he's had around 12 errors in 600 innings between minors and majors at 2B and 102 errors in 3150 innings at SS. I will say from what I've seen of him at 3B he looks better to me personally there but he's only played around 150 innings there between minors and majors.

I wont get into a hitting debate on Baez because I'd just be repeating things I've already suggested. All I will say is we are 326 PAs in now and he has a sub 6% walk rate and a greater than 30% k rate(being generous). Historically that hasn't worked out well for people. I'm still not 100% what to make of Soler as a hitter but his 7.9%/28.4% bb/k rate profiles much better going forward especially when you start talking he's at 10.9%/23.6% this year. He needs to get better defensively though in LF if we were comfortable with Schwarber out there I'm not really sure Soler is any worse.

Edit: One more thing. To contrast what an actual plus defender(Russell) looks like in the MI, Russell had 9 errors in 746 innings at 2B last season and 5 in 606 between this season and last to go along with 31 in 1926.2 innings at SS in the minors. Baez is basically 2x that at those positions. I just wanted to make that clear because I often get accused of needlessly craping on him but if this isn't fair I don't know what is.

Good post.

Re: Soler's defense: I don't think his routes are the problem so much as his spatial awareness. He just doesn't seem to handle it well, and it's hard for me to believe that a guy who's been playing baseball his whole life is going to suddenly improve on that. He may over time get better at judging where the ball is going to go, and as a result run better routes, but still never have the spatial awareness necessary to be a decent fielder. It's one thing to know, "I need to run back towards the wall," and another to judge the path of a fast-moving ball in space while you're moving in space and judge where your mitt also needs to go to within fractions of an inch to make the catch.

Re: Baez's defense. This is one instance where I trust my eyes more than metrics. Baez is an exuberant baseball player. He goes all out on every swing, every throw, every ground ball. He has tremendous natural athleticism. Many of his errors, I believe, are the result of trying to do too much due to that exuberance. He's the type of player who's consistency will improve with experience, maturity, and technique. I expect his errors will reduce as he learns to play within himself. The tools are superb.

 

[Omeletpants]

Lineup today:

LaStella 2b
Heyward CF
Soler RF
Sycrzr LF

 

[Diehardfan]

I was hoping to see Baez and Russell up the middle, I think they are a kickass keystone combo. I also understand resting Fowler a bit but he's just been on fire....wouldn't it make more sense to wait till the fire burnt out some first?

 

[Parade_Rain]

I was hoping to see Baez and Russell up the middle, I think they are a kickass keystone combo. I also understand resting Fowler a bit but he's just been on fire....wouldn't it make more sense to wait till the fire burnt out some first?

Baez was 0-5 yesterday. He looked lost at the plate. He also isn't any better defensively than Castro was at 2B. I would stop lapping up SilenceS' fanboy posts on Baez until he actually takes a walk or two. LaStella has been steady and producing when he gets to play. He should get some AB's regularly. He's a solid complementary player on this team. I'm more curious about seeing this OF combo today. It could be a real adventure.

 

[pseudonym]

Give Baez some time. But I've never been a fan of Lackey, especially as the #2 pitcher. We need another ace.

Was anybody yelling at Maddon to pull Lackey? I was, and then that 3-run homer ended it, pretty much. Cahill didn't help.

 

[Parade_Rain]

Good post.

Re: Soler's defense: I don't think his routes are the problem so much as his spatial awareness. He just doesn't seem to handle it well, and it's hard for me to believe that a guy who's been playing baseball his whole life is going to suddenly improve on that. He may over time get better at judging where the ball is going to go, and as a result run better routes, but still never have the spatial awareness necessary to be a decent fielder. It's one thing to know, "I need to run back towards the wall," and another to judge the path of a fast-moving ball in space while you're moving in space and judge where your mitt also needs to go to within fractions of an inch to make the catch.

Re: Baez's defense. This is one instance where I trust my eyes more than metrics. Baez is an exuberant baseball player. He goes all out on every swing, every throw, every ground ball. He has tremendous natural athleticism. Many of his errors, I believe, are the result of trying to do too much due to that exuberance. He's the type of player who's consistency will improve with experience, maturity, and technique. I expect his errors will reduce as he learns to play within himself. The tools are superb.

It sounds like Soler could possibly let a deep fly ball bounce off his head and go over the fence for a home run.

 

[Parade_Rain]

Give Baez some time. But I've never been a fan of Lackey, especially as the #2 pitcher. We need another ace.

Was anybody yelling at Maddon to pull Lackey? I was, and then that 3-run homer ended it, pretty much. Cahill didn't help.

I wouldn't want Lackey as the #2 either, but since Arrieta and Lester are 1 and 2, Lackey is a #3. Also, There wasn't any other Cubs pitcher capable of quenching the fire, which makes the game last night look more like an anomaly as opposed to the usual.

 

[CSF77]

Most pitchers will get "wrecked" if they're flat. Did you type this on a "Jump to Conclusions" mat?

Not really. Most quality starters in their prime have a b game to fall back on. Lackey minus a hard slider is pretty hittable

 

[CSF77]

I wouldn't want Lackey as the #2 either, but since Arrieta and Lester are 1 and 2, Lackey is a #3. Also, There wasn't any other Cubs pitcher capable of quenching the fire, which makes the game last night look more like an anomaly as opposed to the usual.

I was thinking they may go the rental route at the deadline. I'd keep tabs on arms that are hitting F/A this year. Well about time they were buyers vs selling a starter.

 

[Parade_Rain]

I was thinking they may go the rental route at the deadline. I'd keep tabs on arms that are hitting F/A this year. Well about time they were buyers vs selling a starter.

A rental should be a bit cheaper than a young pup, but we'll need to see if Lackey just had an off night or if the Cubs have two #4 SP.

 

[chibears55]

Gotta win today.. Hate to end with a split after winning first two.
I'd like to see them go into may without losing 2 in row.
Come home on a winning note and go off on Brewers and Braves


Sent from my LG-V495 using Tapatalk

 

[chibears55]

A rental should be a bit cheaper than a young pup, but we'll need to see if Lackey just had an off night or if the Cubs have two #4 SP.

Lackey has had 2 bad starts of his 4 and I hope not but I think that what we're going be seeing from him all year

Sent from my LG-V495 using Tapatalk

 

[fatbeard]

It sounds like Soler could possibly let a deep fly ball bounce off his head and go over the fence for a home run.

Did you see him try to catch the ball at the wall the other day? It's not out of the realm of possibility.

 

[Diehardfan]

Baez was 0-5 yesterday. He looked lost at the plate. He also isn't any better defensively than Castro was at 2B. I would stop lapping up SilenceS' fanboy posts on Baez until he actually takes a walk or two. LaStella has been steady and producing when he gets to play. He should get some AB's regularly. He's a solid complementary player on this team. I'm more curious about seeing this OF combo today. It could be a real adventure.

Mind your own business...I'll "lap up" any posts I want. No matter what he does with his bat, there's no denying Baez's defense on either side of second base.