IST:Cubs vs. Giants

[Diehardfan]

Doubt it will make much of a difference, the pitcher still has to hit. They'd be more likely to pitch around Russell with the pitcher behind him.

Damn tough to pitch around anyone with 1st and 2B already occupied.

 

[CRM 114]

CUBS WIN! Huge series win!

 

[CuttyMarsh2012forOffice]

Omg the Cubs survived. the bottom of the 8th proved to be clutch

 

[FrankieLyrical]

:buttrock: :buttrock: :buttrock:

This team is making it really hard to be a pessimist

 

[FrankieLyrical]

We're gonna **** around and get the 4 game sweep tomorrow!!!

 

[CuttyMarsh2012forOffice]

:buttrock: :buttrock: :buttrock:

This team is making it really hard to be a pessimist

Remember, it's the Cubs. You have probably said that a dozen times in your life

 

[FrankieLyrical]

Remember, it's the Cubs. You have probably said that a dozen times in your life

Jokes one you, I haven't said that since last season

 

[CuttyMarsh2012forOffice]

Jokes one you, I haven't said that since last season

Frankie, I just crapped my pants

 

[Spunky Porkstacker]

Holy shit. I just caught the Dodgers Pirates game. Francisco Liriano may have hit the greatest homerun for a pitcher ever. Lol Its his first career homerun. He took a 2 strike high outside fastball and went opposite field down the line. It was like two feet off the left field foul line. Lol It was amazing.

Please stay on topic this is Cubs talk here take your Dodgers/ Pirates drivel somewhere else. Just because you aren't a full mod doesn't give you an excuse. :cubstroll2:

 

[ijustposthere]

Damn tough to pitch around anyone with 1st and 2B already occupied.

You seriously think Russell would get much of anything to hit with the pitcher on deck? The one that bunted into a double play the previous AB? It doesn't really matter. The only reason you notice the pitcher batting in key situations is because Maddon has him 8th. If he were 9th, he'd still be batting in big situations, but Russell wouldn't be seeing much of anything. It's better for Russell, and it really isn't much of a big deal. It's not like he has him in the middle of the lineup.

 

[ijustposthere]

Remember, it's the Cubs. You have probably said that a dozen times in your life

I never say that. Curses are for pansies. Just because the Cubs have had players in the past that couldn't handle the pressure doesn't mean this batch of young men won't be able to. I mean, I'd be shocked if they made it past the WC game, but this group is going to deliver the most satisfying championship in sports history. And if I'm wrong, just the same ole shit.

 

[SilenceS]

Maddon isn't switching the pitcher out of the 8th. We have 50 some odd games left. He isn't changing now.

Also, just because player occupies first base doesn't mean a base isn't open. That may have been old school way of thinking but thats not how the majority of baseball views it now. You can have 1st and 2nd occupied but if there best hitter is coming to the plate. You make someone else beat you. The only way you don't pitch around them or very carefully is if you are up and you don't want to put the tying or go ahead run on and even then pitchers will sometimes do it.

 

[wklink]

I never say that. Curses are for pansies. Just because the Cubs have had players in the past that couldn't handle the pressure doesn't mean this batch of young men won't be able to. I mean, I'd be shocked if they made it past the WC game, but this group is going to deliver the most satisfying championship in sports history. And if I'm wrong, just the same ole shit.

I don't think it is belief in curses, it's just that we have been down this road too many times. After the debacle of the 1984 playoffs followed by multiple missed opportunities including 2003 it is very hard to get too excited about our prospects. I am just happy that we are relevant and not taken for granted by teams. Even our losses are close. I agree that this looks to be a potentially special batch of young men but until I see the the printed World Series Tickets (which I will sell a kidney to buy) I can't get too excited.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

I don't think it is belief in curses, it's just that we have been down this road too many times. After the debacle of the 1984 playoffs followed by multiple missed opportunities including 2003 it is very hard to get too excited about our prospects. I am just happy that we are relevant and not taken for granted by teams. Even our losses are close. I agree that this looks to be a potentially special batch of young men but until I see the the printed World Series Tickets (which I will sell a kidney to buy) I can't get too excited.

Well here's how you fix that, don't expect a WS this year. No team has ever made the postseason with 4 rookies with 300 PA. None, zero and yet I think this team will. Only 4 of those teams won 86 games, this one is on pace to top 90 and I think they will. Now I have no idea if they win a WC game or not but I'm not worried about that. In a year when this team was supposed to compete not contend they've exceeded expectations already. I have no doubt there will be multiple postseasons and that's something I haven't entertained since Kerry Wood and Mark Prior's arms fell off. Watching Cubs baseball is fun again. I'm good with that...for now.

Btw, I'm not an I told you so kind of guy but I got a bunch of crap in the spring and early season for saying Schwarber could come up and contribute this year. Also for saying that he could potentially be the best hitter out of this bunch. Heck it was only 2 or 3 weeks ago when I got the business for saying he'd play some LF because they had to keep that bat in the lineup. Now after 27 games I'm not tooting any horn or predicting anything silly, I'm just sayin'.

 

[beckdawg]

Through his first 100 or so PAs Schwarber has put up 12.7% soft contact 42.9% medium contact and 44.4% hard contact. Only 8 players in the league this year with qualified innings have over a 40% hard contact rate. J.D. Martinez, Brandon Belt, Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Lucas Duda, Paul Goldschmidt, Joc Pederson and Chris Davis are those 8 players. In 27 games he's put up 1.4 fWAR. That's fucking absurd. To put that into context, there's only 95 positional players who've played all year that are better than that and he did it in 27 games. Russell and Fowler at 92 and 106 games respectively have been worth 1.5 fWAR. It's roughly a 8.4 fWAR pace over 162 games. Last year all of 1 player(Trout) was above 7 fWAR and only 9 were above 6(Andrew McCutchen, Alex Gordon, Anthony Rendon, Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista, Michael Brantley, Giancarlo Stanton, and Jonathan Lucroy being the other 8).

I mentioned this earlier in the year when talk about him and Bryant came up. I wasn't so sure as some that Bryant was a clear cut better player. Obviously that's not to say that Bryant was bad just that I felt people didn't quite have a high enough opinion on Schwarber. Schwarber will come back down to earth some. A .439 BABIP just isn't going to last forever even if he is smoking balls. At those sort of hard hit rates I'd imagine he'd fall into the .330-.350 BABIP range eventually. That would incidentally put his triple slash(.352/.436/.625 presently) some what in range of Bryant's who has a .339 BABIP and a .248/.358/.441 triple slash.

That is seriously going to be a terrifying 2-4 or 3-5 order some day. If you slot Schwarber/Bryant/Rizzo you get a nice L/R/L mix of guys who all could be in the .370+ OBP range. The other intriguing thing to me about Schwarber is the power. He has 11 extra base hits in those 27 games including 6 homers. Bryant has 36 in 100. Obviously you'd be projecting a bit but that would indeed put Schwarber slightly ahead in total extra base hits not to mention he's on a roughly 35 HR pace for a full season. Bryant might not yet have reached his full potential there but the fact Schwarber is even in consideration says a lot as Bryant is one of the few players you'll ever see with a 70 power grade from scouts. Think him and Gallo were the only two players in all of the minor leagues with that sort of grade.

Again, that's not slight Bryant who's been clearly fantastic. Just think it's going to be fun to watch these two battle.

 

[beckdawg]

Btw, I'm not an I told you so kind of guy but I got a bunch of crap in the spring and early season for saying Schwarber could come up and contribute this year. Also for saying that he could potentially be the best hitter out of this bunch. Heck it was only 2 or 3 weeks ago when I got the business for saying he'd play some LF because they had to keep that bat in the lineup. Now after 27 games I'm not tooting any horn or predicting anything silly, I'm just sayin'.

Haha, i was literally writing the above post before you posted this so I hadn't seen your post yet. I too have been really high on Schwarber.

 

[Chief Walking Stick]

Time for the sweep!!!!

When was the last time the Cubs swept a 4 game series against a playoff contender?

 

[TC in Mississippi]

Through his first 100 or so PAs Schwarber has put up 12.7% soft contact 42.9% medium contact and 44.4% hard contact. Only 8 players in the league this year with qualified innings have over a 40% hard contact rate. J.D. Martinez, Brandon Belt, Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Lucas Duda, Paul Goldschmidt, Joc Pederson and Chris Davis are those 8 players. In 27 games he's put up 1.4 fWAR. That's fucking absurd. To put that into context, there's only 95 positional players who've played all year that are better than that and he did it in 27 games. Russell and Fowler at 92 and 106 games respectively have been worth 1.5 fWAR. It's roughly a 8.4 fWAR pace over 162 games. Last year all of 1 player(Trout) was above 7 fWAR and only 9 were above 6(Andrew McCutchen, Alex Gordon, Anthony Rendon, Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista, Michael Brantley, Giancarlo Stanton, and Jonathan Lucroy being the other 8).

I mentioned this earlier in the year when talk about him and Bryant came up. I wasn't so sure as some that Bryant was a clear cut better player. Obviously that's not to say that Bryant was bad just that I felt people didn't quite have a high enough opinion on Schwarber. Schwarber will come back down to earth some. A .439 BABIP just isn't going to last forever even if he is smoking balls. At those sort of hard hit rates I'd imagine he'd fall into the .330-.350 BABIP range eventually. That would incidentally put his triple slash(.352/.436/.625 presently) some what in range of Bryant's who has a .339 BABIP and a .248/.358/.441 triple slash.

That is seriously going to be a terrifying 2-4 or 3-5 order some day. If you slot Schwarber/Bryant/Rizzo you get a nice L/R/L mix of guys who all could be in the .370+ OBP range. The other intriguing thing to me about Schwarber is the power. He has 11 extra base hits in those 27 games including 6 homers. Bryant has 36 in 100. Obviously you'd be projecting a bit but that would indeed put Schwarber slightly ahead in total extra base hits not to mention he's on a roughly 35 HR pace for a full season. Bryant might not yet have reached his full potential there but the fact Schwarber is even in consideration says a lot as Bryant is one of the few players you'll ever see with a 70 power grade from scouts. Think him and Gallo were the only two players in all of the minor leagues with that sort of grade.

Again, that's not slight Bryant who's been clearly fantastic. Just think it's going to be fun to watch these two battle.

It's really fun to watch now and will be even more fun as time goes on. You have those 3 guys in the meat of your lineup and your pitching is good it puts you in nearly every game.

 

[wklink]

Well here's how you fix that, don't expect a WS this year. No team has ever made the postseason with 4 rookies with 300 PA. None, zero and yet I think this team will. Only 4 of those teams won 86 games, this one is on pace to top 90 and I think they will. Now I have no idea if they win a WC game or not but I'm not worried about that. In a year when this team was supposed to compete not contend they've exceeded expectations already. I have no doubt there will be multiple postseasons and that's something I haven't entertained since Kerry Wood and Mark Prior's arms fell off. Watching Cubs baseball is fun again. I'm good with that...for now.

Btw, I'm not an I told you so kind of guy but I got a bunch of crap in the spring and early season for saying Schwarber could come up and contribute this year. Also for saying that he could potentially be the best hitter out of this bunch. Heck it was only 2 or 3 weeks ago when I got the business for saying he'd play some LF because they had to keep that bat in the lineup. Now after 27 games I'm not tooting any horn or predicting anything silly, I'm just sayin'.

I don't expect it. I'm at the point now where I won't get my hopes up until Rizzo gloves out number 3 in the clinching game of the NLCS.

I am happy they are winning though, and that the new kids are playing so well. No matter how good someone looks on draft day you never really know what kind of player you are going to get until they start facing Major League pitching.

 

[Parade_Rain]

Well here's how you fix that, don't expect a WS this year. No team has ever made the postseason with 4 rookies with 300 PA. None, zero and yet I think this team will. Only 4 of those teams won 86 games, this one is on pace to top 90 and I think they will. Now I have no idea if they win a WC game or not but I'm not worried about that. In a year when this team was supposed to compete not contend they've exceeded expectations already. I have no doubt there will be multiple postseasons and that's something I haven't entertained since Kerry Wood and Mark Prior's arms fell off. Watching Cubs baseball is fun again. I'm good with that...for now.

Btw, I'm not an I told you so kind of guy but I got a bunch of crap in the spring and early season for saying Schwarber could come up and contribute this year. Also for saying that he could potentially be the best hitter out of this bunch. Heck it was only 2 or 3 weeks ago when I got the business for saying he'd play some LF because they had to keep that bat in the lineup. Now after 27 games I'm not tooting any horn or predicting anything silly, I'm just sayin'.