IST: White Sox v Cubs

How many games will the Cubs Win?


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brett05

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Schwarber is the best hitter in the system. Baez is #2 due to his higher SO%.

If Schwarber ends up in LF then you want Bryant at 3B. Then it becomes Castro or Baez. Baez has more trade value so the decision becomes easy to make then.

Baez more value than Castro?
 

beckdawg

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Baez more value than Castro?

I would argue no but then again, Castro is probably at an all time low in value right now. It's one of the reasons I would trade Baez before him. That being said, it's a bit scary having seen 2013 Castro to see the present 2015 Castro. 1.5 of the last 2.5 years he's been a pretty bad hitter. Thankfully he crushed last year so you can sort of pass it off as just a bad year or whatever but does make you worry a bit.
 

CSF77

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Baez more value than Castro?

To be honest yes. We are looking at a rookie year struggles. He still has not met his potential.

Castro is good for .280 but OBA of .330. He walks at a low rate. His extra base power is at a all time low. D has been suspect but that has regressed to his early career numbers. Speed used to be a plus now non existent.

He has not gotten better with age. He should be entering his prime right now and he has taken a nose dive.

I'm not sure what to think about him right now. Lack of preparation in the off season? I really do not know.

So as of right now. Baez (healthy) would be a bigger chip
 

CSF77

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.266 wOBA kinda sums it up with him

He needs to figure it out in the 2nd half
 

CSF77

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I would argue no but then again, Castro is probably at an all time low in value right now. It's one of the reasons I would trade Baez before him. That being said, it's a bit scary having seen 2013 Castro to see the present 2015 Castro. 1.5 of the last 2.5 years he's been a pretty bad hitter. Thankfully he crushed last year so you can sort of pass it off as just a bad year or whatever but does make you worry a bit.

I passed 2013 as him getting out of whack with his mechanics. Too many trying to fix what was not broke.

2014 he had something to prove and he did that. Not sure if having Mags as his hitting coach helped or not. He seemed to excell under Rick Renteria.

This year after a strong start he has shown little. While his D has regressed. He is at a 30 error pace right now. That is confusing as his D was getting stronger as he matured.

So like I said I really do not get it. This nose dive across the board is very concerning. If it was just 1 thing. Like power but he was hitting .280 still and his D was at his reg 20 error pace I would not be bothered by it. But all 3? He needs to figure it out or get left in the dust.
 

beckdawg

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Was it this year that he had policy trouble prior to the season or was that last year? My memory is getting jumbled. Not sure that has anything to do with his struggles now but it might have some effect. Either way, it seems like something is up with the type of contact he is getting because his walk and k rates are down from last year. He's putting 79.7% of balls in play in terms of PA deciding balls anyways. His ISO is by far the lowest of his career and to see a guy who's putting that many balls in play, a .247 just doesn't add up. His BABIP is low but not ungodly low at .282. It is around 40 points off his career marks which would push his BA and OBP back to career norms but again that doesn't really explain his ISO.

Interestingly, his 2013 had a similar stat line even as far as his ISO being a then career low .102. This year it's even lower at .074. What's even stranger is those two years are sandwiched by 2012(.147) and 2014(.146). Maybe Castro is just and even year kinda guy...
 

Parade_Rain

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I passed 2013 as him getting out of whack with his mechanics. Too many trying to fix what was not broke.

2014 he had something to prove and he did that. Not sure if having Mags as his hitting coach helped or not. He seemed to excell under Rick Renteria.

This year after a strong start he has shown little. While his D has regressed. He is at a 30 error pace right now. That is confusing as his D was getting stronger as he matured.

So like I said I really do not get it. This nose dive across the board is very concerning. If it was just 1 thing. Like power but he was hitting .280 still and his D was at his reg 20 error pace I would not be bothered by it. But all 3? He needs to figure it out or get left in the dust.
Who on the Cubs is hitting well? I don't think this is a Castro issue. I think it's a team issue.
 

TL1961

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Who on the Cubs is hitting well? I don't think this is a Castro issue. I think it's a team issue.

Hitting is an individual thing this isn't a rb struggling because the OL stinks. This is baseball. He doesn't work hard. He looks like he has never worked out a day in his life. He plays like he has never seen a baseball game. It's attitude, effort, ambition.

The guy was on his way to 3000 hits. Now he faces losin his job as a starter.
 

Parade_Rain

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Hitting is an individual thing this isn't a rb struggling because the OL stinks. This is baseball. He doesn't work hard. He looks like he has never worked out a day in his life. He plays like he has never seen a baseball game. It's attitude, effort, ambition.

The guy was on his way to 3000 hits. Now he faces losin his job as a starter.

Lol. Who is taking his job? Russell at .226? Baez not available. LaStella a 2B? Alcantara struggling again in AAA?

And as an FYI, hitting is contagious. This team doesn't hit and hasn't for some time.
 

TL1961

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Rizzo hit a ton while Coghlan couldn't buy a hit.

It's an individual skill.

Who is taking his job? Well, Russell might with baez at second. Or w laStella at 2nd.

Or baez could take SS.

I am not saying tomorrow. But his chances of remaining a starting SS look worse by the day.

I find it hard to see a guy go from 200 hits in a sesson at 21 to bench. But I also find it hard to see a tesm breaking camp with a guy who has a low baseball IQ, poor work habits, bad D, and now a poor bat.
 

Parade_Rain

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Chicago Cubs are 27th out of 30 teams in BA currently. So, as a team they are not hitting.
 

Diehardfan

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Over react much? Castro will play as long as he's healthy enough to play. He has proven himself to be a major league hitter....Russell...nope, not yet....Baez...yeah, a bad one. Only LaStella but he's STILL hurt and is a 2B by trade. Someone is gonna have to come in and blow the doors off to get his job...not seeing that guy yet. So get used to seeing Castro out there and hope he snaps out of it.
 

SilenceS

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Hitting is an individual thing this isn't a rb struggling because the OL stinks. This is baseball. He doesn't work hard. He looks like he has never worked out a day in his life. He plays like he has never seen a baseball game. It's attitude, effort, ambition.

The guy was on his way to 3000 hits. Now he faces losin his job as a starter.

For his part, manager Joe Maddon is happy with Castro’s work habits.

“He is getting better,” Maddon said Monday. “He really works so hard. His work has been great. He hit at a very high level in the past, which tells me he will do it again. We also talked about the fact he has been trying a little bit too hard sometimes. That is where that roll-over ground ball comes from. I always tell him I want left center to be his left-field foul line. We want him to not try and pull the ball so much. The defense is about messing up the routine play, but how about the relay last night.”


Not emotional at all.
 

TL1961

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For his part, manager Joe Maddon is happy with Castro’s work habits.

“He is getting better,” Maddon said Monday. “He really works so hard. His work has been great. He hit at a very high level in the past, which tells me he will do it again. We also talked about the fact he has been trying a little bit too hard sometimes. That is where that roll-over ground ball comes from. I always tell him I want left center to be his left-field foul line. We want him to not try and pull the ball so much. The defense is about messing up the routine play, but how about the relay last night.”



Not emotional at all.

You are suggesting that Maddon would publicly trash him if not truly high on him?

You are so blinded you can't see what this player is.

Let's put it this way: if he IS working hard now, his problems are even greater. If you believe he is studying film and learning baserunning already and STILL plays like this?

You didn't make your case. You made mine.
 

Diehardfan

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You are suggesting that Maddon would publicly trash him if not truly high on him?

You are so blinded you can't see what this player is.

Let's put it this way: if he IS working hard now, his problems are even greater. If you believe he is studying film and learning baserunning already and STILL plays like this?

You didn't make your case. You made mine.

The only "case" that means anything is Joe Maddon's.
 

SilenceS

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You are suggesting that Maddon would publicly trash him if not truly high on him?

You are so blinded you can't see what this player is.

Let's put it this way: if he IS working hard now, his problems are even greater. If you believe he is studying film and learning baserunning already and STILL plays like this?

You didn't make your case. You made mine.

Wowser! :crazydance:
 

TL1961

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starlin Castro will not be the Cubs' starting SS to open the 2016 season.

Unfortunately it looks like it won't be because they got an ace for him.

This past offseason, I truly hoped they did not trade him, as their prospects were unproven and he was a SS w years of experience and a ton of hits. Today, his 2013 is no longer an anomaly. His hitting is worse. His D is no better. His focus is no better.

Maddon is uber-positive. But Castro isn't playing well for him. Can't blame Sweum any more.
 

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shut-the-front-door-o.gif
 
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beckdawg

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Rizzo hit a ton while Coghlan couldn't buy a hit.

What games are you watching here? Admittedly Cogs struggled to start the season but since the start of june(133 PAs or roughly 53% of his season total) he is hitting .273/.398/.373. Incidentally from june forward Rizzo is hitting .273/.380/.504. Bryant over that same time frame is .257/.356/.464. So in terms of average and OBP since June Coghlan has been one of their two best hitters. That's not to exclude his pretty horrible start but I said then that he would rebound because nothing in his numbers numbers suggested he was any worse than the great year he had in 2014 and some indicated he was playing better than 2014. Of course that didn't stop the "trade for LF" bandwagon.

Forgive me if I'm reading this wrong. After writing that paragraph it occurred to me that maybe you meant that when Rizzo was crushing early season Cogs wasn't hitting. I guess I've sort of gotten in the mindset that people are over looking Cogs because you fairly consistently hear people saying they need to trade for a LF and I'm sitting here looking Cogs since june and thinking who you going to get that's been better than him lately?
 
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