IST: White Sox vs Cubs

[Chief Walking Stick]

Wtf is taking so long, it's fine. They'd be halfway done with the game by now if they started on time.

 

[chibears55]

3:25-3:30 start time

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[SilenceS]

That offense! Terrible!

 

[Briggs is GOAT]

The WhiteSox really suck

 

[beckdawg]

Heyward may not opt out but I'm sorry there is no way they continue to trot him out there every day and have him suckass when they have or can have better options..

They don't have a choice. He has a no trade clause. Also, as I mentioned before he's hitting RHP.... as in THIS year.

 

[chibears55]

They don't have a choice. He has a no trade clause. Also, as I mentioned before he's hitting RHP.... as in THIS year.

I believe his no trade ended and he hitting alot worse then Almora vs RHers at .258 and .246 against RH startets

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[TC in Mississippi]

I believe his no trade ended and he hitting alot worse then Almora vs RHers at .258 and .246 against RH startets

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Full no trade through this year, partial no trade for 2019-2020.

 

[chibears55]

Full no trade through this year, partial no trade for 2019-2020.

So they can trade him after the season

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[beckdawg]

I believe his no trade ended and he hitting alot worse then Almora vs RHers at .258 and .246 against RH startets

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It hasn't. And he's hitting .257/.346/.414 vs RHP. Ok sure you'd like more batting average but a .346 OBP vs RHP which is the big part of a split is playable. Keep in mind he's hitting that .257/.346 with a .258 BABIP vs RHP. Almora is hitting .286 with a .383 BABIP. In other words, if his BABIP returns to league average you're likely talking about a .300/.390 hitter vs RHP.

I'm not going to start throwing a ton of data at you but I'll say it again, the data suggest he's a guy oh so close to breaking out. Last time I mentioned this I said 2 things. 1) his line drive rate needed to regress to career average. It's currently only ~3% off. The second thing I said was he needed to hit fewer infield fly balls. That hasn't happened yet. Those two things combined tell me he's still getting too far under pitches but the increase in line drives suggests he's getting more comfortable with this more fly ball oriented approach. He's still got the second highest hard hit rate of his career. He's got the best k rate of his career. He's more or less at his second best walk rate of his career give or take a half percent. And he's still hitting nearly half his career GB/FB rate(i.e. 2x fly balls).

 

[TC in Mississippi]

So they can trade him after the season

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Yes, to a team on his list. With $126 mil left on the deal you’d probably have to eat $70 mil or so of his money. I’ve said it many times but if he could just be just above league average for run production, 105 wRC+ or so, he won’t be a liability in the lineup. I think it’s much more likely he hits that mark and stays.

 

[beckdawg]

So they can trade him after the season

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... you understand how partial NTC work right? Assuming it's the typical 15 team partial NTC he's going to put 15 teams that would have interest in him. It's effectively a NTC because the teams he leaves off aren't going to be teams that want him.

 

[Omeletpants]

Not good Schwarbie

 

[beckdawg]

Yes, to a team on his list. With $126 mil left on the deal you’d probably have to eat $70 mil or so of his money. I’ve said it many times but if he could just be just above league average for run production, 105 wRC+ or so, he won’t be a liability in the lineup. I think it’s much more likely he hits that mark and stays.

He's 109 wRC+ vs RHP this year. I keep saying it because people don't seem to realize but he's really close to being pretty damn good. And as mentioned that's with a .258 BABIP vs RHP. I wouldn't say his issues with BABIP are "luck." As I've said he's popping too many balls up atm. But I'm telling people right now if he starts driving balls with the way he's increased his fly ball rate he's a far more interesting player than people realize. This isn't the same player of 2016/17 or for the mater the same player in STL/ATL. It's an altogether different Heyward. He's finally found the power he's had. He's just not hitting the ball square which is leading to too many lazy fly balls in the outfield and too many infield fly balls. That can easily change as he becomes more comfortable with this style of hitting. As I mentioned his line drive rate is already nearly double from a month ago which would be a good indicator that he's progressing some.

LHP on the other hand.... that needs some work but frankly given they need to get Almora/Happ playing time anyways it's not a huge deal.

 

[CSF77]

He's 109 wRC+ vs RHP this year. I keep saying it because people don't seem to realize but he's really close to being pretty damn good. And as mentioned that's with a .258 BABIP vs RHP. I wouldn't say his issues with BABIP are "luck." As I've said he's popping too many balls up atm. But I'm telling people right now if he starts driving balls with the way he's increased his fly ball rate he's a far more interesting player than people realize. This isn't the same player of 2016/17 or for the mater the same player in STL/ATL. It's an altogether different Heyward. He's finally found the power he's had. He's just not hitting the ball square which is leading to too many lazy fly balls in the outfield and too many infield fly balls. That can easily change as he becomes more comfortable with this style of hitting. As I mentioned his line drive rate is already nearly double from a month ago which would be a good indicator that he's progressing some.

LHP on the other hand.... that needs some work but frankly given they need to get Almora/Happ playing time anyways it's not a huge deal.

I honestly like Bryant in RF and Baez at 3B myself. It opens up AB's for Zobrist at 2B and Happ platoons with Schwarber in LF. Heyward should get back but he should be considered a role player at this point. Come in late inning and match up based for CF.

 

[TL1961]

I honestly like Bryant in RF and Baez at 3B myself. It opens up AB's for Zobrist at 2B and Happ platoons with Schwarber in LF. Heyward should get back but he should be considered a role player at this point. Come in late inning and match up based for CF.

Well, today alone, Bryant (who I think looks very comfortable playing OF), failed to catch two balls Heyward catches easily.

Benching a gold glover should not be taken so lightly. Defense matters - even if we're not talking about a SS. And as beckdawg has stated, he may get that offense going more than in recent years.

 

[Ari Bear]

I must say, it feels pretty good to see us finally hitting the ball! :clap:

 

[beckdawg]

I honestly like Bryant in RF and Baez at 3B myself. It opens up AB's for Zobrist at 2B and Happ platoons with Schwarber in LF. Heyward should get back but he should be considered a role player at this point. Come in late inning and match up based for CF.

Against LHP sure I can see that as one possible roster configuration. But as I've said, you see RHP most of the time and vs RHP Heyward has a 109 wRC+ this year. And also as I've mentioned I don't even think that's going to be his high point. I could easily see him getting to 120 if he starts to square more balls up as he becomes more used to hitting fly balls. As for LHP, who knows when or if that'll get better. In the past he wasn't really a big split hitter. But if he's increased his launch angle as appears to be the case he very well may have opened some new holes in his swing vs LHP.

Regardless, if he's this vs RHP for the next 5 year's he's honestly fine. You don't need to eat $70 mil dollars to try to trade him to a team that doesn't want him to begin with and that he would deny via his partial NTC. All you need is someone who can be a bench player and crush LHP only. Heyward would then play only vs RHP and given that's the giant part of the split he's likely a 2-3 win player pretty easily.

Thing to keep in mind is if they can get by doing what they are for the next 1.5 years then Zobrist is gone. That alleviates a lot of pressure on the roster because at that point you have 4 OFs that need playing time and 4 infielders. Now the obvious thought is they are going to add a Machado/Harper at some point which may necessitate trading a guy or two but there's ways to make it work. In fact, there's an argument to be made that they could deal Zobrist after the season. I'm not sure that's likely but he's only making $12.5 mil next year and for a guy who's currently hitting .309/.378/.420, that looks like an incredibly team friendly deal. There's going to be any number of teams who could be young and in need of his vet leadership and would pay a half decent prospect for him. Perhaps not a top 100 prospect but something close to that.

 

[Chief Walking Stick]

Just wait until the weather really warms up.

 

[chibears55]

https://twitter.com/Cubs/status/995669236608655360/photo/1

Another spot in lineup for Baez

Only spot he hasn't batted in so far no is 9th

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[Omeletpants]

Maddon holding to his promise to get Happ more time