Official Cubs Game Thread!

[CSF77]

And he'll inevitably regress outside Colorado. I'm fine trading a non top 20 prospect for him. But I'm not trading Ballesteros, or any other prospect with real value.

This team sucks. There's 0 reason for them to buy unless it's a long term piece who can be a core piece.

Not a thing anymore. All MLB teams use humidifier baseballs thus the hitting across baseball has taken a nose dive.

Again do your research before making baseless comments.

Also framing and D has nothing to do with what you said.

Again not sure on your point.

And teams will pay for a need if it can push to a ring.

This one you are not wrong about.

But it would be a all in. Trade for Parades and Miller then rent Diaz with the intention to resign.

You make those 3 moves it will turn the ship around.

 

[Discus fish salesman]

Not a thing anymore. All MLB teams use humidifier baseballs thus the hitting across baseball has taken a nose dive.

Again do your research before making baseless comments.

Also framing and D has nothing to do with what you said.

Again not sure on your point.

And teams will pay for a need if it can push to a ring.

This one you are not wrong about.

But it would be a all in. Trade for Parades and Miller then rent Diaz with the intention to resign.

You make those 3 moves it will turn the ship around.

Colorado will always be a better hitters park not only because of environmental factors but the huge outfield is advantageous for hitters. You thinking this team should buy is delusionally stupid. Lol at the idea of this team pushing for a ring.

 

[CSF77]

Colorado will always be a better hitters park not only because of environmental factors but the huge outfield is advantageous for hitters. You thinking this team should buy is delusionally stupid. Lol at the idea of this team pushing for a ring.

Park factor is a valid reasoning and Coors is the top in that metric. Even though I would not discount a player that is viewed at a strong D player at the hardest position with plus value at O. Regardless of invalid arguments against


2nd part

They were worse last year and went crazy right before the dead line and was in it until the end

So this is a jaded topic as I believe that this team is broken but as stated it is a 3 headed issue.

Well 4 as the current team needs to get it together and stop acting like the season is long or another excuse to pass the buck on a loss.

It comes down to $$$ to be honest. The park is a event to get drunk at. But Marque subs drop expect a change ASAP.

Jed at the end of the day is Tom's lap dog. Let's don't try to make this into anything else. If Tom says fetch Jed is running and expecting a good boy.

 

[Discus fish salesman]

Park factor is a valid reasoning and Coors is the top in that metric. Even though I would not discount a player that is viewed at a strong D player at the hardest position with plus value at O. Regardless of invalid arguments against


2nd part

They were worse last year and went crazy right before the dead line and was in it until the end

So this is a jaded topic as I believe that this team is broken but as started it is a 3 headed issue.

Well 4 as the current team needs to get it together and stop acting like the season is long or another excuse to pass the buck on a loss

I was very much against them buying last year as well. If they are buying it shouldn't be marginal rental players

 

[Szlachcic]

Why Neris is closing games.

 

[CSF77]

I was very much against them buying last year as well. If they are buying it shouldn't be marginal rental players

Catcher is at a premium right now due to the lack of talent. Cubs were pretty good at development there until Jody Davis left. We are seeing a talent lull as a result

It is what is is right now. If you had to pin point areas.

3B. They have nothing
C. They have nothing
Closer. They have talent in pitching but lack that established closer.

All 3 are pretty equal in clear needs. A closer might be #1 of the 3. You really need to have that stability at the back and everything builds off of it

Then catcher. A catcher impacts the game almost equally as the pitcher. In game calling controlling a running game. Getting the close strikes called.

There have been countless in zone pitches called as a ball. Even if it was not framing it is the Catchers job to know the umps zone and get the pitcher to attack it.

To have a contending team you need a strong staff and a strong staff needs a strong catcher. It is pretty simple.

Cubs are dead last in catcher in all regards


3B can change on a dime if Morel gets his BABIP up to .250-.290. his BB and SO are rather good. He just hits it to a glove.

He needs to do some situational hitting work also. If you have guys at 2nd and 3rd and a single to RF scores 2 then learn to do that vs swing for the fence.

That has to stop in general. Cody reinvented himself into a strong 2 strike hitter that puts it where they are not. They need more of that.

 

[bears5150]

I think you need at least 3 players that are core guys, Belly is one. If they can get 1st and 3rd as core guys then the rest of these guys are complimentary to the core. Oh and another solid starter and closer

 

[CSF77]

I think you need at least 3 players that are core guys, Belly is one. If they can get 1st and 3rd as core guys then the rest of these guys are complimentary to the core. Oh and another solid starter and closer

Was looking at this on Fansgraphs

Busch 1.4 fWAR and a 126 wRC+

Suzuki .8 fWAR 128 wRC+. his D drags his WAR down. He should be the primary DH right now as he brings plus value at the plate

Bellinger 118 wRC+. Def at a dislike value. 1.1 fWAR
Passable and has flex

Tauchman 116 wRC+ and a slight dislike value on D. 1.2 fWAR

LF is a area to upgrade. Happ has been at 101 wRC+ and a -value D for a .7 fWAR. You want more O out of LF. Canario had a 136 wRC+ in his stint. So there has been a issue here.

Swanson and PCA have equal impact on D both have bad O. Swanson 89. PCA 65 wRC+. But both have hit and nothing suggests that this is a permanent issue. Based off of D alone both can put up 5 fWAR just with avg O due to this high value D.


This ties to what I have been saying about 3B C and a closer. The rest of the team has value. Even in this shit show their numbers are not offensive.

The pen lost 2 games on this series. Should have been a sweep.

So that is a ongoing issue. IMO Leiter should be in situational. They need to lean on Brewer and Miller more in lead holds vs mop up. Both have been refreshing in a shit show this year.


So regarding your point. Busch has gotten over.the first league pitching adjustment. He is on pace for a 4 fWAR rookie season and that doesn't suck. He should be a core player

Suzuki as the DH should increase his value as his D won't drag it down. Hitting wise he is the best hitter on the team and a core player

Bellinger should move to RF full time. His D value should go up this increasing his fWAR.

Thos are your core 3. PCA, Swanson are glove guys at premium. Horner has been a spark plug when healthy. Injury bug has got him this year. Tauchman should take over LF. Happ is underperforming for a LF.

Morel has been just bad. Bote is a clear upgrade at 3B and it is not even close. Positive value D and 110 wRC+. VS Morel -8 DEF (ranks as the worst defender in baseball,) and a 106 wRC+. SO 6% better hitter than avg for a shit show at 3B.

Ya this is the team right now

One of the biggest problems is Craig. He keeps putting together crappy lines ups and pushes his guys out in the pen vs the guys that have been consistent.

So that was supposed to be the biggest strength going in and it has been a train wreck.

 

[CSF77]

One thing that we need to remember is last year the catching was better. That was on Ross as he was that guy. So that affects the staff. Makes the staff overachieve.

After Craig took over the catching went back to their talent level and the staff suffered for it

This might end up costing Jed his job. Axeing Ross and spending mega and the end result is lower performance of the team.

 

[knoxville7]

I think you need at least 3 players that are core guys, Belly is one. If they can get 1st and 3rd as core guys then the rest of these guys are complimentary to the core. Oh and another solid starter and closer

i dont even feel like Belli is one

right now they have steele, imanaga, hoerner. that is about it, and hoerner is debatable but i feel like what he brings defensively and on the base paths makes up for his avg plate production

 

[CSF77]

i dont even feel like Belli is one

right now they have steele, imanaga, hoerner. that is about it, and hoerner is debatable but i feel like what he brings defensively and on the base paths makes up for his avg plate production

Statcast defines a hard-hit ball as one with at least a 95 mph exit velocity. Suzuki entered Thursday ranked 16th among qualified hitters this season with a 52.5 percent hard-hit rate. He’s off to a strong start in June, slashing .314/.385/.686 with three homers, two doubles and one triple in nine games.

Suzuki has to be one. He proved earlier this year and the end of last year that he all star upside.

Injury has been his issue but he is putting up the numbers and his production is pretty consistent when he gets locked in


I know that the end results have been poor but they have some decent parts going on.

PCA ranks #3 in baseball in sprint speed.
Horner #2 least SO.


I have felt that the line up construction has been a issue this year. They need to go a bit old school right now vs the new dynamic

PCA CF
Hoerner 2B

Let these guys spark plug the team. Hoerner is a strong contact guy and with PCA's speed you can wreck a pitchers rhythm.

This should be the first change

Bellinger RF. Still the best over all player on the team. Both guys ahead of him have 40 SB ability so his 2 strike approach really plays up with legit speed ahead of him

Suzuki DH. His production in June justifies it. So you really want to make him into your main RBI source.

Busch 1B. Leads the team in wRC+. I am pretty sure that Suzuki and Bellinger will surpass him in that regard but the fact that he is in the same convo justifies this spot

This is where it gets a bit dicey. Most here are place holder types and they need to find upgrades

So no particular order as it matters little.

Bote 3B
Tauchman LF
Swanson SS
Amaya C.

You can see of the 4 Swanson has justification for his D at SS. You can sit on that and take the O in stride

The rest are not what you want out of MLB starters. Morel and Happ are both sub performing to the point replacement bench players are stronger options

Catcher just sucks in general. Might as well have them bunting because they can't hit.

 

[knoxville7]

Statcast defines a hard-hit ball as one with at least a 95 mph exit velocity. Suzuki entered Thursday ranked 16th among qualified hitters this season with a 52.5 percent hard-hit rate. He’s off to a strong start in June, slashing .314/.385/.686 with three homers, two doubles and one triple in nine games.

Suzuki has to be one. He proved earlier this year and the end of last year that he all star upside.

Injury has been his issue but he is putting up the numbers and his production is pretty consistent when he gets locked in

im a big Suzuki guy, but the injuries and inconsistent play has kept me from considering him a "core" guy.

 

[CSF77]

im a big Suzuki guy, but the injuries and inconsistent play has kept me from considering him a "core" guy.

I agree completely. I expanded my though process a bit on it. I feel that he should be the prime DH. His O production is very strong. His D has been below avg.

Thus protecting him and improving run production it makes sense. Add to it it gives Bellinger a home in RF. Win win in my book.

The whole I love Morel crap needs to end. He is not good enough to start on this team and hurts the team taking up DH when a better pure hitter should be that guy

This is a major pet peeve that I have on Jed and Craig right now. **** Morel. If he can not be the best option at 3B boot his ass off of the team.

I don't care how great it feels when he gets jacked up on a HR trot on a losing product. Same thing happened with El Mago tags. Yippy and we suck again.

Pathetic logic.

It is the same crap that the Tribune did with Slamming Sammy filling the stands on crappy teams. Pay a showman to give the fans a reason to get drunk in the stands.

Pathetic logic of a piss poor team.

 

[knoxville7]

I agree completely. I expanded my though process a bit on it. I feel that he should be the prime DH. His O production is very strong. His D has been below avg.

Thus protecting him and improving run production it makes sense. Add to it it gives Bellinger a home in RF. Win win in my book.

The whole I love Morel crap needs to end. He is not good enough to start on this team and hurts the team taking up DH when a better pure hitter should be that guy

This is a major pet peeve that I have on Jed and Craig right now. **** Morel. If he can not be the best option at 3B boot his ass off of the team.

I don't care how great it feels when he gets jacked up on a HR trot on a losing product. Same thing happened with El Mago tags. Yippy and we suck again.

Pathetic logic.

It is the same crap that the Tribune did with Slamming Sammy filling the stands on crappy teams. Pay a showman to give the fans a reason to get drunk in the stands.

Pathetic logic of a piss poor team.

i mean, pretty sure el mago was on winning cubs teams for the most part

sosa was also a part of a few good cubs teams between 1998-2004. 4 winning seasons in that span with 3 playoff appearances

 

[SilenceS]

When you are going bad, you are going bad.

111 MPH exit velocity from Wisdom for a fly out at the track to not take the lead.

 

[TL1961]

One thing that we need to remember is last year the catching was better. That was on Ross as he was that guy. So that affects the staff. Makes the staff overachieve.

After Craig took over the catching went back to their talent level and the staff suffered for it

This might end up costing Jed his job. Axeing Ross and spending mega and the end result is lower performance of the team.

Ludicrous

 

[CSF77]

Ludicrous

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Last year they had the #9 staff in MLB.
This year #16.

So not sure on why you feel that this is strange?

It is a clear downgrade in all regards even with Imanaga pitching his ass off.

So when there is a clear downgrade then you have to look at the reasoning.

I had issues with Ross but I also felt that he made his catchers better thus they made the pitchers better.

The facts back this.

So don't get me wrong. Jed needs to get a top ended catcher. Craig lacks that skill set so they need a catcher that excells in making his pitching staff better

 

[CSF77]

Wicks out again. Oblique. Brown has a stress in his neck. Not a fracture but could go that direction with continued activity. So not sure how long this will be

What a shit show this year has turned into.

 

[CSF77]

Might as well toss Hendricks back out there and get ready to go into sell mode. Hendricks tends to be durable. That is all he is right now. Innings soaker.

Trade some trash and bring up some cost relief that might end up not trash.

Then open up payroll for Jenson or Diaz in the market. Over pay.


If they shit the bed Bellinger might not pick up his opt and that is not a bad thing. I feel that Caissie will end up rather equal for a fraction of the cost. Moving him to RF also improves the D. He is known as a solid RF in the minors

 

[Diehardfan]

Anybody seen any good ball games lately? LOLOLOL....certainly not in Chicago. Personally, I haven't seen a game in weeks. None of the top 4 sports is more boring to watch than a bad MLB team. But I'm not down on any of the players.....Morel throwing the ball in the stands, a RFer that can't stay healthy, young and old catchers that can't field or hit, a $40 million manager that has trouble deciding which member of his crap bullpen WON'T suck on any given day or a multi million dollar SS who has become a great defensive replacement.

Nope. I don't blame any of them.

They didn't lobby or pay big bucks to play here.

They were brought here....be it signed, trades or draft. Brought here by one guy.

The one guy who is the architect of the Northside Shit Show.

The same guy at the deadline that you want to re-do what he has already fucked up.

Oh, don't worry....he'll get another shot to continue being one of the worst at his job.

The guy who pays him is too much of a pussy to show him the door.