Official Cubs Game Thread!

[TL1961]

Another wasted start.

 

[Szlachcic]

Happ should be on the bottom of the batting order. Pathetic..

 

[TL1961]

Cubs got a couple back in the bottom of the 6th, but Slappy and Happy both batted, so.....

 

[CSF77]

I did post earlier about WTF did Thompson go down while Lovelady remained.

I'm not sure why Steele got the hook. I am dealing with a black out for this series.

I get it is it was a pitch count limit but you bring in Brown who can get you to the 8th. Bad thought process.

 

[TL1961]

I don't know why Steele got pulled at 68 pitches in the 5th, but he almost certainly wasn't going to start the 6th anyway, so it mattered little in the end.

It's just baffling why Counsell pulls guys at 4 2/3 all the time.

 

[CSF77]

I don't know why Steele got pulled at 68 pitches in the 5th, but he almost certainly wasn't going to start the 6th anyway, so it mattered little in the end.

It's just baffling why Counsell pulls guys at 4 2/3 all the time.

If I was watching it could have been a loss of velocity or a loss of location and Craig was playing it with kid gloves. Steele is your ace so you have to be careful in his first game back as he is still building up his pitch count.

Regardless it should have been Brown put into this role. Craig tipped his hand by putting Wesneski in on Wed. That frees up Brown who can pull 3 innings and piggyback. Should have been the game plan going in vs putting 2 scabs in following your ace in a tight game. 100% clueless move.

I love Craig but stuff like this is just stupid. Save those scabs for trainwrecks.

 

[TL1961]

If I was watching it could have been a loss of velocity or a loss of location and Craig was playing it with kid gloves. Steele is your ace so you have to be careful in his first game back as he is still building up his pitch count.

Regardless it should have been Brown put into this role. Craig tipped his hand by putting Wesneski in on Wed. That frees up Brown who can pull 3 innings and piggyback. Should have been the game plan going in vs putting 2 scabs in following your ace in a tight game. 100% clueless move.

I love Craig but stuff like this is just stupid. Save those scabs for trainwrecks.

In fairness to the Landlady, the padres got a bloop into RF, and IF single, a seeing-eye bouncer up the middle, and a ground ball through the vacated 2nd baseman's position for their first 4 hits in that inning. But they then got a few more hits to take it from 3-0 to 6-0.

 

[CSF77]

In fairness to the Landlady, the padres got a bloop into RF, and IF single, a seeing-eye bouncer up the middle, and a ground ball through the vacated 2nd baseman's position for their first 4 hits in that inning. But they then got a few more hits to take it from 3-0 to 6-0.

Stuff happens. Buy you don't follow your ace with a guy with a career 5.37ERA vs MLB pitching. And in Iowa he was rolling a 5.87. So there was no justification for the promote. Craig rarely used him as he had a team low of 3 opportunities.

I'm just saying the logic was flawed, If you have a pitch limit on place have a plan. Close game or shit show. We saw the shit show answer in a close game.

So the logic was flawed going in. It should have been Brown. Even Brewer was fairly dependable. Thompson who they unjustly demoted would have been a solid option.

Lets face it the pen is a large issue going on. Jed having too many scabs is one issue. Then retaining scabs and demoting guys with decent WHIP's.

Now I like looking at Walks and hits per inning of work.

Normally a sub 1 means that said player is ace or high leverage type.

Starters:

Shota: .75
Assad: 1.03
Taillon .88
Steele .86
Wesneski .72

This is what I meant by having a ace on the mound every day. WHIP is a strong indicator of a pitchers worth.

Others:
Wicks: 1.52
Hendricks 2.10
Brown 1.27

Brown has some walk issues. Wood had this same issue early in his career. But both are stuff types that they can get out of their issues.
Brown should be in the pen for many reason and this is one of them. Pitch count issues going forward. We don't need 100 by the 6th if that.

Now on the pen:

Thompson 1.13. Why I said it was unjustified. That was a blip.
Amonte 1.09
Brewer 1.03
Leiter 1.24
(Merryweather 1.29 (this injury hurt in many ways as he would have been the closer)

Then the sucks:

Neris 1.69
Little 1.67
Cuas 2.00
Lovelady 1.64
Palencia 1.73
Alzolay 1.57


The pen is a shit show but if you break it down this way it shows you the high vs low leverage arms. If I can do this then a person paid to do this should be doing it.

 

[TL1961]

Yeah, I understand pitching and am not claiming lovelady to be the best hope

But guys need rest, too.

It was the beginning of an inning, so it was not high leverage and it was the sixth, so he wasn’t likely to bring in Brown or Wisnewski or Neris.

Go get them tomorrow

 

[CSF77]

First thing on the list should be fake a injury with Lovelady. Foot got stuck in his ass as they were kicking him to Iowa. Bring back Thompson.
DFA while they are at it.

Iowa is a shit show right now. Brewer had a 1.17 WHIP and he has maintained it. So good promotion. Rest blow. So they should look into a trade IMHO.

 

[CSF77]

Yeah, I understand pitching and am not claiming lovelady to be the best hope

But guys need rest, too.

It was the beginning of an inning, so it was not high leverage and it was the sixth, so he wasn’t likely to bring in Brown or Wisnewski or Neris.

Go get them tomorrow

0/0 is high leverage. Brown should have been on the bump or Brewer. Honestly I am team Brewer ATM. Give the guy some real play.

Wesneski is starting on Wednesday. Another strong game really could make bringing Hendricks back into a bad PR move.

 

[CSF77]

I got the NL as
LAD
Phi
ATL
CHC
MIL

Cubs would be top 3 if the pen gets fixed and Suzuki and Bellinger pick up fast.

So it is justified to make investments to get a legit lefty in there. Going in this was a issue. Closer is another. They really need to think about this early.

The right move is cutting Hendricks. Not a fan fav statement but needs to happen. Then make some deals with the depth to get front line pen arms.

They are at a junction right now. Got some kids some look see. Some teams are clearly out of it. Pads jumped early so it is no like there is no precedent.


I might be wrong here. But here it goes. I would sell PCA now. He has high return value. The chances that he becomes another Almora are high. For me I feel good with Bellinger and Tauchman. Both are pillars on this team. PCA feels incomplete as a player and might be vastly over rated.

So that is my gut check and he could get a crazy return that puts them in with the big boys.

 

[CSF77]

Two gus that I like are Diaz from the Mets. It would be interesting trading PCA back. Diaz is a legit closer.

The lefty that I like is JoJo Romero from Stl. This is a long shot Jed dealing with them. I feel the right decision is having Wicks transition into a LHRP. His change up is a legit out pitch. Then just wait for Smyly to mend. He was not comfortable with the split after spring. Maybe let him really work on that pitch before returning.

Edwin Díaz rhp
5 years/$102M (2023-27), plus 2028 option

• 5 years/$102M (2023-27), plus 2028 club option
  • re-signed by NY Mets as a free agent 11/7/22
  • $12M signing bonus
  • 23:$17.25M, 24:$17.25M, 25:$17.5M, 26:$18.5M player option, 27:$18.5M player option, 28:$17.25M club option ($1M buyout)
  • award bonuses: $100,000 each for WS MVP, Reliever of the Year. $50,000 each for All Star, Gold Glove, LCS MVP, Cy Young ($25,000 for second place in Cy Young vote, $10,000 for third in CY vote)
  • Diaz must exercise or decline his 2026-27 player options simultaneously after the 2025 season
  • no-trade protection: may block all trades through 10/30/25, may block deals to 10 clubs annually starting 11/1/25
  • Diaz to defer $26.5M in salary ($5.5M each in 2023-25 and $5M each in 2026-27), reducing salary for tax purposes to about $18.6M
  • deferred money to be paid each July 1 as follows:
    • $2.65M each in 2023, 2034. $200,000 in 2035.
    • $2.45M in 2035. $2.65M in 2036. $400,000 in 2037.
    • $2.25M in 2037. $2.65M in 2038. $600,000 in 2039.
    • $2.05M in 2023. $2.65M in 2040. $300,000 in 2041.
    • $2.35M in 2041. $2.65M in 2042

Trading PCA for Diaz is a sound investment. There is control involved and you are getting a top end closer.

 

[knoxville7]

And here's the patented "Keep the starters from getting W's" move by Counsell.

Pulls a guy at 4 2/3 with no runs scored. This is the 5th or 6th time this year he has done that.

His job is not to get Ws for starters, but to get Ws for the team. I get that. But somewhere, starters' agents are getting ticked off.

Nice job by Steele. And in fairness, they did have to watch his pitch count. All good.

I was told Counsell is a god amongst managers though?!

 

[Szlachcic]

Methinks the reason Counsel pull the starter because he want him to get an applause for good performance. Speculating here..

 

[CSF77]

I was told Counsell is a god amongst managers though?!

Most managers call him the best. I do agree with the over all result. Yesterday was a shit show. I read that he had a pitch limit going in so they should have mapped that start better.

 

[Diehardfan]

Methinks the reason Counsel pull the starter because he want him to get an applause for good performance. Speculating here..

Nah. Regardless of what's being said in the clown show here...he was on a pitch count. He hasn't pitched since opening day, so it's entirely justified. Nothing to do with a win or loss....everything to do with bringing one of your best pitchers back slowly.

 

[TL1961]

Nah. Regardless of what's being said in the clown show here...he was on a pitch count. He hasn't pitched since opening day, so it's entirely justified. Nothing to do with a win or loss....everything to do with bringing one of your best pitchers back slowly.

Which is why I said that.

 

[Diehardfan]

Which is why I said that.

Is it also why you said this?

"I don't know why Steele got pulled at 68 pitches in the 5th, but he almost certainly wasn't going to start the 6th anyway, so it mattered little in the end.

It's just baffling why Counsell pulls guys at 4 2/3 all the time."

 

[CSF77]

DateTransaction
05/07/24Chicago Cubs placed RHP Daniel Palencia on the 15-day injured list. Right shoulder strain.
05/07/24Chicago Cubs activated 1B Cody Bellinger from the 10-day injured list.
05/07/24Chicago Cubs optioned LF Alexander Canario to Iowa Cubs.
05/07/24Chicago Cubs recalled RHP Keegan Thompson from Iowa Cubs.