Schwarber supposedly not on market. Seriously??

[anotheridiot]

You're arguing with a guy who insisted it wouldn't be hard for Baez to get his BB% up to league average (which would require doubling it) so that he could be shoehorned into leading off next year.

Yes, it's nonsense.

Yes, you're wasting your time.

Not me, **** BB%, I got no time for that while the guys you people adore for walking also ground right into the fucking shift. At least Javy shows he can go to opposite field when he wants.

You keep a guy in a power position in the lineup, he is expected to drive in runs. I am pretty sure you put Javy in a position to get on base and cause havoc on the basepads and he will adjust. You just keep taking the responsibility off of the rizzos and bryants for not driving in the runs.

Arguing? Just discussion forum guy, you are the only one that gets all pissy and calls these arguments. I guess Javy's runner up in the MVP voting was a fluke.

 

[Castor76]

Zo is a 70% playing time hitter. You really want a more stable top. The only reason to sign Harper is because you are thinking Rizzo is a premiere lead off.

I can understand that. I'm an Almora in lead off fan as he's done well in that spot.

 

[CSF77]

I can understand that. I'm an Almora in lead off fan as he's done well in that spot.

Limited exposure. I wouldn’t expect more than a .330 OBA. He is a 4th OF

 

[Castor76]

Limited exposure. I wouldn’t expect more than a .330 OBA. He is a 4th OF

And my suggestion is batting him Lead Off versus LHP, and giving him some shots versus RHP. He has limited exposure period. Unless traded, Zobrist is more than capable of doing the job the majority of this season.

A lot of people are high on Schwarber being in the #5 or 6 slot. The first would definitely be considered a prime RBI slot on this team. While he can have a break-out like Javy last year and I'm hoping for it, his slash line for his career so far w/ RISP is .184/327/376. No one's driving in runners from 2nd with a .184 average.

Almora has no walk rate to speak of really, but in his limited time when asked to lead off, he's gotten the job done fairly well. If a guy needs to hit .330 to have a decent enough OBP and does it, should it matter?

 

[JimJohnson]

If you get Harper, Bryant is batting 2nd and Harper is 3rd. Those are locks. We have the weapons to do lefty/righty/lefty/righty all the way down which is huge.

Rizzo did well at lead off and then if you've got a healthy Bryant and Harper behind him, that will be a nightmare for pitchers. Then you definitely want Baez at #4. Then Schwarber at #5 to keep the lefty/righty thing going.

 

[erwiggins123]

If you get Harper, Bryant is batting 2nd and Harper is 3rd. Those are locks. We have the weapons to do lefty/righty/lefty/righty all the way down which is huge.

Rizzo did well at lead off and then if you've got a healthy Bryant and Harper behind him, that will be a nightmare for pitchers. Then you definitely want Baez at #4. Then Schwarber at #5 to keep the lefty/righty thing going.

Even without Harper the Cubs have a fearsome lineup.

Almora
Bryant
Rizzo
Baez
Schwarber
Contreras
Descalso
Heyward

This is a lineup with potentially 5 or 6 All Stars in it. Like in 2016 when the Cubs sent their entire infield to play for the NL. Harper would make this lineup unbelievably potent

Almora
Bryant
Harper
Rizzo
Baez
Schwarber
Descalso
Contreras

I left out Heyward because I think to get Harper we will have to trade his ass.

But Schwarber is probably the best pure hitter in this lineup. He can hit for power and has a line drive swing. I watched him in the HR derby last year and I couldn't believe how much power he had to center field. The ball exploded off his bat.

Plus with Iopace as the hitting coach were going to see a lot more HR's out of this lineup. Remember 2017 when the Red Sox has Chilli Davis as their hitting coach. They replaced him and then hit like madmen. Iopace emphasizes launch angle whereas Davis wanted the teach them to hit the ball to the opposite field. Emphasizing launch angle will make at least 5 of these guys hit at least 20 HR's. Were going to steamroll people this year with or without Harper.

I think we should consider trading Almora and/or Happ for more relief pitching. We will have probably the best starting rotation in the NL if not the whole of MLB. This team is almost the exact team we won the World Series with. Except they have all done it before and have so much more playoff experience. Screw the Brewers, the Cubs should be the easy favorite to win the Central. ESPN just posted an article about the power rankings and the Cubs ranked 5 behind the Red Sox, Yankees, Astros, and Dodgers. I disagree with the Dodgers because that big trade they pulled off wasn't to get Harper. They need another catcher, another outfielder, and another pitcher. They can't afford Harper because they want to stay under the Luxury Tax.