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****Official Cubs 2015 Thread****

They really seem to be settling in and playing good ball on a more consistent basis than I expected. Hopefully that holds. As much as I've predicted a streaky, up-and-down team, the more good ball they play early, the better their chances of just keeping momentum going. They have the starting pitching to remain competitive throughout if they can keep the arms healthy. There's a lot to like about this team and it was very good to see Hendricks throw well last night.
 
hawkifann said:
They really seem to be settling in and playing good ball on a more consistent basis than I expected. Hopefully that holds. As much as I've predicted a streaky, up-and-down team, the more good ball they play early, the better their chances of just keeping momentum going. They have the starting pitching to remain competitive throughout if they can keep the arms healthy. There's a lot to like about this team and it was very good to see Hendricks throw well last night.
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If the starters continue to give them the innings they have recently, then it makes it a lot easier on the bullpen. The 1-3 starters have been great, Hendricks had been a victim of bad luck, and Wood was terrible. If Wada can give some solid starts, and Hendricks continues to pitch as he has (his advanced metrics show he's pitching better than he did last season), the Cubs can actually make the playoffs. When you consider they have gotten pretty much no production out of LF and little production with Castro, I'm very happy there have the wins they do. Cogs has been very lucky, hitting balls right at guys and having a terrible avg BABIP. Castro has been bad at the plate, but hopefully he stops pulling off balls and starts driving balls to RF. Rizzo is a stud, and Bryant is a stud.
 
That was a kick in the nuts last night. The D-Backs have two good hitters. Either walk Goldschmidt intentionally in the 9th, or throw him stuff out of the zone. Rondon missed his location and off into the night went a game tying home run. He never should have had a decent pitch thrown his way.
 
lucas80 said:
That was a kick in the nuts last night. The D-Backs have two good hitters. Either walk Goldschmidt intentionally in the 9th, or throw him stuff out of the zone. Rondon missed his location and off into the night went a game tying home run. He never should have had a decent pitch thrown his way.
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I thought that was the worst loss of the season for the Cubs. I don't mind pitching to Goldschmidt, but Rondon has to stay away, away, away. If you throw it a foot outside, no big deal. You can't miss over the heart of the plate. The catcher was set up on the outside corner and Rondon threw it right down the middle.
 
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The Cubs are projecting as a team that could win 90 games right now, give or take. Personally I think they'll cool off and the pitching staff will hold them back. But, if they keep up the pace do the Cubs buy at the trade deadline, and what do you give up in a year where you realistically cannot win the WS? Do you trade for a rental, or do you make the play for the guy with years on his contract?
How long do you keep Schwarber at AA trying to improve as a catcher when he can help you at the MLB level with his bat right now?
 
lucas80 said:
The Cubs are projecting as a team that could win 90 games right now, give or take. Personally I think they'll cool off and the pitching staff will hold them back. But, if they keep up the pace do the Cubs buy at the trade deadline, and what do you give up in a year where you realistically cannot win the WS? Do you trade for a rental, or do you make the play for the guy with years on his contract?
How long do you keep Schwarber at AA trying to improve as a catcher when he can help you at the MLB level with his bat right now?
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Explain what you mean by "realistically cannot win the WS"? The giants won 88 games last year.
 
You make the postseason you can realistically win the WS. It's all about making the postseason. Past that anything can happen.
 
lucas80 said:
The Cubs are projecting as a team that could win 90 games right now, give or take. Personally I think they'll cool off and the pitching staff will hold them back. But, if they keep up the pace do the Cubs buy at the trade deadline, and what do you give up in a year where you realistically cannot win the WS? Do you trade for a rental, or do you make the play for the guy with years on his contract?
How long do you keep Schwarber at AA trying to improve as a catcher when he can help you at the MLB level with his bat right now?
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Cool off? I would argue the hitting has not yet warmed up, other than Rizzo and Bryant. Others have had their days, but have not been consistent.

Catcher has been pretty good for most of the season. Montero has cooled some hitting wise, but has had a solid year.

I do think a little more pitching is needed. It will be interesting to see who is traded for it. Castro seems most likely, but I would hate to see him go.
 
The Cubs simply do not have enough pitching depth to win a WS. I am a Cubs fan, but, I recognize this. I hope they make the playoffs, but, they don't have enough starting pitching or relief pitching to win a WS. It isn't a matter of getting hot. They don't have the top three starters you need to win a WS.
And, the bench is weak. So, do we go for it?
 
I'd argue they're better set up to do well in the playoffs than they e in the regular season. They have three good to great starters and three to four fantastic hitters. Depth isn't as important in the playoffs as it is during the regular season.

I'm far more concerned about the young guys during the Aug-Sep time frame. If they can somehow stay ahead in the WC race, I'd be far more confident in their Oct performance.
 
Lester, Arieta, and Hammel's? Throw the other Hammel's in the mix and you got something that wins you a WS. The current Hammel's gets you to the postseason. A healthy Neil Ramirez will help, but, he's oft injured. Hard to count on him coming back gangbusters. Bosio is supposed to be doing a session with him in Arizona today to evaluate his progress.
Interesting nugget in Bleachernation this week about dealing with the A's again. It could be one stop shopping. Scott Kazmir, Tyler Clippard, and Ben Zobrist when he comes off the DL will all be available.
 
lucas80 said:
The Cubs simply do not have enough pitching depth to win a WS. I am a Cubs fan, but, I recognize this. I hope they make the playoffs, but, they don't have enough starting pitching or relief pitching to win a WS. It isn't a matter of getting hot. They don't have the top three starters you need to win a WS.
And, the bench is weak. So, do we go for it?
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I agree that having a great top 3 and bullpen becomes more important in the playoffs, but it's not like you have to have both to be successful. The rangers nearly won it all a couple years ago with no elite starters and just an ok bullpen. The giants starters last year we're nothing special outside of bumgarner. You just never know what's going to happen in the MLB playoffs. It's probably the least predictable of all the major sports outside of maybe the nhl. If Lester and Arrieta were to get hot at the right time they could definitely win it.
 
Well, I am a Cubs fan. You'll excuse me if I seem predisposed to think the Cubs will implode, or that this might not be the Cubs year. :D
 
lucas80 said:
Well, I am a Cubs fan. You'll excuse me if I seem predisposed to think the Cubs will implode, or that this might not be the Cubs year. :D
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And to answer your question, yes I say go for it. I think a better question is if they can work out a trade with the Mets, who would you rather see go, Castro or Baez? I don't think the Mets probably want either but I've had about enough of Castro.
 
pocha444444 said:
And to answer your question, yes I say go for it. I think a better question is if they can work out a trade with the Mets, who would you rather see go, Castro or Baez? I don't think the Mets probably want either but I've had about enough of Castro.
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I'm not sure the Mets are excited about either of those guys. I remember last year there was talk of the Cubs/Mets making a trade, SS for pitching, and the Mets GM did not have kind things to say about Castro Baez would become a much more attractive trade piece if he came up and hit well in Chi If they called him up and he wasn't striking out 30%+ of the time, he could a nice trade piece. Right now, I think you'd be selling low on him and I'm not sure Theo will do that.

I'm kind of at the place where I wouldn't mind a trade for a pitcher/position player if the price was reasonable. For example, I wouldn't trade for Reddick, because you'd be buying high on a guy who's a career .240/.310 hitter. If a good deal comes along, go ahead and make a trade, but no reason to panic and just make a trade to make a trade. How many times does a deadline trade, make or break a team's playoff chances. I'd prefer lesser deals, like maybe adding a bullpen arm, maybe a bench player, or an innings eater starter. I don't think they need to sell off major pieces for a quick fix this year. I don't want Theo to make a Billy Beane trade, where he trades his top 2 prospects for basically 2 rentals (although he was able to trade Shark for something). Now, Beane is screwed because he doesn't have good enough talent at the ML level, and he can't call up an Addison Russell to help him at SS or 2B.

Sometimes the best trades are the trades that were never made.
 
pocha444444 said:
And to answer your question, yes I say go for it. I think a better question is if they can work out a trade with the Mets, who would you rather see go, Castro or Baez? I don't think the Mets probably want either but I've had about enough of Castro.
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What's wrong with a guy that can get you 200 hits, is young, and is improving on defense?
 
As a Cubs fan I could easily part with Baez, Almora and Vogelbach in any combination. No way the rest of the big bats should be traded. But, there is now depth in the system. There might be a team out there drooling over Gleybar Torres (I am a little already). The organization has the chance to develop Schwarber because of three guys in the system that can probably catch a little at the MLB level. Any one of those guys is attractive to the right team.
 
As a Yankee fan, I envy the current Cubs all-star infield of
1B Rizzo, 2B Russell SS Castro and 3B Bryant. Let those
guys play together for the rest of this season and watch the
improvement on defense. They already have the offensive
threat with 3 of them already near or at 30 RBI's
 
Russell and Bryant can only get better in the field, that's what's exciting as a Cubs fan.
FYI, I'll be excited in person Tuesday and Wednesday nights at Wrigley Field.
 
lucas80 said:
What's wrong with a guy that can get you 200 hits, is young, and is improving on defense?
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What improving defense? According to Fangraphs Castro has been on a steady decline defensively since 2012. He gets 200 hits because he stays healthy and plays a lot of games, not because he's a great hitter. He's a good hitter, with little power, little speed, etc. He's at best been a league avg SS. I see no reason to believe he'll get better, he is what he is. He's not a bad player but I don't see the Mets parting with one of their young pitching studs for a guy who's looking, at the plate, an awful lot like the Castro we saw in 2013. His OPS this year is .646, which is terrible.
 
lucas80 said:
As a Cubs fan I could easily part with Baez, Almora and Vogelbach in any combination. No way the rest of the big bats should be traded. But, there is now depth in the system. There might be a team out there drooling over Gleybar Torres (I am a little already). The organization has the chance to develop Schwarber because of three guys in the system that can probably catch a little at the MLB level. Any one of those guys is attractive to the right team.
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I love Torres, but I doubt there's a team drooling over an A ball player, no matter how good a season he's having. You would be selling very low on Torres if you traded him now.

The org can part with Baez, Almoral, Vogs, the question is how much do they bring back in return. Baez needs to prove the lower K rate is real and he can hit at the ML level, not just experiencing a hot streak in AAA. Vogs is a DH, below avg 1B, so you are limited in teams who will take him. Plus, he pulled a hammy in today's game, so he's probably not going anywhere for a while. Almora can't hit. Ok, he's got a nice glove for a CF, but he's struggling hitting in AA. This is not going to bring much in a trade.

My hope is Baez gets called up in mid June and then shows he can be productive at the ML level. Then you can trade either Castro (and you pray he starts to get hot with the bat) or Baez for a pitcher. I don't even care if they trade one of those guys this season, but they'll need to trade one during the offseason, and hopefully for a pitcher.

Schwarber probably has the most trade value but I'm reluctant to trade him now because if he can even play part-time as catcher, his value could be tremendous. If he can't stick at catcher he still gives you tremendous value in LF. People are freakin' crazy talking about moving Bryant off of 3B. He's literally league avg (13th) in defense according to Fangraphs. Very nice for a 23 year old rookie, who's main problem is throwing the ball on slow choppers. He has a bad habit that needs to be corrected, but can easily be corrected and Bryant could then be a slightly above avg 3B. With his huge bat at 3B, this gives the Cubs tremendous competitive advantage over other teams. Keep him at 3B, he's a very good athlete.
 
lucas80 said:
Russell and Bryant can only get better in the field, that's what's exciting as a Cubs fan.
FYI, I'll be excited in person Tuesday and Wednesday nights at Wrigley Field.
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Agree. The big question is which one of Baez and Castro gets traded this season or offseason? And then, who plays SS/2B? If Castro is traded who plays SS? I've heard varying opinions as to who would be better defensively between Russell and Baez.
 
PhantomFlyer said:
What improving defense? According to Fangraphs Castro has been on a steady decline defensively since 2012. He gets 200 hits because he stays healthy and plays a lot of games, not because he's a great hitter. He's a good hitter, with little power, little speed, etc. He's at best been a league avg SS. I see no reason to believe he'll get better, he is what he is. He's not a bad player but I don't see the Mets parting with one of their young pitching studs for a guy who's looking, at the plate, an awful lot like the Castro we saw in 2013. His OPS this year is .646, which is terrible.
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The first few weeks of the season he looked like he may have turned a corner defensively, but then he got right back to his typical castro ways. I know nothing more than what I see on the field but I'd have to guess he has a terrible work ethic. His approach at the plate is still as bad as it was when he was a rookie.
 
PhantomFlyer said:
Agree. The big question is which one of Baez and Castro gets traded this season or offseason? And then, who plays SS/2B? If Castro is traded who plays SS? I've heard varying opinions as to who would be better defensively between Russell and Baez.
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Castro isn't a theo/Jed guy. My guess is he gets traded.
 
pocha444444 said:
The first few weeks of the season he looked like he may have turned a corner defensively, but then he got right back to his typical castro ways. I know nothing more than what I see on the field but I'd have to guess he has a terrible work ethic. His approach at the plate is still as bad as it was when he was a rookie.
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He's the most frustrating player on the team to watch.. His contact skills are excellent. Unfortunately, I think his great contact skills have allowed him to often get by using terrible mechanics and a terrible approach. His butt is falling toward the dugout on his swing, so he's left with only being able to use his arms. You can't generate any power that way and you can't reach outside pitches.

I wanted him traded last year, when his value was probably it's highest, and I still would like to see him traded, but not if it means giving him away. I wish he (and Almora) would pay attention to how Bryant approaches his time in the batters box. Bryant has excellent pitch recognition skills and command of the strike zone. Bryant takes a lot of pitches, even pitches that are strikes. He looks for a certain pitch, in a certain zone, and won't swing unless he gets that pitch. When he gets 2 strikes he's not as selective but he still won't chase pitches Guys like Castro are swinging at the first pitch even if it's a perfect pitcher's pitch, low and outside. Why? You aren't going to do anything with that pitch. Bryant understands this. He wants to swing at pitches he can do a lot damage with.

I think they mentioned on the telecast the other night that Bryant is the leader (or close) in pitches seen per at bat. He works counts. Even on full counts he will often look at a strike 3 if it's borderline and it's a great pitch (at the knees, outside corner). JD talked about how it's not a bad strategy because if he puts the ball in play, it's likely to be an out because he's not going to hit the ball hard. However, there's a good chance that it's called ball 4, so he ends up reaching 1B more times than he would if he chased those pitches. The league avg on base avg on a full count is .445, Bryant is an incredible .550.
 
What a beautiful game last night. I was in third row of the upper deck. Section 423. I love that view. Fantastic defense by the infield, including the much maligned Castro. Russell and Bryant made great plays. Bryant hit a ball as deep as I've seen in a long time at Wrigley. The sound of the ball off of Bryant's bat was incredible. A piercing crack is the best I can say. Russell was 3-4 with the game winner. With a little more pitching the future is very bright.
 
iCRUNCH said:
Could you tell where the home run went? They think it went high off the scoreboard, but weren't sure.
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I lost sight of it as it went into the lights of the board. Al Yellon of bleedcubbieblue said he heard it hit. It would have cleared Waveland on the fly. I'm sitting in the bleachers tonight and I'm hoping for a repeat. Bryant, Soler, Baez, Rizzo, Schwarber...one of those guys may be the first to hit the CF scoreboard.
 
No Worries said:
I lost sight of it as it went into the lights of the board. Al Yellon of bleedcubbieblue said he heard it hit. It would have cleared Waveland on the fly. I'm sitting in the bleachers tonight and I'm hoping for a repeat. Bryant, Soler, Baez, Rizzo, Schwarber...one of those guys may be the first to hit the CF scoreboard.
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I saw glenalen hill hit the center field scoreboard in batting practice in 1998. Guy was a monster.
 
dgordo said:
I saw glenalen hill hit the center field scoreboard in batting practice in 1998. Guy was a monster.
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His HR that landed on the rooftop across the street still may be the most impressive HR I've ever seen. The only other one that rivals it is Dave Kingman's that landed 2-3 houses down across Waveland.

 
The Cubs are + .500 in June. The first time since 2009? The RF bleachers will be open for the next home stand which will boost the hotty quotient at Wrigley.
This could be a really interesting Summer.
 
torbee said:
You have to learn to walk before you learn to run.
I want to see this team be competitive and finish above .500. And maybe contend for a wild card spot. Anything beyond that would be gravy.
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Agree. If they can win a wildcard spot, they have a shot to win it all. The playoffs in baseball is a crapshoot.
 
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