Well he keeps throwing the ball into left field, that is one problem with him
*****Official Cubs 2019 thread*****
- Thread starter QChawks
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Well he keeps throwing the ball into left field, that is one problem with him
I looked at Cub results by final score margin and the numbers absolutely explain the difference between the Cubs' record and run differential.
Cubs are 28-38 in games decided by 2 runs or less and they're 49-30 in all other games. It's all those little things. It's not tacking on an insurance run or two late in games, it's not holding a lead, it's getting too cute by half with the bullpen, etc.
Cubs are 28-38 in games decided by 2 runs or less and they're 49-30 in all other games. It's all those little things. It's not tacking on an insurance run or two late in games, it's not holding a lead, it's getting too cute by half with the bullpen, etc.
This is definitely a team that's less than the sum of its parts. The missing pieces have been rooted in decisions going back multiple seasons. Bullpen is hamstrung by the decision to sign Morrow and Maddon's perpetual trust in only 2-3 guys that he then runs into the ground. Offense lacks consistency due to huge swing & miss rate and lack of a consistent leadoff man. There's plenty of power. Starting pitching has been largely good, but there's no flexibility because none of the guys are cost-controlled.
I disagree, the core of Baez, Rizzo, Bryant and Contreras are as talented as any teams core. It’s the role and complimentary players ghat are the issue. They aren’t the right type of players to compliment the core.
The Cubs had two comp picks in 2018, I am pretty sure one of them was the result of Davis leaving.
Cole Roederer was one, and Paul Richan was the other. Richan was dealt to the Tigers for Castellanos, so that's a plus. And Roederer is a high level prospect.
Soler can mash the ball, but he's going to wind up being a negative outfielder, that's if he can stay healthy. I have no regrets on letting Soler go for Davis.
This is why I am not overly down. This season has been disappointing, but there is more than enough to generate a WS team for as long as they can hold this group together. There is money available, and maybe even more will be available depending on who Theo keeps on the roster.
He really doesn't though, he's never had any reliever be super high up in usage rate compared to the rest of baseball. Kyle Ryan is the Cubs highest this year and he's ranked 15th in appearances. He's also been hamstrung by either not having a closer for long periods of time or having one he needs to handle with kid gloves. The Cubs have had a top ten bullpen the last four years, they had the second lowest bullpen ERA last year with a bullpen filled with no name guys. I think people who bash Maddon's bullpen usage are going to be in for a rude awakening when he's gone.
That's a fair point on Soler, he needed to get regular at bats to finally take off and between injuries and playing time issues, he probably wouldn't have gotten them with the Cubs.
Soler's flashes with the Cubs were so bright though, that I hated to give up on him. I was at the game in St. Louis in Sep 2014 when him and Javy put on a show. Soler hit two home runs in that game, the second one was just a rope into LF and he just looked different than the Felix Pie, Josh Vitters type of prospects the Cubs had brought up for so long. It was like, ok so this is what a real top prospect looks like.
I'll admit I probably went a little too much on anecdotal memory on that one vs. actually looking at the data, so this may just be my bad. It has definitely been exacerbated by not having a go-to closer for stretches of time. I just think of guys like Cishek and even Strop who have been ridden really hard and wind up on the shelf (if briefly) shortly thereafter. The real result, IMHO, has been that at certain key times in the season, the bullpen fails because a few guys have been overworked and a couple others have disappeared and are not fresh. I wish he would apply as much flexibility to his pen as he does his lineups in terms of keeping guys fresh.
I can't disagree with any of this. If he can be healthy and stay in the lineup, he can absolutely mash....I just can't justify complaining about that trade, no matter how much I liked him because he hasn't been able to stay on the field and without being a DH, he may never have had the season he's having now even though the potential was always there.
1. ?
2. Castellanos RF
3. Bryant
4. Rizzo 1B
5. Baez SS
6. Contreras LF
7. Heyward CF
8. Caratini/Veteran C
Bench
Schwarber
Bote
Happ
Almora ?
they basically only need a 2B who can lead off, of course we've been saying this for 3 years now. Maybe Hoerner?
I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing some role players turned over.
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In 2018, Cisek pitched in a career high 70 innings. He was second in all of baseball in appearances.
Cishek is done. D-O-N-E. Maddon wrecked his arm.
Darvish has his ERA down in the 3s. His turnaround has been the highlight of the season.
I can't really think of anyone more deserving than Darvish for comeback player of the year.
What was it last year; they had 39 games where they scored 1 run or no runs. That's a quarter of the season that were pretty much automatic losses. Maybe I am just old school but I wish Joe would go with more of a set day-to-day lineup as opposed to his seemingly drawing names out of a hat approach.
At least two come to mind and that's without much research...
Josh Donaldson or Sonny Gray.
Or did you mean "Cubs" comeback player of the year?
The problem is that he's trying to manage as if he has the roster flexibility he did in 2016 when that's not the roster he has.
Gray and Donaldson are having much improved years and will be in the mix for sure, but Yu didn't even look like a major league pitcher last year.
How about Jorge Soler? Or Gary Sanchez (he batted .186 last year)? Oh, by the way, Sanchez is hurt again.
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I'll add to this thought that in all fairness, blame on this front is a split between Theo and Joe. Maddon has to adjust and employ strategy based on the guys he has, but at the same time, Theo knows very well how Joe prefers to manage and what his strengths are. Some of this just happened (Happ needing more AAA time, Bote regressing defensively, injuries to both Russell and Javy), but some was foreseeable (Descalso not being good, Zobrist less flexible due to age).
I’d put it at 80/20 Joe doesn’t return no matter what happens the rest of this season.
I'd put somewhere between 0% and zero that he manages the Cubs next year.
The only way Joe is back is after another WS win. There’s no way Theo could fire him after that.
So... yeah, Joe’s gone after this season.
I remember that series very well. I believe the Cubs swept StL. Soler was a monster.
I kinda consider that series as when the rivalry turned Chicago's way - like "hey, they really have something here".
Soler is immensely talented. Just a matter of staying healthy. Sorta reminds me of how Lorenzo Cain got started early in his career at Milwaukee. You could see Cain had a lot of talent, just seemed to get hurt all the time. Traded to KC...blossomed.
Either way, Theo doesn't have to fire him. Maddon's contract is up. Maddon would be free to start negotiating with any other team.
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