*****Official Cubs 2019 thread*****
- Thread starter QChawks
- Start date
Someone, maybe you, stated Monty would be a #3 starter and good trade bait. I think he might be a 3 on a bad team, but not a good team.
I think we agree and I might be just misinterpreting your thoughts?
You have to trade something to get something.
Cubs need a true closer and more BP arms if they want a shot at another WS.
You don't trade arms for arms, imo. Trade bait for the Cubs are position players.. ie.. Schwarber
Three consecutive Sundays as the game of the week on ESPN?
It’s good to be the King.
It’s good to be the King.
Bryant with another useless homer. Cubs already had the lead. Not clutch.
Lol. Just came here to post this. Cubs are looking good so far, hope we can get the W.
Boner is the Spanish word for wood.What is Spanish for wood?
Happy Mother’s Day
When the bullpen got blasted... someone said "it's a long season".
With that logic...same can be said about a good performance. And, they got 2 innings out of a bullpen with a 3 run lead. Not the same stress level as coming into a game protecting a 1 run lead.
I hope you see the difference, but maybe you don't.
I am actually just mocking the extremists. The ‘geez they are the worst ever’ and the ‘dominating pen’ crowds. The lack of a dominant closer obscured the fact that Maddon for a great part gets results out of the bullpen. The Chapman usage blurs that narrative but statistics support his work.
Victor Caratini spent a few days in South Bend, and I saw that he got bumped up to Des Moines over the weekend. He must be getting close to rejoining the roster. A little more pop, and a little more flexibility for the roster.
The problem with the Cub pen isn't that it sucks, it's that it's not deep and the Cubs don't have a wealth of great young arms to shuttle between Iowa and Chicago. It also means that without a settled closer, guys have to slot up.
Strop is fully capable of closing, but he's nothing more than a solid closer. He's an elite set-up guy and has been for years. Edwards seems to not be progressing towards a closer role, but he's a good 7th inning guy and was a good "big out" guy last year, for the most part.
But my biggest concern is that Maddon doesn't have enough guys he trusts, so he tends to overuse Strop, Cishek, Edwards, etc. Strop has had injury problems late in the season for most of Maddon's time here. I'd like to see the Cubs add some bullpen depth so that maybe he can stay fresher late in the season.
For some positives, though, I like what I've seen from Kintzler this year. I really thought after last year that they'd just dump him and eat the last year of his contract. Edwards has also looked significantly better in limited action since coming back. Brach has made strides.
With Morrow planned to be the closer and now Strop out, it gets thin quick. That's my big concern when we get to the very end of a pennant race and the playoffs. That said, the issue last year wasn't the bullpen, it was the offense.
And you'd have to go all the way back to Saturday when the bullpen had to pitch 8 scoreless innings in a tied ballgame.
I skimmed the article on Bleacher Nation about this. If it boosts his trade value, fine. But, I am not sure of the sourcing on this. Unless the Cubs are plotting to keep Javy's salary down by calling him a super utility, versus an elite shortstop.
Baez seems to be the better shortstop. The only reason this makes sense is if the Cubs plan on moving Bryant around more, or to the outfield full time at some point. You'd have to move a lot of players around to make this happen.
Is Alzolay expected to be any good? He’s their top pitching prospect, right?
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