Today’s line up is why I question Ross. As noted in BN’s pregame story the Brewers starter has big lefty / righty splits. So, Barnhart starts over Gomes or Amaya. Why? For 2-3 at bats? He’s s*** at the plate. At least one of the other guys might run into a fastball for a Homer. And, he’s been Stroman’s personal catcher. Day game after a night game means he probably can’t start tomorrow with Stroman.
Being completely honest, does he have final say in the lineup? I know more and more front offices are dictating who plays, just not sure if the Cubs front office does that.
I think so. I’ve never heard that he doesn’t pick the line up, minus sell off day.
In just the NL, they are now 8 saves behind the Rockies, who are 2nd to last. It's amazing they rank 4th in the NL in pitching right now.
Those are eye-opening statistics, but I’m not sure how to interpret them. The Cubs have by far the fewest save opportunities, also, at 19. And I don’t think it is a reflection of a poor bullpen as much as it is the fact that the Cubs have a lot of 4+ run victories this year and close losses that weren’t necessarily the fault of the bullpen. I think the Texas Rangers have much bigger concerns with 15 blown saves in 31 opportunities (or Sox 18 BS in 34 tries).
I think tonight's win makes them 12-20 in games decided by 2 runs or less. They win in blowouts and lose the close ones. That's why their run differential is so large with an overall losing record.
I think that was obviously the driving reason they didn’t bring him back. There’s a level where he can out-hit some of that, but the game probably isn’t going to age well. That said, I always liked Willson and I’m not going to sh1t on him, but his game isn’t without flaws.
Depends on how you define “front office”. Jed & Carter aren’t sending Ross a lineup everyday, but there are a variety of groups from the analytical teams that put together the offensive, defensive and bullpen numbers, combined with S&C/position coaches talking about who’s available, etc. Ross may have some level of final say, but he’s not just hitting the gut feel everyday.
That might have been the AB of the year so far and it’s going to take something pretty fantastic to beat it. Devin Williams is REALLY good, it’s the 9th, he fouls off like 4 straight pitches (most of which were paint or close from Williams), then bang! The game-tying double.
Mitch is going to be intolerable if the Cubs don’t handle their business.
Cubs are tied for 4th in fewest blown saves with 8. If you really comb through the games, the bullpen has a rep, but there have been so many late tied games that were lost.
Yeah, I know every manager is given information from a variety of sources but some GMs and above like to ‘suggest’ starting certain players or spots in the batting order, just didn’t know if Jed and Carter do that on a consistent basis. I know Maddon had more of a final say than some, he was pretty vocal about that.
Solo? I think he’s making the bulk of the decisions. I wouldn’t be a manager if I was handed the line up everyday.
Oh, I don’t think he’s handed a lineup, I just think they all work together on it. That’s why I don’t think the lineups change all that much with a different manager, because they’d obviously try to hire the kind of manager that works well in this kind of framework.
Haha, I was pretty buzzed for the holiday. My apologies. Obviously we are seeing how money doesn't fix everything with the mets and padres but but you can't really say they were serious about making the playoffs with this group in the pen and that's what is annoying.
Take Morel, for example. He should, and might, get the great majority of playing at 3B for foreseeable future. The front office has to find a position for him, OF really isn’t an option, so that leaves 3B. There is zero reason for Wisdom or Madrigal to be getting time at 3B ahead of Morel. I’m hoping that Jed, Carter and Ross are in agreement. That makes sense to be involved in the lineup.
I watched this game on the 4th because it was raining here all day. Blew a 6-2 lead with two outs in the 8th inning to end the 9th inning tied. Was so pissed I turned the game off. Got a notification later the Cubs had won 7-6 in extras. Didn't think much of it but am now pissed I turned off THAT ending.
He got squeezed in that inning badly. Struck out Caratini on a 3-2 count with 2 outs before giving up any of the 4 runs but the ump didn't call it even though he called the same pitch a strike earlier in same AB. Umps have been trash this whole series
I can't wait for robot umpires for balls and strikes in the majors.
Today was an example of why MLB needs a challenge rule on balls and strikes. The home plate Uno was atrocious today. He rung up Morel on a ball that was low before Bellinger hit his 2 run homer.
In fairness, the inning should have been over before Yellich even got a shot at the 3-run HR.
He literally had an 0.53 ERA over his last 18 outings. Sure, DFA.
