Won't be easy.
Chicago Cubs 2018 Season
Won't be easy.
FYI, Justin Hancock, the guy that just hit 97 on the radar gun, is who the Cubs got from the Padres in the Matt Szczur trade.
[ W ] #23
bdutts
- Houston, Texas
Who walks a guy an inning. Great to hit that on the gun but don’t mean a thing if he can’t find the plate. Small sample size so far so let’s see what he does over the course of the season, assuming he sticks.
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Oh Justin Wilson...
He absolutely cannot pitch in high leverage situations. On another note, 1-for-15 with RISP is pathetic; how can a team not drive in people??
1-16 and an 0-3 start in game 2. In fact, I think even Bryant and his FC RBI counts as an O so its 1-20. Tough day at the dish
[ W ] #24
Huge start for Quintana.
Huge start for Quintana.
bdutts
- Houston, Texas
bdutts
- Houston, Texas
Yeah it’s like he came to Chicago and forgot how to pitch.
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I’ve said it before, but it’s borderline Rick Ankiel.
Hope for a good start from Darvish tomorrow.
Illiniaaron
- Geneseo, IL
Through six innings, that's the Darvish we've been looking for. He was really pouring the fastball over today.
[ W ] #25
Thank Yu.
Thank Yu.
In my opinion, this teams success is going to come down to if Q and Yu can perform like they both did in their past starts. Its one thing doing it against the Reds, but when the Dodgers come calling, they need to show they are better than their respective ERA's are right now.
Bad contracts/trades can and will doom even the most talented teams.
Bad contracts/trades can and will doom even the most talented teams.
You've gotta feel pretty good sitting at 25-19 with how little we've gotten from Rizzo, Quintana and Darvish. I remain very bullish on this team.
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal
Yep. Cosign.
The Dodgers? The Dodgers are an injury-riddled mess, 6.5 games behind the Cubs in the standings. If the Cubs season had started the way the Dodgers’ has many of us would be jumping off buildings.
This isn’t last year’s Cubs team. The offense has been in the top two or three in the League in every significant category so far. Last year it was languishing in the bottom half of the League before the All Star break. The Cubs are 6 games above .500. Last year’s team didn’t make it to 6 games above .500 until July 26.
The Cubs team many think is underperforming is on pace to win 92 games. No National League team with 92 wins has missed the playoffs since 2002, before the playoffs expanded.
I was waiting for someone to argue that
. I knew they were off to a rough start, but it feels weird to worry about the Braves and Phillies contending for the pennant. Personally, I'm not worried about the Cubs missing the playoffs, but the Brewers are looking more and more like a real threat to win the division. Cards are too up and down. There's way to much season left, but the improvement of Almora, Baez, and Schwarber (even Zobrist is having a good year, heck Russell is looking up), the continued success of Bryant and Contreras, and the eventual mean regression of Rizzo make this one of the most complete offensives in the game. Offense is not my worry. The cubs have given up the least amount of runs in the league. There Pythag record is like 5 wins more than what they currently have. This is a really good baseball team, probably the best in the NL. I think another bullpen arm needs to step up. The Wilson experiment needs to end. And like I said before, Q and Yu need to show they can be reliable 3/4 starters. Chatwood has been a good 5 so far, better than the previously mentioned two.
To put the Brewers early season success into perspective, they were also playing good baseball.
On 5/21/2017, the NL Central looked like this:
1. Brewers, 25-19
2. Cardinals, 22-19
3. Cubs, 22-20
4. Reds, 20-23
5. Pirates, 20-24
Milwaukee's bats leveled off as the season progressed, and their starting pitching didn't put them over the top. They finished with a solid 86-76 record, second place and 6 games behind the first place Cubs. I foresee a similar conclusion to their season.
I think the Cardinals are more injured than up and down. St. Louis is more of a worry to me than Milwaukee, because I think they are more willing to make a deadline deal than the Brewers are.
Obtaining data points from previous seasons for comparison's sake is rather harmless, I'd say.
Wow, that was a throw away game. Chatwood needs to figure out how to throw strikes. And will someone PLEASE get a hit with RISP. 0-for-10 tonight.
KBLEE
- Montgomery, IL
FIFY
I wouldn't go so far as to say he needs to be replaced, but the walks definitely need to be reined in.
KBLEE
- Montgomery, IL
That's an understatement. He's averaging nearly 8 walks per 9 innings. Even if he were to cut that in half, it would be way too high. It's crazy to think that he's pitching worse away from Coors Field.