Chicago Cubs 2026

#1,426      
DRS
Well, that was an amazing 3 games, unreal energy behind the team right now. A sweep is of the two time champs is a gorgeous thing.

Offense is clicking, second now only to the Nats in runs, but the starters are the unsung hero of this stretch. Since the game we let Pederson melt on the mound for 10 runs we are 1st in the league in era, just over a month of 2.82 era from that group. What an effort?! PCA saved the season when we went through that massive slump and these guys have kept the winning baseball rolling. Props.
 
#1,427      
EyeoftheIllini
Second place is 1st loser said:
I think there's going to be real argument to be made for Peterson in lieu of Cabrera if his trajectory continues in this direction. He's looked like the All Star pitcher in the first half of last year. Cabrera had been struggling to find the zone.

After all of the chaos surrounding the staff with all of the injuries, it's coming together. Having a lot of options in both the starting rotation and the bullpen is a great problem to have.

Also, the fact that Happ is sitting....they aren't joking around this year. Hoyer did everything one could reasonably expect at the deadline and Counsell has tools to play with and is playing guys who give us the best chance to win.

Added bonus of this week. The Cubs have gotten staff aces thrown at them all week. Tomorrow they get Cease. This is exactly what they need.
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Peterson has been pitching very well of late, but I still think he’d go to pen rather than Cabrera. With no Thielbar, would be down to one lefty in pen. Peterson would give Craig another one and open up more options.
 
#1,428      
AssemblyHallForever
EyeoftheIllini said:
Peterson has been pitching very well of late, but I still think he’d go to pen rather than Cabrera. With no Thielbar, would be down to one lefty in pen. Peterson would give Craig another one and open up more options.
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You are forgetting Milner who is almost ready so three lefties in the pen to work the middle innings will make Theilbar expendable and Cabrera as the 5 th starter. The Cubs are not fooling around. This pen is set to shut teams down late in games. This next few months is why we made the moves and have a guy like Counsell managing the game.
 
#1,429      
EyeoftheIllini
AssemblyHallForever said:
You are forgetting Milner who is almost ready so three lefties in the pen to work the middle innings will make Theilbar expendable and Cabrera as the 5 th starter. The Cubs are not fooling around. This pen is set to shut teams down late in games. This next few months is why we made the moves and have a guy like Counsell managing the game.
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So we agree, Cabrera is 5th starter and Peterson to the pen — unless you believe they’re going to a six man rotation or sending Boyd, Shota, Holmes or Gausman to pen.
 
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#1,431      
KBLEE
EyeoftheIllini said:
So we agree, Cabrera is 5th starter and Peterson to the pen — unless you believe they’re going to a six man rotation or sending Boyd, Shota, Holmes or Gausman to pen.
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So - Peterson and Assad to the pen? They have been 2 of our best starters of late. Now I wonder what their roles will even be.
 
#1,432      
EyeoftheIllini
KBLEE said:
So - Peterson and Assad to the pen? They have been 2 of our best starters of late. Now I wonder what their roles will even be.
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I know we as Cubs fans aren’t real familiar with the concept, especially this season with all the injuries, but it is called pitching depth. Craig will figure it out. Shota and Boyd aren’t going to pen and since all-star break have been essentially just as good. We didn’t spend prospect capital to get Gausman and Holmes to pitch them out of the pen. With Assad having strong experience out of the pen too and Peterson being a lefty, they make the most sense. It’s a good problem to have.
 
#1,434      
KBLEE
EyeoftheIllini said:
I know we as Cubs fans aren’t real familiar with the concept, especially this season with all the injuries, but it is called pitching depth. Craig will figure it out. Shota and Boyd aren’t going to pen and since all-star break have been essentially just as good. We didn’t spend prospect capital to get Gausman and Holmes to pitch them out of the pen. With Assad having strong experience out of the pen too and Peterson being a lefty, they make the most sense. It’s a good problem to have.
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I'm not saying it doesn't make sense. I just hope they are able to transition to middle- / long-relief, as neither will likely be pitching the 8th or 9th.
 
#1,435      
EyeoftheIllini
KBLEE said:
I'm not saying it doesn't make sense. I just hope they are able to transition to middle- / long-relief, as neither will likely be pitching the 8th or 9th.
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I just saw some Cubs fan site on Twitter touting Shelby Miller and predicting Holmes would be moved to bullpen in post season to give Cubs three legitimate closers on playoff roster. Beyond the fact that I’m not sure I’d call a guy with 13 career saves and 13 blown saves coming off TJ surgery a legitimate closer and just don’t see them moving Holmes to pen despite having had some success a couple years ago with NYY, I think the guy was spot on.
 
#1,437      
DRS
EyeoftheIllini said:
So we agree, Cabrera is 5th starter and Peterson to the pen — unless you believe they’re going to a six man rotation or sending Boyd, Shota, Holmes or Gausman to pen.
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not sure if I agree, I think Cabrera has the most high end potential, but he also has a better arsenal for the pen. I'd like to see him in the pen assuming those other two stay productive. Its crowded out there now.
 
#1,438      
EyeoftheIllini
DRS said:
not sure if I agree, I think Cabrera has the most high end potential, but he also has a better arsenal for the pen. I'd like to see him in the pen assuming those other two stay productive. Its crowded out there now.
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The discussion was about who would be sent to the pen, and in your previous post you said Cabrera will be the 5th starter. Sounds like agreement to me. Now who “should” be sent to the pen is a different discussion. I still think Peterson should be the one mainly because he gives Cubs another lefty in pen. I’m also a tad leery about whether he can keep this up. The only year he’s been pretty much consistent for the entirety was 2024. Last year the bottom fell out in August and September, and prior to 2024 he’s been good some and bad at other times most seasons.
 
#1,443      
DRS
EyeoftheIllini said:
The discussion was about who would be sent to the pen, and in your previous post you said Cabrera will be the 5th starter. Sounds like agreement to me. Now who “should” be sent to the pen is a different discussion. I still think Peterson should be the one mainly because he gives Cubs another lefty in pen. I’m also a tad leery about whether he can keep this up. The only year he’s been pretty much consistent for the entirety was 2024. Last year the bottom fell out in August and September, and prior to 2024 he’s been good some and bad at other times most seasons.
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I said that?? Don't remember saying that, but I say a lot things, if you say so I can think of time where I may have said that...but I am an Assad guy tbh. Pederson has also been great.
 
#1,448      
EyeoftheIllini
DRS said:
I said that?? Don't remember saying that, but I say a lot things, if you say so I can think of time where I may have said that...but I am an Assad guy tbh. Pederson has also been great.
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My bad. No you didn’t. A poster said that in a response to my post. And when you quoted my reply to him, I thought that was him responding again. I should have paid more attention to the names. My apologies.

As to Assad, I think he’s the most obvious to head to pen because he has plenty of experience there and has had success. Not everyone has the makeup for the pen, and he’s shown he does. That’s actually another reason why I prefer Peterson to the pen over Cabrera. I think the former will handle the move better mentally. Though he hasn’t pitched in relief during the regular season for a long time, he has about a half dozen relief appearances with the Mets in playoffs.

Hey, all this is a good problem to have, especially with how the first half went with the staff. Now Craig has pieces to move around. Let’s just hope he makes the right moves and we can make a run.
 
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