Chicago Cubs 2018 Season

#452      

champaignchris

C
champaignchris
IanKEvans2 said:
[ W ] #41

Nice to salvage a split today, but dropping that first one was disheartening.
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Yeah and I think we got a nice assist from Roberts. Why on earth do you walk Baez and pitch to Almora in that spot? If there’d been one out, I understand going for the double play. But with no outs and a man on third, why walk the swing and miss guy in favor of the big contact guy?
 
#454      

KBLEE

KBLEE
Montgomery, IL
KBLEE
champaignchris said:
Yeah and I think we got a nice assist from Roberts. Why on earth do you walk Baez and pitch to Almora in that spot? If there’d been one out, I understand going for the double play. But with no outs and a man on third, why walk the swing and miss guy in favor of the big contact guy?
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That was a Matheny-esque move. :thumb:
 
#459      

champaignchris

C
champaignchris
Lester is such a pro.

He didn’t have it today. He could not get a third strike on anyone. I think I counted five times he started 0-2 and then went full count on the guy. He didn’t have an out pitch. He wasn’t hitting his spots, especially in the first two or three innings. His fastball might have topped out at 91. He bounced his curveball as often as he didn’t.

So what did he do? He pitched to the conditions. After he got a lead, he put the ball on a tee for them and the Dodgers obligingly hit it into the teeth of the wind for fly out after fly out. He had 109 pitches and went out in the 7th and threw three straight fly outs for his only perfect inning of the start.

7 innings, no runs. He’s Now 9-2 and has the 3rd best ERA in the League.
 
#460      

champaignchris

C
champaignchris
The Cubs have played the 15th toughest schedule in the MLB. The Brewers the 23rd and the Cardinals the 26th. That will all even out eventually since they all play basically the same teams basically the same number of games.

Basically, all the rate stats, peripherals and upcoming schedules point to the Cubs winning the division. And it shouldn’t be too close. Maybe something changes. Maybe some trades will be made or someone will get hurt. (Although if the Cardinals were going to make a trade, you’d think they would have been able to exceed the Nats’ offer for Herrera.) But at this point, the Cubs are in the driver’s seat.
 
#461      

Illiniaaron

I
Geneseo, IL
Illiniaaron
This team has major starting pitching problems. Lester is the only guy you can really count on at this point. I hope the Cubs can somehow make the playoffs again but they are nothing close to what the American League will be offering in the Series.
 
#465      

bdutts

bdutts
Houston, Texas
bdutts
Underwood makes him MLB debut tonight. Interested to see how he does.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
#467      

Illiniaaron

I
Geneseo, IL
Illiniaaron
champaignchris said:
Cubs are tied with the Dodgers for the 4th best starting pitching ERA in the League.
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Take out the starts from Montgomery and see where the Cubs are at. Hendricks, Quintana, and Darvish are all above 4.00. Chatwood is a bomb waiting to go off. It's amazing the results he's gotten with a WHIP of 1.73. Lester has been very good but for all of the advanced metrics guys he's getting hit a lot harder velocity wise so he has been fortunate as well. Add in the fact that Darvish's health is a huge question mark I think you're whistling past the graveyard if you're not concerned.
 
#468      

ChiefIllini

C
ChiefIllini
I think the cubs are at a point most expected them to be. Position players are fantastic and young. Pitchers are middling and old. Not saying they need to trade top guys like Russel or Happ, but at some point you gotta look at your rotation and see the guys aren't cutting it.

TBH Lester, Hendricks, and Quintana are probably 2,3,4 guys. Some combination of Darvish/Montgomery gives them at least an above average rotation. I have no problem throwing Lester out there as our ace--his mentality gives him an edge, but the problem with that is Darvish isn't a 2, and the way Hendricks season has gone, neither is he. Not saying a team like this can't win it all with only above average starting rotation, but it puts a lot of pressure on the rest of the team.
 
#470      

champaignchris

C
champaignchris
A road split with the Dodgers is perfectly acceptable.

A little of the sting of that sweep against the Reds would go away if Cincy could continue their hot streak by taking at least 3 of 4 against the Brewers this weekend.
 
#473      

IanKEvans2

IanKEvans2
IanKEvans2
Fun fact: Albert Almora, who left today's game with an injury, is now the NL leader in batting average at .332.