Cubs 2023 Season

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#376      

Warren Carter Fanclub

Warren Carter Fanclub
Warren Carter Fanclub
champaignchris said:
Just can’t lose that game today.

1 for 16 with RISP in the last two games.
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The sad part is that 1-16 is realistically even worse because a large number of those 16 were inning ending double plays.

1-6 road trip through Miami and DC. 5 out of 6 were one run losses. I know teams go through slumps but this is ridiculous. The lack of clutch hitting is mind blowing. The ninth innings of the last 2 games were a microcosm of the last week.
 
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#379      

champaignchris

C
champaignchris
I don’t generally call for a manager’s head - check my post history, don’t think I’ve ever done it - but I think I might be done with Ross.

His managing of the back of the lineup has been quizzical at best. He hasn’t seemed to have a plan how to use Rios, Madrigal, Velasquez, etc. and we’ve had an “If that guy doesn’t hit in that spot, why is he even on the roster?” moment about every other game.

See yesterday with Madrigal not seeing the field when the Cubs had runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs in a tie game in the 9th. Just getting contact with 0 or 1 outs plates the go ahead run. Wisdom and Mancini, right handers striking out 34% and 26% both go down swinging while Madrigal, a right hander striking out 7% rides the pine.

I mean, I’m sure Ross wishes the Cubs had a “fire and forget” quality lineup as much as the rest of us do. It really sucks that the deficiencies on the back end of the line up actually requires our manager to, you know, manage the game.

Or to put it another way, the front office’s stated reason why Morel - who OPS’ed .740 with 16 home runs as a rookie last year, who is currently annihilating AAA pitching (.343/.444/.788 in 117 plate appearances), who is a plus defender at 6 or 7 positions, and was by all accounts a great clubhouse presence last year - hasn’t been called up, is because the front office doesn’t think this manager can get a player like that consistent at bats.

That’s not a situation where you let the kid languish in AAA. That’s a situation where you get a different manager.
 
#381      

GoodePodzMelendez

G
GoodePodzMelendez
champaignchris said:
I don’t generally call for a manager’s head - check my post history, don’t think I’ve ever done it - but I think I might be done with Ross.

His managing of the back of the lineup has been quizzical at best. He hasn’t seemed to have a plan how to use Rios, Madrigal, Velasquez, etc. and we’ve had an “If that guy doesn’t hit in that spot, why is he even on the roster?” moment about every other game.

See yesterday with Madrigal not seeing the field when the Cubs had runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs in a tie game in the 9th. Just getting contact with 0 or 1 outs plates the go ahead run. Wisdom and Mancini, right handers striking out 34% and 26% both go down swinging while Madrigal, a right hander striking out 7% rides the pine.

I mean, I’m sure Ross wishes the Cubs had a “fire and forget” quality lineup as much as the rest of us do. It really sucks that the deficiencies on the back end of the line up actually requires our manager to, you know, manage the game.

Or to put it another way, the front office’s stated reason why Morel - who OPS’ed .740 with 16 home runs as a rookie last year, who is currently annihilating AAA pitching (.343/.444/.788 in 117 plate appearances), who is a plus defender at 6 or 7 positions, and was by all accounts a great clubhouse presence last year - hasn’t been called up, is because the front office doesn’t think this manager can get a player like that consistent at bats.

That’s not a situation where you let the kid languish in AAA. That’s a situation where you get a different manager.
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What change do you make to the bottom of the lineup? Hoerner, Swanson, Happ, Suzuki, Mancini, Bellinger and now Mervis as your front &, Wisdom and the catcher are 8/9. I like Rossy as he has done a decent job of running the team. Sometimes things do not go as planned. We are in a hitting slump which happens. Pitts is not going to play at their current pace so things will tighten up. We can still get to the post season.
 
#382      

champaignchris

C
champaignchris
GoodePodzMelendez said:
What change do you make to the bottom of the lineup? Hoerner, Swanson, Happ, Suzuki, Mancini, Bellinger and now Mervis as your front &, Wisdom and the catcher are 8/9. I like Rossy as he has done a decent job of running the team. Sometimes things do not go as planned. We are in a hitting slump which happens. Pitts is not going to play at their current pace so things will tighten up. We can still get to the post season.
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Not the lineups. The bench usage.

Like in my example, he fails to use Madrgal when the Cubs need contact. Then, when the Cubs were down 4 with bases loaded and 2 outs, when power should be prioritized, he batted Madrigal with Velazquez available.

His usage of Velazquez in general has been weird. A couple games ago, Ross used two right handed pinch hitters, but neither were Velazquez.

There have been weird calls for Mancini and Wisdom to bunt, again, usually with Madrigal on the bench.

There have been the weird lineups with both Mancini and Hosmer playing, where Hosmer - the left handed throwing 4-time Gold Glover - has been DHing and right-handed throwing Mancini has been in the field.

And then, like I said in my prior post, there’s the front office’s apparent reticence in bringing Morel up due to playing time issues. Maybe I shouldn’t interpret that as lack of confidence in Ross, but I have a hard time seeing Jed handling Morel the same way if Maddon were still the manager.

It just shouldn’t be that hard to find at bats for a player with Morel’s defensive versatility. Give each of Hoerner, Bellinger and Suzuki - all guys who’ve had trouble staying healthy - a day at DH to rest and then sit Mervis against tougher lefties and shift Wisdom to first. There’s four starts a week for Morel right there.
 
#388      

champaignchris

C
champaignchris
Warren Carter Fanclub said:
I would totally agree with that except I am concerned about not having an established dependable 9th inning guy at this point of the season to lock down 1 run wins. I'd love to see someone step up.
In a weird way, I sort of hope that guy isn't necessarily on the roster right now because if that is the case, it means they would probably be in the pennant race at the trade deadline and acquire a legit closer..... or maybe Codi Heuer????
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Heuer hit 99 in his first rehab appearance last night. I think he’ll be back on the team sooner than later.
 
#393      

Emerson Bigguns

Emerson Bigguns
Emerson Bigguns
champaignchris said:
Morel up. Velazquez down. A little weird that it’s Velazquez being shipped out. I guess they thought they’d be able to find more ABs for Morel given his defensive versatility.
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Yeah, Christopher can play anywhere. Nelson is an outfielder. It's going to be hard for Ross to play any outfield other than Happ, Bellinger, & Suzuki very often. 3rd is there for the taking if anyone ever steps up and owns it. Morel might be the guy to do it.
 
#395      

KBLEE

KBLEE
Montgomery, IL
KBLEE
champaignchris said:
5-11 in the last 16 and way too many looked exactly like that. Stro went 6 strong, they knocked out Mikolas after only 4.1, and Arenado out. Gotta win that one.

Same old story. 1-7 with RISP.
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Not to mention Nico pulled up lame going from second to third and left the game with hamstring tightness. Hopefully he can avoid a DL stint.
 
#398      

champaignchris

C
champaignchris
Hendricks (0 runs, 2 hits in 5 IP in his last rehab start) is going to be coming off the IL soon. I suspect they’ll go to a 6-man rotation after that at least for the time being.

Steele’s professional career high in IP is 120, Wesneski’s is 145, and Smyly hasn’t topped 130 since 2016. I suspect they’ll work on spacing out some of their starts a bit. Give them a few extra days off here and there.

There’s going to be another starting pitching decision to make later this season: Ben Brown is slicing up minor league hitters. The promotion to AAA hasn’t slowed him down for a moment. He’s given up 2 ER in 30.2 innings between both AA and AAA and has 47 (?!?!) strike outs. He’s 23 and doesn’t have a heck of a lot more to prove in the minors.
 
#400      

Point-Illinois

P
Point-Illinois
champaignchris said:
Hendricks (0 runs, 2 hits in 5 IP in his last rehab start) is going to be coming off the IL soon. I suspect they’ll go to a 6-man rotation after that at least for the time being.

Steele’s professional career high in IP is 120, Wesneski’s is 145, and Smyly hasn’t topped 130 since 2016. I suspect they’ll work on spacing out some of their starts a bit. Give them a few extra days off here and there.

There’s going to be another starting pitching decision to make later this season: Ben Brown is slicing up minor league hitters. The promotion to AAA hasn’t slowed him down for a moment. He’s given up 2 ER in 30.2 innings between both AA and AAA and has 47 (?!?!) strike outs. He’s 23 and doesn’t have a heck of a lot more to prove in the minors.
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Sounds like we could have something at the SP position then…

Now we have to make sure we don’t repeat the last couple weeks of RISP woes.

Hopefully it was just a random slump and not an indication for the rest of the season.
 
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