On the two Bleacher Reports above I think it’s fair to say Suzuki not playing is still better than Taillon taking the mound.
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Still waiting to see what Suzuki's MRI results are. If he has to start the season on the IL Alcantara and Conforto are the 2 likely competing for the roster spot. As much as they have played Shaw in the OF vs 3B in spring training it looks like he would be in line to get some of the starts in RF. Hoping nothing serious or lingering issue for Suzuki as that is a lot of offense to replace that they don't really have an in-house alternative right now.
Back to Shaw, he's been playing all over the field in ST so it sure looks like they are hoping he can be a super utility guy to cover multiple positions this season. If he can play a capable 1B that also fills a need when they want to sit Busch against LHP. I haven't seen much said about Shaw having any blunders in the field other than losing a ball in the sun a couple week ago in the OF and he's been hitting well too so that is positive that they can get some good usage out of him in that kind of role hopefully.
Back to Shaw, he's been playing all over the field in ST so it sure looks like they are hoping he can be a super utility guy to cover multiple positions this season. If he can play a capable 1B that also fills a need when they want to sit Busch against LHP. I haven't seen much said about Shaw having any blunders in the field other than losing a ball in the sun a couple week ago in the OF and he's been hitting well too so that is positive that they can get some good usage out of him in that kind of role hopefully.
Good thing the Cubs don't have a history of letting nagging injuries affect performance for too long before ending up on the IL anyway. That'd be bad if we did.
Yeah this is what worries me is that if he's not close to 100% they will leave him on the opening day roster as "day to day" then after he doesn't play for a week finally say it's still lingering and then put him on the IL for a month. Just been too many times over the past years they have done crap like this and played down a guy for a week only to put them on the IL anyways or let them play through an injury which they don't play well as a result or just makes a thing that lingers longer instead of just resting it like they should have. You have to wonder if they had properly diagnosed and shut down Tucker after he took one off the hand last year instead of letting him suck for about 6 weeks or so before they finally did if he would have healed up and been productive at the end of the season instead of looking like a shell of himself from the 1st half of the year.
I am one to say that winning in April matters as much as it does in September, but if putting Suzuki on the IL to properly rehab this for a short time and come back near full health I would rather do that now and give Alcantara and either Conforto or McCormick an extended look coming out of spring training to win that 4th OF job when Suzuki is back. I do think playing Shaw in RF is a possibility too as much OF work as they have been giving him and he's hit pretty well in spring training playing multiple positions too. Obviously Suzuki is the best option when healthy but I think they could manage without him for a short period of time to start the year if needed.
There is a chance Palencia could get a save opportunity tonight in the WBC Championship. Bregman and PCA are 0-3 combined so far tonight. USA currently with 1 hit
I have no doubts about Palencia as the closer after watching him have back to back saves in the WBC.
Well at least Palencia should come out of the WBC with A LOT of confidence heading into the season. Pitched very well.
It looks like he brought his velocity down a few mph but looks so much more controlled. Good to see
Would not be surprised if hes back to his 100+ mpg fastball in the middle of the season. Hes been ramping up.for the season between the Cubs ST and WBC and the more work he gets I think his fastball gets even better.
Granted was against the Angels but better from Shota tonight:
| pitchers | IP | H | ER | BB | K | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S. Imanaga | 4.2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 4.85 |
He’s been good at times this spring but the bad has been really bad.
I heard Kaplan on Miller and Condon's show a week or 2 ago talk about Shota and this was coming off one of his bad outings I believe. He said he looked like the same Shota that was nearly unusable late in the season so he wasn't convinced that he's turned a corner. We'll see I guess once the games actually mean something. I'm not holding my breath that he's going to be consistently good as teams were just teeing off on him late in the season. He gave up at least 1 HR in every start he made in his last 11 starts.
As a Cubs fan I'm not rooting against him or anyone on the roster for that matter as you want everyone to play up to their potential and Shota at times has looked really good but when he's been bad he's been REALLY bad. I'll even throw a Jamo comparison in here for you... He has been the same way at times and I sure hope what we have seen in spring training is not an indication of how he is going to look to start the season. But if you compare his 2nd half of 2025 with Shota's, Taillon by far was the better pitcher down the stretch run. When he came back in August he only gave up 2 HR in 8 starts and posted ERA of 1.64 in 2 August starts, 1.54 over 4 September starts, and 2.25 in 2 October games. He was pitching well when it mattered most. We lost 9 of Shota's last 12 starts while we won 7 of Taillon's last 8 starts of the season.
So just curious what kind of numbers would it take for a full time DH to win ROY?
100 RBI?
5 WAR?
.900 OPS?
Does anyone know how the draft compensation works for rookie production?
I found it. Needs to be on the roster opening day and entire season. Win ROY or finish top 3 MVP pre arbitration.
100 RBI?
5 WAR?
.900 OPS?
Does anyone know how the draft compensation works for rookie production?
I found it. Needs to be on the roster opening day and entire season. Win ROY or finish top 3 MVP pre arbitration.
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