I misses Hughes because I fell asleep but woke up to see the home run, I kind of felt that one coming the way he worked the count with 2 strikes.
MLB: ***Official 2022 Chicago Cubs Season Thread***
- Thread starter CYdTracked
- Start date
Problem right now is a lot of the Cubs top prospects are in A and AA levels so I don't think they will rush too many up this season unless there is just a ton of injuries or someone is on such a tear they feel comfortable with someone skipping AAA. Morel probably would not have been up yet if there wasn't so many out with injuries right now especially in the infield. Brennan Davis was the one we all thought would be up at some point but he's off to a slow start in Iowa and is hurt too so if he does come up it won't be till later this year. We probably will see Caleb Kilian at some point, he's been pitching well for Iowa and maybe Nelson Velazquez gets a look too. Other than that I don't know if they want to rush Canario. Brailyn Marquez and Miguel Amaya were supposed to be ready by now but can't stay healthy enough to move through the minors
Brett Taylor had a good article on this. They've rebuilt their farm system but most of the guys are still a few years out. That's kind of why you see a guy like Morel get the call up as a stop-gap with Hoerner injured. Far from the top prospect but probably the most ready at the moment.
Yah I guess Simmons was actually the call up for Hoerner, but I'd imagine with Morel's positional versatility he's up there to cover for both Hoerner and Heyward. I believe Hoerner is out with an ankle for a bit.
I can, he seems to get hurt really easy so far in his career. Knew it was only a matter of time. Morel made sense because I can't imagine Simmons is going to be 100% either with his should. There just is not a lot of options on the 40 man right now for infielders with Bote Nico and Madrigal all on the IL
Somewhat off topic but has anyone gone out and looked to see what the former Cubs "core" has done up to this point? I try not to dwell on "what if's" because I was content moving on from them but find it interesting to take a sample of what they are doing with their new teams.
Baez: batting .204 with 2 HR 11 RBI 0.3 WAR
Bryant: only played 15 games due to injury. .278 BA with 0 HR 4 RBI -0.2 WAR
Rizzo: probably the most productive so far. .234 10 HR 24 RBI 0.8 WAR
Schwarber; .189 8 HR 21 RBI 0.1 WAR
By comparison the following Cubs currently have a higher WAR than these 4:
Contreras 1.4
Happ 1.2
Hoerner 1.0
I will add Suzuki at 0.7 which is higher than all but Rizzo. Even Gomes at 0.4 is too.
Guess my point is if those guy's history and trends continue down the path they were on with the Cubs I don't think they would have made this team significantly better than it is right now and would have strapped the Cubs with some long term contracts they probably would not have turned out to be good value over time. I get it's only May and a lot can change but its interesting to see they all haven't changed much from the same kind of stat lines we saw with the Cubs around this time of the season most years.
Baez: batting .204 with 2 HR 11 RBI 0.3 WAR
Bryant: only played 15 games due to injury. .278 BA with 0 HR 4 RBI -0.2 WAR
Rizzo: probably the most productive so far. .234 10 HR 24 RBI 0.8 WAR
Schwarber; .189 8 HR 21 RBI 0.1 WAR
By comparison the following Cubs currently have a higher WAR than these 4:
Contreras 1.4
Happ 1.2
Hoerner 1.0
I will add Suzuki at 0.7 which is higher than all but Rizzo. Even Gomes at 0.4 is too.
Guess my point is if those guy's history and trends continue down the path they were on with the Cubs I don't think they would have made this team significantly better than it is right now and would have strapped the Cubs with some long term contracts they probably would not have turned out to be good value over time. I get it's only May and a lot can change but its interesting to see they all haven't changed much from the same kind of stat lines we saw with the Cubs around this time of the season most years.
I guess that time in Iowa really helped Schwindel... lol wait a minute! He and Wisdom are on a bit of a hot streak at the moment. Frank with 4 homers in the past 3 games and Wisdom with 4 in his last 5. Fun when it happens but I don't expect either to all the sudden string together a full month of hot hitting given their past trends. Also playing some bad teams right now too which helps.
As much playing time as Morel is getting right now I would be a little surprised if they send him back to the minors if he keeps hitting as well as he has been. Let the kid hit some MLB pitching for awhile, if he cools off send him to Iowa to get some more minor league AB since he skipped AAA but for now may as well let him get his feet wet if he can hit pitching at this level. He's a utility guy that can play both infield and outfield so even when guys return from injury there should be some places for him to play somewhere consistently.
As much playing time as Morel is getting right now I would be a little surprised if they send him back to the minors if he keeps hitting as well as he has been. Let the kid hit some MLB pitching for awhile, if he cools off send him to Iowa to get some more minor league AB since he skipped AAA but for now may as well let him get his feet wet if he can hit pitching at this level. He's a utility guy that can play both infield and outfield so even when guys return from injury there should be some places for him to play somewhere consistently.
Cubs just need 5 or 6 guys to play well before the deadline as trade pieces and then call up the next crop of players. I’d be shocked if Hendricks, Happ, or Contreras are Cubs on August 1st.
Got to watch part of game 2 last night while I was out for dinner and saw Espinoza make his MLB debut. Was a mixed bag in 4 innings, struck out 6 but gave up a couple runs and 3 walks. Had pretty decent command of his fastball and was getting guys out on the edges of the strike zone but his breaking stuff was all over the place. Smyly having to leave after 3 innings will be interesting to see if Swarmer gets another start or do they finally call up Kilian to take a spot in the rotation. Refreshing to finally see some pitching prospects getting some call ups and also Morel and Valazquez as position players too.
The Bryant trade so far looks like the Cubs got 2 pretty nice pieces in Kilian and Canario. Canario got promoted to AA and probably is another year or 2 away from a call up but should see Kilian up at some point this year as he's been mowing down AAA hitters. The big piece in the Baez trade was Crow - Armstrong who got promoted to high A the other week after hitting .354 in 38 games so hoping in a few years we look back at the 2021 deadline trades and see the Cubs made out better than some of the fans initial thought.
Apparently the Cubs are asking for a big haul for Contreras which they should if they trade him. Gomes is signed through 2023 and a club option for 2024 so they have a MLB capable replacement already on the roster if they do move him Although Gomes does turn 35 next month so not like he is a long term replacement by any means either. We keep hearing the Cubs plan to spend money next offseason but we kind of heard that last year too so I will believe it when I see it. Could be a different build strategy this time as they now have more pitching talent coming up than positional and last time when they built the 2016 they had to buy pitching because they had cost controlled position talent.
The Bryant trade so far looks like the Cubs got 2 pretty nice pieces in Kilian and Canario. Canario got promoted to AA and probably is another year or 2 away from a call up but should see Kilian up at some point this year as he's been mowing down AAA hitters. The big piece in the Baez trade was Crow - Armstrong who got promoted to high A the other week after hitting .354 in 38 games so hoping in a few years we look back at the 2021 deadline trades and see the Cubs made out better than some of the fans initial thought.
Apparently the Cubs are asking for a big haul for Contreras which they should if they trade him. Gomes is signed through 2023 and a club option for 2024 so they have a MLB capable replacement already on the roster if they do move him Although Gomes does turn 35 next month so not like he is a long term replacement by any means either. We keep hearing the Cubs plan to spend money next offseason but we kind of heard that last year too so I will believe it when I see it. Could be a different build strategy this time as they now have more pitching talent coming up than positional and last time when they built the 2016 they had to buy pitching because they had cost controlled position talent.
Cubs get bases loaded no outs against the Cards. Down five. After 1 out, Ortega tries to tag up on a short fly to right. Gets thrown out. End of inning. Don't score
They certainly have talent issues all over, but they are not fundementaly sound either. Too many missed cutoff men, on purpose or otherwise, bad decisions, bad base running, etc.
They certainly have talent issues all over, but they are not fundementaly sound either. Too many missed cutoff men, on purpose or otherwise, bad decisions, bad base running, etc.
I feel like David Ross is just Rick Renteria
The Cubs FO is looking pretty smart right now having traded off all the pieces last year at the deadline.
Bryant has been hurt and has 0 HR’s this year.
Baez is striking out more than he ever has and has a .193 BA. he was also benched for a few games.
Rizzo is hitting barely above .200 on the year for the Yanks.
Kimbrel has an ERA of 4.78 since he was traded last year.
Bryant has been hurt and has 0 HR’s this year.
Baez is striking out more than he ever has and has a .193 BA. he was also benched for a few games.
Rizzo is hitting barely above .200 on the year for the Yanks.
Kimbrel has an ERA of 4.78 since he was traded last year.
Yep, but now they need to make the correct decisions on using the money they have available. That's if Ricketts lets Hoyer spend it.
It didn’t take a genius to see that’s what they needed to do. They honestly made those trades a little too late if you ask me.
The “lotto tickets” they got back from Baez, Bryant, and Rizzo all look very promising.
Soler has been the best of the former Cubs. Had a really solid May.
The prospects they got are decent but hopefully the price for Contreras isn't too high.
Tough 4th inning for Kilian but looked good otherwise. Love this Morel kid. Higgins has been pretty clutch at the ate too, if they trade Contreras they at least have him and Gomes the fill the void a bit at catcher. Swarmer had another nice outing in game 1, nice to see some young guys getting the chance to play right now and actually contributing.
