3 tough road series against the Guardians, Dodgers and Phillies, and the Yankees at home as well. But the other 33 of 45 games are against teams under .500.
Win 5 of those tough 12, and 23 of the other 33, and you're at 85 wins.
***Official 2024 Chicago Cubs Thread***
- Thread starter CycloneErik
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Win 5 of those tough 12, and 23 of the other 33, and you're at 85 wins.
Caleb Killian has been nothing short of incredible since his return as a starter.
In the bullpen for Iowa, he had 8 appearances and gave up 10 ER off 12 hits and 8 walks in 12 innings.
Entered the starting rotation at the beginning of August and in 2 starts he's thrown 9 innings of 3 hit ball, 0 ER, and 7 K's.
In the bullpen for Iowa, he had 8 appearances and gave up 10 ER off 12 hits and 8 walks in 12 innings.
Entered the starting rotation at the beginning of August and in 2 starts he's thrown 9 innings of 3 hit ball, 0 ER, and 7 K's.
Quit wasting bullets in Des Moines. Time to give him another start in Chicago and push Shota back a day.
I'd make Hendricks, Assad a combo. Basically a free day for the rest of the bullpen. Imanaga has been incredible on 4 days rest. Time to show your best.
I'm still not sold by the recent play that this roster has what it takes to make the playoffs but if they pull it off I'll be thrilled too. Lost in this current stretch is how much better some of the players we've ripped on have been playing well lately
PCA: batting .307 in 7 August games, just 2 strikeouts in 23 AB
Swanson: same stretch as PCA, 7 games hitting .391
Amaya hit .333 in July
Not that anyone was really ripping on Busch but he's hitting .292 with 3 HR in August so far and seems to be getting hot again
Suzuki has been hitting .289 with 5 HR over his last 30 games
Makes a big difference when you aren't giving away outs with a bunch of guys struggling to hit .200 consistently in your lineup. PCA hopefully is at that point he's made the adjustments at the plate like he's had to at every level in the minors and can become more of a contributor on offense than he has up till recently.
Happ has gotten cold again and now he's leading off which is a bit of a concern. Seems like this team is constructed with guys that all seem to get hot and cold around the same time. When they are hot they are fun to watch, when they are all cold at once it is frustrating as hell.
PCA: batting .307 in 7 August games, just 2 strikeouts in 23 AB
Swanson: same stretch as PCA, 7 games hitting .391
Amaya hit .333 in July
Not that anyone was really ripping on Busch but he's hitting .292 with 3 HR in August so far and seems to be getting hot again
Suzuki has been hitting .289 with 5 HR over his last 30 games
Makes a big difference when you aren't giving away outs with a bunch of guys struggling to hit .200 consistently in your lineup. PCA hopefully is at that point he's made the adjustments at the plate like he's had to at every level in the minors and can become more of a contributor on offense than he has up till recently.
Happ has gotten cold again and now he's leading off which is a bit of a concern. Seems like this team is constructed with guys that all seem to get hot and cold around the same time. When they are hot they are fun to watch, when they are all cold at once it is frustrating as hell.
Saw Bleacher Nation posted the Cubs are being linked to Alonso this offseason. Went to his stats.
Dude has been absolutely lights out in the second half compared to the first. And we know Jed LOVES highly volatile players who bring nothing to the table for weeks or months at a time and then even the numbers out with a hot week or two.
Curious if this could be related to hiding Busch from lefties. Alonso is DH vs Righties and 1B vs Lefties, while Busch is 1B vs Righties and benched vs lefties. Not in love with it, but it is in line with what our dumbass president likes to do
Dude has been absolutely lights out in the second half compared to the first. And we know Jed LOVES highly volatile players who bring nothing to the table for weeks or months at a time and then even the numbers out with a hot week or two.
Curious if this could be related to hiding Busch from lefties. Alonso is DH vs Righties and 1B vs Lefties, while Busch is 1B vs Righties and benched vs lefties. Not in love with it, but it is in line with what our dumbass president likes to do
At this point feel it is critical the Cubs are reloading at lower levels of their system. And that isn't typically reflected in rankings.
Since early season ratings feel like two things have happened:
- Cubs have called up players like: Busch, PCA, Brown, Little, Wicks, Wesneski
- Injuries have limited development of: Horton, Davis, Mervis, Killian
Last couple years we've signed some top tier international prospects that I think will start climbing the rankings shortly.
Busch again sitting tonight against a lefty even though he's hit lefties better than Wisdom has...
Been through this before. But if a guys on the 25 man roster, got to start him occasionally to keep him sharp. This will be Wisdom's first start in August. Seems like a good spot to start him.
And sure Busch has hit well (.270) against lefties in 2024, but 60 AB's is a pretty small sample size.
Well when they seem to manage him like he can't hit lefties then you aren't going to a huge sample size. But the opportunities he has got he's hit them fairly well so why does he have to sit yet PCA who is a lefty is allowed to face same handed pitching? Time to take the kid gloves off these.young guys and let them develop a little instead of playing this stupid matchup game with them. i could care less about getting Wisdom more playing time, we already know what kind of player he is at this point.
I guess another ripple to the Busch/Wisdom debate - it’s become common place for your best hitter to hit in the 2 spot. Ohtani has hit there 69 times this year.
If Wisdom isn’t good enough to play against righties, do we really believe he’s one of the best 2-3 bats on this team against lefties?
If Wisdom isn’t good enough to play against righties, do we really believe he’s one of the best 2-3 bats on this team against lefties?
This isn't about PCA or Busch. And it's not about figuring "what kind of player" Wisdom is.
This is about getting more than a single at bat in a game for 1 of 4 Cubs bench players. This is no different than starting Tauchman. It makes more sense to start Wisdom against a lefty than a righty every 7-10 days.
Watching on the Sox broadcast vs Marquee. Feel bad for Steve Stone having to endure this historically bad baseball day after day.
I 100% agree with this. Makes no sense to bat Wisdom #2. I'd have gone with Suzuki or Hoerner. Heck, I'd have even batted Swanson #2 before Wisdom.
Even if Counsel did so because he expected to PH Busch for Wisdom late in game.
