Be interesting to see who they go with when Shota’s spot comes up this weekend. I’m hoping Flexen on Saturday in NY then Horton Monday at home v. Miami. Would give everyone a little extra time off.
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Be interesting to see who they go with when Shota’s spot comes up this weekend. I’m hoping Flexen on Saturday in NY then Horton Monday at home v. Miami. Would give everyone a little extra time off.
The interesting move coming is someone will have to be DFA to add Horton to the 40 man and when Shaw comes back up Lopez or Brujan are likely DFA. So do they go ahead and do that now even without calling Shaw back up or does a minor league player on the 40 go?
Summers are so much more fun when the Cubs are good. And God dammit the Cubs are good
Listening to some Podcasts this morning and they are talking about Matthew Boyd's stats which are really something considering the competition he's faced. The concern is his history of injury and whether he should get an extra day between this start as he threw 94 pitches.
According to the Cub's Setup Man podcast:
7 Starts
Has gone at least 5 innings in each
Hasn't given up more than 3 ER in a game
3-2 record
2.75 ERA
Against teams with a .597 win percentage
-----
at Arizona
San Diego
at LAD
at San Diego
LAD
at Pitt
SF
According to the Cub's Setup Man podcast:
7 Starts
Has gone at least 5 innings in each
Hasn't given up more than 3 ER in a game
3-2 record
2.75 ERA
Against teams with a .597 win percentage
-----
at Arizona
San Diego
at LAD
at San Diego
LAD
at Pitt
SF
The injury history is the concern the more innings he throws but he's been great up to this point. He and Taillon basically have to carry the load right now with Steele and Shota out and uncertainty on what we'll get from the bottom half of the rotation. Rea has filled 1 spot well so far, Brown has his moments but has been inconsistent and we are not sure who will fill the 5th spot yet but likely will be Flexen or Horton gets called up. Can't really have another injury to the rotation at this point else could see Jordan Wicks again which would not be a good thing as he hasn't been good in Iowa either so far. Another solid starter for the rotation needs to be on the shopping list at the deadline as even if they stay or get healthy losing Steele for the season really narrowed the margin of error for rotation health and performance.
I think theres a chance you could move Brasier or Eli Morgan to the 60 day IL.
Yep. You can retro Brasier back to March 17th so you can 60 day him to open up the roster spot and kick the can down the road on the DFA for 10 days or so.
I guess I haven't paid attention to their progress. I thought Brasier was currently throwing in Arizona so that would mean he's ramping up for a return at some point. Haven't seen anything on Morgan so he could be a 60 day IL option.
Regardless, whenever they want to bring Shaw up again either Brujan or Lopez will have to be DFA as they don't have any other optionable position guys on the bench. I think they ride out Turner for a bit because of his past production and clubhouse presence but if he doesn't start hitting at some point he could be a DFA option too with Ballesteros on a tear in Iowa and now spot in Chicago for him at the moment. I don't want to see him get the Canario treatment when he comes up either so they are going to have to string together some starts for him by giving some guys a day off so he can play C/1B/DH so he can string together some back to back or 3 starts in a row stints to keep the hot bat going. Long term for him is going to be interesting because Amaya is under team control through Arbitration through 2029 and Kelly is locked in at $5 mil next season with a mutual option in 2027. Busch is locked in at 1B for awhile so DH seems to be the logical spot for now with some spot starts at C and 1B. What happens with Tucker is the key because Suzuki will stay the full time DH for 2026 in the final year of his contract if they can sign Tucker to a long term deal. I don't think they want to trade Ballesteros but going to be hard to find him regular playing time until 2027 with this current roster configuration so will be interesting if they try to find a way to get him into the lineup or entertain using him in a trade at some point for a proven guy with more than 1 year team control on their contract.
I agree on Moises. I think the path for him this year is via injury to one of Happ, Tucker, Seiya, Busch, or a catcher. The chances of that happening are probably pretty high. Then we see what happens.
The big question is obviously if he can catch at the major league level. He's 21 years old, and while you'd love to have his bat up he doesn't need to be rushed. The Cubs have the best offense in baseball and until that changes you don't need to force it. Any position he can reasonably play (C, DH, 1B) are all better than average at this point. Who knows what next year brings. It still looks crowded but he's still only going to be 22.
Ideally, they would get a decent look at Moises at the big league level this year, so they know what they have going into next year. If they can't re-sign Tucker in the offseason, then there would be a spot for Moises at DH in 2026 (with Seiya moving back to RF). If they do re-sign Tucker, then they would at least have the option to trade Seiya in the offseason (or Happ, but that seems less likely).
Sure, that's ideal. And I believe he will get some at bats this year due to injury.
That said, if he can't catch then his value diminishes by a lot and 21 is so young for a catcher.
Also, they are not trading Seiya or Happ before next year. We can all let that one go.
Trading Seiya or Happ makes zero sense. Last year of incredibly team friendly deals.
In fact, should probably be talking extension with both of them, especially Seiya, at this point.
In fact, should probably be talking extension with both of them, especially Seiya, at this point.
Well first off both have full NTC so the options to trade them would be limited if either agreed and the return would likely not be great either. Second I don't think you can extend both if you resign Tucker because unless you trade either or both of Alcantara or Caissie you need a spot for a young cost controlled OF if you are going to pay up for Tucker and eventually PCA. They both also turn 32 in August 2026 so they likely only extend 1 if they do but not both.
