*** Official 2025 Chicago Cubs Thread***

[isucy86]

When does Assad come back? That might help a little in long relief.

With Shota coming back, I would think that pushes Rea or Brown to bullpen as multi-inning guys.

IMO if Counsell can use Flexen and Brown or Rea as multi inning guys a couple times a week each. Then that keeps Palencia, Keller, Theilbar, Pressley, Brasier and Pomeranz fresh. But my fear is we've seen the best of Flexen, Brasier and Pomeranz.

I don't know when Amaya is coming back. But I would keep McGuire as a 3rd catcher, DH and PH over Bruhan.

 

[isucy86]

Cubs pitching this series 9 runs, 7 runs, & 14 runs and counting.

Equally alarming was number of hits the staff gave up this series: 13, 14 & 18. The Mariners weren't just about HR's.

 

[BigJCy]

Welp, 5-4 home stand. Off to face the Dirty Birds for the 1st time this season with a 4 game series.

 

[1UNI2ISU]

They just sent Pearson out to wear it today so he didn't have to use any leverage arms. He'll have a ticket back to Des Moines for Little in the morning.

Long year, absolutely no need to overreact to a series when you're 15 games over in June.

 

[swiacy]

Welp, 5-4 home stand. Off to face the Dirty Birds for the 1st time this season with a 4 game series.

Cards lost there best hitter for an extended period with a hammy.

 

[CYdTracked]

Said it in the offseason and again when Steele got hurt that we should have signed or traded for at least 1 top half of the rotation type of pitcher because the rest of the rotation after Shota (who also has been hurt) and Taillon is like playing with a house of cards. Boyd has far exceeded expectations but you still have to wonder if fatigue or injury hits him in the 2nd half of the season since the last time he pitched over 100 innings in a season was 2019. He's already pitched more this season (85.2) than in any season since 2019 too. Rea was a shot in the dark as a possible 5th starter or long reliever. Brown looks like he needs to develop a 3rd pitch to be a starter otherwise may as well commit to him as a reliever and maximize him as a 1 or 2 inning guy. Horton is just a rookie, he is going to look great 1 start and then get roughed up in others as he learns how to pitch to MLB hitters but so far I like his potential. I am not expecting to see Assad anytime soon and he may eventually just wind up spending some time in Iowa proving he can stay healthy before they bring him up in any kind of role. Right now he's not doing anything other than playing catch is what I have seen from news on him which means he's still a ways away from trying to pitch in a game.

The bullpen has had some hiccups this week but the biggest were Pressly who we already know sucks, Cabrera who was a shot in the dark pick up, and now Pearson who we already knew was not that reliable. For the most part everyone else has been pretty consistent for extended period of time. Flexen finally gave up an earned run which was going to happen at some point but he had 12 scoreless outings before that which is pretty damn impressive. He just pitched 3 innings on the 19th giving up 1 hit a walk and striking out 3. Pomeranz will likely have a bad outings at some point but he's been a winning lotto ticket acquiring him for basically nothing for a guy that last pitched in in the bigs in 2021. Keller is another guy that far exceeded expectations. The guys you trust in the bullpen right now are not the guys everyone was talking about coming into the season.

Trading for 1 elite starter and possibly 1 other starter if the deal is right plus 1 lockdown bullpen guy and I think the pitching will be ok if they stay healthy

Shota
trade for a starter
Taillon
Boyd
Horton

Move Rea to the bullpen and maybe Horton too or send him back to Iowa to keep him stretched out if you trade for another starter. Brown goes to Iowa to stay stretched out and work on a 3rd pitch. The bullpen at this point is what it is. There is wiggle room to make moves but for now Palencia, Thielbar, Keller, Flexen, and Pomeranz are the guys you can trust in a tight game. Pressly and Braiser unfortunately are the 2 highest paid relievers on the roster so I doubt they DFA them unless its gets to a point they can't be used in any scenario. Stil have Hodge close to returning although he got hit hard in Iowa the other day so he may still be a bit away from returning.

 

[cyfanatic13]

Said it in the offseason and again when Steele got hurt that we should have signed or traded for at least 1 top half of the rotation type of pitcher because the rest of the rotation after Shota (who also has been hurt) and Taillon is like playing with a house of cards. Boyd has far exceeded expectations but you still have to wonder if fatigue or injury hits him in the 2nd half of the season since the last time he pitched over 100 innings in a season was 2019. He's already pitched more this season (85.2) than in any season since 2019 too. Rea was a shot in the dark as a possible 5th starter or long reliever. Brown looks like he needs to develop a 3rd pitch to be a starter otherwise may as well commit to him as a reliever and maximize him as a 1 or 2 inning guy. Horton is just a rookie, he is going to look great 1 start and then get roughed up in others as he learns how to pitch to MLB hitters but so far I like his potential. I am not expecting to see Assad anytime soon and he may eventually just wind up spending some time in Iowa proving he can stay healthy before they bring him up in any kind of role. Right now he's not doing anything other than playing catch is what I have seen from news on him which means he's still a ways away from trying to pitch in a game.

The bullpen has had some hiccups this week but the biggest were Pressly who we already know sucks, Cabrera who was a shot in the dark pick up, and now Pearson who we already knew was not that reliable. For the most part everyone else has been pretty consistent for extended period of time. Flexen finally gave up an earned run which was going to happen at some point but he had 12 scoreless outings before that which is pretty damn impressive. He just pitched 3 innings on the 19th giving up 1 hit a walk and striking out 3. Pomeranz will likely have a bad outings at some point but he's been a winning lotto ticket acquiring him for basically nothing for a guy that last pitched in in the bigs in 2021. Keller is another guy that far exceeded expectations. The guys you trust in the bullpen right now are not the guys everyone was talking about coming into the season.

Trading for 1 elite starter and possibly 1 other starter if the deal is right plus 1 lockdown bullpen guy and I think the pitching will be ok if they stay healthy

Shota
trade for a starter
Taillon
Boyd
Horton

Move Rea to the bullpen and maybe Horton too or send him back to Iowa to keep him stretched out if you trade for another starter. Brown goes to Iowa to stay stretched out and work on a 3rd pitch. The bullpen at this point is what it is. There is wiggle room to make moves but for now Palencia, Thielbar, Keller, Flexen, and Pomeranz are the guys you can trust in a tight game. Pressly and Braiser unfortunately are the 2 highest paid relievers on the roster so I doubt they DFA them unless its gets to a point they can't be used in any scenario. Stil have Hodge close to returning although he got hit hard in Iowa the other day so he may still be a bit away from returning.

There’s really no top of the rotation starters on the trade market this year. The only one that is MAYBE available is Chris Sale and I highly doubt the Braves do that since they should be back to normal next year and he’s under contract through next year. Dbacks were thought to be sellers and Merrill Kelly/Zac Gallen could be available, but they’re starting to turn things around with a damn good offense and their next two series are against the White Sox and Marlins so they may roll with those guys too if they stay in WC contention. Best available is probably gonna be Edward Cabrera or Alcantara from the Marlins but both come with huge risks. Cubs will definitely make some moves but with what’s going to be on the market, I wouldn’t expect it to be too needle moving.

Backing out of the Luzardo deal this offseason is looking like a pretty bad mistake.

 

[ISUCubswin]

Go get Gallen, who should just cost money.

Bonus points if you get Suarez and Shaw can be the infield backup. Then let’s stop just going into seasons handing starting roles to unproven players.

Then spend your prospect capital on a Lopez, Gore, Sale

 

[1UNI2ISU]

There’s really no top of the rotation starters on the trade market this year. The only one that is MAYBE available is Chris Sale and I highly doubt the Braves do that since they should be back to normal next year and he’s under contract through next year. Dbacks were thought to be sellers and Merrill Kelly/Zac Gallen could be available, but they’re starting to turn things around with a damn good offense and their next two series are against the White Sox and Marlins so they may roll with those guys too if they stay in WC contention. Best available is probably gonna be Edward Cabrera or Alcantara from the Marlins but both come with huge risks. Cubs will definitely make some moves but with what’s going to be on the market, I wouldn’t expect it to be too needle moving.

Backing out of the Luzardo deal this offseason is looking like a pretty bad mistake.

The Marlins backed out of the Luzardo trade over Caissie's medicals and didn't want Alcantara. The Cubs were fine with Luzardo's. Apparently they were only willing to accept Shaw as a replacement for Caissie.

 

[BigJCy]

 

[BigJCy]

What Does That Mean for Matt Shaw?​

I know nobody really wants to discuss it, but Matt Shaw has been an issue offensively all season. After breaking camp with the big league team, Shaw slashed .172/.294/.241 (66 wRC+) with the Cubs before being sent back to Iowa. And in the 107 PAs since being recalled, he’s hit just .250/.299/.360 (87 wRC+).

And he’s doing so with some really troubling peripherals, including the literal lowest average exit velocity (82.4 MPH) and fifth-lowest hard-hit rate (23.1%) in MLB.

He’s the clear weak spot in the Cubs’ otherwise stout offense.

 

[RivClone23]

Shota coming back will help but the pitching to me has always felt a bit of smoke & mirrors, especially the bullpen. Plus we have over-used the pen as well.

This is not necessarily directed at you as I've seen it multiple times, but the Cubs are 19th in bullpen innings.

Far from what I'd call over use.

Will be nice to add some combination of Porter Hodge, Ben Brown, Colin Rea, and Javier Assad to the bullpen though, along with a deadline move or 2.

Edit: Apparently Fangraphs was trying to pull a fast one on me. Cubs are 12th in bullpen innings. I still don't think they've been over used though.

 

[VeloClone]

This is not necessarily directed at you as I've seen it multiple times, but the Cubs are 19th in bullpen innings.

Far from what I'd call over use.

Will be nice to add some combination of Porter Hodge, Ben Brown, Colin Rea, and Javier Assad to the bullpen though, along with a deadline move or 2.

Yeah, I was chuckling that I saw that post when I remembered reading in this same thread not long ago that someone was complaining that we let a starter go too long, that we should have pulled him an innning earlier even though he seemed fine. We can't have it both ways.

Being able to have an innning eater like Rea go back to the 'pen when adding a solid starter could do wonders for the workload of the rest of the 'pen.

 

[ISUCubswin]

Hindsight 20/20 but wonder if there’s any regrets keeping Shaw over Smith

 

[1UNI2ISU]

Hindsight 20/20 but wonder if there’s any regrets keeping Shaw over Smith

None. Shaw was the better prospect and was a sure bet to be able to help this year. Smith still isn't ready to play 3B in the Majors so he wasn't a help this year anyway.

Long term Shaw is going to figure it out, he's had way too much success as a hitter at every level not to.

 

[Clark]

None. Shaw was the better prospect and was a sure bet to be able to help this year. Smith still isn't ready to play 3B in the Majors so he wasn't a help this year anyway.

Long term Shaw is going to figure it out, he's had way too much success as a hitter at every level not to.

Lots of guys have success as a hitter at every level and fail in the big leagues. They even have their own category of player (AAAA player)

He might figure it out but many guys don't.

 

[CYdTracked]

Too early to tell on Shaw. Last season PCA really struggled with his hitting too and people here were concerned he may be a glove only player but he's now a MVP candidate this season after figuring out MLB pitching. For the stretch run though if there is a rental 3B available at the deadline that would be an upgrade I would not be against pulling the trigger as long as it doesn't cost significant prospect capital. The front office should be all-in at this point to compete this year, especially with Hoyer on the last year of his contract so if they can make the team better at 3B you make the trade and either send Shaw to Iowa to continue to develop or have him be the utility infielder off the bench and he can play more than just 3B too.

 

[Pharmacy99]

Too early to tell on Shaw. Last season PCA really struggled with his hitting too and people here were concerned he may be a glove only player but he's now a MVP candidate this season after figuring out MLB pitching. For the stretch run though if there is a rental 3B available at the deadline that would be an upgrade I would not be against pulling the trigger as long as it doesn't cost significant prospect capital. The front office should be all-in at this point to compete this year, especially with Hoyer on the last year of his contract so if they can make the team better at 3B you make the trade and either send Shaw to Iowa to continue to develop or have him be the utility infielder off the bench and he can play more than just 3B too.

Gore from the Nationals is the pitcher I want.

 

[Clonefan32]

Too early to tell on Shaw. Last season PCA really struggled with his hitting too and people here were concerned he may be a glove only player but he's now a MVP candidate this season after figuring out MLB pitching. For the stretch run though if there is a rental 3B available at the deadline that would be an upgrade I would not be against pulling the trigger as long as it doesn't cost significant prospect capital. The front office should be all-in at this point to compete this year, especially with Hoyer on the last year of his contract so if they can make the team better at 3B you make the trade and either send Shaw to Iowa to continue to develop or have him be the utility infielder off the bench and he can play more than just 3B too.

I'd much rather spend trade capital elsewhere. Shaw has played good defense at 3rd and offense isn't our issue. If you think there's a chance he's our future at 3rd I don't think you ruin his confidence with a second demotion/benching.

 

[1UNI2ISU]

Gore from the Nationals is the pitcher I want.

I'd love it but the asking price would be Horton plus at least two other legit prospects. That's too much.