MLB: ***Official 2019 Chicago Cubs Season Thread***
- Thread starter Cyched
- Start date
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
Even I think that PVP guy's description of our bullpen was very euphemistic.
Thankfully this time it was a better outcome. Let's hope that the pen (and team) takes confidence from this one and the moves the Cubs made at the deadline. #letsgo
Robel is coming back to God's Country to make room for Castellanos. We will probably see him again in Sept.
Hope Nick can light a fire and get the bats working up and down the lineup. Another win this afternoon and a cheesehead sweep would work nicely.
Hope Nick can light a fire and get the bats working up and down the lineup. Another win this afternoon and a cheesehead sweep would work nicely.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
Well on the bright side the biggest trade acquisition was the lone hit tonight... also had 1 of the 2 walks too.
This offense is so frustrating. They've gone through multiple hitting coaches under Maddon but still have these extended slumps where either they cant get guys on base or when they do they cant hit them in.
This offense is so frustrating. They've gone through multiple hitting coaches under Maddon but still have these extended slumps where either they cant get guys on base or when they do they cant hit them in.
The team better get it figured out soon else it's going to be a repeat ending of 2018. I wouldn't bet on this team to win a playoff series on the road right now either. 36-18 at home but 21-33 on the road. That's the worst road record of any team currently leading their division or in the Wild Card chase.
I said coming out of the All-Star break this was a critical stretch of games if they wanted to win the division. Had to sweep or at least win each series through July with that 9 game stretch of Brewers and Cardinals games. So far:
Pirates: swept 3 game series
Reds: won 2 of 3 game series
Padres: won 2 of 3
Giants: lost 2 of 3 (this was on the bullpen, lost 2 games by 1 run each)
Brewers: lost 2 of 3
Cardinals: lost 2 of 3
Gotta get at least 2 of 3 against the Brewers this weekend as the Cubs have the A's coming up next who are in the AL Wild Card chase so it doesn't get easy any time soon. Have to keep within striking distance of the division because 6 of the last 9 games of the season are against the Cardinals which means if it's a close race to the end winning those 2 series could decide who is going to the postseason and who is going home.
I said coming out of the All-Star break this was a critical stretch of games if they wanted to win the division. Had to sweep or at least win each series through July with that 9 game stretch of Brewers and Cardinals games. So far:
Pirates: swept 3 game series
Reds: won 2 of 3 game series
Padres: won 2 of 3
Giants: lost 2 of 3 (this was on the bullpen, lost 2 games by 1 run each)
Brewers: lost 2 of 3
Cardinals: lost 2 of 3
Gotta get at least 2 of 3 against the Brewers this weekend as the Cubs have the A's coming up next who are in the AL Wild Card chase so it doesn't get easy any time soon. Have to keep within striking distance of the division because 6 of the last 9 games of the season are against the Cardinals which means if it's a close race to the end winning those 2 series could decide who is going to the postseason and who is going home.
I'm very much done with Joe Maddon:
Jordan Bastian
@MLBastian
Maddon said his reason for Holland vs. Wieters was that they wanted the Cardinals catcher to hit righty (86 wRC+ and .250 OBP). Also said Holland is working on some things for facing RHH and the Cubs need to get him out there on occasion in those situations.
10:04 PM · Aug 1, 2019·TweetDeck
This is on the heels of this quote:
Jesse Rogers
@ESPNChiCubs
Joe Maddon says the time has come and gone in the season to play guys for developmental purposes: “It’s big boy time.”
He's trotting a guy out there that is historically bad against righties to face a righty in August in a division race so he can "work on some things."
Jordan Bastian
@MLBastian
Maddon said his reason for Holland vs. Wieters was that they wanted the Cardinals catcher to hit righty (86 wRC+ and .250 OBP). Also said Holland is working on some things for facing RHH and the Cubs need to get him out there on occasion in those situations.
10:04 PM · Aug 1, 2019·TweetDeck
This is on the heels of this quote:
Jesse Rogers
@ESPNChiCubs
Joe Maddon says the time has come and gone in the season to play guys for developmental purposes: “It’s big boy time.”
He's trotting a guy out there that is historically bad against righties to face a righty in August in a division race so he can "work on some things."
Last edited:
I'm very much done with Joe Maddon:
Jordan Bastian
@MLBastian
Maddon said his reason for Holland vs. Wieters was that they wanted the Cardinals catcher to hit righty (86 wRC+ and .250 OBP). Also said Holland is working on some things for facing RHH and the Cubs need to get him out there on occasion in those situations.
10:04 PM · Aug 1, 2019·TweetDeck
This is on the heels of this quote:
Jesse Rogers
@ESPNChiCubs
Joe Maddon says the time has come and gone in the season to play guys for developmental purposes: “It’s big boy time.”
Wow... I'm sure Joe already has a realtor and movers lined up because as we've discussed here before even winning the whole f'ing thing this year may not be enough to keep him here one way or another. That's just a dumb thing for him to say though. Ryan only threw 5 pitches the night before and before that his last outing was on 7/28 so not like he couldn't have brought him in that situation instead. Righties are hitting .220 off Ryan but .291 against Holland so holy crap Joe why would you use that as your reasoning if you wanted to bring in a lefty to turn him around? He also had most of his best right handed relievers available.
Regardless the offense once again sucked last night so it really doesn't matter because they weren't going to win that game with 1 GD hit anyways. But the strategy is still frustrating to hear him say that.
I completely agree that the Wieters homerun is totally inconsequential to the result, but that quote just shows so much to me about why Maddon has to go. I'm just sick of his over-thought, existential bull**** and I'm ready to have someone who is capable of tapping into these guys potential.
Yeah, I will always like Joe because of 2016 because that was the most entertaining season of Cubs baseball I have ever watched. I probably watched more games that season than any I can recall. He's had a successful career managing but it is getting obvious that this team has stalled out from a development standpoint under him now and a new perspective and voice in the clubhouse may be needed. I am a little worried though about who the front office might be targeting as everyone seems to think its Girardi. I'm not completely sold on him as a manager, it's not too hard to win a World Series with the Yankees when you usually have the highest payroll in baseball. I don't know who would be a good fit with this group, I'd love to see David Ross manage some day but not sure if now is the right time but it does seem to be a trendy thing for clubs to hire former players with no prior manager experience lately too.
They won't hire Girardi, it will be somebody who will just run out the lineups the front offices gives them each day. I'm more concerned about the front office. Theo's stated goal of turning the Cubs into a player development machine has not come close to coming true, the minor league pipeline is extremely barren now. The pitching development in particular has been horrible. We just flipped a first and second round pick to get 2 months of a platoon OF, that's a problem either with scouting or player development or both. We're burning prospects for rentals year after year now because we don't have any MLB difference makers anywhere close to the majors. You also can look at the four high first rounders around Kris Bryant (Almora, Schwarber and Happ) and it's a startling lack of production from top ten picks.
Interesting lineup this afternoon:
Let's get our **** together and put up a crooked number today.
- Jason Heyward, CF
- Nicholas Castellanos, RF
- Kris Bryant, 3B
- Anthony Rizzo, 1B
- Javy Baez, SS
- Kyle Schwarber, LF
- Willson Contreras, C
- David Bote, 2B
- Jose Quintana, P
Let's get our **** together and put up a crooked number today.
Well to be fair they did have to trade away the farm to win that WS in 2016 and I still don't regret them doing that because with the drought they had going on you had to go all in while you have the best shot to. They haven't done a good job drafting and developing pitchers but if you look at the position talent either on this team still or traded away they did do what they set out to when Theo gutted the mess that he took over which was load up on position prospects and fill in the pitching holes with proven guys either through trade or free agency. You always are going to miss on a few guys but overall they brought in a lot more impact players through the farm system than Jim Hendry did.
The one trade that it looks like we may wind up on the wrong side of was trading Eloy Jimenez for Quintana. Q just hasn't been the pitcher we hoped he would be while Jimenez could be a solid everyday outfielder. I get why they did it at the time, Q was cost controlled starting pitcher the Cubs needed but he just hasn't turned into the top half of the rotation guy he looked like he could be. Had they not won in 2016 I think I would be a lot more sore today about trading Gleyber Torres for a rental closer. Torres is going to be a pretty good player but at the time it looked like he was going to have no where to play without someone changing a position with Russell and Baez having a lock on the middle infield positions. He obviously would be the every day 2B on this team but at the time before Russell's downfall in order to make room for him Baez probably would have had to move to 3B and Bryant to the OF to make room for him when he was ready to come up.
