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I don't see him higher than 3rd at any position other than DH.
2B Hoerner Madrigal
3B Wisdom Madrigal
SS Swanson Hoerner
LF Happ Mancini
CF Bellinger Velasquez
RF Suzuki Wisdom
***Official 2023 Chicago Cubs Thread***
- Thread starter BigJCy
- Start date
2B Hoerner Madrigal
3B Wisdom Madrigal
SS Swanson Hoerner
LF Happ Mancini
CF Bellinger Velasquez
RF Suzuki Wisdom
I'd play Morel over Madrigal, Wisdom, Mancini (lf) and Velasquez. We'll see how he plays over the next 30-60 days.
If he can play near this level, he gives the Cubs solid starters as deadline trade bait. For me Swanson, Hoerner and Mevis are the only untouchables among the starting 9.
He'll play but his defense is a liability everywhere he plays.
Gomes, Happ and Suzuki aren't going anywhere.
Is he? I don't watch them much since I don't have Marquee. I mean, he's not the one not getting on base. He's not the one pitching in the late innings. Is he not playing the right guys? Is he showing bad game management? Honest question to those who actually watch the games.
My main complaint is he's not winning enough. We've seen 4 straight years now of poor baseball.
Texas has sucked for years and now all of a sudden they are good with Bochy. I don't think it's a coincidence, some managers are winners, some aren't.
Hate to think this but the Cardinals has clawed their way back into relevance in the division winning 7 of their last 10 and just 5 games out now while Cubs have lost 7 of their last 10. Cards have done it taking 3 of 4 from the Dodgers and 2 of 3 from the Brewers and swept the Red Sox in that stretch too. NL Central is hot garbage that a hot streak can put just about any of those teams within striking distance of the division right now.
Hoping the Cubs can get something going and not waste some of these solid starts by their rotation lately. If it's not the lack of offense it's the bullpen blowing these games. The trade deadline could be interesting as the Cubs could still be in the mix for the division but far enough back in the wild card where they could still potentially be sellers and move a few short term pieces to add to the depth in the minors some more. Stroman has an opt out after this season, Hendricks club option probably will not be picked up, odds are Bellinger's mutual option will not happen, Mancini has a player option, all could possibly be trade chips if the front office doesn't think this team has enough to make a push in August. Got a few guys still with arbitration years left too but not sure if they would new much in return or have much of a market such as Madrigal as an example.
May and June are going to be key to seeing if this group has enough to maybe buy some help at the deadline for the bullpen and maybe another bat or 2 or look at maximizing some returns on guys that likely won't be here next season or part of longer term plans.
Hoping the Cubs can get something going and not waste some of these solid starts by their rotation lately. If it's not the lack of offense it's the bullpen blowing these games. The trade deadline could be interesting as the Cubs could still be in the mix for the division but far enough back in the wild card where they could still potentially be sellers and move a few short term pieces to add to the depth in the minors some more. Stroman has an opt out after this season, Hendricks club option probably will not be picked up, odds are Bellinger's mutual option will not happen, Mancini has a player option, all could possibly be trade chips if the front office doesn't think this team has enough to make a push in August. Got a few guys still with arbitration years left too but not sure if they would new much in return or have much of a market such as Madrigal as an example.
May and June are going to be key to seeing if this group has enough to maybe buy some help at the deadline for the bullpen and maybe another bat or 2 or look at maximizing some returns on guys that likely won't be here next season or part of longer term plans.
Hendricks set to start today, will be interesting to see what he has left in the tank. Best case scenario he's finally healthy and can be a consistent back end of the rotation starter that can make it through 6 innings.
Good news is that Killian has had a solid stretch in Iowa recently and maybe is starting to get his control issues figured out as his walks and ERA have been down and he's been touching 98 with his fastball. For the month of may he is 2-0 with 2.84 ERA and 1.11 WHIP and batters hitting just .203 off him. Big improvement from his rough April. Wesneski had a solid 1st outing at Iowa 5 hits no runs but 4 walks. Ben Brown is making a case to be the next guy to be called up for a spot start too. He had a rough outing on 5/16 but in his 3 other Iowa starts over 14.2 innings pitched just 7 hits 2 runs and 23 K's. He dominated in 4 starts at AA before being promoted, just 1 earned run in 20 innings for a 0.45 ERA to go with 30 K's. Nice to have some starting pitching depth developing at Iowa right now that could be contributing in Chicago in the near future. Some other guys at Iowa been hitting 97-98 mph on the radar lately too. Jordan Wicks is probably close to being promoted to Iowa too and he's the #4 prospect in the farm system, Brown is listed #6 and #13 Palencia just got promoted Iowa too who they are moving to the bullpen and has a triple digit fastball to go with a good slider.
Good news is that Killian has had a solid stretch in Iowa recently and maybe is starting to get his control issues figured out as his walks and ERA have been down and he's been touching 98 with his fastball. For the month of may he is 2-0 with 2.84 ERA and 1.11 WHIP and batters hitting just .203 off him. Big improvement from his rough April. Wesneski had a solid 1st outing at Iowa 5 hits no runs but 4 walks. Ben Brown is making a case to be the next guy to be called up for a spot start too. He had a rough outing on 5/16 but in his 3 other Iowa starts over 14.2 innings pitched just 7 hits 2 runs and 23 K's. He dominated in 4 starts at AA before being promoted, just 1 earned run in 20 innings for a 0.45 ERA to go with 30 K's. Nice to have some starting pitching depth developing at Iowa right now that could be contributing in Chicago in the near future. Some other guys at Iowa been hitting 97-98 mph on the radar lately too. Jordan Wicks is probably close to being promoted to Iowa too and he's the #4 prospect in the farm system, Brown is listed #6 and #13 Palencia just got promoted Iowa too who they are moving to the bullpen and has a triple digit fastball to go with a good slider.
I think we'll see Palencia in Chicago sooner rather than later. He's ready for a relief role on stuff alone.
Totally agree on Wicks and Brown.
I think so too, he was part of the trade that sent Chafin to the A's so he may turn out to be a nice piece back in that trade. The other guys was OF Greg Deichmann who is back in the A's system again after the Cubs DFA him before opening day.
I know as Cubs fans can be impatient sometimes but looking at the farm system right now there is a lot to be excited for in 2024 and 2025 if these guys continue to develop and can contribute at the big league level. On the plus side too is let's say in 2024 the Cubs are leading the division and need to add a piece to bullpen or shore up a position they finally have restocked the minors with depth they can possibly get an impact player and trade from a position of depth like OF or pitching going forward. The 2016 team was built from drafting/developing/acquiring positional player prospects and then going out and signing or trading for proven pitching and now I think they've finally stocked the minors up where they can start to fill in the pitching with cheaper and younger guys in the system and not have to rely so heavy on acquiring more expensive pitching outside of the farm system. Time will tell but this rebuild while maybe doesn't feel like the quick influx of talent we got building the 2016 team there is a lot more depth and diversity in what positions they have in the pipeline right now compared to then.
Not a good first outing back for the professor. It's just 1 outing so will need some more starts to see if this will be the norm or just knocking off the rust. He really hasn't had a great season since 2020, his ERA and WHIP took a big jump up in 2021 and was hurt for a good chunk of last year. Part of me just hopes he can stay healthy and pitch just well enough that maybe they can trade him at the deadline regardless where they are at in the standings as I don't see them picking up his $16 mil club option for 2024 with all the young pitching they have in the system and a possibly run at Ohtani in free agency. I don't see a move to the bullpen, I don't think his stuff would work well out of the bullpen especially his sub 90's fastball.
Tucker Barnhardt and his 39mph fastball was more effective out of the pen last night than Rucker.
This bullpen needs a serious overhaul if they expect to be competitive.
This bullpen needs a serious overhaul if they expect to be competitive.
Codi Heuer should come off the IL in a few days which hopefully adds a reliable veteran arm to the bullpen. There are some guys in Iowa right now I think we'll eventually see get a chance too. Right now Estrada, Leiter, and Alzolay are the only bullpen guys that have been reliable and hopefully Ross can manage his bullpen to use those 3 in the high leverage situations until someone else steps up. Burdi and his 100 mph fastball was going to be interesting to see if he could contribute but now he's out with an appendectomy.
