The Padres have lost just 4 times this season. 3 of them at the hands of your Chicago Cubs. That’s something I think.
*** Official 2025 Chicago Cubs Thread***
- Thread starter Cyforce
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We are stacking wins against likely playoff teams already the first 3 weeks of the year. The season is setting up nicely if we can take care of business against bad teams.
I don't mean to overstate the importance of a game on April 16, but if you get this one it's time to pull the trigger on some pitching upgrades. If you can get 4 of 6 on the road against the Dodgers and Padres, they may just have something here.
Get the bullpen figured out and I think we win the Central handily.
they did us no favors with the beginning schedule thats for sure. but we've been good.
I think I heard Boog say some analytics site says that our April is the hardest single month for any team in baseball, but our May is the easiest single month for anyone in baseball. You look at that stretch from mid-May to mid-June and they could do some real damage.
Despite our record the pitching staff in general still concerns me. The bullpen more than the rotation but the issue with the rotation now without Steele is after Shota and Taillon who are proven inning eaters you are relying on Boyd who hasn't thrown over 100 innings since 2019 due to injuries, Brown who was hurt last year and never pitched a full MLB season yet, and a question mark of who is going to be the 5th starter going forward. Rea has been OK there the past 2 years with the Brewers and Assad pitched the 3rd most innings for the starters last season. But if they want to make any noise if they make the playoffs acquiring a quality top half of the rotation starter is going to be needed at some point this season.
The bullpen is a work in progress and I still have worries about Pressly as the closer as he's not missing bats and putting guys on base too much before he finally gets 3 outs. We'll see if Palencia, Little, and Braiser maybe can show some consistency and help in high leverage situations but a solid late inning reliever may be on the shopping list at the deadline too as you can never have enough good pitching.
Hopefully Shaw can come back and be the everyday 3B otherwise that position could be a problem if someone from the platoon group doesn't step into the role adequately. Hopefully the offense keeps on a role and even if there is an injury or someone struggles should hopefully be able to compensate for it internally with the prospects we have that are getting close.
Don’t disagree but stud starting pitchers will mostly carry a hefty price tag right now, depending on how many service years you get.
Saw one “proposal” - Triantos, Cassie and Hoerner for Alcantara who I think is signed through 2027. But has injury history. No way I include Nico in that.
Suzuki and Kelly both in the lineup today. That's good news on the injury front.
Seeing why Little was in Iowa. Control issues are still there.
He'll probably be sent back down when they eventually call Brujan up. Horton is off to a nice start so far, 1-1 in 3 starts with a 1.46 ERA and 18 K's in 12.1 innings. One downfall is he also has 10 walks. Will be interesting to see how many good starts he has to string together before they decide he is ready for a shot in Chicago. Ballesteros is swinging a hot bat right now too but unless there is an injury where he can get some regular AB I assume he will stay in Iowa for awhile.
He's just so long that it's hard to keep the mechanics in check consistently. Once that all clicks, he's going to be a dude.
Another guy of interest to pay attention to in Iowa this year is Ben Cowles. Cubs had to add him to the 40 man in the offseason or risk losing him in the Rule 5 draft. He can play all over the infield, he came in the Mark Leiter Jr. trade along with Neely. He's hit for a pretty good BA and OBP at all levels in the minors so could turn into a nice utility infielder. Not a lot of power but guys that get on base and play multiple positions are good depth pieces to have with cheap team control.
Hoping to find some time to make an I Cubs game soon. This roster looks loaded and will be interesting to see what happens if the big league team stays healthy and productive as there are guys in Iowa that could turn into some valuable trade chips if they continue to be blocked at their position in Chicago.
Hoping to find some time to make an I Cubs game soon. This roster looks loaded and will be interesting to see what happens if the big league team stays healthy and productive as there are guys in Iowa that could turn into some valuable trade chips if they continue to be blocked at their position in Chicago.
What I don't understand, and is a blanket statement for a few of the Cubs young high mph arms. They have ZERO control of the fastball!! It's like it's a secondary pitch. They'd prefer to throw the sweeper, change, etc.
I saw where he was already sent down. 30+ pitch inning won't endear a pitcher to coaches or teammates.
