Did anyone notice...

[moorecg]

We are the ONLY team in the NL Central that has not been outscored by its opponents?

 

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say if that continues for the year we'll do just fine in this division.

[erik316wttn]

We are the ONLY team in the NL Central that has not been outscored by its opponents?

 

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say if that continues for the year we'll do just fine in this division.

 

If we win one game 8-1, then lose the next 3 by 2-1, 3-2, and 5-3, we won't do fine.

 

I'd rather be outscored on the year than have a losing record in close games.

[CubmanPi]

We are the ONLY team in the NL Central that has not been outscored by its opponents?

 

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say if that continues for the year we'll do just fine in this division.

 

If we win one game 8-1, then lose the next 3 by 2-1, 3-2, and 5-3, we won't do fine.

 

I'd rather be outscored on the year than have a losing record in close games.

Same here, but I think the point is that the trend is spread out over 22 games now, so it's not out of the question to believe that the trend in close games is going to have to even out at least a little. And yea, they're 1-10 in games decided by 1 or 2 runs, but that also means they're 9-3 in games decided by 3 or more, and I think the latter says just as much about the team as the former. (EDIT - especially when considering Z's start to the season and the fact that Miller got so many chances.)

 

Also, the only other team in baseball with a losing record while outscoring its opponents is the Yankees, and I have a hard time believing that they won't at least compete for a playoff spot.

[moorecg]

We are the ONLY team in the NL Central that has not been outscored by its opponents?

 

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say if that continues for the year we'll do just fine in this division.

 

If we win one game 8-1, then lose the next 3 by 2-1, 3-2, and 5-3, we won't do fine.

 

I'd rather be outscored on the year than have a losing record in close games.

Same here, but I think the point is that the trend is spread out over 22 games now, so it's not out of the question to believe that the trend in close games is going to have to even out at least a little. And yea, they're 1-10 in games decided by 1 or 2 runs, but that also means they're 9-3 in games decided by 3 or more, and I think the latter says just as much about the team as the former. (EDIT - especially when considering Z's start to the season and the fact that Miller got so many chances.)

 

Also, the only other team in baseball with a losing record while outscoring its opponents is the Yankees, and I have a hard time believing that they won't at least compete for a playoff spot.

 

 

Exactly...I'd imagine (Fred might have these numbers) that there were very few, if any, teams last year that outscored their opponents on the year and still finished below .500

[CubmanPi]

Exactly...I'd imagine (Fred might have these numbers) that there were very few, if any, teams last year that outscored their opponents on the year and still finished below .500

Cleveland outscored their opponents by 88 runs last year and finished 78-84

Texas outscored opp by 51, finished 80-82

Atlanta outscored opp by 44, finished 79-83

Colorado outscored opp by 1, finished 76-86

 

Colorado was only 1 point over, and Texas was only 1 win away from .500, so those two are borderline.

 

I think from looking at these teams, the question becomes what did they have in common? Anything? I'm particularly interested in Cleveland. Did their bullpen suck? Did they have a streaky offense?

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Cleveland had a bad bullpen as did Atlanta. Texas I think scored lots at home but didn't fare as well on the road.

[CubmanPi]

Cleveland had a bad bullpen as did Atlanta. Texas I think scored lots at home but didn't fare as well on the road.

Well we've got a couple guys struggling in our bullpen who have already seen entirely too much time during close games, so if that keeps up, the Cubs could be well on their way to joining the list for this season.

[CubmanPi]

The issue for the Yankees seems to be their starting pitching. They've got 9 different guys who have started this year, and only two of those are currently holding an ERA below 4.50.

 

In the bullpen, Rivera has been awful so far (10.57 ERA) and Farnsworth has been ineffective (5.79), but otherwise their bullpen has been pretty tough.

 

On a possibly unrelated note, does anyone know why Rivera would have an AB?

[MembersOnlyJacket]

3rd order W/L says the Cubs should be 14-9. We'll see if as the sample size increases with increasing games whether this comes back closer to real W/L. I don't believe any team in ML history has finished more than 8 games less than the 3rd order W/L predictor. The Cubs are currently 4 off that predictor.

 

The scary part is that the Cubs have scored a lot of runs despite a terrible team OBP. The fortunate bit is that they reside in a division of non-walkers (save Cincy).

[CubColtPacer]

3rd order W/L says the Cubs should be 14-9. We'll see if as the sample size increases with increasing games whether this comes back closer to real W/L. I don't believe any team in ML history has finished more than 8 games less than the 3rd order W/L predictor. The Cubs are currently 4 off that predictor.

 

The scary part is that the Cubs have scored a lot of runs despite a terrible team OBP. The fortunate bit is that they reside in a division of non-walkers (save Cincy).

 

The Indians finished 12 games off last year, but that was the largest number in the 6 years that were checked. It has to level off at least a little bit from the 4 in April that the Cubs currently have.

 

That terrible team OBP by the way is still good enough to be in the top half of the NL.

[killthegoat06]

Milwauakee's doing very well. Hopefully we can catch up to them.

[bhogg]

I could be way off, but I think that last year when we were 14-9, we had the reverse problem. We had been outscored, but managed to have a good record. We all know how last year turned out :(

[Ender]

Don't worry, I'm sure the Cubs will start to give up more runs to even this out!

[Hairyducked Idiot]

We are the ONLY team in the NL Central that has not been outscored by its opponents?

 

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say if that continues for the year we'll do just fine in this division.

 

If we win one game 8-1, then lose the next 3 by 2-1, 3-2, and 5-3, we won't do fine.

 

I'd rather be outscored on the year than have a losing record in close games.

 

If that consistently happens, sure. But historically, it doesn't.