2015 Cubs Positivity Thread

[Gilby]

Theo Epstein getting trashed in public is one of the more surprising things the Internet has shown me.

[KingCubsFan]

Rizzo seems to hang out in that part of LP a lot. I remember him posting a pic on Instagram from some bar in that same area.

I think Stanley's has been a Cubs favorite for a while. I think Wood and Dempster brought Eddie Vedder there for Sunday karaoke.

[Sammy Sofa]

Rizzo seems to hang out in that part of LP a lot. I remember him posting a pic on Instagram from some bar in that same area.

I think Stanley's has been a Cubs favorite for a while. I think Wood and Dempster brought Eddie Vedder there for Sunday karaoke.

 

SON OF A [expletive].

[Guest]

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/mlb-the-30-phillies-rays-astros-cubs-youth/?ex_cid=story-twitter

 

Catching On

 

Kyle Schwarber has crushed opposing pitchers and fueled a big Cubs hot streak.

 

6. Los Angeles Dodgers (62-49, plus-57, LW: 2)

5. Chicago Cubs (62-48, plus-19, LW: 7)

4. Toronto Blue Jays (61-52, plus-129, LW: 10)

3. Pittsburgh Pirates (65-44, plus-58, LW: 4)

2. Kansas City Royals (66-44, plus-63, LW: 3)

1. St. Louis Cardinals (71-40, plus-121, LW: 1)

 

You can find all kinds of reasons for the hot streak that’s brought the Cubs 10 wins in their past 11 games and pushed them to the fourth-best record in baseball. Jake Arrieta’s on fire. Jon Lester’s blowing pitches by hitters. Hector Rondon’s pulling off Houdini acts. Kris Bryant just set the record for homers by a Cub in his debut season, and fellow rookies Addison Russell and Jorge Soler have heated up lately, too.

 

However, the biggest reason for the Cubs’ recent burst is none of the above. Instead, it’s a player who just finished his 28th game in the majors, a divisive prospect who might not even have an obvious position, a world smasher who has some Cubs fans more excited than they’ve been in ages. It’s a one-man wrecking crew that goes by the name of Kyle Schwarber.

 

To help you process the giddiness that Schwarber has instilled in the Wrigley faithful, here are 10 things to know about the rookie:

 

10. When the Cubs took him fourth overall in last year’s amateur draft, Schwarber caused dissension among prospect-heads. Not that the dude couldn’t hit. A star at Indiana University who modeled his take-and-rake approach after Joey Votto of the nearby Reds, Schwarber absolutely destroyed college pitching, and few draftniks doubted he could hit in the big leagues.

 

Still, listed at 6 feet and a generous 235 pounds, Schwarber lacked what you might call a chiseled physique, and his defense remained a going concern, resulting in an unusually large gap between rankings: Baseball America placed him no. 19 coming into this season, whereas Baseball Prospectus had him way down at no. 77. Even as Schwarber broke into the big leagues, no one knew for sure if he could stick at catcher or make it anywhere other than as a DH.

 

9. An injury to starting catcher Miguel Montero opened up the backstop job at the All-Star break, and Schwarber ran with it. After posting a .375/.412/.563 over his first 10 games, Schwarber banged out four hits in his 11th game, including a game-tying, two-run homer in the ninth and the go-ahead homer in the 13th. Oh, and the game was in Cincinnati, a 45-minute drive from his hometown of Middletown, Ohio.

 

 

8. That was Schwarber’s second four-hit game of the season. His first? It came in his first full major league game.

 

7. When Schwarber racked up that second four-hit game, it gave him one more than the rest of the Cubs roster had all year.

 

6. Montero returned to the lineup this Saturday. By then, Maddon had seen enough to know there was no way in hell he could bench his slugging phenom. So rather than sit Schwarber, Maddon moved the big guy to left field, shifted Chris Coghlan to second base (a position he’d played only a handful of times in his seven-year big league career), slid Addison Russell to shortstop, and benched three-time All-Star Starlin Castro. From a distance, it might seem insane to mess with half your lineup just to accommodate a pudgy rookie. But when that rookie is ripping the cover off the ball — he’s now up to .341/.429/.604 — you have to do it.

 

5. Schwarber’s primary walk-up song is “Thuggish Ruggish Bone” by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.

 

4. His secondary walk-up song is “No Diggity” by Blackstreet.

 

3. Schwarber is 22 years old. He was 1 when “Thuggish Ruggish Bone” came out, and 3 when “No Diggity” dropped.

 

2. Jake Peavy, who is nearly 12 years older than Schwarber, doesn’t seem to share Schwarber’s love for ’90s hip-hop and R&B. Nor for Schwarber, apparently.

 

[tweet]

[/tweet]

 

1. Among all batters with 100 or more plate appearances, Schwarber ranks second in park-adjusted offense, trailing only Bryce Harper.

 

Regression will come at some point, especially to Schwarber’s sky-high .431 BABIP. And Schwarber’s defense has been ugly behind the plate: Although it’s a small sample, he’s already watched seven wild pitches scoot by, allowed 11 steals in 14 tries, cost his team two runs according to pitch-framing stats, and produced lousy overall results by advanced metrics.

 

Still, Schwarber’s command of the strike zone, and ability to crush pitches he likes, makes him a premium prospect for the Cubs. If he ends up sticking in left field instead of at catcher, the Cubs would lose the edge that comes with having a masher behind the plate, but they’d gain the benefit of Schwarber playing more often when he’s free from the rigors of squatting for nine innings at a time. As long as he’s in the lineup somewhere, Schwarber’s a big asset. No diggity, no doubt.

[SouthSideRyan]

Rizzo seems to hang out in that part of LP a lot. I remember him posting a pic on Instagram from some bar in that same area.

I think Stanley's has been a Cubs favorite for a while. I think Wood and Dempster brought Eddie Vedder there for Sunday karaoke.

 

SON OF A [expletive].

 

Yeah, Rizzo is there all the time.

[Guest]

[tweet]

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[RynoRules]

Fun little glitch over at BR; everyone who is injured has two last names:

 

8/13 Injury Report: Rafael Soriano Soriano has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder inflammation. (August 5, Shoulder)

8/13 Injury Report: Neil Ramirez Ramirez has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with an abdominal injury. (July 29, Abdominal)

8/13 Injury Report: Jacob Turner Turner is on the 60-day disabled list with right shoulder inflammation. He has started a rehab assignment but was shut down due to soreness. (March 10, Shoulder)

8/13 Injury Report: Zac Rosscup Rosscup is on the 15-day disabled list due to left shoulder inflammation. He has started a rehab assignment but has no return timetable. (June 17, Shoulder)

[TruffleShuffle]

4th best record in baseball.

 

third in our division. :roll:

[BigSlick]

What if Kyle Schwarber is one of the best hitters of all time and his numbers never actually regress to the mean

 

this isn't going to happen but its the positivity thread and I like to imagine my chubby hitting god continues forever

[Guest]

[tweet]

[/tweet]

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2015&month=8&season1=2015&ind=0&team=0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=16,d

 

and then by dongs

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2015&month=8&season1=2015&ind=0&team=0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=4,d

[Gilby]

Not like this matters a lot, but it's still fun: say we win 90+ games this year and make the playoffs but don't win it all. We sign or trade for a pitcher of Zimmermann's or Ross' caliber, if not a Price type, in the offseason. Will we go into next season as a 2015 Nationals-like favorite to win it all?

[Guest]

Not like this matters a lot, but it's still fun: say we win 90+ games this year and make the playoffs but don't win it all. We sign or trade for a pitcher of Zimmermann's or Ross' caliber, if not a Price type, in the offseason. Will we go into next season as a 2015 Nationals-like favorite to win it all?

What do we do in CF?

[Gilby]

Not like this matters a lot, but it's still fun: say we win 90+ games this year and make the playoffs but don't win it all. We sign or trade for a pitcher of Zimmermann's or Ross' caliber, if not a Price type, in the offseason. Will we go into next season as a 2015 Nationals-like favorite to win it all?

What do we do in CF?

 

I'm assuming Fowler.

[Guest]

Not like this matters a lot, but it's still fun: say we win 90+ games this year and make the playoffs but don't win it all. We sign or trade for a pitcher of Zimmermann's or Ross' caliber, if not a Price type, in the offseason. Will we go into next season as a 2015 Nationals-like favorite to win it all?

What do we do in CF?

 

I'm assuming Fowler.

I don't think so. The Nationals will still project to be very good. The Dodgers are gonna Dodger. I'm not even sure we'll be picked over the Cards if we just add Zimmerman/Ross.

 

I don't think any of those teams would be clearly better than the Cubs, but I'm not sure we'd be clearly better than them, either.

[Guest]

btw - holy crap the Cubs have a lot of players under team control for next year. Essentially, it's Fowler, Denorfia, Haren and old bullpen guys that will be FA.

[Guest]

The cubs are always everybody's sexy pick the year after they make a playoff appearance.

[jumbo]

Not like this matters a lot, but it's still fun: say we win 90+ games this year and make the playoffs but don't win it all. We sign or trade for a pitcher of Zimmermann's or Ross' caliber, if not a Price type, in the offseason. Will we go into next season as a 2015 Nationals-like favorite to win it all?

What do we do in CF?

 

Jason Heyward + Tyson Ross trade (let's say Baez & Castro without much else coming back) + Howie Kendrick at 2B

[Sammy Sofa]

Not like this matters a lot, but it's still fun: say we win 90+ games this year and make the playoffs but don't win it all. We sign or trade for a pitcher of Zimmermann's or Ross' caliber, if not a Price type, in the offseason. Will we go into next season as a 2015 Nationals-like favorite to win it all?

What do we do in CF?

 

Jason Heyward + Tyson Ross trade (let's say Baez & Castro without much else coming back) + Howie Kendrick at 2B

 

Man, I like the way you think, but there's no way they sign Heyward and Kendrick AND a starting pitcher, sadly. But I like that dream.

[Guest]

Not like this matters a lot, but it's still fun: say we win 90+ games this year and make the playoffs but don't win it all. We sign or trade for a pitcher of Zimmermann's or Ross' caliber, if not a Price type, in the offseason. Will we go into next season as a 2015 Nationals-like favorite to win it all?

What do we do in CF?

 

Jason Heyward + Tyson Ross trade (let's say Baez & Castro without much else coming back) + Howie Kendrick at 2B

 

Man, I like the way you think, but there's no way they sign Heyward and Kendrick AND a starting pitcher, sadly. But I like that dream.

 

That's why he said to trade for Ross.

[Sammy Sofa]

I know; he's the trade in addition to signing another sexyass starter. DREAM BIG. Edited August 16, 2015 by Sammy Sofa

[Guest]

I have seen Kendrick mentioned as an off season acquisition several times this year. Am I the only one who did not like this idea at all? Fairly empty batting average, possibly declining defense, and will turn 33 next year. It's not like he'd be terrible and in fact as a player he'd be pretty ok, I just think he's going to cost way more than he's worth and I'd rather use that money elsewhere.

 

Maybe I'm crazy.

[Guest]

Kendrick isn't the most efficient option and I'm a bit worried about his durability, but I think he's a fine target on a 1-3 year deal. His offensive production this year matches his career line and is easily above average for 2B, and this year's UZR could easily be an outlier or some team-specific issue as well. There's a ton of options that are interesting in some way for 2B so Kendrick is more of a guy who you go to to fill a hole rather than to build an offseason around, but he's a good option himself.

[Guest]

Kendrick isn't the most efficient option and I'm a bit worried about his durability, but I think he's a fine target on a 1-3 year deal. His offensive production this year matches his career line and is easily above average for 2B, and this year's UZR could easily be an outlier or some team-specific issue as well. There's a ton of options that are interesting in some way for 2B so Kendrick is more of a guy who you go to to fill a hole rather than to build an offseason around, but he's a good option himself.

Yeah, I'm not wild about Kendrick, but would not mind him on a short contract. Fundamentally, he's what Castro is supposed to be on offense.

[davell]

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=13443025&ex_cid=sportscenterTW&sf11997093=1

 

Proverbial puff piece on Maddon. Could have put this anywhere, but damn.....So happy we got him.

[rawaction]

Dexter Fowler hitting .297/.492/.515 over his last 27 games. This is the guy that the Cubs traded for, and I would like to re-sign to play CF (if no Heyward).

 

Yeah, and I hate Howie Kendrick too.