5/27 washington (scherzer) @ cubs (the jon lester) 7:05 pm cdt; csn

[ScrubMD]

hopefully the dbacks hold on at least

We're still worrying about the Cardinals? Pretty sure that race is over.

The lead was down to 2.5 games a few days ago. Relax.

The Cardinals are so clearly better even with injuries. They beat us and they sweep teams we should beat.

 

They won a series against us, guys. See you next April!

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

So we're giving up on the division in May? Wow....

[ARCubsFan]

I think the division is feasible next season but right now, the Cubs are too inconsistent and the Cardinals are the opposite. There's no shame in fighting for a wild card.

[ScrubMD]

Until we lose 6/10 at some point next year, then it's on to 2017.

[Guest]

hopefully the dbacks hold on at least

We're still worrying about the Cardinals? Pretty sure that race is over.

The lead was down to 2.5 games a few days ago. Relax.

 

I'm not worried about the Cards but that's because I assume they're going to make the playoffs, whether that's as a division winner or wild card. So I'd rather see teams like the Giants, Mets, Padres and Pirates lose.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

We could be 2.5 up on the Cards right now and they'd still be favored to win the division. The gap between them and us is not small.

[Guest]

hopefully the dbacks hold on at least

We're still worrying about the Cardinals? Pretty sure that race is over.

The lead was down to 2.5 games a few days ago. Relax.

The Cardinals are so clearly better even with injuries. They beat us and they sweep teams we should beat.

Yeah, they must be like, 40 games ahead of us at this point sweeping all those teams!

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Run differential

 

Cardinals +59

Pirates +35

Cubs +1

 

Let's worry about clinging to our lead over the Pirates and getting back ahead of one of the other 2nd-place teams before we worry about the team 5.5 games with a +58 edge in differential.

[Guest]

We could be 2.5 up on the Cards right now and they'd still be favored to win the division. The gap between them and us is not small.

Meh.

 

As long as we get continued improvement from the young guys, I think we'll be right there.

[ScrubMD]

I mean, it's not like you have to choose one or the other. There aren't separate strategies. You hope for the division as long as it's still in play, and it's definitely still in play.

[treebird]

We could be 2.5 up on the Cards right now and they'd still be favored to win the division. The gap between them and us is not small.

Meh.

 

As long as we get continued improvement from the young guys, I think we'll be right there.

 

jason heyward finally has the timbo fantasy stink off of him, we have no shot.

[Deeg]

you'd think that our front office and their big juicy brains would be able to scrape together at least a semi-competent bench.

 

Maddon is supposed to be the genius at juggling lineups and using the whole roster. Get Baez up here and let him start doing it.

[Guest]

We could be 2.5 up on the Cards right now and they'd still be favored to win the division. The gap between them and us is not small.

Meh.

 

As long as we get continued improvement from the young guys, I think we'll be right there.

 

jason heyward finally has the timbo fantasy stink off of him, we have no shot.

My bad. :bye:

[Sammy Sofa]

you'd think that our front office and their big juicy brains would be able to scrape together at least a semi-competent bench.

 

Maddon is supposed to be the genius at juggling lineups and using the whole roster. Get Baez up here and let him start doing it.

 

He doesn't have some kind of magical ability to make mostly worthless players like Ross or Herrera or Baxter or Lake not be horrible.

[Sammy Sofa]

We could be 2.5 up on the Cards right now and they'd still be favored to win the division. The gap between them and us is not small.

Meh.

 

As long as we get continued improvement from the young guys, I think we'll be right there.

 

jason heyward finally has the timbo fantasy stink off of him, we have no shot.

My bad. :bye:

 

Woof, I thought this was true and then looked up the numbers. Heyward over the last week:

 

.067 .067 .067 .133

 

That's amazing.

[Deeg]

you'd think that our front office and their big juicy brains would be able to scrape together at least a semi-competent bench.

 

Maddon is supposed to be the genius at juggling lineups and using the whole roster. Get Baez up here and let him start doing it.

 

He doesn't have some kind of magical ability to make mostly worthless players like Ross or Herrera or Baxter or Lake not be horrible.

 

Herrera won't be here if Baez comes up, and Ross is a backup C. Lake has actually been pretty good, though who knows if it'll keep up.

 

The absence of guys like Denorfia and Olt is all the more reason Baez could make a difference. The bench is completely punchless at the moment.

[ARCubsFan]

See I don't get why people are thinking Lake is doing good. Is it because his expectations are so low? He's getting on base at a .286 clip still and he's producing a negative WAR

[Andy]

We could be 2.5 up on the Cards right now and they'd still be favored to win the division. The gap between them and us is not small.

Meh.

 

As long as we get continued improvement from the young guys, I think we'll be right there.

 

jason heyward finally has the timbo fantasy stink off of him, we have no shot.

My bad. :bye:

My fantasy stink is still firmly planted on him

[Deeg]

See I don't get why people are thinking Lake is doing good. Is it because his expectations are so low? He's getting on base at a .286 clip still and he's producing a negative WAR

 

I see Lake having better at-bats - seeing more pitches, making more contact. He certainly hasn't been great, but he looks like a modestly competent hitter so far, which he never did at any point last year.

[Guest]

Run differential

 

Cardinals +59

Pirates +35

Cubs +1

 

Let's worry about clinging to our lead over the Pirates and getting back ahead of one of the other 2nd-place teams before we worry about the team 5.5 games with a +58 edge in differential.

 

how about i just keep hoping they lose which is how this all started

[Hairyducked Idiot]

People who believe that Olt being hurt is a negative are weird.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Thing about Castro is there's really nothing to do about it at this point. You can't bench him. Trade value may not be at an all time low, but he sure wouldn't fetch Syndergaard or Gray at this point. And sending him to Iowa to beat up on junkballers does nothing.

[Sammy Sofa]

Thing about Castro is there's really nothing to do about it at this point.

 

Well, they could actually drop him lower than #5 in the lineup (and the only time they've done that recently is when Fowler is inexplicably batting #4). Every spot is going to come up at critical times, but keeping him planted at #4 is just really highlighting how much he's struggling.

[OleMissCub]

put him in the bullpen. Perhaps he can throw strikes?

[jersey cubs fan]

People who believe that Olt being hurt is a negative are weird.

Also, they are "unlucky" that LaStella has been injured when he was a negative WAR man himself last year?