07/28 Colorado (Flande) @ CUBS (Beeler) 7:05 CDT, CSN+

[DiamondMind]

The fifth inning on the radio.... I never have a [expletive] clue what's going on. Christ Coomer is brutal.

 

He's such a nice guy but he needs to like...take classes or something in the offseason.

[UMFan83]

How the hell did they fail THIS badly to construct a good offense? Wasn't that what they were focusing on above all else?

 

Well Rizzo was an all star last year so you'd expect that to continue only he has been sub replacement level for 5 weeks running, castro was an all star last year and had his best hitting season you shouldn't reasonably expect he'd turn into a bottom 5 hitter in all of baseball. Bryant mashed everything in the minors, Soler crushed the ball in the minors and with the Cubs last September, russell was crushing it in the minors. They just all randomly stopped hitting when they spend a prolonged period under Cubs major league coaching.

 

It's failure, plain and simple. It's not just bad luck or "hey, they're a bunch of kids!" It's poor, overly simplistic team construction.

 

Explain? They constructed a team expected to hit for a ton of power and get on base at least an average amount. I guess you could say that it was too prone for low batting average and too any strikeout prone hitters but I don't see what they have done so wrong.

 

They made their long term strategy to build a farm system full of highly regarded power hitters, everyone marveled at them, and so far they haven't hit for power but whether you like it not, they weren't supposed to be a well oiled machine at this point. Heck guys like Russell and Schwarber weren't even supposed to be up yet. I know no one wants to hear the "they're just kids they'll get better" excuse but there's really no better way to put it. This was the plan that we all were on board with. If it doesn't happen this year, the expectations and pressure amp up significantly next year.

[DiamondMind]

Saying "theyre just kids they'll get better" is not an excuse, its logic

[Schwarber Fan]

The fifth inning on the radio.... I never have a [expletive] clue what's going on. Christ Coomer is brutal.

 

The thing is, he's a pretty good color analyst. I have no idea why they don't use the update guy or an intern to do the innings that Pat refuses to call. You simply can't have people not knowing what is going on during a radio broadcast.

[Sammy Sofa]

It's failure, plain and simple. It's not just bad luck or "hey, they're a bunch of kids!" It's poor, overly simplistic team construction.

 

you cant be serious

 

The biggest problem by far this year is the offense, and they made it very clear that they were putting most of the cards in with the idea that this team, now and going forward, was going to be driven primarily by the bats. I get underperforming and that there's development, and in no way did I expect them to be some kind of offensive juggernaut this year, but to be THIS bad as a team at the plate is hugely problematic. There's a pretty big gulf between being fantastic and how bad they are hitting.

[UMFan83]

Would you guys be against trying to trade Fowler? I sure wouldnt be. Put Bryant in CF and Baez at 3B, who cares

 

Of course not. But he's not very good and only signed through this year, so he's kind of just an add-on at best.

 

I wouldn't be opposed to it but I feel like a Coughlan-Bryant-Soler OF would be an absolute disaster, and fowler isn't even all that good in the field.

[downsr30]

Gonzalez German warming up for Rockies.. Former Cub from earlier this year.. If he comes in and shuts the Cubs down after they let him go, we may need to accept and claim a new low.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[squally1313]

Is there somewhere that eliminates sequencing from offensive production? I know it's out there somewhere, because I've seen people talk about how Oakland should have scored X more runs this season than they actually have.

 

I know the offense is bad, but to call it an outright failure is probably a little over the top. Bryant and Rizzo are 21st and 22nd in offensive WAR league-wide this year, Dexter is BAPIPing 55 points below his career average (just slightly below his career LD%), I don't think you really expected anything more out of the catching position (especially after you knew Ross was going to be a factor), Russell and Coghlan have been fine. Soler was hurt and Castro fell off a (potentially predictable) cliff, but it's not like anyone wanted to slot anybody else in those spots. This isn't good, but I'm not going to blame roster construction.

[Gilby]

Speaking of the Astros, Kyle's blasting of them after the 2012 draft on numerous Cubs' message boards seems kind of funny now that Correa is clearly more valuable than Buxton, and it allowed them to take McCullers as well.

 

JK, Kyle, we can all look silly when it comes to baseball predictions.

[Guest]

How the hell did they fail THIS badly to construct a good offense? Wasn't that what they were focusing on above all else?

 

Well Rizzo was an all star last year so you'd expect that to continue only he has been sub replacement level for 5 weeks running, castro was an all star last year and had his best hitting season you shouldn't reasonably expect he'd turn into a bottom 5 hitter in all of baseball. Bryant mashed everything in the minors, Soler crushed the ball in the minors and with the Cubs last September, russell was crushing it in the minors. They just all randomly stopped hitting when they spend a prolonged period under Cubs major league coaching.

 

It's failure, plain and simple. It's not just bad luck or "hey, they're a bunch of kids!" It's poor, overly simplistic team construction.

 

Explain? They constructed a team expected to hit for a ton of power and get on base at least an average amount. I guess you could say that it was too prone for low batting average and too any strikeout prone hitters but I don't see what they have done so wrong.

 

They made their long term strategy to build a farm system full of highly regarded power hitters, everyone marveled at them, and so far they haven't hit for power but whether you like it not, they weren't supposed to be a well oiled machine at this point. Heck guys like Russell and Schwarber weren't even supposed to be up yet. I know no one wants to hear the "they're just kids they'll get better" excuse but there's really no better way to put it. This was the plan that we all were on board with. If it doesn't happen this year, the expectations and pressure amp up significantly next year.

 

Huh?

 

How could you possibly say that? Have you blocked out NSBB for the past 4 years?

[Schwarber Fan]

Flande is going to get the biggest joke "quality start" in history if he gets through 6.

[Fred Hornkohl]

Christ Coomer is brutal.

 

No, no.... That's Ron Coomer. ;)

[Little Slide Rooter]

2015 Chicago Cubs Baseball, brought to you by Zoloft: keeping the heads of neglected, upper-middle class housewives out of the oven since 1991.

[Guest]

Is there somewhere that eliminates sequencing from offensive production? I know it's out there somewhere, because I've seen people talk about how Oakland should have scored X more runs this season than they actually have.

 

I know the offense is bad, but to call it an outright failure is probably a little over the top. Bryant and Rizzo are 21st and 22nd in offensive WAR league-wide this year, Dexter is BAPIPing 55 points below his career average (just slightly below his career LD%), I don't think you really expected anything more out of the catching position (especially after you knew Ross was going to be a factor), Russell and Coghlan have been fine. Soler was hurt and Castro fell off a (potentially predictable) cliff, but it's not like anyone wanted to slot anybody else in those spots. This isn't good, but I'm not going to blame roster construction.

 

fangraphs baseruns is what you're looking for

[Sammy Sofa]

How the hell did they fail THIS badly to construct a good offense? Wasn't that what they were focusing on above all else?

 

Well Rizzo was an all star last year so you'd expect that to continue only he has been sub replacement level for 5 weeks running, castro was an all star last year and had his best hitting season you shouldn't reasonably expect he'd turn into a bottom 5 hitter in all of baseball. Bryant mashed everything in the minors, Soler crushed the ball in the minors and with the Cubs last September, russell was crushing it in the minors. They just all randomly stopped hitting when they spend a prolonged period under Cubs major league coaching.

 

It's failure, plain and simple. It's not just bad luck or "hey, they're a bunch of kids!" It's poor, overly simplistic team construction.

 

Explain? They constructed a team expected to hit for a ton of power and get on base at least an average amount. I guess you could say that it was too prone for low batting average and too any strikeout prone hitters but I don't see what they have done so wrong.

 

They made their long term strategy to build a farm system full of highly regarded power hitters, everyone marveled at them, and so far they haven't hit for power but whether you like it not, they weren't supposed to be a well oiled machine at this point. Heck guys like Russell and Schwarber weren't even supposed to be up yet. I know no one wants to hear the "they're just kids they'll get better" excuse but there's really no better way to put it. This was the plan that we all were on board with. If it doesn't happen this year, the expectations and pressure amp up significantly next year.

 

At this point Schwarber is the only guy who is a surprise to be up, and even then the expectation would be that Baez would be contributing somehow, either via the bat or via a trade.

[downsr30]

It's failure, plain and simple. It's not just bad luck or "hey, they're a bunch of kids!" It's poor, overly simplistic team construction.

 

you cant be serious

 

The biggest problem by far this year is the offense, and they made it very clear that they were putting most of the cards in with the idea that this team, now and going forward, was going to be driven primarily by the bats. I get underperforming and that there's development, and in no way did I expect them to be some kind of offensive juggernaut this year, but to be THIS bad as a team at the plate is hugely problematic. There's a pretty big gulf between being fantastic and how bad they are hitting.

 

I think a lot of people are trying to compare expectations set by the first half of the season.. Those guys in Vegas aren't idiots. They are pretty damn close majority of the time when they set the +\-'s.. Cubs are right on track, however if they can get extremely hot and throw those projections off and win 88-90 games, they could find themselves playing in a one game playoff

 

 

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[UMFan83]

It's failure, plain and simple. It's not just bad luck or "hey, they're a bunch of kids!" It's poor, overly simplistic team construction.

 

you cant be serious

 

The biggest problem by far this year is the offense, and they made it very clear that they were putting most of the cards in with the idea that this team, now and going forward, was going to be driven primarily by the bats. I get underperforming and that there's development, and in no way did I expect them to be some kind of offensive juggernaut this year, but to be THIS bad as a team at the plate is hugely problematic. There's a pretty big gulf between being fantastic and how bad they are hitting.

 

So what is the problem then? Bad luck? Slower than expected development? Poor coaching?

 

Because it's not only the rookies who have sucked this year. Most of the establish vets are struggling as well

[Sammy Sofa]

So many flippin' chances.

[UMFan83]

How the hell did they fail THIS badly to construct a good offense? Wasn't that what they were focusing on above all else?

 

Well Rizzo was an all star last year so you'd expect that to continue only he has been sub replacement level for 5 weeks running, castro was an all star last year and had his best hitting season you shouldn't reasonably expect he'd turn into a bottom 5 hitter in all of baseball. Bryant mashed everything in the minors, Soler crushed the ball in the minors and with the Cubs last September, russell was crushing it in the minors. They just all randomly stopped hitting when they spend a prolonged period under Cubs major league coaching.

 

It's failure, plain and simple. It's not just bad luck or "hey, they're a bunch of kids!" It's poor, overly simplistic team construction.

 

Explain? They constructed a team expected to hit for a ton of power and get on base at least an average amount. I guess you could say that it was too prone for low batting average and too any strikeout prone hitters but I don't see what they have done so wrong.

 

They made their long term strategy to build a farm system full of highly regarded power hitters, everyone marveled at them, and so far they haven't hit for power but whether you like it not, they weren't supposed to be a well oiled machine at this point. Heck guys like Russell and Schwarber weren't even supposed to be up yet. I know no one wants to hear the "they're just kids they'll get better" excuse but there's really no better way to put it. This was the plan that we all were on board with. If it doesn't happen this year, the expectations and pressure amp up significantly next year.

 

Huh?

 

How could you possibly say that? Have you blocked out NSBB for the past 4 years?

 

Sorry the ones whose opinions I care about were on board, at least when the prospects started producing in the minors

Edited July 29, 2015 by UMFan83

[Sammy Sofa]

Because it's not only the rookies who have sucked this year. Most of the establish vets are struggling as well

 

I know, that's kind of the point; when this many things go wrong it seems like it's either throwing up our hands and saying, "oh those Cobs" or something's not working.

 

I'm not saying they're hopeless, this season or going forward. It's just very, very frustrating.

[downsr30]

It's almost like Maddon needs to have a closed door meeting, the Cubs need to make a trade or some weird ass road trip theme needs to happen to get these guys to pull together again. It doesn't look like they are worn down, it just looks like they are letting slumps be contagious.

 

 

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[Little Slide Rooter]

How the hell did they fail THIS badly to construct a good offense? Wasn't that what they were focusing on above all else?

 

Well Rizzo was an all star last year so you'd expect that to continue only he has been sub replacement level for 5 weeks running, castro was an all star last year and had his best hitting season you shouldn't reasonably expect he'd turn into a bottom 5 hitter in all of baseball. Bryant mashed everything in the minors, Soler crushed the ball in the minors and with the Cubs last September, russell was crushing it in the minors. They just all randomly stopped hitting when they spend a prolonged period under Cubs major league coaching.

 

It's failure, plain and simple. It's not just bad luck or "hey, they're a bunch of kids!" It's poor, overly simplistic team construction.

 

Explain? They constructed a team expected to hit for a ton of power and get on base at least an average amount. I guess you could say that it was too prone for low batting average and too any strikeout prone hitters but I don't see what they have done so wrong.

 

They made their long term strategy to build a farm system full of highly regarded power hitters, everyone marveled at them, and so far they haven't hit for power but whether you like it not, they weren't supposed to be a well oiled machine at this point. Heck guys like Russell and Schwarber weren't even supposed to be up yet. I know no one wants to hear the "they're just kids they'll get better" excuse but there's really no better way to put it. This was the plan that we all were on board with. If it doesn't happen this year, the expectations and pressure amp up significantly next year.

 

Huh?

 

How could you possibly say that? Have you blocked out NSBB for the past 4 years?

 

Are you denying it? This is the year we were supposed to "contend." And we're contending. From here, it gets better. In theory. It's been the plan, and for the most part, people have been on board with it. Granted, some did a little more kicking and a lot more stomping along the way, but they knew what was happening.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

The good news is we're likely playing with their awful bullpen the rest of the way. But then again, we were facing [expletive] Flande and didn't do [expletive].

[mul21]

downsr: Quit [expletive] quoting using tapatalk if you're not going to fix it. Jesus.

[squally1313]

Is there somewhere that eliminates sequencing from offensive production? I know it's out there somewhere, because I've seen people talk about how Oakland should have scored X more runs this season than they actually have.

 

I know the offense is bad, but to call it an outright failure is probably a little over the top. Bryant and Rizzo are 21st and 22nd in offensive WAR league-wide this year, Dexter is BAPIPing 55 points below his career average (just slightly below his career LD%), I don't think you really expected anything more out of the catching position (especially after you knew Ross was going to be a factor), Russell and Coghlan have been fine. Soler was hurt and Castro fell off a (potentially predictable) cliff, but it's not like anyone wanted to slot anybody else in those spots. This isn't good, but I'm not going to blame roster construction.

 

fangraphs baseruns is what you're looking for

 

Thank you....figured it was somewhere obvious. So we've slightly underperformed on offense, but made up for it on the pitching side (thank Maddon or our 'terrible' bullpen?).