General Cubs Chit-Chat

[jersey cubs fan]

Now...back to the whole crunchy peanut butter business....

 

wrong thread brandon

[UMFan83]

Random question/discussion (and posted here because I don't see an Almora thread):

 

When Almora was drafted people raved about his ability to make contact and his overall hit tool. For a high schooler he seemed like a pretty safe pick (right?). But in the minors he struggled quite a bit to the point where we was in the second tier (or maybe even third tier) of a stacked Cubs farm. When he got called up, I wasn't expecting a ton but felt like he could still develop into a solid hitter.

 

1.5 years later and I'd say the results have been pretty good though short of great. .334 wOBA in 2017, 16% K rate, 103 wRC+ all slightly above average numbers. The caveat is that he was very selectively used this year mostly against left handers and in situations he could succeed...make him an everyday player and those numbers probably don't look as nice.

 

So I guess my question is, how do you project Almora going forward? On opening day he will be a few weeks shy of 24 so he's still got time to develop. What have you seen from him that suggests he can be an above average overall hitter (or at least above average overall player with defense and baserunning considered)? Do you still have hope of him developing into an All Star caliber hitter?

 

I felt extremely comfortable with him hitting against left handers the 2nd half of the season and playoffs but overall I guess I can't get a feel for his progression and development.

 

I think something along the lines of kiermaier is his offensive upside. unfortunately, it really doesn't look like his defense will live up to that comp on that side.

 

it's pretty funny that he was the one prospect we had whose defense was lauded big time coming up, with guys like russell and baez having their question marks, and KB's seen as a liability.

 

If Almora and Kiermaier could combine into one offensive player (almora vs lh, kiermaier vs rh) they'd be pretty awesome. That's a pretty good comp though...I'd take it even though like you said the defense will likely fall well short.

[Tim]

Serious question: who is going to be genuinely bothered when these lists start coming out closer to the season if the Cubs aren't regularly in the top 5?

Well, after we sign Otani, Darvish and Cobb, trade for Heyward for Stanton, plus sign Shaw, McGee, Neshek and Morrow - I'm going to be pretty upset if we're not #1 heading into the season.

[Tim]

Random question/discussion (and posted here because I don't see an Almora thread):

 

When Almora was drafted people raved about his ability to make contact and his overall hit tool. For a high schooler he seemed like a pretty safe pick (right?). But in the minors he struggled quite a bit to the point where we was in the second tier (or maybe even third tier) of a stacked Cubs farm. When he got called up, I wasn't expecting a ton but felt like he could still develop into a solid hitter.

 

1.5 years later and I'd say the results have been pretty good though short of great. .334 wOBA in 2017, 16% K rate, 103 wRC+ all slightly above average numbers. The caveat is that he was very selectively used this year mostly against left handers and in situations he could succeed...make him an everyday player and those numbers probably don't look as nice.

 

So I guess my question is, how do you project Almora going forward? On opening day he will be a few weeks shy of 24 so he's still got time to develop. What have you seen from him that suggests he can be an above average overall hitter (or at least above average overall player with defense and baserunning considered)? Do you still have hope of him developing into an All Star caliber hitter?

 

I felt extremely comfortable with him hitting against left handers the 2nd half of the season and playoffs but overall I guess I can't get a feel for his progression and development.

He needs to go on the Chris Taylor swing loft program.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I've always been of the mind that Almora becoming a lot like Pillar would be a pretty great outcome. After this year it looks like he's trending that way, albeit with slightly different offense/defense proportions.

[ConstableRabbit]

[tweet]

[/tweet]

 

Is it too late for this to be a thing?

[UMFan83]

I've always been of the mind that Almora becoming a lot like Pillar would be a pretty great outcome. After this year it looks like he's trending that way, albeit with slightly different offense/defense proportions.

 

I looked at his numbers and thought 'damn these look shitty, I'd hope Almora is better than that' but then I saw his splits are pretty much as extreme as Almora's.

 

If Almora can't provide a defensive value approaching Pillar, I can't see him playing most of the time against RHP.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I've always been of the mind that Almora becoming a lot like Pillar would be a pretty great outcome. After this year it looks like he's trending that way, albeit with slightly different offense/defense proportions.

 

I looked at his numbers and thought 'damn these look horsefeathers, I'd hope Almora is better than that' but then I saw his splits are pretty much as extreme as Almora's.

 

If Almora can't provide a defensive value approaching Pillar, I can't see him playing most of the time against RHP.

 

Admittedly this idea was spawned with the idea of 2015 Pillar in mind, who was at least approaching average with the bat. Today I'm more confident that Almora will outpace him with the bat(and therefore be an everyday option), but also a little less certain he will be a defensive monster like Pillar.

[minnesotacubsfan]

We are losing 2 players who matter, with $35m in payroll cleared up. Despite a decent amount of injuries and a terrible first half, we won 92 games, had the 2nd best record in baseball the 2nd half, and made it to the NLCS again. And that leads him to "Look, things ain't pretty, sports fans."

 

Arrieta, Davis and Lackey all mattered.

 

Arrieta was terrific and will almost certainly be replaced by a lesser pitcher.

Davis was great and although maybe a little easier to replace, lots of quality front offices have rolled the dice on the wrong guy in that situation.

Lackey's value is under appreciated, as it costs a lot of money to simply get a guy you can reasonably expect to duplicate what he did.

 

It's going to take a lot of work to replace those guys, and they may not collectively improve on that group, so they'll need to other three starters to at least not take a step back.

 

it's a legit big ask.

 

 

Id agree with you on Arrieta and Davis, but Lackeys only true value came in filling up a jersey with flesh and bones

[Brian]

[tweet]

[/tweet]

[Bull]

Seriously though, he dismissed Bryzzo failed to mention Contreras, and suggested trading Russell, Baez or Happ (as though they were interchangeable) as the only way to guard against complete rotation meltdown. It was silly.

 

But my broader point is that the entire exercise is silly at this point. No one has been able to make any moves yet. Anything but Astros #1, Dodgers #2, Cubs and Yanks 3&4, & playoff teams 5-8 right now is dismissive to this season.

Seriously though, you're completely misreading.

 

He didn't dismiss Bryzzo. It was a 4 sentence general assessment of the team in which he explicitly says they should be good again and maybe better than that last year.

 

I think the rest of my post indicated clearly how seriously I'm taking this. I'm not, because it's not a serious article. He jokes that its too early to do, but does it anyway. meh.

[Banedon]

https://imgur.com/J0QZdHB

[UMFan83]

Random thought but I didn't realize Tommy Hunter had such a great season under Hickey last year

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=1157&position=P

 

Or heck even Joe Smith put together a pretty good year last year (not under Hickey).

 

I know relievers are notorious for being fickle year to year but it really makes me think....Hunter in 15, Smith in 16, Wilson in 17, 3 deadline acquisitions meant to fortify the pen and I believe the 3 of them were on the roster for just 1 of the 8 playoff rounds the Cubs have played the last 3 years (including 15 WC game) - Wilson in this years NLDS where he was certainly the last pitcher included and was then removed before the NLCS. There are probably a lot of reasons Theo and Co decided to go in a different direction from Boz, but listening to Theo's comments on the radio throughout the second half of the season about Wilson, he sounded super frustrated that this was happening again.

[Brian]

We did that thing that is apparently a thing, but I didn't know it was thing till the Royals did it for us.

 

[tweet]

[/tweet]

[17 Seconds]

is it wrong that i kind of like that hat?

 

http://images.footballfanatics.com/FFImage/thumb.aspx?i=/productimages/_2965000/altimages/ff_2965156alt3_full.jpg&w=600

[Brian]

There is one like it for the Cubs from last year.

[17 Seconds]

There is one like it for the Cubs from last year.

 

not with the shiny bill, though

[SouthSideRyan]

Yeah, I like theirs a lot more than ours.

[toonsterwu]

We are losing 2 players who matter, with $35m in payroll cleared up. Despite a decent amount of injuries and a terrible first half, we won 92 games, had the 2nd best record in baseball the 2nd half, and made it to the NLCS again. And that leads him to "Look, things ain't pretty, sports fans."

 

Arrieta, Davis and Lackey all mattered.

 

Arrieta was terrific and will almost certainly be replaced by a lesser pitcher.

Davis was great and although maybe a little easier to replace, lots of quality front offices have rolled the dice on the wrong guy in that situation.

Lackey's value is under appreciated, as it costs a lot of money to simply get a guy you can reasonably expect to duplicate what he did.

 

It's going to take a lot of work to replace those guys, and they may not collectively improve on that group, so they'll need to other three starters to at least not take a step back.

 

it's a legit big ask.

 

 

Id agree with you on Arrieta and Davis, but Lackeys only true value came in filling up a jersey with flesh and bones

 

I'm sort of with jcf on this. Lackey wasn't good ... but bad still costs when the system really doesn't have anyone ready to step in and legitimately compete for an end of the rotation spot (maybe Tseng, although I'm still of the opinion that if Tseng can ramp it up, he might hold more impact in the pen). Ideally, you'd throw such a big net that you should be able to find a cheap guy to do what Lackey did last year, but what Lackey did last year, as bad as it was, still costs.

[David]

 

Arrieta, Davis and Lackey all mattered.

 

Arrieta was terrific and will almost certainly be replaced by a lesser pitcher.

Davis was great and although maybe a little easier to replace, lots of quality front offices have rolled the dice on the wrong guy in that situation.

Lackey's value is under appreciated, as it costs a lot of money to simply get a guy you can reasonably expect to duplicate what he did.

 

It's going to take a lot of work to replace those guys, and they may not collectively improve on that group, so they'll need to other three starters to at least not take a step back.

 

it's a legit big ask.

 

 

Id agree with you on Arrieta and Davis, but Lackeys only true value came in filling up a jersey with flesh and bones

 

I'm sort of with jcf on this. Lackey wasn't good ... but bad still costs when the system really doesn't have anyone ready to step in and legitimately compete for an end of the rotation spot (maybe Tseng, although I'm still of the opinion that if Tseng can ramp it up, he might hold more impact in the pen). Ideally, you'd throw such a big net that you should be able to find a cheap guy to do what Lackey did last year, but what Lackey did last year, as bad as it was, still costs.

 

Lackey was a half win above replacement. By definition, that's neither hard to find nor costly.

[Banedon]

[javy knows my name]

I'm now 100% sure he's trolling everyone

[CaliforniaRaisin]

I'm now 100% sure he's trolling everyone

 

That's been photoshopped.

[javy knows my name]

Oof I am stupid

[Sammy Sofa]

Woof, that is not a flattering angle for such a beautiful, beautiful dude.