7/3 Cubs (Lester) v. Mets (Syndergaard) 12:10, WGN

[Thusly Boned]

I'm continuing to watch this debacle in hopes of seeing a consolation dong or five, but these guys are taking such horsefeathers at bats that I'm thinking this will be a total waste of time.

[TMan92]

this is just bizarre...what the hell is going on

I'm wondering the same thing. The Mets aren't THAT good, that they'd just destroy our pitching like this, are they? Are we tipping pitches? Getting squeezed with the zone?

 

Injuries not helping.

[weis21]

So Hammel and Lester both have the worst outings of their lives in the same series? Whole team is swinging at first pitches and not working counts? Sure, I'm not worried

baseball

[Bryants Disco Ball]

So Hammel and Lester both have the worst outings of their lives in the same series? Whole team is swinging at first pitches and not working counts? Sure, I'm not worried

 

I'm frustrated. But not worried. I'll only get worried if Fowler, Lastella and Soler are all back and we are still playing like this. Right now the bottom of our lineup is filled with a talented Triple A lineup.

[Thusly Boned]

So Hammel and Lester both have the worst outings of their lives in the same series? Whole team is swinging at first pitches and not working counts? Sure, I'm not worried

 

This series has been the baseball equivalent of rolling a string of natural 1's in D&D.

[Sammy Sofa]

So Hammel and Lester both have the worst outings of their lives in the same series? Whole team is swinging at first pitches and not working counts? Sure, I'm not worried

 

I'm frustrated. But not worried. I'll only get worried if Fowler, Lastella and Soler are all back and we are still playing like this. Right now the bottom of our lineup is filled with a talented Triple A lineup.

 

What's Soler gonna do, give everyone killer back rubs so they relax and start kicking ass again?

[Bryants Disco Ball]

So Hammel and Lester both have the worst outings of their lives in the same series? Whole team is swinging at first pitches and not working counts? Sure, I'm not worried

 

This series has been the baseball equivalent of rolling a string of natural 1's in D&D.

 

No idea what this means, but I'm going to bet that rolling a string of natural 1's really sucks.

[Clem Fandango]

This is all part of a Cubs long con where they purposefully lose to Syndergaard and Matz and make them look like those bone spurs aren't an issue, only to let Mets brass believe they made the right decision, and they continue to ride them in the near future until they realize "Oops, they really are broken and we lost them for the next calendar year".

 

Very clever move, Joe. I like it.

[Bryants Disco Ball]

So Hammel and Lester both have the worst outings of their lives in the same series? Whole team is swinging at first pitches and not working counts? Sure, I'm not worried

 

I'm frustrated. But not worried. I'll only get worried if Fowler, Lastella and Soler are all back and we are still playing like this. Right now the bottom of our lineup is filled with a talented Triple A lineup.

 

What's Soler gonna do, give everyone killer back rubs so they relax and start kicking ass again?

 

You just answered your own question.

[Gilby]

So Hammel and Lester both have the worst outings of their lives in the same series? Whole team is swinging at first pitches and not working counts? Sure, I'm not worried

 

I'm frustrated. But not worried. I'll only get worried if Fowler, Lastella and Soler are all back and we are still playing like this. Right now the bottom of our lineup is filled with a talented Triple A lineup.

 

What's Soler gonna do, give everyone killer back rubs so they relax and start kicking ass again?

 

Yeah, I don't know if I totally buy the injury excuse. The SP's and Bryzzo have been healthy. It sucks not having Schwarber, but I don't think people really include him when they reference injuries since he only played 3 games. Contreras, Javy, and probably Almora are better than Soler. So that basically just leaves Fowler.

[Thusly Boned]

So Hammel and Lester both have the worst outings of their lives in the same series? Whole team is swinging at first pitches and not working counts? Sure, I'm not worried

 

This series has been the baseball equivalent of rolling a string of natural 1's in D&D.

 

No idea what this means, but I'm going to bet that rolling a string of natural 1's really sucks.

 

Basically, it's rolling a 1 on a 20 sided die. So even if your character is an ultimate badass, you will fail spectacularly at whatever you are trying to do. Rolling a series of them is just inexplicable, like the performance of the pitching staff in this series.

 

I haven't played D&D in twenty years or so, but that's what I recall, anyway.

Edited July 3, 2016 by XZero77

[Sammy Sofa]

http://i.giphy.com/PD09UtMkZDfWw.gif

[Sammy Sofa]

 

I'm frustrated. But not worried. I'll only get worried if Fowler, Lastella and Soler are all back and we are still playing like this. Right now the bottom of our lineup is filled with a talented Triple A lineup.

 

What's Soler gonna do, give everyone killer back rubs so they relax and start kicking ass again?

 

Yeah, I don't know if I totally buy the injury excuse. The SP's and Bryzzo have been healthy. It sucks not having Schwarber, but I don't think people really include him when they reference injuries since he only played 3 games. Contreras, Javy, and probably Almora are better than Soler. So that basically just leaves Fowler.

 

Pretty much.

[dfnowak]

I don't care...just get this figured out by the White Sox series. B/c really, what else matters, right?

[Tim]

I think I need to do an article that explores Soler's value.

 

Gotta get running right now, though.

[Bryants Disco Ball]

 

I'm frustrated. But not worried. I'll only get worried if Fowler, Lastella and Soler are all back and we are still playing like this. Right now the bottom of our lineup is filled with a talented Triple A lineup.

 

What's Soler gonna do, give everyone killer back rubs so they relax and start kicking ass again?

 

Yeah, I don't know if I totally buy the injury excuse. The SP's and Bryzzo have been healthy. It sucks not having Schwarber, but I don't think people really include him when they reference injuries since he only played 3 games. Contreras, Javy, and probably Almora are better than Soler. So that basically just leaves Fowler.

 

It can be little things, too. Being able to start a Lastella rather than some dude up from the minors. Being able to pinch hit a guy like Lastella rather than somebody up from the minors. I mean, we have a lot of young guys in the lineup all learning at the same time. That has to lead to some uneven play.

[Stu]

Lester with a -12 game score? Did I read that right?

[UMFan83]

Ninnies.

 

Assuming we don't get even more hurt by injuries than we already have, this team is still going to win 105+ and moonwalk through the second half to the best record in baseball.

 

I hope so. Definitely good enough to do that but it's hard to expect a team to finish at least 54-27 when they've gone 26-24 in last 50 games (and yes I understand all good teams ply .500 a chunk of the season. Just hard to visualize it when you are in that period). That said I still believe the talent level of this team is 110+ games just can't quite figure out why it hasn't translated lately. Probably because I'm dumb

[Sammy Sofa]

I think I need to do an article that explores Soler's value.

 

He makes incredible table-side guac.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

 

What's Soler gonna do, give everyone killer back rubs so they relax and start kicking ass again?

 

Yeah, I don't know if I totally buy the injury excuse. The SP's and Bryzzo have been healthy. It sucks not having Schwarber, but I don't think people really include him when they reference injuries since he only played 3 games. Contreras, Javy, and probably Almora are better than Soler. So that basically just leaves Fowler.

 

It can be little things, too. Being able to start a Lastella rather than some dude up from the minors. Being able to pinch hit a guy like Lastella rather than somebody up from the minors. I mean, we have a lot of young guys in the lineup all learning at the same time. That has to lead to some uneven play.

 

It's also not an explanation for the entire struggle. Having the first choice hitters might have only been the difference in a game or two, but that'd probably make people feel better about things going 6-8 in the stretch instead of 4-10. Regardless, these are the things that happen when you play 162 games. You have poor stretches, and in the Cubs case there's a confluence of circumstances that help to explain it too(a bunch of games against good teams clustered together, some injuries, some pitching regression, no off days for several weeks stretching the bullpen, etc). The Cubs were never going to win 125 games like they played in April, and they're much better than they've played in this stretch. It's baseball.

[David]

Ninnies.

 

Assuming we don't get even more hurt by injuries than we already have, this team is still going to win 105+ and moonwalk through the second half to the best record in baseball.

 

I hope so. Definitely good enough to do that but it's hard to expect a team to finish at least 54-27 when they've gone 26-24 in last 50 games (and yes I understand all good teams ply .500 a chunk of the season. Just hard to visualize it when you are in that period). That said I still believe the talent level of this team is 110+ games just can't quite figure out why it hasn't translated lately. Probably because I'm dumb

 

you can't both say those things you said and then say that...like, i'm not worried by this recent stretch (mostly i'm just trying to ignore it), and i never believed their true talent level was 110+ games. that's, uh, really high. and i feel like that is an understatement.

[Thusly Boned]

Lol, Wilmer Flores. I bet he's so happy he could cry.

[Sammy Sofa]

Everyone remember where you were and who you were with for the Wilmer Flores Game.

[davell]

So Hammel and Lester both have the worst outings of their lives in the same series? Whole team is swinging at first pitches and not working counts? Sure, I'm not worried

 

I'm frustrated. But not worried. I'll only get worried if Fowler, Lastella and Soler are all back and we are still playing like this. Right now the bottom of our lineup is filled with a talented Triple A lineup.

 

What's Soler gonna do, give everyone killer back rubs so they relax and start kicking ass again?

 

He smiles really well.

[Sammy Sofa]

Ninnies.

 

Assuming we don't get even more hurt by injuries than we already have, this team is still going to win 105+ and moonwalk through the second half to the best record in baseball.

 

I hope so. Definitely good enough to do that but it's hard to expect a team to finish at least 54-27 when they've gone 26-24 in last 50 games (and yes I understand all good teams ply .500 a chunk of the season. Just hard to visualize it when you are in that period). That said I still believe the talent level of this team is 110+ games just can't quite figure out why it hasn't translated lately. Probably because I'm dumb

 

you can't both say those things you said and then say that...like, i'm not worried by this recent stretch (mostly i'm just trying to ignore it), and i never believed their true talent level was 110+ games. that's, uh, really high. and i feel like that is an understatement.

 

I'm kinda impressed how wildly UMFan oscillates from crippling pessimism to delusional optimism.