8/31 Pirates (Vogelsong) @ Cubs (Hammel), 7:05 PM, CSN ESPN

[philosophizer75]

Not quite as exciting as the series opener, but the Cubs got it done. Rizzo even presented a glorious dong for all of us to behold.

 

MOVING FORWARD

 

The Pirates have got to be frustrated, so hopefully they manage to control themselves and politely brush any chips off their shoulder before the game starts. Preferably of the Utz variety, because Hammel has been less than stellar recently, and he seemed awfully hangry after that last one.

 

The sniveling picaroons in yellow and black will be sending out Ryan Vogelsong, a man with a name that sounds like it belongs in a Zelda game, to try and avoid a sweep.

 

http://rdcnewscdn.realtor.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Ryan-Vogelsong.jpg

This guy looks like he's 47, but he seems to be performing at just slightly above average for the year.

 

 

His opponent: the chip vacuum, the ever perturbed, the please don't be broken down second half...

 

http://m.mlb.com/assets/images/0/0/6/188610006/cuts/jason_hammel1280_zly80px9_kjbxl0gf.jpg

 

[align=center]JASON HAMMEL[/align]

 

I'll be optimistic and say he goes 6 with less than 3 given up.

[raw]

You guys are gonna look silly when the Cubs win like 22 games in August. Trade deadline. Lot of games against teams that will be trading a bunch of good players. The Cubs will have 2-3 new players. All will be right again.

 

Win today, and I'm dead on. 21-7 month so far.

[Sammy Sofa]

sniveling picaroons

 

Whoa.

 

It feels like Hammel just had his meltdown, like, 2 days ago.

[philosophizer75]

Today was supposed to be Montgomery but because of the Hammel meltdown only being a 39 pitch outing, Joe is sending Hammel out there today. At least that's what I read somewhere.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Today was supposed to be Montgomery but because of the Hammel meltdown only being a 39 pitch outing, Joe is sending Hammel out there today. At least that's what I read somewhere.

Montgomery was supposed to go today with Hammel tomorrow. since Hammel only threw 39 the other day and Montgomery threw 91, they were switched around so Montgomery could get 1 more day

[David]

seal boy is in the lineup

 

[tweet]

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[Transmogrified Tiger]

kinda weird to bring him up on 8/31, but I guess you can tell Pena or Patton to hang out at home for a day and not be any worse off.

[Cubswin11]

Who did they send down/DL?

[David]

kinda weird to bring him up on 8/31, but I guess you can tell Pena or Patton to hang out at home for a day and not be any worse off.

 

jed basically says they didn't think it was right to include him with the roster expansion guys...like a show of respect or something. at least, that's what i heard passively listening on the radio just now.

 

but yeah, basically you just send down whoever and they "come back" tomorrow.

[Banedon]

Solar and Heyward back to back in the 4th and 5th spots? Maddom has zero respect for Vogelsong

 

Now try to type Zastryzny.

[UMFan83]

Another 2 day break for Zo, although I guess he did take an AB yesterday.

[BigSlick]

The Glorious Return of Seal Boy

[PetermanRealityTour]

Who's getting called up tmrw? Almora and Smith probably the only locks

[UMFan83]

Who's getting called up tmrw? Almora and Smith probably the only locks

 

I think Kawasaki is likely, they love to get his personality in the clubhouse whenever they can. Wouldn't be surprised to see Candelario and Conception. Coughlan possibly off the DL. I'm guessing because there is a gap in probable starters between Jake on Saturday and Hendricks on Monday, the Cubs are intending to activate and start Lackey on Sunday.

[Sammy Sofa]

8/31

 

Never forget.

[raw]

Solar and Heyward back to back in the 4th and 5th spots? Maddom has zero respect for Vogelsong

 

Looks like Maddon's plan was to separate the lefties (Heyward/LaStella). With Bryant and Rizzo locked in at 2-3, the only options would be to put Russell or Contreras 4th or LaStella 8th.

[BigSlick]

The way Soler has hit since coming back up justifies him as a 4 hitter so I don't think its a big deal

 

A nice tip of the cap to Heyward too, given how well he's hit for the past week+

[Sammys Boombox]

Cubs national TV schedule

 

8/27 FS1

8/30 MLB Network

8/31 ESPN

9/1 MLB Network

9/2 MLB Network

9/4 TBS

9/5 ESPN

[USSoccer]

La Stella still being part of this organization is a joke.

[ScrubMD]

Who's getting called up tmrw? Almora and Smith probably the only locks

 

I'd so much rather see Rivero and/or Rosario than give Smith even the most mop-uppiest of innings.

[17 Seconds]

La Stella still being part of this organization is a joke.

 

he's a dumbass, but i like how they cubs have handled it. he has value to the team, so they just kind of ignored his tantrum and said "let us know if you're interested in playing for our dominant team again at some point." theo and jed can't even be bothered by this little guy's outburst.

[Gmoney08]

I definitely think LaStella was in the wrong, especially because it was clear it wasnt a longterm demotion. But reading the Arrieta article about how he was thinking of giving up baseball if he had to bounce around the minors longer was a bit eye opening.

 

http://www.csnchicago.com/chicago-cubs/why-jake-arrieta-almost-quit-baseball-and-what-means-tommy-la-stella

 

It is something that not only do low level minor leaguers go through, but AA and AAA guys to guys who have been in the MLB.

 

Spring Training 2015 in AZ I was at a bar on Mill Avenue and had a few beers with a Minor League player that had made it to AAA back to back years. Been traded once, but never had made it to the show and I think he was about 26 at the time. He seemed pretty unsure whether he was going to make it to the MLB even though he was very close. He also expressed he was about done with it if he wasnt up in the bigs soon. He also had went to a pretty good university, and had a bunch of friends in tech & investment banking. He was a bit worried about putting his second career off a few more years, especially since he didn't plan on opening car washes but wanted to get into IB which is damn near almost as competitive as baseball.

 

He understood the payday if he could make it up in the bigs for a few years could set him up perfectly longterm but he also felt there was a risk of never making it to a big league contract at all & hindering a potentially lucrative career after baseball as well.

 

I kind of forgot about him. He was a cool guy and had some pretty cool conversation about mlb guys, minor league baseball to even high school baseball as well.

 

Long story short I was at a Cubs game earlier this year and noticed he came in to pinch hit and got a start the next day against us.

 

So that was pretty cool to see he had made it all the way up finally, but it really puts into perspective what life is like for the guys that arent up in the Majors and hitting FA in their Mid 20's, the guys just trying to get on a 40 man and make it to the show. Much more complicated than most think.

[Gmoney08]

La Stella still being part of this organization is a joke.

 

If our organization can look past the Chapman stuff Im sure they can squeeze the most value they can out of Tommy.. then maybe move on or decide about his future at another time.

 

Sports are rarely black and white.. its all gray areas with factors of how good of a player you are. If this was Clayton Richard the Cubs probably would have released him with reasoning being an exact page, and rule number in the Cubs Way Book... but since Tommy is pretty solid to even good they probably conveyed their disappointment and decided to give him another chance.

[Derwood]

NATIONAL BROADCAST GAMES SHOULDNT BE BLACKED OUT YOU STUPID horsefeathering LEAGUE JESUS CHRIST

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Russell sucks, bench him!