9/18 - Brewers (Wily "Coyote" Peralta) @ Cubs (Kyle "Giggles" Hendricks) 1:20 CST, ABC 7

[USSoccer]

That was completely obnoxious

[Cubswin11]

Must all be still hungover

[UMFan83]

Dammit Bryant and Rizzo both have poor ABs and K with the tying run on base.

[Ski]

Good showing today. -_-

 

Not sure what Rizzo was looking for.

[Schwarber Fan]

Thornburg is apparently pretty good. But not as good as the pitchers we'll see in October. Figure it out, guys.

[BCVM22]

What a [expletive] series against a [expletive] team. The Brewers can horsefeathers off in every horsefeathering conceivable way. The horsefeathering bastards.

[Ski]

Thornburg is apparently pretty good. But not as good as the pitchers we'll see in October. Figure it out, guys.

The meatball in me agrees with you, but a team can limp into the playoffs and still go on a tear when it really matters. The 2000 Yankees lost 15 of their last 18, and the Royals stumbled a bit in September last year, as I recall.

 

It would still be nice to see us play a little better so we can wrap up home field advantage as soon as possible, though.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

Thornburg is apparently pretty good. But not as good as the pitchers we'll see in October. Figure it out, guys.

 

He's got a 1.58 ERA. How many guys in the post-season do you think have lower ERAs?

[Aaron_Kennelly]

Thornburg is apparently pretty good. But not as good as the pitchers we'll see in October. Figure it out, guys.

 

He's got a 1.58 ERA. How many guys in the post-season do you think have lower ERAs?

 

Unless we get to the World Series: none.

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=nl&qual=50&type=8&season=2016&month=0&season1=2016&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=16,a

[Sammy Sofa]

The juicy, dripping meatball side of me can't help but be worried that the Cubs seem a little power-starved even at the "best" of times this month as the season comes to a close. Obviously, having Bryzzo is a 1-2 power threat that any team would kill for, but they're kinda it right now. After them, we're looking at, what, Russell? Montero rising from the dead? It just seems like a long ways from how going into the season were giddy about how this team was going to have a good 4-5 thumpers donging teams into oblivion.

 

I'm REALLY missing Schwarber right now.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

The juicy, dripping meatball side of me can't help but be worried that the Cubs seem a little power-starved even at the "best" of times this month as the season comes to a close. Obviously, having Bryzzo is a 1-2 power threat that any team would kill for, but they're kinda it right now. After them, we're looking at, what, Russell? Montero rising from the dead? It just seems like a long ways from how going into the season were giddy about how this team was going to have a good 4-5 thumpers donging teams into oblivion.

 

I'm REALLY missing Schwarber right now.

 

Soler. Also Fowler, Zobrist, and whoever the starting C are have hit HR at a 15+ season pace.

[TMan92]

The juicy, dripping meatball side of me can't help but be worried that the Cubs seem a little power-starved even at the "best" of times this month as the season comes to a close. Obviously, having Bryzzo is a 1-2 power threat that any team would kill for, but they're kinda it right now. After them, we're looking at, what, Russell? Montero rising from the dead? It just seems like a long ways from how going into the season were giddy about how this team was going to have a good 4-5 thumpers donging teams into oblivion.

 

I'm REALLY missing Schwarber right now.

 

There is a big non-pitching Cuban that I still think can fill the void

[UMFan83]

The juicy, dripping meatball side of me can't help but be worried that the Cubs seem a little power-starved even at the "best" of times this month as the season comes to a close. Obviously, having Bryzzo is a 1-2 power threat that any team would kill for, but they're kinda it right now. After them, we're looking at, what, Russell? Montero rising from the dead? It just seems like a long ways from how going into the season were giddy about how this team was going to have a good 4-5 thumpers donging teams into oblivion.

 

I'm REALLY missing Schwarber right now.

 

In the first half you had Fowler and Zobrist hitting for power. I think I saw on Twitter Zobrist has a .368 slugging since May and I don't have the numbers on Fowler but considering his OPS dropped from close to .900 when he came back from injury to around .800 now and his OBP is still in the 380s I'd guess his slugging has gone way down too.

 

All it takes though is one guy getting hot along with normal Rizzo and Bryant and we're looking good. Last year Bryant and Rizzo were both somewhat cold in the playoffs (right?) and they were picked up by Schwarber, Soler and somewhat Fowler through the NLDS

[17 Seconds]

The juicy, dripping meatball side of me can't help but be worried that the Cubs seem a little power-starved even at the "best" of times this month as the season comes to a close. Obviously, having Bryzzo is a 1-2 power threat that any team would kill for, but they're kinda it right now. After them, we're looking at, what, Russell? Montero rising from the dead? It just seems like a long ways from how going into the season were giddy about how this team was going to have a good 4-5 thumpers donging teams into oblivion.

 

I'm REALLY missing Schwarber right now.

 

There is a big non-pitching Cuban that I still think can fill the void

 

concepcion?

[Sammy Sofa]

The juicy, dripping meatball side of me can't help but be worried that the Cubs seem a little power-starved even at the "best" of times this month as the season comes to a close. Obviously, having Bryzzo is a 1-2 power threat that any team would kill for, but they're kinda it right now. After them, we're looking at, what, Russell? Montero rising from the dead? It just seems like a long ways from how going into the season were giddy about how this team was going to have a good 4-5 thumpers donging teams into oblivion.

 

I'm REALLY missing Schwarber right now.

 

Soler. Also Fowler, Zobrist, and whoever the starting C are have hit HR at a 15+ season pace.

 

I'm just not confident Soler can stay healthy. I didn't realize Fowler had been finally turning it on in the last couple of weeks, but that season pace isn't all that reassuring at this moment since his power numbers for the season are pretty skewed from how well he hit in April and May, and then his slugging wasn't so hot after that until September; hopefully he keeps it up. Zobrist's slugging has been pretty funky in the second half, too.

 

Eh, it's probably nothing.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

You guys are too worried about when proven players have hit their home runs this year. Zobrist has been about an .800 OPS, 15-home run guy basically his whole career. He is again this year. I don't care too much that his mostly came earlier this year. I don't care that Fowler's came mostly earlier this year. And I don't care that Kris Bryant is slumping right now. I mean, seriously, people are worried that the MVP hasn't been hitting right for the last couple weeks? Players and, in extension, their teams go through hot and cold streaks all the time. Let's just be glad that it is happening right now and not then. And, I mean, there are still a couple weeks until the playoffs even start. I don't care if this slump lasts all the way up until the playoffs start -- as long as they are hot during the playoffs.

 

Just forget about it. Everything resets in the playoffs. And we've assembled the best roster to take into the playoffs. You'll forget all about it when Bryant is donging all over the Mets in the NLDS.

[Sammy Sofa]

I didn't say I was worried about Bryant at all.

 

Guys like Zobrist and Fowler are what they are; they have long stretches where they don't hit for much power. When I say we were expecting 4-5 guys to be regularly beating up the ball, I wasn't thinking of them at all. I was thinking it would be something like Bryzzo, Schwarber, Soler and then one of Baez or Heyward, and guys like Zobrist and Fowler and Russell and Montero would be supplementing things with their moderate dongs.

 

I'm not expecting them to be terrible; I just wouldn't be surprised if the scuffling keeps up for a while. I also wouldn't be surprised if two days from know they go on a tear where they blow the RD out of the water.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

I didn't say I was worried about Bryant at all.

 

Guys like Zobrist and Fowler are what they are; they have long stretches where they don't hit for much power. When I say we were expecting 4-5 guys to be regularly beating up the ball, I wasn't thinking of them at all. I was thinking it would be something like Bryzzo, Schwarber, Soler and then one of Baez or Heyward.

 

I wasn't really responding to you. I was responding more to the hand wringing we've seen the last week or so in Game Threads and what not.

 

And, I do agree with you -- that we are missing a little thump in the middle of the order. The loss of Schwarber sucked. Bad. We went from the donging beasts we thought we were going to be to something entirely different. But, that's OK. Because we've accomplished a lot with what we are now. And I think Soler can serve as an ersatz Schwarber, if he is healthy and feeling it. You mentioned how it drops off after Bryzzo, and it does. I would like one other uber-beast in the middle of the order. But Soler can be that guy. He was last year in the playoffs.

 

But what TT says is also true. We are so good not because of uber-beasts in the middle of the order, although we do have two. It's because of how deep we are -- so deep that some decent baseball players aren't even going to make the roster. There is a little pop up and down the lineup. Heyward's the one guy on the roster that hasn't given us pop. So we make up for not having another 30-dong guy by having our shortstop hitting 20-some and all of our catchers donging some.

 

And, that's not why we are good anyway. Our offense thrives because we are always on base. And our team's great strength is in its run prevention. So these guys make up for not donging as we'd hoped by glove donging like we never expected.

[UMFan83]

The thing that worries me about Zobrist is his age. Am I suggesting that he all the sudden on May 31st realized he was 35 and hit accordingly? No but I do worry that he might grind down over a season and doesn't have another gear as we get to this part of year. Last year he hit well in the playoffs but missed a big chunk of the season with injuries. Joe has done a great job of getting him ample rest as the season has gone on but it hasn't seemed to get him going strong.

 

And yes I'd much rather them be slumping now then in 2 weeks. They are for the most part young and very good so a slump shouldn't last an obnoxiously long period. If anything we should be happy they are slumping now as that would likely mean they will be getting hot at the right time. I probably have irrational PTSD from 2008, when similar to how this year is playing out they had a September OPS that was ~.050 lower than any other month that year, had the same thoughts about slumping at the right time to get hot for playoffs and...well it didn't really work out.

 

Just have to keep reminding myself that this team is different and has repeatedly proven why it is different over the last 2 seasons.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

The thing that worries me about Zobrist is his age. Am I suggesting that he all the sudden on May 31st realized he was 35 and hit accordingly? No but I do worry that he might grind down over a season and doesn't have another gear as we get to this part of year. Last year he hit well in the playoffs but missed a big chunk of the season with injuries. Joe has done a great job of getting him ample rest as the season has gone on but it hasn't seemed to get him going strong.

 

And yes I'd much rather them be slumping now then in 2 weeks. They are for the most part young and very good so a slump shouldn't last an obnoxiously long period. If anything we should be happy they are slumping now as that would likely mean they will be getting hot at the right time. I probably have irrational PTSD from 2008, when similar to how this year is playing out they had a September OPS that was ~.050 lower than any other month that year, had the same thoughts about slumping at the right time to get hot for playoffs and...well it didn't really work out.

 

Just have to keep reminding myself that this team is different and has repeatedly proven why it is different over the last 2 seasons.

 

It could be a lot worse. Our pitching could be going through what it went through before the All-Star break.

 

Look, hitting is weird. Guys slump and then get hot. And it's weird. It's often impossible to explain. Sometimes maybe there was a swing change or something. But most of the time it happens with the snap of a finger. And it's impossible to explain. Think of what they are doing: trying to hit a projectile travelling at excess speeds with a stick. If you are just a little off, things aren't going to go well. But slumping hitters, generally, are who they are. They're just... off. They'll get better soon, though. Sometimes you'll run into a case like Jason Heyward's, where it's not just a slump. But, most of the time it's nothing physical. It's probably not even mechanical. Guys are always tinkering with stuff, and it doesn't matter too much. Slumps just happen. And a lot of it might not even be because of the hitter; there could be BABIP luck holding them back or whatever.

 

Now, pitching. That's a different beast. When you see something like what was happening to our pitchers before the All-Star break, that's a little more scary. When pitchers are off, there often is a problem. And it is usually their fault. When they are serving up gopher balls left and right, it's not just a slump, per se. It could be mechanical. It could be that the guy is just worse. He could be getting old. He could be wearing down. He might be injured. Sometimes pitchers do bad for awhile and then bounce back and look normal. But, it's always scarier. Sometimes god-mode Arrieta is never realized again.

 

So, maybe Zobrist is wearing down. But maybe it's just a slump. And even if he is wearing down, he's still taking walks. He can still help contribute. And he's not exactly our most important hitter, anyway. So I try not worry about that stuff as much. Instead, I'm happy that our pitching is healthy and Lester and Hendricks look as sharp as ever. And I'll just hope something clicks at the right time for some of our hitters.