Is Szczur Gone & 40-Man Roster Discussion

[UMFan83]

Do we just operate with a 26-man roster all year, swapping guys on and off the 10-day DL as need be? Bullpen a little worn out? Keep the extra reliever. A stretch against a couple teams with a bunch of lefty pitchers upcoming? Time for LaStella to find the DL. Same thing for righties? Sorry, Szczur. Oh this reliever hasn't been given a week off in awhile? Time for your DL stint.

 

would be interesting to see how liberally we could use the 10 day DL before other teams start crying foul

[VVMattVV]

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Having Montgomery as your only LHRP to start the season seems silly, but I guess with a 10 day DL if there's legit injuries they can play the juggling game.

 

Do you think they'd actually use Grimm against lefties in the interim as a pseudo-LOOGY? I know his career splits are pretty good against them but I don't think the Cubs have specifically highlighted using him in that role before.

[Cubswin11]

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Having Montgomery as your only LHRP to start the season seems silly, but I guess with a 10 day DL if there's legit injuries they can play the juggling game.

I think he turns out to be a version of Andrew Miller out of the pen for us this year and doesn't really start many games. He'll prove his worth out of the pen more valuable than starting.

[bukie]

Do we just operate with a 26-man roster all year, swapping guys on and off the 10-day DL as need be? Bullpen a little worn out? Keep the extra reliever. A stretch against a couple teams with a bunch of lefty pitchers upcoming? Time for LaStella to find the DL. Same thing for righties? Sorry, Szczur. Oh this reliever hasn't been given a week off in awhile? Time for your DL stint.

 

would be interesting to see how liberally we could use the 10 day DL before other teams start crying foul

The Cubs could literally flip Anderson and Montgomery back and forth off the DL, making two starts in succession each, all season.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I think he turns out to be a version of Andrew Miller out of the pen for us this year and doesn't really start many games. He'll prove his worth out of the pen more valuable than starting.

 

If that is the eventual outcome I certainly won't be upset, but I continue to think it's a mistake to not give him starts from Day 1. The 2018 rotation is currently Lester, Hendricks, and mystery, and by hamstringing Montgomery with relief appearances you lower the certainty that you know 2018 Montgomery 1) is a guy you want in the rotation and 2) can handle a SP workload. There might come a point where they need to prioritize 2017 success over that 2018 certainty, but Opening Day certainly isn't that time.

 

Do you think they'd actually use Grimm against lefties in the interim as a pseudo-LOOGY? I know his career splits are pretty good against them but I don't think the Cubs have specifically highlighted using him in that role before.

 

The fact that there's only one lefty isn't a big deal, it's that it's Montgomery. Like David said, Uehara has reverse splits(especially last year), plus Davis, Strop, and Edwards are all quite good against LH hitters. With only one LHRP you'd want to use them in a specific situation, which means Montgomery's multi-inning ability isn't a great match(plus he should be starting anyway).

 

Do we just operate with a 26-man roster all year, swapping guys on and off the 10-day DL as need be? Bullpen a little worn out? Keep the extra reliever. A stretch against a couple teams with a bunch of lefty pitchers upcoming? Time for LaStella to find the DL. Same thing for righties? Sorry, Szczur. Oh this reliever hasn't been given a week off in awhile? Time for your DL stint.

 

I forget exactly where I read it, but apparently MLB has told teams they're going to require increased documentation on injuries for DL stints, to avoid such shenanigans with the 10 day DL. No idea how strict they might be on that front though.

[Cubswin11]

I think he turns out to be a version of Andrew Miller out of the pen for us this year and doesn't really start many games. He'll prove his worth out of the pen more valuable than starting.

 

If that is the eventual outcome I certainly won't be upset, but I continue to think it's a mistake to not give him starts from Day 1. The 2018 rotation is currently Lester, Hendricks, and mystery, and by hamstringing Montgomery with relief appearances you lower the certainty that you know 2018 Montgomery 1) is a guy you want in the rotation and 2) can handle a SP workload. There might come a point where they need to prioritize 2017 success over that 2018 certainty, but Opening Day certainly isn't that time.

I don't entirely disagree and looking forward to 2018 it probably does make sense to test him out as a SP to know what he is there. But at the same time maybe through whatever means they have to analyze him they don't like his ability to be a successful SP long term but see a potential valuable/versatile relief pitcher. Also like you said, it's a delicate balance to 100% competing in 2017 and putting guys in the best roles to accomplish that vs looking to build towards 2018 and Monty is pretty easily the #1 guy when it comes to trying to figure that out and weigh his usage as a RP/SP this year for whatever they think/want him to become in the future.

 

Also with Anderson being healthy now it probably makes the most sense to get as many bullets out of his arm to start the year and if/when he goes down figure it out from there. Anderson doesn't seem like a guy who is worth trying to keep healthy for a full year by throwing him in the bullpen or whatever but rather when he's healthy ride him (not negligently obviously) until he dies. With the variables of pitcher health/our 5th spot and Joe/FO already saying they are going to look for opportunities to go to a 6 man rotation here and there I think if Monty is healthy he still should get 10ish starts, which keeps him fresher for a bullpen role in the playoffs where he will be used. I know it's jerking him around a bit but maybe they feel he can handle that.

[Regular Show]

I think he turns out to be a version of Andrew Miller out of the pen for us this year and doesn't really start many games. He'll prove his worth out of the pen more valuable than starting.

 

If that is the eventual outcome I certainly won't be upset, but I continue to think it's a mistake to not give him starts from Day 1. The 2018 rotation is currently Lester, Hendricks, and mystery, and by hamstringing Montgomery with relief appearances you lower the certainty that you know 2018 Montgomery 1) is a guy you want in the rotation and 2) can handle a SP workload. There might come a point where they need to prioritize 2017 success over that 2018 certainty, but Opening Day certainly isn't that time.

 

Do you think they'd actually use Grimm against lefties in the interim as a pseudo-LOOGY? I know his career splits are pretty good against them but I don't think the Cubs have specifically highlighted using him in that role before.

 

The fact that there's only one lefty isn't a big deal, it's that it's Montgomery. Like David said, Uehara has reverse splits(especially last year), plus Davis, Strop, and Edwards are all quite good against LH hitters. With only one LHRP you'd want to use them in a specific situation, which means Montgomery's multi-inning ability isn't a great match(plus he should be starting anyway).

 

Do we just operate with a 26-man roster all year, swapping guys on and off the 10-day DL as need be? Bullpen a little worn out? Keep the extra reliever. A stretch against a couple teams with a bunch of lefty pitchers upcoming? Time for LaStella to find the DL. Same thing for righties? Sorry, Szczur. Oh this reliever hasn't been given a week off in awhile? Time for your DL stint.

 

I forget exactly where I read it, but apparently MLB has told teams they're going to require increased documentation on injuries for DL stints, to avoid such shenanigans with the 10 day DL. No idea how strict they might be on that front though.

 

Yeah I don't know how you can "require increased documentation on injuries". I mean only the players truly know how much pain they're in, and if the player is willing to go on the DL and the team physician signs off on the injury then there is nothing MLB can do. I mean as the season wears on every player gets dinged up and has some minor injury/sprain they're dealing with.

 

All that said, this move (Duensing to the DL to start the season) clearly is being done to avoid losing Szczur on waivers. If MLB wants to avoid these DL shenanigans -- well, this would be the right time to do it.

[Cubswin11]

I'm in favor of the 26 or even 27 man roster so if MLB teams playing shenanigans with the 10 day DL leads to that I'd be perfectly fine and would think that's part of the motive of teams pushing the issue on the 10 day along with why MLB agreed to allow it. Half measures will lead to full measures.