4/9: World Champeen Cubs (Jake the Bearded Snake) @ Brewers (Zach "not Greinke" Davies) 1:10PM CST on WGN

[mikeyt34]

JHey literally could have gone 5-5 with 7 RBI's.

[SpongeWorthy]

is hector fixed too

[mul21]

is hector fixed too

That slider is certainly looking nasty.

[SpongeWorthy]

guess not

[David]

It's FINE

[Euthoniel]

In addition to harder contact, Heyward has only struck out once all year, least amount on the team (minimum 5 plate appearances). I know we should wait at least a month before we say he's fixed, but I'm beginning to get optimistic.

[mikeyt34]

Almost fixed, still looks a lot better than I thought he would coming into the season.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

using Davis here is silly

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Geez. Let Rondon stay in.

[We Got The Whole 9]

Exit velocities for Heyward today: 99, 97, 101, 100, 96

How do you check these?

[mikeyt34]

Tough day at the office for Wade. Great win boys!

[Aaron_Kennelly]

Exit velocities for Heyward today: 99, 97, 101, 100, 96

How do you check these?

 

You have to go to mlb.com and click on Gameday for the game. Once there, if you click on the "Feed" tab, you can get statcast data on exit velocities.

[Donzo]

I liked using Davis, he needed the work, especially with the off day on Tuesday... And, he had to throw anyway.

[We Got The Whole 9]

Exit velocities for Heyward today: 99, 97, 101, 100, 96

How do you check these?

 

You have to go to mlb.com and click on Gameday for the game. Once there, if you click on the "Feed" tab, you can get statcast data on exit velocities.

Thanks. I figured it would be in GameDay when you click the batted ball result... but nope. Anyways thanks again.

[Thrilho]

We don't need to trade Happ. We can deal Candelario, because he's actually blocked. But, we'll be able to find Happ AB's. He doesn't have to contribute much this year, if he does, that's great. But Zobrist will start to age at some point, Happ will start to find 500 AB's within 2 years easily.

 

Plus, we have the D that allows us to take lesser guys much better anyway. We don't need to add an Archer type. Its kind of a waste of resources for us. Buy a guy next year and keep adding the Butler types. Our pitching will stay excellent.

 

Happ's blocked too don't you think? Javy's probably going to be the everyday 2B next year and Zobrist will become the utility guy. Happ could take La Stella's spot but how much playing time could Happ hope to get unless he plays in the OF.

 

Ewww. Has everybody forgotten that javy is a terrible hitter against most pitchers? I love him but the hot playoffs and spectacular defensive highlights have made everyone nuts.

How much confidence do you have in Happ's second base defense? I don't know what it looks like because I haven't spent much time watching him, but imagine a world where Happ gets to MLB is a below average second baseman. Zobrist last year was -3 DRS, in 2015 he was -7. Say Happ comes up and is something like the -7.

 

So far this year Javy has 5 of 6 games and all of them at second. He started every playoff game at second. I'd say right now he's looking a lot like the every day second baseman. Could change if you everyone's assumptions about his lack of hitting against RHP are correct, but with no sample size to say Javy has improved against RHP Joe has been rolling with him practically every day.

 

So maybe Happ mashes and the Zobrist/Happ combo push Javy out the door. But you'd be looking then at Zobrist or Happ still in RF and a bad second baseman. I think it's premature to think Javy's locked in as the primary second baseman for years, but also premature to make the assumptions that 1. he'll always suck against RHP 2. Happ will be a good enough 2B to push him off 3. The Zobrist/Happ combo will make the team better when defense is taken into consideration.

 

I've definitely come around on Happ, as his K rate didn't balloon last year and his power has taken off bigly. I'm thinking that the most likely scenario is him taking the 2B/OF job and pushing Zobrist out the door a year early. But yeah that Javy defense and general spark...they're real and they're spectacular.

[Thrilho]

Also, JHey is looking so good. A guy last week asked me to put an over/under on the wins for this year and I said 110. This lineup is a juggernaut that will make last year's team blush.

[Donzo]

Absolutely on JHey!

 

The guy crushed it 5 times today... He didn't crush it 5 times in the entire postseason.

[bukie]

After this disappointing road trip, hopefully the Cubs can right the ship at home.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

In addition to harder contact, Heyward has only struck out once all year, least amount on the team (minimum 5 plate appearances). I know we should wait at least a month before we say he's fixed, but I'm beginning to get optimistic.

 

He's swung 36 times and has only whiffed twice. 94.4% contact%. Lots of stuff to like with him right now. Him hitting the ball that hard five times in one game is shocking.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

Honestly, I never even entertained the idea of Heyward being "fixed" or whatever. It was just easier to remember how good we were even with him being so horrible last year. I'm trying not to get my hopes up yet, but my god we'd be unstoppable.

[mikeyt34]

The second happiest man in the Cubs clubhouse is John Mallee.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

Honestly, I couldn't be any happier with what's happened so far. I didn't have many concerns heading into the season. I was especially bullish on the young position players. I have a ton of confidence in Schwarber, Almora, Baez, Contreras, and Russell. I think Almora is going to be a solid everyday player because of his defense giving up a good baseline. I was even more enthusiastic when he hit for a bunch of power this spring. The same line of thinking applies to Baez and his defense -- plus he has so much talent that I'm just assuming he gets better in certain ways, here and there, with no basis for this belief other than that he is Javy and he can do whatever the horsefeathers he wants. Contreras is going to be a star, I am sure of it. Russell, too, if he isn't already. And he's going to slug the hell out of the ball. Schwarber is going to dominant at the plate. His defense won't even matter; he'll be that great of a hitter.

 

So what might be normal concerns -- the young guys -- aren't for me. My concerns were more along the lines of: Well, we have a really nice 'pen, but relief pitchers are stupid and unreliable and we have some that could possibly be broken. And Jake was kinda shitty for a good part of the year last year. What if he turns into complete horsefeathers? And Lackey is old. And who knows about our fifth starter? Plus Heyward is trash. And, now... the bullpen looks great. Jake has been fantastic. Heyward is off to a great start, And, well, I really don't have any concerns anymore.

[bukie]

The Cubs are on pace to go 108-54

[We Got The Whole 9]

#Cubs Maddon: "His delivery, location and pitch-ability was outstanding. I'd much rather see what we saw today than 94, 95 all over the map"

[David]

 

Happ's blocked too don't you think? Javy's probably going to be the everyday 2B next year and Zobrist will become the utility guy. Happ could take La Stella's spot but how much playing time could Happ hope to get unless he plays in the OF.

 

Ewww. Has everybody forgotten that javy is a terrible hitter against most pitchers? I love him but the hot playoffs and spectacular defensive highlights have made everyone nuts.

 

David, that's the type of thinking that has the Cardinals where they are today. Anything Javy does at the plate is extra gravy, his glove however is game changing.

 

Meant to reply to this yesterday but my phone screwed up the post and I gave up on it, but this just is an absurdly drastic overstatement.

 

The choice between Baez and a lesser fielding 2B who can hit a lot better isn't the choice between a great defense and the Cardinals, nor is the notion true that Javy can be a complete non-contributor at the plate (what you're saying) and still be an impact "game changing" player because of his glove. What you described is basically Darwin Barney at his peak.