6/27 Cubs (Arrieta) @ WSH (Scherzer) 6:05 CT ABC7/MLBN

[Gilby]

Maybe I'm just projecting here, but I feel like that's a comment that is going to really set Theo off. Sort of like when he almost killed Kevin Gregg in whatever year that was. He just had to send his favorite player down and has probably been going full on Ski during most of the games this year, and now he has to deal with Miggy's horsefeathers.

 

Overall, he still has value over the course of a season since he's a much better hitter than your average backup, but it's clear now you can't trust him to catch in the playoffs no matter who the opposing pitcher is. We may need to look for another catcher whether Miggy is around or not. If Contreras gets hurt late in the year and Caratini is bad behind the plate, we'd be kinda screwed.

[davell]

You just can't say horsefeathers like that to the press. Miggy knows that too. I agree, this could be the end for him.

[Bryants Disco Ball]

I think this is what is called a meatball statement, but man the loss of Fowler and Ross seems to have changed the clubhouse vibe in a bad way.

[Sammy Sofa]

I think this is what is called a meatball statement, but man the loss of Fowler and Ross seems to have changed the clubhouse vibe in a bad way.

 

And this is based on...what, exactly?

[Cubswin11]

I will always like Miggy, he created the #WeAreGood and played a major role in 2015 and 2016 and yeah our pitchers don't hold runners the best and I'm sure it sucks for him to realize he's aged and the game has/is passed him by. But my god, he can go horsefeathers himself

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Miggy isn’t totally off base; some of those guys do take a REALLY long time to the plate. that said, #YouAreNotGoodAtThrowing

[Bryants Disco Ball]

I think this is what is called a meatball statement, but man the loss of Fowler and Ross seems to have changed the clubhouse vibe in a bad way.

 

And this is based on...what, exactly?

 

The fact that we are not fun anymore and suck.

 

Also I thought when something is prefaced as meatbally you can say anything and not be held accountable.

[davell]

Bring Ross in for a week or so and make sure they do lots of peepee thrusts.

[Bryants Disco Ball]

Do the Cubs have a party room still? If not, they need to bring that back.

[Bryants Disco Ball]

Derek Norris just got released tonight. Go pick his ass up.

[davell]

Derek Norris just got released tonight. Go pick his ass up.

 

I get the convenience, but he's being investigated for DV right now. We've got enough distractions from that. But, finding another guy wouldn't be hard.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Derek Norris just got released tonight. Go pick his ass up.

we have already reached our limit of not great players who have very recently been under suspicion of domestic abuse

[Aaron_Kennelly]

I think this is what is called a meatball statement, but man the loss of Fowler and Ross seems to have changed the clubhouse vibe in a bad way.

 

Miggy called out Joe Maddon for giving guys too much time off in September last year, when both of those guys were still on the roster. He also called him out after getting drunk with Ross and Fowler at a World Series championship parade.

[Bryants Disco Ball]

Oops. Did not know that stuff about Norris. Never mind.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

Miggy's comments are unbelievable. It's really gauche. And for him to not take any responsibility is pathetic.

 

That said... I think he's right. He stands no chance of throwing guys out when Arrieta is pitching. Willson barely does, and he's got a freaking cannon. If you subbed Miggy out for any catcher with an average arm, they wouldn't throw anyone out with Arrieta on the mound, either. Either Willson needs to catch every game the rest of the season, or you need to find some random replacement player that happens to have this hidden cannon of an arm. I don't know where you'd find that. Maybe the only place to find that is from that guy that is working in the front office.

[Bryants Disco Ball]

Miggy's comments are unbelievable. It's really gauche. And for him to not take any responsibility is pathetic.

 

That said... I think he's right. He stands no chance of throwing guys out when Arrieta is pitching. Willson barely does, and he's got a freaking cannon. If you subbed Miggy out for any catcher with an average arm, they wouldn't throw anyone out with Arrieta on the mound, either. Either Willson needs to catch every game the rest of the season, or you need to find some random replacement player that happens to have this hidden cannon of an arm. I don't know where you'd find that. Maybe the only place to find that is from that guy that is working in the front office.

 

Agreed that he is right. But he also doesn't stand much of a chance to throw anybody out even when Arrieta isn't on the mound.

 

Maybe Henry Blanco has something left in the tank if Ross says no.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

Looking at the stolen bases tonight:

 

Trea Turner is really fast and he's an excellent base runner. 32/37 on the year, despite missing a couple weeks on the DL. That's with a .314 OBP. This is his third game with 3+ steals in the last three weeks. He's going to do that and there's not much you can do about it.

 

After looking at each of the steals, there were 4 that Miggy didn't even make a throw. 3 were with Turner running. No catcher was throwing him out on any of them. The fourth was with Michael Taylor running, who is also very fast. That pitch was low and outside, almost in the dirt. There was also a runner on third. And Miggy didn't stand a chance of getting Taylor either.

 

One throw was the one to third, that he threw in the outfield. Bad. The two throws to second, with me stopwatching by hand, I have Miggy's pop times between 2.0-2.1. Below average. I saw an article that Statcast had the average pop time at 2.01 seconds last year. So he's not good there. Statcast also had the average exchange time for catchers at 0.73 seconds. I have Miggy below that on both of them. His arm strength is obviously terrible. But he's able to be not-so-terrible by getting rid of the ball pretty quickly.

 

Meanwhile, Arrieta's release time is over 1.5 seconds on every pitch. I have him up around 1.7 on some pitches. The league average is like 1.4. Some guys are below 1.2. Looking at some of Jon Lester's work, he is usually always below 1.4, near 1.3. We're looking at .3 seconds difference or so between the two. Arrieta also is right-handed, has a shitty pickoff move, and does a poor job of holding runners and mixing up his timing to throw them off. Turner was taking off nearly instantly after he started lifting his leg. Arrieta is just really, really bad at limiting base runners.

 

A lot of our pitchers are bad at it. What Willson has done with his arm is amazing. Looking at some of his caught stealings, he's getting pop times below 1.8. That is superb. He's also very accurate with most of his throws, which is also a key. Miggy's not. The throws bounced in and thrown into the outfield are definitely a problem. But if it weren't for Willson being a freaking beast, then this would be happening to us all the time.

[David]

Maybe I'm just projecting here, but I feel like that's a comment that is going to really set Theo off. Sort of like when he almost killed Kevin Gregg in whatever year that was. He just had to send his favorite player down and has probably been going full on Ski during most of the games this year, and now he has to deal with Miggy's horsefeathers.

 

Overall, he still has value over the course of a season since he's a much better hitter than your average backup, but it's clear now you can't trust him to catch in the playoffs no matter who the opposing pitcher is. We may need to look for another catcher whether Miggy is around or not. If Contreras gets hurt late in the year and Caratini is bad behind the plate, we'd be kinda screwed.

 

what the hell ever happened to ski

[David]

peace out montero

[UMFan83]

I think this is what is called a meatball statement, but man the loss of Fowler and Ross seems to have changed the clubhouse vibe in a bad way.

 

And this is based on...what, exactly?

 

The fact that we are not fun anymore and suck.

 

Also I thought when something is prefaced as meatbally you can say anything and not be held accountable.

 

 

I've definitely done this

 

[jersey cubs fan]

I think this is what is called a meatball statement, but man the loss of Fowler and Ross seems to have changed the clubhouse vibe in a bad way.

 

And this is based on...what, exactly?

 

The fact that we are not fun anymore and suck.

 

Also I thought when something is prefaced as meatbally you can say anything and not be held accountable.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

Don't try to tell me it's a coincidence that Schwarber Fan started this thread. He had to kill Miggy to allow Schwarber to get back behind the plate where he belongs.

[17 Seconds]

jesus christ

[17 Seconds]

see you in a month or 2