8/6: The Defending Champs (Big Game Jon) vs DB's Nationals (Fedde), 1:20 CT, CSN-C, TBS

[David]

 

oh shut up, i expect the cubs to pull away at some point like we all do, that doesn't mean we can't point out that they've kind of sucked for 4 months. we constantly talk about how much the brewers and cardinals suck, but they've both performed at a level comparable to the cubs, sooo. i understand that bemoaning reality after losses is still annoying, but it's not like my post about them sucking again was heavy meatballery or anything

 

You've said some heavy meatballery stuff throughout the season.

 

yeah but it's usually a one-off based in reality. david and lots of other good posters do the same thing. if i start talking about bryant's performance in the clutch or DFAing edwards, feel free to call me out

 

This post implies I'm one of the good posters I think

[17 Seconds]

My rays fan buddy was dead on when he told me the one gripe I'd have with Maddon is bullpen usage

 

i live near st. pete and rays fans really hate him for some reason

[Aaron_Kennelly]

 

oh shut up, i expect the cubs to pull away at some point like we all do, that doesn't mean we can't point out that they've kind of sucked for 4 months. we constantly talk about how much the brewers and cardinals suck, but they've both performed at a level comparable to the cubs, sooo. i understand that bemoaning reality after losses is still annoying, but it's not like my post about them sucking again was heavy meatballery or anything

 

You've said some heavy meatballery stuff throughout the season.

 

yeah but it's usually a one-off based in reality. david and lots of other good posters do the same thing. if i start talking about bryant's performance in the clutch or DFAing edwards, feel free to call me out

 

Being angry about a loss is one thing. Everyone gets mad when they lose.

 

You continue to say thing like "we're still pretty mediocre, this sucks" or "It was nice thinking we were good again for a couple weeks" like two horsefeathering games matter. You've been claiming this as a lost season and "not our year" all year long. You've been incredibly melodramatic.

[soccer10k]

It was nice thinking we were good again for a couple weeks

 

Sorry to burst your doom boner but you know those crappy teams the Cubs beat up on the last couple weeks? Well, outside Arizona next weekend those types of teams make up the entirety of the schedule the rest of the way.

 

The Cubs have 52 games left. They have 16 games against teams that are terrible (Cincy, SF, Philly), 10 games against teams that are bad (Atl, Tor, NYM), 23 games against teams that are mediocre (Pitt, StL, Mil, Tampa) and 3 against teams that are good (Ari).

[imb]

 

oh shut up, i expect the cubs to pull away at some point like we all do, that doesn't mean we can't point out that they've kind of sucked for 4 months. we constantly talk about how much the brewers and cardinals suck, but they've both performed at a level comparable to the cubs, sooo

 

Big difference is that those teams do suck. And the Cubs played sucky.

 

They had a rough week against two good teams. They've been much better since the break, after some guys got healthy and we made additions.

 

You've been claiming this as a lost season since April, and, yet, still in first. You don't have to fly off the handle after every freaking loss.

 

i mean, i wrote a single sentence complaining about how they're playing crappy again. how is that flying off the handle? i admire that you can write long paragraphs after every loss telling us why they don't matter, but it's kind of weird to act all shocked when somebody points out that they're still having a disappointing season

 

Hahaha it is pretty hilarious watching people cling to the "well the cubs are actually good its just been a 4-month cold spell"

[Aaron_Kennelly]

 

Big difference is that those teams do suck. And the Cubs played sucky.

 

They had a rough week against two good teams. They've been much better since the break, after some guys got healthy and we made additions.

 

You've been claiming this as a lost season since April, and, yet, still in first. You don't have to fly off the handle after every freaking loss.

 

i mean, i wrote a single sentence complaining about how they're playing crappy again. how is that flying off the handle? i admire that you can write long paragraphs after every loss telling us why they don't matter, but it's kind of weird to act all shocked when somebody points out that they're still having a disappointing season

 

Hahaha it is pretty hilarious watching people cling to the "well the cubs are actually good its just been a 4-month cold spell"

 

I mean, they're in first place.

[UMFan83]

My rays fan buddy was dead on when he told me the one gripe I'd have with Maddon is bullpen usage

 

I think he managed the bullpen beautifully in 2015 especially mixing in guys like Cahill and Richard and giving them useful roles. Not a ton of problem in 2016 except Chapman's WS usage. This year has been a little more head scratching but at the same time a lot of his guys have been inconsistent like Uehara, Grimm, Rondon and now Edwards. i think Maddon rightly or wrongly believes Edwards has the highest ceiling and the wanted to give him a chance to work through his recent issues. I do think this was one time too far though, particularly putting him in the game with little rope to work with.

 

Oh well

[David]

My rays fan buddy was dead on when he told me the one gripe I'd have with Maddon is bullpen usage

 

I think he managed the bullpen beautifully in 2015 especially mixing in guys like Cahill and Richard and giving them useful roles. Not a ton of problem in 2016 except Chapman's WS usage. This year has been a little more head scratching but at the same time a lot of his guys have been inconsistent like Uehara, Grimm, Rondon and now Edwards. i think Maddon rightly or wrongly believes Edwards has the highest ceiling and the wanted to give him a chance to work through his recent issues. I do think this was one time too far though, particularly putting him in the game with little rope to work with.

 

Oh well

 

You must have blocked out the memories of Phil coke and Brian schlitter

[Aaron_Kennelly]

My rays fan buddy was dead on when he told me the one gripe I'd have with Maddon is bullpen usage

 

I think he managed the bullpen beautifully in 2015 especially mixing in guys like Cahill and Richard and giving them useful roles. Not a ton of problem in 2016 except Chapman's WS usage. This year has been a little more head scratching but at the same time a lot of his guys have been inconsistent like Uehara, Grimm, Rondon and now Edwards. i think Maddon rightly or wrongly believes Edwards has the highest ceiling and the wanted to give him a chance to work through his recent issues. I do think this was one time too far though, particularly putting him in the game with little rope to work with.

 

Oh well

 

You must have blocked out the memories of Phil coke and Brian schlitter

 

I did until now. Thanks a lot, David!

 

Oh my god I hated Schlitter so much.

[imb]

 

i mean, i wrote a single sentence complaining about how they're playing crappy again. how is that flying off the handle? i admire that you can write long paragraphs after every loss telling us why they don't matter, but it's kind of weird to act all shocked when somebody points out that they're still having a disappointing season

 

Hahaha it is pretty hilarious watching people cling to the "well the cubs are actually good its just been a 4-month cold spell"

 

I mean, they're in first place.

 

they're what, an 85 win team right now? Hard to get too ... hard about that. Five runs up on the terrible St Louis Cardinals in RD. They're OK and that lukewarm statement is the best anyone should realistically bestow on them. Kind of hoped for more given that we returned everyone from a 103-win world series championship team.

[David]

they'll win 90+, i promise you

[Aaron_Kennelly]

 

Hahaha it is pretty hilarious watching people cling to the "well the cubs are actually good its just been a 4-month cold spell"

 

I mean, they're in first place.

 

they're what, an 85 win team right now? Hard to get too ... hard about that. Five runs up on the terrible St Louis Cardinals in RD. They're OK and that lukewarm statement is the best anyone should realistically bestow on them. Kind of hoped for more given that we returned everyone from a 103-win world series championship team.

 

As soccer10k just said, the schedule is incredibly easy the rest of the year. They are going to win more than 85 games. They are also a much better team than their record indicates. They played like absolute horsefeathers for half of the season. They've had to deal with some injury problems. Guys flat-out played like horsefeathers. The rotation was a mess. They've cleaned up in a lot of areas. They've played much better baseball since the break. And they have a very talented roster still.

 

It's certainly been a frustrating season. And they haven't lived up to expectations. But to act as if they are a bad team because Maddon has been drinking wine before games the last week is silly. They're still a good team.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

My rays fan buddy was dead on when he told me the one gripe I'd have with Maddon is bullpen usage

 

I think he managed the bullpen beautifully in 2015 especially mixing in guys like Cahill and Richard and giving them useful roles. Not a ton of problem in 2016 except Chapman's WS usage. This year has been a little more head scratching but at the same time a lot of his guys have been inconsistent like Uehara, Grimm, Rondon and now Edwards. i think Maddon rightly or wrongly believes Edwards has the highest ceiling and the wanted to give him a chance to work through his recent issues. I do think this was one time too far though, particularly putting him in the game with little rope to work with.

 

Oh well

 

I love how you barely touch on his horrific bullpen management in the World Series. That horsefeathers nearly cost them the Series.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

Part of the problem is definitely the inconsistency from some of the guys. Strop and Rondon struggling after their injuries left the bullpen roles undefined heading into the year. And Uehara and Edwards grabbed the reins early.

 

But Joe has been way too slow to react to the changing of the tides in the pen. You might call it him showing confidence in his guys. But I'd call it throwing all caution to the wind. Carl being used today is indefensible.

[imb]

Joe always goes one step too far with the bullpen. I've been ok with using Carl recently because I liked Joe trying to bring him out of it by showing faith. But today was too much. Just like Chapman in the 9th of game 7. OK JOE, WE FREAKING GET IT.

[imb]

Joe always goes one step too far with the bullpen. I've been ok with using Carl recently because I liked Joe trying to bring him out of it by showing faith. But today was too much. Just like Chapman in the 9th of game 7. OK JOE, WE FREAKING GET IT.

 

god i just got anxiety thinking about that 9th inning and how bad it was. Every pitch looked like it was about to get crushed.

[17 Seconds]

[marq=left][/marq]

Joe always goes one step too far with the bullpen. I've been ok with using Carl recently because I liked Joe trying to bring him out of it by showing faith. But today was too much. Just like Chapman in the 9th of game 7. OK JOE, WE FREAKING GET IT.

 

god i just got anxiety thinking about that 9th inning and how bad it was. Every pitch looked like it was about to get crushed.

 

https://streamable.com/g8wy

 

https://streamable.com/nu4w

 

https://streamable.com/3wiz

 

the reactions of santana and kipnis are things i will cherish forever

[soccer10k]

I'm sure pretty much everyone had a similar feeling but because of the camera work, the Kipnis foul ball almost gave me a heart attack.

[UMFan83]

My rays fan buddy was dead on when he told me the one gripe I'd have with Maddon is bullpen usage

 

I think he managed the bullpen beautifully in 2015 especially mixing in guys like Cahill and Richard and giving them useful roles. Not a ton of problem in 2016 except Chapman's WS usage. This year has been a little more head scratching but at the same time a lot of his guys have been inconsistent like Uehara, Grimm, Rondon and now Edwards. i think Maddon rightly or wrongly believes Edwards has the highest ceiling and the wanted to give him a chance to work through his recent issues. I do think this was one time too far though, particularly putting him in the game with little rope to work with.

 

Oh well

 

I love how you barely touch on his horrific bullpen management in the World Series. That horsefeathers nearly cost them the Series.

 

Not trying to trivialize it, I thought it was obvious how horrible it was.

[UK]

People who think Maddon is a good in-game manager are sadly mistaken.

 

Fwiw, Rays' fans complained more about the revolving lineups than anything else.

Edited August 7, 2017 by UK

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

I think he managed the bullpen beautifully in 2015 especially mixing in guys like Cahill and Richard and giving them useful roles. Not a ton of problem in 2016 except Chapman's WS usage. This year has been a little more head scratching but at the same time a lot of his guys have been inconsistent like Uehara, Grimm, Rondon and now Edwards. i think Maddon rightly or wrongly believes Edwards has the highest ceiling and the wanted to give him a chance to work through his recent issues. I do think this was one time too far though, particularly putting him in the game with little rope to work with.

 

Oh well

 

I love how you barely touch on his horrific bullpen management in the World Series. That horsefeathers nearly cost them the Series.

 

Not trying to trivialize it, I thought it was obvious how horrible it was.

 

Oh, I figured you did and was just amused at how bad that was.

[FlyTheW]

I'm sure pretty much everyone had a similar feeling but because of the camera work, the Kipnis foul ball almost gave me a heart attack.

My last look after a ball is struck is what the hitter's reaction is. They usually know fair or foul or if they got all of a ball. Kipnis fooled me for sure.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Joe always goes one step too far with the bullpen. I've been ok with using Carl recently because I liked Joe trying to bring him out of it by showing faith. But today was too much. Just like Chapman in the 9th of game 7. OK JOE, WE FREAKING GET IT.

 

In watching highlights of the top of the 10th, Joe Buck was mentioning the possibility of Chapman going back out. It seems crazy that a reliever would go back out for a third inning on top of a 17-minute delay after all the pitches the previous two games but with Maddon in the World Series, it was entirely possible. Heck, he started out the top of the 10th warming Arrieta up on ZERO DAYS REST.

[Andy]

I think Joe's bullpen management in the WS was just fine until he panicked and used Chapman in game 6 when there was no reason to. That led to everything after.

 

Really you could make a good argument for it being a lot better than just fine until then. Going to Chapman in the 7th of game 5 wasn't like a great unforeseen idea or anything, but it was pretty ballsy given he would've been destroyed if it hadn't worked.

 

But yeah he fucked up game 6 and game 7 was a total crap show. Thank God we won and none of us really have to care

[Aaron_Kennelly]

That 9th inning was the most terrified I've ever been in my life.