8/30 Pirates(Nova) vs Cubs(Guy who was on the wrong side of town last year) 7:05 CSN

[Hunter]

Nooooo

[imb]

kyle you idOIT

[itisallpartoftheplan]

Cubs continue to suck it up and not score 20.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

more like Schwarbroken

[Sammy Sofa]

He's had a real Dunn of a night.

[Jaxbro]

Alas kyle falls back into old habits in a high leverage at bat.

[Brian]

[tweet]

[/tweet]

 

lol, dat lineup though

[Brian]

there is absolutely no way Jaso would pass a weed test.

[UMFan83]

Guys lets give up 14 in this frame. I think if we get another shot we can do this

[weis21]

more like Schwarbroken

stick with being a baseball genius, pal

[JudasIscariotTheBird]

kyle you idOIT

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2qF3aTBqoz8/ToMgMQXirdI/AAAAAAAAANA/YX-oY2nbaW4/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-09-06+at+10.58.03+AM.png

[weis21]

Guys lets give up 14 in this frame. I think if we get another shot we can do this

i'm inclined to agree but seems a little too risky

[UMFan83]

We scored in every inning we batted except the 4th

[Transmogrified Tiger]

more like Schwarbroken

stick with being a baseball genius, pal

 

shooters shoot

[Brian]

If Kelly Crull goes missing, we'll know to check Happ's crawlspace

[Brian]

Magic Number: 27

[Agony and Ivy]

We're going to sweep the Dodgers.

 

Im usually pretty realistic. I hated the 2007 team's chances in the playoffs, for example. I really, really like this team's chances in the playoffs though. The Dodgers just dont scare me no matter how many more games they win.

 

Our big hurdle in my view is the Nats. Any time your big hurdle has Dusty Baker at the helm, you're sitting pretty. Shame we wont get 7 games to exploit that factor, though. Scherzer/Strasburg could demolish us before we get the chance. :( Oh, plus Harper might be done for the season after all which i would totally not root for ever cuz im classy.

 

The Dodgers are going to have their hands full with the Diamondbacks if they can win the coin flip game

[Aaron_Kennelly]

I might be just making up horsefeathers, but I feel like every time we've had a huge offensive outburst in the 2nd half, our BB/K ratio has been absolute horsefeathers. 1 BB and 9 K tonight.

 

That's like the one thing I always look for in a box score -- just because I feel like it's the one thing that's most important to consistently being successful on offense. Control the strike zone and eventually you're going to score some runs, even if you had a rough day with the bats in any particular game.

 

Not that I'm complaining about scoring 17 runs that way. I just think it's funny that we're scoring more runs when we're swinging away instead of by being patient. (Even though there's a good chance this is complete bullcrap.)

[Cubswin11]

I might be just making up horsefeathers, but I feel like every time we've had a huge offensive outburst in the 2nd half, our BB/K ratio has been absolute horsefeathers. 1 BB and 9 K tonight.

 

That's like the one thing I always look for in a box score -- just because I feel like it's the one thing that's most important to consistently being successful on offense. Control the strike zone and eventually you're going to score some runs, even if you had a rough day with the bats in any particular game.

 

Not that I'm complaining about scoring 17 runs that way. I just think it's funny that we're scoring more runs when we're swinging away instead of by being patient. (Even though there's a good chance this is complete bullcrap.)

I too typically really look at the BB/K numbers when looking at box scores and generally agree with this. A few things though, Nova has the 2nd lowest BB/9 in the league. He hasn't walked more than 3 guys in a start all year and he's had more 0 walk games (9) than 2+ walk games (8). It could have all been part of the plan of attack to swing early and often tonight. Also once we put up that 7 spot in the 5th it seemed like guys were mostly going up and swinging at the first thing close to get the game over with (and also I'm sure it's some violation of an unwritten rule to be looking for walks up 10+ in games).

[Aaron_Kennelly]

I looked this up, for every game we scored 8+, and 10+ and all the mega-outbursts, and apparently this was all a figment of my imagination. We've had a few games where we've struck out a lot and scored a bunch of runs. But, generally, we've walked a lot in most of the games we've score a bunch of runs.

 

We are striking out more and walking less overall in the 2nd half. It's not a huge difference. But maybe the other games that haven't been as good are seeping into my mind.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

I might be just making up horsefeathers, but I feel like every time we've had a huge offensive outburst in the 2nd half, our BB/K ratio has been absolute horsefeathers. 1 BB and 9 K tonight.

 

That's like the one thing I always look for in a box score -- just because I feel like it's the one thing that's most important to consistently being successful on offense. Control the strike zone and eventually you're going to score some runs, even if you had a rough day with the bats in any particular game.

 

Not that I'm complaining about scoring 17 runs that way. I just think it's funny that we're scoring more runs when we're swinging away instead of by being patient. (Even though there's a good chance this is complete bullcrap.)

I too typically really look at the BB/K numbers when looking at box scores and generally agree with this. A few things though, Nova has the 2nd lowest BB/9 in the league. He hasn't walked more than 3 guys in a start all year and he's had more 0 walk games (9) than 2+ walk games (8). It could have all been part of the plan of attack to swing early and often tonight. Also once we put up that 7 spot in the 5th it seemed like guys were mostly going up and swinging at the first thing close to get the game over with (and also I'm sure it's some violation of an unwritten rule to be looking for walks up 10+ in games).

 

Good point. I forgot Nova started. And that's probably a pretty good strategy against him.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

They're saving the 20-run game for the playoffs.

[Agony and Ivy]

I might be just making up horsefeathers, but I feel like every time we've had a huge offensive outburst in the 2nd half, our BB/K ratio has been absolute horsefeathers. 1 BB and 9 K tonight.

 

That's like the one thing I always look for in a box score -- just because I feel like it's the one thing that's most important to consistently being successful on offense. Control the strike zone and eventually you're going to score some runs, even if you had a rough day with the bats in any particular game.

 

Not that I'm complaining about scoring 17 runs that way. I just think it's funny that we're scoring more runs when we're swinging away instead of by being patient. (Even though there's a good chance this is complete bullcrap.)

I too typically really look at the BB/K numbers when looking at box scores and generally agree with this. A few things though, Nova has the 2nd lowest BB/9 in the league. He hasn't walked more than 3 guys in a start all year and he's had more 0 walk games (9) than 2+ walk games (8). It could have all been part of the plan of attack to swing early and often tonight. Also once we put up that 7 spot in the 5th it seemed like guys were mostly going up and swinging at the first thing close to get the game over with (and also I'm sure it's some violation of an unwritten rule to be looking for walks up 10+ in games).

 

Good point. I forgot Nova started. And that's probably a pretty good strategy against him.

 

First half: 10% BB and 22% K

Second half: 9.4% BB and 22.9% K

 

It's really a matter of BABIP finally taking effect and getting slugging from guys like Willy C and Schwarber. Went from a .280 BABIP and a slash line of .239/.326/.419 to a BABIP of .329 and a slash line of .278/.354/.478. This second half has brought us much closer to our 2016 line of .256/.343/.429. On the year we're slashing .252/.335/.439. It's almost like that elite offensive team didn't just all of a sudden begin to suck.

[WoodRules]

In all my 35+ years of watching the Cubs, I only remember one guy stealing home, Brian McRae in 96 or so. I have now seen Javy do it twice in the past year.

[UMFan83]

Kind of crazy that Schwarber is now tied with KB for second on the team in HRs.