9/14 The Nigh Mets Are My Least Favorite Squadron (The Lugo Movie) @ Corbs (Shang Tseng) 7:05 CST ABC 7

[Cubswin11]

 

Yep we are going to start the minor league catcher with a .786 AAA OPS to catch the minor league pitcher making his MLB debut in the middle of a penant race despite having 4 other players on the roster capable of playing catcher.

 

Edit: Lineup - Jay back at leadoff!

 

[Aaron_Kennelly]

Honestly, it doesn't bother me too much. I imagine Davis and Tseng will be yanked with the quickness at the first sign of trouble. Davis is probably better than Mike Freeman -- which obviously isn't saying much. But he's plenty capable of getting a hit or two. And if they think it helps Tseng to have that familiarity, it might be worth it.

 

The whole Tseng idea itself is a wee bit crazy. But, pairing him with Davis isn't the craziest thing ever.

[Sammy Sofa]

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[Omar]

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What? How? Why?

 

...why not just spell it how its pronounced?

[Cubswin11]

Honestly, it doesn't bother me too much. I imagine Davis and Tseng will be yanked with the quickness at the first sign of trouble. Davis is probably better than Mike Freeman -- which obviously isn't saying much. But he's plenty capable of getting a hit or two. And if they think it helps Tseng to have that familiarity, it might be worth it.

 

The whole Tseng idea itself is a wee bit crazy. But, pairing him with Davis isn't the craziest thing ever.

[squally1313]

At this point I'm still mostly rooting for wins just as a Cubs fan, but also pretty excited about a Mad Men fueled winning streak. It needs to go into syndication, I could hop in wherever and thoroughly enjoy myself.

[Cubswin11]

I mean Lugo is actually a decent pitcher too, it's not like Davis is facing some bum tonight and we have an option to start a guy who has a near .900 OPS vs RHP this year in Avila. Tseng stuff, unless I'm mistaken, isn't anything spectacular so he can't be terribly hard to catch either (it's not like he's a knuckleballer or has obscene movement).

[Cubswin11]

I know it's probably not the reason, but would Davis have otherwise been called up if not for the stupid viral video thing? We still had Caritini, Avila and Rivera up while Willy was hurt. He wasn't a guy on anyone's radar for a September call up. Also wouldn't Caritini also have caught Tseng enough if we are just completely punting the catcher spot tonight why not start him?

[UMFan83]

At this point I'm still mostly rooting for wins just as a Cubs fan, but also pretty excited about a Mad Men fueled winning streak. It needs to go into syndication, I could hop in wherever and thoroughly enjoy myself.

 

It's actually syndicating on something called the Audience Network, which is only available on AT&T Uverse and Direct TV. I was at a hotel with Direct TV in July and was stunned to find the episode where Don founds Sal with the bellhop on TV in the middle of the afternoon.

[Cubswin11]

Javy when he sees Tseng and Davis in the lineup tonight even though he probably has played with them in the minors, in ST and Davis has been up for 2 weeks

 

[UMFan83]

Javy when he sees Tseng and Davis in the lineup tonight even though he probably has played with them in the minors, in ST and Davis has been up for 2 weeks

 

 

That gif was made for Javy

[Aaron_Kennelly]

I know my Davis take didn't go over well. And I'm not a huge fan of it either with Avila sitting on the bench. It's probably incredibly stupid. But your first big league start ever is a different animal. There's sure to be some serious nerves. It could help having a guy you know back there. Also, if they have the quickest of hooks -- which they should -- Davis might not even bat. Basically, if things are going well, Tseng stays in and the Cubs have a lead. If not, they both come out and we get Avila in there.

 

What I really don't understand is Jon Jay playing. (And Heyward, for that matter.) Jay was brought in to provide some stability since we didn't know what we had in center. He did a fine job. He lived up to expectations. He helped us out plenty along the way. But he's not very good. And we have two rookies that are both better than him defensively in center. One has a .919 OPS against lefties. The other has an .862 OPS against righties. We don't need Jay to start games any more. We have better options. He's got like a .620 OPS in the second-half to top things off. He needs to be a bench bat. Period. Quit horsefeathering starting him.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

And that goes back to starting Davis. If you're wasting one spot in the order... not a huge deal. We won 103 games and a World Series playing Jason Heyward every day, after all. But, if you are going to go with Davis, you have to get the rest of the trash out of there.

[weis21]

and jay is a horsefeathering beast at pinch hitting to boot

[Aaron_Kennelly]

and jay is a horsefeathering beast at pinch hitting to boot

 

Yeah, he can still help us out. He's not a bad player. It' just that we have better players and they need to start. And he's the type of guy that can help out in different ways.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

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[weis21]

and jay is a horsefeathering beast at pinch hitting to boot

 

Yeah, he can still help us out. He's not a bad player. It' just that we have better players and they need to start. And he's the type of guy that can help out in different ways.

agreed. he was signed originally (at least that was my impression) to be a contingency plan for almora. we have almora and happ and now joe's fallen in love with his smile or something while the other two outplay him. he's pretty much the perfect 4th OF for this team.

 

...

 

he will go 4-4 tonight, now. duke and i will align our powers

[UMFan83]

And that goes back to starting Davis. If you're wasting one spot in the order... not a huge deal. We won 103 games and a World Series playing Jason Heyward every day, after all. But, if you are going to go with Davis, you have to get the rest of the trash out of there.

 

Not to mention Heyward is playing tonight too.

[Omar]

who knows maybe he'll be up with the bases loaded, no outs. Then a slow roller to 2B will be somewhat welcomed.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

And that goes back to starting Davis. If you're wasting one spot in the order... not a huge deal. We won 103 games and a World Series playing Jason Heyward every day, after all. But, if you are going to go with Davis, you have to get the rest of the trash out of there.

 

Not to mention Heyward is playing tonight too.

 

Yeah. He needs to go to the bench with Jay when Russell comes back. He's just bad. He has no power and there's no hope in him finding it this year. Zobrist becomes your RF. Heyward comes in and plays defense late. I haven't been too critical of who's playing, because we've scored a ton of runs since the break. And we've had guys out, which has affected our depth. But with guys getting healthy, and Zobrist coming to life, no more. horsefeathering park them on the bench if they can't hit.

 

I don't think this is a dire situation or anything like that. We have 6 guys that are gonna hit well over 20 homers. Plus Russell, who has that in him if he's healthy. And we have some great platoon-type guys like La Stella and Almora.

 

It's just that it's time to buckle down and quit horsefeathering around.

[cl smooth]

what's the latest on russell? is there a date for his return?

[jersey cubs fan]

what's the latest on russell? is there a date for his return?

he's taking BP and running bases

[squally1313]

And that goes back to starting Davis. If you're wasting one spot in the order... not a huge deal. We won 103 games and a World Series playing Jason Heyward every day, after all. But, if you are going to go with Davis, you have to get the rest of the trash out of there.

 

Not to mention Heyward is playing tonight too.

 

Yeah. He needs to go to the bench with Jay when Russell comes back. He's just bad. He has no power and there's no hope in him finding it this year. Zobrist becomes your RF. Heyward comes in and plays defense late. I haven't been too critical of who's playing, because we've scored a ton of runs since the break. And we've had guys out, which has affected our depth. But with guys getting healthy, and Zobrist coming to life, no more. horsefeathering park them on the bench if they can't hit.

 

I don't think this is a dire situation or anything like that. We have 6 guys that are gonna hit well over 20 homers. Plus Russell, who has that in him if he's healthy. And we have some great platoon-type guys like La Stella and Almora.

 

It's just that it's time to buckle down and quit horsefeathering around.

 

I hated defense as much as anyone...until last year. Now, the idea of tossing out Schwarber/Happ/Zobrist across the outfield is something concerning. You think Zobrist as an offensive upgrade over Heyward is enough to offset the defense?

 

If it was up to me, platoon Schwarber and Almora, Happ starts every day in either center or left. Heyward starts against righties, Zobrist plays right against lefties (which is when Almora is playing). Only leaves two spots at SS and 2B against righties for Russell/Baez/Zobrist, but who knows what we're getting from Russell and Baez' 85 wRC against righties isn't a must start. Can also throw Bryant in a corner outfield spot and let Baez/Russell shut down the left side.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

 

I hated defense as much as anyone...until last year. Now, the idea of tossing out Schwarber/Happ/Zobrist across the outfield is something concerning. You think Zobrist as an offensive upgrade over Heyward is enough to offset the defense?

 

If it was up to me, platoon Schwarber and Almora, Happ starts every day in either center or left. Heyward starts against righties, Zobrist plays right against lefties (which is when Almora is playing). Only leaves two spots at SS and 2B against righties for Russell/Baez/Zobrist, but who knows what we're getting from Russell and Baez' 85 wRC against righties isn't a must start. Can also throw Bryant in a corner outfield spot and let Baez/Russell shut down the left side.

 

I do think it's worth it. Heyward's bat is gone. We tried to let him play through it in the post-season last year and he OPS'd .307. No amount of defense is making up for that.

 

Heyward's actually done alright lately. But it's all singles. I was just looking at things, and over his last 20 or so games he's done alright. He's been more patient and is walking more. And he's got his BA up, but it's all because of BABIP. He's hit a lot more line drives. And line drive rate is fluky and unstable. His average exit velocity in that time is 83 mph. It was 84 mph for that month before that when he hit like .200/.260/.290. He just has no power.

 

He started off the year as a different guy than last year. He was actually hitting the ball hard. I don't know if it was the injury or what. But he fell back into his old habits. And now he's the exact same guy he was last year. He might be able to BABIP his way to respectability for a few weeks. But when those singles quit falling in, he is worthless.

 

When Zobrist was still struggling, I would have been fine with going with the glove. But Zobrist looks like he's all the way back to normal at this point. And we're too deep and talented to be playing Heyward -- defense be damned.

[squally1313]

Fair points. Assuming Heyward on the bench, any reason to explore Zobrist staying at second, Baez at third, Bryant to right? Figure athleticism is more important in RF than at second, but I know KB hasn't played a ton of it this year. Also thought about throwing Contreras out there if Avila kept hitting, but after the injury I doubt that's a possibility.