2017 NLCS GAME 2 (Oct 15) Lester vs the old cub on the Hill. 6:30 CST TBS

[squally1313]

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/joe-maddon-had-a-bad-night/

 

Cameron is hit or miss, but I agree with pretty much everything here.

[minnesotacubsfan]

Im never starting a game thread again

[Sammy Sofa]

Time for tree nachos gam thread.

[minnesotacubsfan]

Question: does jensens cutter always sit about 92 mph and 6’ above the plate? Is that why it looks like a beach ball? Or did we simply horsefeathers the bed because we were in awe?

[Liam Neeson]

I would have rather seen Avila and Schwarber instead of Contreras and Almora against Jansen in the 9th.

[LeonDurham]

 

Do you see the problem here?

 

 

Here’s the thing. Wades arm is about to fall off. And they haven’t hit worth horsefeathers for the entire playoffs. Roll the dice with lackey who’s been ok lately.

 

This isn't horsefeathering June. It's October. Wade didn't pitch on Friday, he didn't pitch Saturday and he's not going to pitch on Monday. Nobody is saying to run him out there for 50 pitches again. But it's the top of the order with the game on the line. You don't go down with your 8th best pitcher. You leave Duensing in and hope to steal one against 7-8-9? Sure. But when the inning got dirty, you bring in your best pitcher. He should have been brought in for Taylor.

 

 

I understand the points.

 

But you can't blame Maddon for Lackey's horrific pitch sequence vs. the guy in front of Turner. Those pitches weren't even close. And unlike our hitters, their hitters don't swing at garbage in the dirt as often. Lackey is the one that fucked up here. No Maddon. And the fact is, we don't have a single reliever outside of the spent Wade Davis who is even remotely reliable in terms of pitching in the strike zone. And he was spent.

 

What happens if Lackey gets out of the inning. Then what. As far as Joe knows, the Cubs could go 3-4-5 innings before getting a run. At least Lackey has a shot to settle down and pitch a few more innings. You bring Davis in that situation and you're in a situation where you have to use another pitcher anyways in all likelihood. Best case scenario, its another multiple inning outing for him.

 

Joe gets second guessed for his decision making. If you are second guessing him for anything, then how about getting his players prepared not to suck ass in the playoffs. The players are simply not performing on the field.

[David]

we need to start the game 3 thread and wash this miserable taste away

[Sammy Sofa]

 

 

Here’s the thing. Wades arm is about to fall off. And they haven’t hit worth horsefeathers for the entire playoffs. Roll the dice with lackey who’s been ok lately.

 

This isn't horsefeathering June. It's October. Wade didn't pitch on Friday, he didn't pitch Saturday and he's not going to pitch on Monday. Nobody is saying to run him out there for 50 pitches again. But it's the top of the order with the game on the line. You don't go down with your 8th best pitcher. You leave Duensing in and hope to steal one against 7-8-9? Sure. But when the inning got dirty, you bring in your best pitcher. He should have been brought in for Taylor.

 

 

I understand the points.

 

But you can't blame Maddon for Lackey's horrific pitch sequence vs. the guy in front of Turner. Those pitches weren't even close. And unlike our hitters, their hitters don't swing at garbage in the dirt as often. Lackey is the one that horsefeathers up here. No Maddon. And the fact is, we don't have a single reliever outside of the spent Wade Davis who is even remotely reliable in terms of pitching in the strike zone. And he was spent.

 

What happens if Lackey gets out of the inning. Then what. As far as Joe knows, the Cubs could go 3-4-5 innings before getting a run. At least Lackey has a shot to settle down and pitch a few more innings. You bring Davis in that situation and you're in a situation where you have to use another pitcher anyways in all likelihood. Best case scenario, its another multiple inning outing for him.

 

Joe gets second guessed for his decision making. If you are second guessing him for anything, then how about getting his players prepared not to suck ass in the playoffs. The players are simply not performing on the field.

 

How did this get 2 likes?

[ScrubMD]

I would have rather seen Avila and Schwarber instead of Contreras and Almora against Jansen in the 9th.

 

Maddon has been managing like he's terrified of running out of bench players. If the game was determined by who had the most unused pinch hitters, we'd be on a roll.

[Andy]

 

 

Here’s the thing. Wades arm is about to fall off. And they haven’t hit worth horsefeathers for the entire playoffs. Roll the dice with lackey who’s been ok lately.

 

This isn't horsefeathering June. It's October. Wade didn't pitch on Friday, he didn't pitch Saturday and he's not going to pitch on Monday. Nobody is saying to run him out there for 50 pitches again. But it's the top of the order with the game on the line. You don't go down with your 8th best pitcher. You leave Duensing in and hope to steal one against 7-8-9? Sure. But when the inning got dirty, you bring in your best pitcher. He should have been brought in for Taylor.

 

 

I understand the points.

 

But you can't blame Maddon for Lackey's horrific pitch sequence vs. the guy in front of Turner. Those pitches weren't even close. And unlike our hitters, their hitters don't swing at garbage in the dirt as often. Lackey is the one that horsefeathers up here. No Maddon. And the fact is, we don't have a single reliever outside of the spent Wade Davis who is even remotely reliable in terms of pitching in the strike zone. And he was spent.

 

What happens if Lackey gets out of the inning. Then what. As far as Joe knows, the Cubs could go 3-4-5 innings before getting a run. At least Lackey has a shot to settle down and pitch a few more innings. You bring Davis in that situation and you're in a situation where you have to use another pitcher anyways in all likelihood. Best case scenario, its another multiple inning outing for him.

 

Joe gets second guessed for his decision making. If you are second guessing him for anything, then how about getting his players prepared not to suck ass in the playoffs. The players are simply not performing on the field.

Lackey just pitched 1 2/3 innings Saturday. Again, what universe are you living in that leads you to believe he could've then gone "a few more innings" the very next day, when, and I can't point this out enough, he had never done this before in his entire career?

[minnesotacubsfan]

Lackey couldnt find the horsefeathering strike zone last night until he threw it right down the middle of the horsefeathering plate. If Davis was tired, Lackey most certainly was as well

[LeonDurham]

My main point is not even to defend the Lackey decision.

 

It's mainly to blame the players who aren't executing before second guessing the manager.

[Sammy Sofa]

Like Lackey.

[PackLandVA]

I would hate to be one of you weirdo Cubs and Packers fans today

 

Tell me about it. :( Hopefully Hundley will play better with a full week to prepare knowing he’s the starter. Wonder it Glennon is available. 8-[

[Andy]

My main point is not even to defend the Lackey decision.

 

It's mainly to blame the players who aren't executing before second guessing the manager.

It's the manager's job to give his team the best chance to win. It'd have been nice if John Lackey could've retired the Dodgers' best hitter right now, but he shouldn't have been in a position where he needed to.

[David]

My main point is not even to defend the Lackey decision.

 

It's mainly to blame the players who aren't executing before second guessing the manager.

 

a lot of the things that keep the hitters/offense from performing are beyond your control, but one thing you can control is making optimal decisions as a manager. it's not that maddon is more responsible than the offensive woes, it's that maddon's job is much easier, for lack of better phrasing.

[Bote McBoteface]

I predicted that we would win games 3,5,6 and 7. So, I guess I doomed you guys to this. Sorry. You'll be happy in the end though.

[squally1313]

Slightly different complaint, but it's pretty shocking in retrospect that they didn't decide to add a 12th pitcher given the circumstances. A late game 5 the day after game 4 where the pen threw a ton of pitches followed by a cross country flight and the next game less than 48 hours later. Obviously given how Maddon has doled out playing time, Leonys Martin getting an inning of defense is more important than a Justin Wilson, but I spent a lot of the game last night trying to figure out who I was forgetting in the pen, since everyone seemed to be tired/unavailable.