John Mallee

[woodchip2153]

First of all, I don't think he is a bad hitting coach or anything, but I wouldn't mind seeing a change. Like I said, I don't think he's bad, but I do think there are better hitting coaches out there.

 

I don't know enough about swing mechanics to comment on that, but I don't like the approach of the hitters. It seems to me that they guess or predetermine if they will swing too much.

 

I know the offense has been really good, but I also feel like it has under performed a little the last two years.

 

Ultimately I trust the decisions the front office makes, but what are some thoughts?

[David]

Underperformed lol

[Banedon]

I know the offense has been really good, but I also feel like it has under performed a little the last two years.

 

Can you explain how you think they've under-performed? I mean...yeah, the offense slumped against two of the best pitching staffs in baseball in the playoffs...no doubt. But, that's 10 games...

[Ding Dong Johnson]

they've put up some really good offensive numbers under his watch with a bunch of kids. I don't see the problem here*

 

*except he seems to have killed Heyward

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I think a fanbase's ability to judge a hitting coach(or pitching coach) is basically 0.0%. I think the front office is full of smart people, so I'll have to trust their judgment when it comes to what coaches to retain or fire.

[jersey cubs fan]

I know the offense has been really good, but I also feel like it has under performed a little the last two years.

 

are you for serious?

[javy knows my name]

I think a fanbase's ability to judge a hitting coach(or pitching coach) is basically 0.0%. I think the front office is full of smart people, so I'll have to trust their judgment when it comes to what coaches to retain or fire.

 

I'd say you can judge approach right? So, P/PA is about the only tangible metric you can point to, and we've been exceptional there over the last 3 years

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I think a fanbase's ability to judge a hitting coach(or pitching coach) is basically 0.0%. I think the front office is full of smart people, so I'll have to trust their judgment when it comes to what coaches to retain or fire.

 

I'd say you can judge approach right? So, P/PA is about the only tangible metric you can point to, and we've been exceptional there over the last 3 years

 

I mean, you can get some broad strokes indicators, but extracting how much of that is the hitting coach's influence v. talent level/inclination of the players v. organizational edict independent of a hitting coach is basically impossible.

[minnesotacubsfan]

I think its natural to have some anxiety as to why the offense died in the playoffs, but this seems like jumping off a cliff

[Thed Hoyerstein]

I know the offense has been really good, but I also feel like it has under performed a little the last two years.

 

NL Rank last two years:

 

1st wRC+

1st OBP

1st BB%

7th K%

2nd runs scored (Rockies)

 

[sweetpeteman]

I know the offense has been really good, but I also feel like it has under performed a little the last two years.

 

NL Rank last two years:

 

1st wRC+

1st OBP

1st BB%

7th K%

2nd runs scored (Rockies)

 

 

 

Really shows how talented they are to overcome a nincompoop like John Mallee.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

I hear Dusty Baker is looking for work.

[woodchip2153]

Underperformed lol

 

must have been a different David who was posting about how awesome the offense was going to be, or maybe I'm wrong in thinking a 101 wRC+ isn't awesome.

[woodchip2153]

I know the offense has been really good, but I also feel like it has under performed a little the last two years.

 

Can you explain how you think they've under-performed? I mean...yeah, the offense slumped against two of the best pitching staffs in baseball in the playoffs...no doubt. But, that's 10 games...

 

They had a slightly better than average wOBA and wRC+ this year. I expected better, and I think most people here and in the baseball world did too.

 

And yes, I know they were a lot better in the second half.

[woodchip2153]

I think a fanbase's ability to judge a hitting coach(or pitching coach) is basically 0.0%. I think the front office is full of smart people, so I'll have to trust their judgment when it comes to what coaches to retain or fire.

 

agreed, but thought it might be worth discussing

[David]

Underperformed lol

 

must have been a different David who was posting about how awesome the offense was going to be, or maybe I'm wrong in thinking a 101 wRC+ isn't awesome.

 

It was 2nd in the NL. The Dodgers were at 104. What?

[woodchip2153]

I know the offense has been really good, but I also feel like it has under performed a little the last two years.

 

are you for serious?

 

yes, I can't find the preseason projections, but I think they were projecting better than a wRC+ of 105 and 101, and IIRC many here thought the projections were too low.

[David]

I know the offense has been really good, but I also feel like it has under performed a little the last two years.

 

Can you explain how you think they've under-performed? I mean...yeah, the offense slumped against two of the best pitching staffs in baseball in the playoffs...no doubt. But, that's 10 games...

 

They had a slightly better than average wOBA and wRC+ this year. I expected better, and I think most people here and in the baseball world did too.

 

And yes, I know they were a lot better in the second half.

 

2nd in the NL in both categories... (5th in MLB for wOBA and 8th in wRC+)

[woodchip2153]

Underperformed lol

 

must have been a different David who was posting about how awesome the offense was going to be, or maybe I'm wrong in thinking a 101 wRC+ isn't awesome.

 

It was 2nd in the NL. The Dodgers were at 104. What?

 

Yes it was really good. You were laughing at the projections that had the Dodgers better than the Cubs, and those were the team projections, that IIRC had the Dodgers in front mainly based on pitching.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I know the offense has been really good, but I also feel like it has under performed a little the last two years.

 

are you for serious?

 

yes, I can't find the preseason projections, but I think they were projecting better than a wRC+ of 105 and 101, and IIRC many here thought the projections were too low.

 

wRC+ isn't going to be the best option to compare team-wide for an NL team. One NL team has had a wRC+ above 108 in any of the last 5 seasons, the AL has had 8 instances.

 

The last 2 years combined, the Cubs have the best wOBA and wRC+ in the NL. They have been tremendous from an OBP standpoint, leading the way in BB% and only the Rockies come within 10 points of OBP(which is a huge gap at the team level). Are they capable of leading the pack by even more? Probably, but 'underperformed' is a real tough sell for me.

[jersey cubs fan]

they were the greatest but they should have been the grrrrrreatest

[woodchip2153]

 

are you for serious?

 

yes, I can't find the preseason projections, but I think they were projecting better than a wRC+ of 105 and 101, and IIRC many here thought the projections were too low.

 

wRC+ isn't going to be the best option to compare team-wide for an NL team. One NL team has had a wRC+ above 108 in any of the last 5 seasons, the AL has had 8 instances.

 

The last 2 years combined, the Cubs have the best wOBA and wRC+ in the NL. They have been tremendous from an OBP standpoint, leading the way in BB% and only the Rockies come within 10 points of OBP(which is a huge gap at the team level). Are they capable of leading the pack by even more? Probably, but 'underperformed' is a real tough sell for me.

 

Ok, maybe it was a poor choice of words. I know this offense is really good, but I think they could be even better.

 

And again, I don't think Mallee is bad or even not good, but there might be better out there.

 

Maybe it's because I watch the Cubs more than any other team, but I feel like they get caught guessing more than other teams. I don't know, but I think that philosophy might come from the coaches, and I assume that would be Mallee.

 

I'm also not going to pretend to know what it takes to hit major league pitching, but I feel like they guess too much. If the coaching staff and front office, don't think a change needs to be made, they have more information than I do, and I trust them. The players, for the most part, aren't changing, so when looking at improving the offense, why not talk about the coaching.

[davell]

I see where he's probably coming from. I THINK anyway. He may be looking at Russell and Schwarber struggling, Heyward and Zobrist too.....The rest just seemed to do what's expected.....

 

To that, I'd say the young guys are just that. They're young. Either of those 2 could make a huge leap next year. Zobrist is getting old. He may or may not bounce back. Heyward? Eh, he's just a bad deal at this point.

 

At any rate, if things go 100% as expected, we'd have the best offense in baseball. The talent is there for it. But, things never go completely as planned either. Just be happy that we've got an elite offense. It'll be more elite some years than others.

 

But, I doubt Mailee or anyone else is going to truly do much to change the path of how its going to go, in am honesty.

[David]

If Heyward went out next year and somehow lucked into a normal (pre-Cubs) Heyward year where he played elite defense, hit like .280/.380/.440 (which is good for maybe like 4-5 WAR)...would he opt out?

[Transmogrified Tiger]

If Heyward went out next year and somehow lucked into a normal (pre-Cubs) Heyward year where he played elite defense, hit like .280/.380/.440 (which is good for maybe like 4-5 WAR)...would he opt out?

 

Heyward will be 29 on opening day 2019 and will be guaranteed 5/106 if he stays. He'd have to really crush the ball to be sure he would get that type of money. Heyward does have a second opt out after 2019 though, so if he puts together consecutive good not great offensive seasons, I could see him opting out of 4/86 at 30.