Former Cubs

[17 Seconds]

15 minutes ago, Hot Sauce said:

KB will have a place in my heart for as long as I live. 

how many homegrown cubs were as productive as Kris Bryant?

[mul21]

5 minutes ago, 17 Seconds said:

how many homegrown cubs were as productive as Kris Bryant?

By the time he's done, I bet Javy has more total WAR than KB.  I was surprised to see Javy's 2 best seasons were better than KB's 2nd best season.  The defense and baserunning value in those 2018 and 2019 seasons on top of the power were absolutely nuts.  I also didn't realize how good he was after the trade to the Mets on 2021.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

KB was mostly grown when he arrived.

[We Got The Whole 9]

20 minutes ago, Ding Dong Johnson said:

KB was mostly grown when he arrived.

Apparently he was in his 50s already 

[Derwood]

Matt Mervis going off for the Marlins is kind of the happiest ending to the story, as he's doing well now that he's off the Cubs, while the Cubs are locked into Busch at first

[UMFan83]

1 hour ago, Derwood said:

Matt Mervis going off for the Marlins is kind of the happiest ending to the story, as he's doing well now that he's off the Cubs, while the Cubs are locked into Busch at first

The only thing I hate is only getting someone like Brujan back for him, though I suppose at his age and MLB track record it would be hard to expect more.  Happy he's doing well though.  I haven't followed closely enough, is he getting every day ABs or are they shielding him from bad matchups?

[Bertz]

5 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

The only thing I hate is only getting someone like Brujan back for him, though I suppose at his age and MLB track record it would be hard to expect more.  Happy he's doing well though.  I haven't followed closely enough, is he getting every day ABs or are they shielding him from bad matchups?

He has exactly 1 at bat against lefties this year, so preposterously platooned.  Also rocking a 40% strikeout rate.

Still, good for him.  Hopefully he can stick in MLB even if its likely to be a bench guy long term.

[Jason Ross]

I'm super rooting for Mervis myself because his story is pretty cool. Covid-year-undrafted two way player who rockets through the system one year, struggles and then finds his footing is not the normal route. With that said, this has a lot of hallmarks of when Nelson Velazquez showed up, hit a bunch for a hot minute, and then fell into irrelevancy. 

The hope is that the K rate and the contact rate will increase as he settles in and while the HR's wont stack up on the current bonanza rate, that he'll even out. But that might not happen, and if it doesn't, then it's probably a Nelson Velazquez type ending for him. 

[Post Count Padder]

1 hour ago, UMFan83 said:

The only thing I hate is only getting someone like Brujan back for him, though I suppose at his age and MLB track record it would be hard to expect more.  Happy he's doing well though.  I haven't followed closely enough, is he getting every day ABs or are they shielding him from bad matchups?

I mean, I hate it didn't pan out but I'm happy for him over there and will be rooting for him. It honestly looked like he might just get released to go overseas or something so like we found out with Canario and Killian and Arias, there likely wasn't a ton of interest. Brujan himself was a former top prospect but I imagine his time with us will be ending shortly.

[Stratos]

I didn't realize Mervis ran slower than both our current catchers.

[Stratos]

Cam Smith has been doing better (not trying to start a fight here LOL, just interesting to look at).

Savant says he has some good peripherals in some key places.  Very good raw power and chase (so far), surprisingly good sprint speed, whiffs are below average so far but not terrible.  To compare sprint speed, PCA and Corbin Carroll have only been a touch faster at 29.4 ft/s this year so far.

[We Got The Whole 9]

Cam Smith was given a 40 on his speed tool lmao. What are these scouts even looking at? Do they only base this off of propensity to steal and efficiency?

[Rex Buckingham]

I think Mervis is having his Hee-Seop Choi with the Marlins season

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/choihe01.shtml

[17 Seconds]

he still sucks

[Tryptamine]

30 minutes ago, Rex Buckingham said:

I think Mervis is having his Hee-Seop Choi with the Marlins season

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/choihe01.shtml

The guy is sporting a 40% K rate and 54.5 HR/FB% which is absolutely unprecedented. Even a power monster like Alonso has never exceeded 30.6%. Even Aaron Judge has never been over 35.6%. Mervis is going to come crashing down hard in about a month. 

[Rex Buckingham]

16 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

The guy is sporting a 40% K rate and 54.5 HR/FB% which is absolutely unprecedented. Even a power monster like Alonso has never exceeded 30.6%. Even Aaron Judge has never been over 35.6%. Mervis is going to come crashing down hard in about a month. 

yeah, I didn't mean the whole statistical profile, but a flash in the pan where he has brief success and then flames out totally

[CubinNY]

Mervis has a record of needing a lot of reps to get acclimated. I would not be a bit surprised if he has a long career like Matt Stairs. 

[Transmogrified Tiger]

3 hours ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

Cam Smith was given a 40 on his speed tool lmao. What are these scouts even looking at? Do they only base this off of propensity to steal and efficiency?

That is...not the side of the comparison I would be questioning.

[We Got The Whole 9]

2 dongs for Cam tonight 

[Stratos]

On 4/15/2025 at 9:32 AM, Irrelevant Dude said:

That sounds.... really bad.  He has to be getting close to calling it quits.  His back isn't going to get any better and he can't even make it through a few weeks of the season, all while not being able to perform even when he is on the field.

I remember when Bo Jackson (i believe a degenerative hip) got a hip replacement around when he played for the W.Sox.  The back is much more complex though.  Sucks to hear this.  Yeah sounds like he's close to done.  Better to walk with less pain the rest of your life than to have more millions i'd wager.  But yeah he probably just stays on the IL through his contract if it's really bad.

[Hot Sauce]

On 4/18/2025 at 10:21 PM, Stratos said:

I remember when Bo Jackson (i believe a degenerative hip) got a hip replacement around when he played for the W.Sox.  The back is much more complex though.  Sucks to hear this.  Yeah sounds like he's close to done.  Better to walk with less pain the rest of your life than to have more millions i'd wager.  But yeah he probably just stays on the IL through his contract if it's really bad.

The thing about DDD is that there are no real cures. There are some procedures that involve injecting a filler into the disk to rebuild the height, but they are relatively new and it isn’t really known how well it will hold up over time or how effective it would be for the physical demands of a professional sport. I would be surprised if KB plays much longer.

[17 Seconds]

 

[Thurman Merman]

He's a center fielder now?

[sweetpeteman]

44 minutes ago, Thurman Merman said:

He's a center fielder now?

Detroit has a few infield prospects so Javy is turning into a super utility.

[soccer10k]

Some former Cub on former Cub violence as Javy robs Soler of a HR.