2019 Cactus League Game Thread

[Sammy Sofa]

at least CJ hasn't gone off the rails yet

 

It's how he stays so thin.

[Cubswin11]

Rizzo Dong

[Cubswin11]

It’s only ~30 ABs but this Adames guy is having a nice spring. He’s no more than AAA MIF roster filler but he seems better than Mike Freeman at least.

[Deeg]

Lester continues to look terrible.

[Cubswin11]

Bote Dong

[Cubswin11]

Lester continues to look terrible.

I’m going to be surprised if he has a ERA under 4.10 or so this year.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Lester continues to look terrible.

 

It is an odd-numbered year https://www.mlb.com/player/jon-lester-452657?stats=career-s-pitching-mlb&year=2019

[Sammy Sofa]

He's also 62 in baseball years.

[Bertz]

Lester had such a weird year it's hard to say anything with much certainty about him going forward.. His 2018 was a tale of four seasons: pitching poorly with great results, pitching well with great results, pitching poorly with awful results, and then pitching well with great results again. If you're one for narratives you could very easily be encouraged; the last quarter of the season he pitched legitimately very well. You could buy that he finally learned to pitch with his diminished velocity. Conversely even the most generous interpretation of his season has his ERA ~half a run lower than deserved.

 

My guess is the real Lester is an average-ish starter by FIP and a tick better than that by ERA. Certainly no longer worth his salary, but also very clearly worth giving a rotation spot.

[Cubswin11]

Yu battled through some control issues (43 of 71 pitches for strikes but 31 of final 43 for strikes) it sounded like today but ended up getting decent results and was hitting 96.

 

4IP 3H 1R 1BB 5K 2HBP

 

2 of the hits were BS.... one seeing eye, GB, soft single and 1 line drive that’s Vic didn’t catch at 1B that bounced off his glove for a hit. One of the HBPs sounded like a soft breaking ball that just didn’t break.

[Deeg]

Maybe it's a testament to just how bad our offseason was, but Yu is actually one of the last things I'm worried about. If his elbow is healthy, he's going to be somewhere between good and great, like he always has been. Sure his elbow could blow again, but the bullpen, aging rotation and outfield production are bigger worries for me.

[Cubswin11]

Maybe it's a testament to just how bad our offseason was, but Yu is actually one of the last things I'm worried about. If his elbow is healthy, he's going to be somewhere between good and great, like he always has been. Sure his elbow could blow again, but the bullpen, aging rotation and outfield production are bigger worries for me.

I’m not that worried about the rotation, it’s going to be average at worst. I think it has a pretty safe floor and top ~7 upside. The OF will be fine, they had the 6th most OF WAR in MLB last year with the same guys coming back. The bullpen is worrisome but Theo has always figured it out, there’s enough horsefeathers thrown against the wall that some things will stick and assuming relative health.

[Brian]

Al leading of vs. a righty, but he donged to start the game

 

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[Brian]

CHATTY BACK

[Deeg]

Well, one outing, 1.2 innings - but better to see Chatwood good than bad I guess.

 

Heyward and Happ have both been awful this spring. Interesting to see how much leash Heyward has if he really struggles again.

[Cubswin11]

I think in every appearance Chatwood has come out of the bullpen in ST he hasn’t walked a guy, the only time he’s walked guy is when he started a game. Clearly he’s just a relief ace.

[Cubswin11]

Duensing .1IP 4H 4ER 0BB 0K. horsefeathering cut him already

[Deeg]

Look on the bright side. For the Phils, Victor Arano has a 51.00 ERA, .682 BAA and 6.667 WHIP in 3 IP (17 hits).

[PackLandVA]

Duensing playing the long con.

[Brian]

Yu is on the mound, MLB AtBat app says injury delay... where is my heroin when I need it?

[Brian]

and he's been removed... beat writers speculating blister on twitter. I don't believe we are that lucky.

 

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[Cubswin11]

Gonzales thinks it's a blister, they were looking at his hand/fingers. He got a hit in an AB today too, possible he maybe jammed or tweaked something swinging.

[Brian]

Gonzales confirms right ring finger blister

[soccer10k]

Edwards also got tossed for intentionally hitting a 29 year old career minor league catcher.

[squally1313]

Also, Carl's Jr just got ejected. We're playing the Mariners minor league team. So there's that.

 

(Contreras and KB got hit earlier in the game)