4/16: Cubs (Quintana) @ Marlins (López) 6:10 on CSC

[The_Achiever]

Yeah I think he's pretty healthy now but I'm also worried about the shoulder long-term. I wish he had kept the two-handed swing.

[Sammy Sofa]

My major concern with KB is the shoulder injury is still affecting him. From what I remember reading, there are some shoulder injuries that can linger long term. The thought was that this wasn't the case with KB but the more he struggles, the more concerned I get.

 

FWIW Rizzo and Zobrist have started out the season struggling just as bad as KB but no one is really talking about them. I think people get more worried about KB struggles because he's supposed to be this core's super duper duper star. If he's not, the lineup is still formidable but not game breaking like we all hoped when everyone was coming up, especially because Schwarber is not the player we were hoping and Russell is human waste. Contreras and the emergency of Javy into a star (which was starting to be in doubt after 2014) have mitigated this a bit, but the bottom line is that we need superstar KB.

 

We won 95 games with a garbage KB last year.

 

Who gave them about a .930 OPS in April and May and a .280 .384 .482 .867 line in the first half.

[Sammy Sofa]

And I looked up Zobrist after UMFan's post because I hadn't thought of there being anything off with him...and I'm still thinking there isn't despite him not having a single XBH so far this year. The guy's getting on base at a .407 clip with a BA of .295, and it seems like he is making some loud outs...so I'm kinda fine with it?

[squally1313]

My major concern with KB is the shoulder injury is still affecting him. From what I remember reading, there are some shoulder injuries that can linger long term. The thought was that this wasn't the case with KB but the more he struggles, the more concerned I get.

 

FWIW Rizzo and Zobrist have started out the season struggling just as bad as KB but no one is really talking about them. I think people get more worried about KB struggles because he's supposed to be this core's super duper duper star. If he's not, the lineup is still formidable but not game breaking like we all hoped when everyone was coming up, especially because Schwarber is not the player we were hoping and Russell is human waste. Contreras and the emergency of Javy into a star (which was starting to be in doubt after 2014) have mitigated this a bit, but the bottom line is that we need superstar KB.

 

We won 95 games with a garbage KB last year.

 

Who gave them about a .930 OPS in April and May and a .280 .384 .482 .867 line in the first half.

 

Ok fine, we won 95 games with a Kris Bryant that gave us 2.3 fWAR for the year. Right now ZIPs has him giving us 4.3 total for this year. That would be a pretty significant disappointment given our expectations after 2016 (and even after 2017). And still a clear improvement over what he gave us last year, when, again, we won 95 games.

[squally1313]

And I looked up Zobrist after UMFan's post because I hadn't thought of there being anything off with him...and I'm still thinking there isn't despite him not having a single XBH so far this year. The guy's getting on base at a .407 clip with a BA of .295, and it seems like he is making some loud outs...so I'm kinda fine with it?

I don't know enough about this statistics to really speak to them, and they all come with SSS issues obviously...LD% is up (would be a career high), but hard hit percentage is down a good amount. BABIP is in line with last year. I think he'll be fine....he doesn't have to hit any XBH if he can keep the OBP. But I think it's fair to expect less power just from general aging.

[Sammy Sofa]

And I looked up Zobrist after UMFan's post because I hadn't thought of there being anything off with him...and I'm still thinking there isn't despite him not having a single XBH so far this year. The guy's getting on base at a .407 clip with a BA of .295, and it seems like he is making some loud outs...so I'm kinda fine with it?

I don't know enough about this statistics to really speak to them, and they all come with SSS issues obviously...LD% is up (would be a career high), but hard hit percentage is down a good amount. BABIP is in line with last year. I think he'll be fine....he doesn't have to hit any XBH if he can keep the OBP. But I think it's fair to expect less power just from general aging.

 

Yeah, I wasn't really expecting him to hit for much power to begin with given his age and recent injury history.

[Sammy Sofa]

 

We won 95 games with a garbage KB last year.

 

Who gave them about a .930 OPS in April and May and a .280 .384 .482 .867 line in the first half.

 

Ok fine, we won 95 games with a Kris Bryant that gave us 2.3 fWAR for the year. Right now ZIPs has him giving us 4.3 total for this year. That would be a pretty significant disappointment given our expectations after 2016 (and even after 2017). And still a clear improvement over what he gave us last year, when, again, we won 95 games.

 

ZIPs is being REAL generous right now.

 

And go with the whole "they won 95 games" mantra all you want. That was then.

[squally1313]

 

Who gave them about a .930 OPS in April and May and a .280 .384 .482 .867 line in the first half.

 

Ok fine, we won 95 games with a Kris Bryant that gave us 2.3 fWAR for the year. Right now ZIPs has him giving us 4.3 total for this year. That would be a pretty significant disappointment given our expectations after 2016 (and even after 2017). And still a clear improvement over what he gave us last year, when, again, we won 95 games.

 

ZIPs is being REAL generous right now.

 

And go with the whole "they won 95 games" mantra all you want. That was then.

 

Fair, and that's a real uphill battle from 7-9...88-58 if my math is right, though that winning percentage over a full 162 only gets you 98 wins, so all hope is not lost.

 

I'm just saying a 4.3 win KB can be both a disappointment and not the end of the world for the Cubs. And that I'd take the over on 4.3 in a heartbeat.

[Sammy Sofa]

Oh, I would, too. I'm just not feeling too good about it right now. Dude looks so far beyond even "oh yeah, Rizzo always sucks in April" levels.

[jersey cubs fan]

And I looked up Zobrist after UMFan's post because I hadn't thought of there being anything off with him...and I'm still thinking there isn't despite him not having a single XBH so far this year. The guy's getting on base at a .407 clip with a BA of .295, and it seems like he is making some loud outs...so I'm kinda fine with it?

He has the best ab and contact Monday night.

[Sammy Sofa]

I feel like he's been the 2019 Cubs King of WTP so far. He's certainly not just getting by on a bunch of seeing eye dribblers.

[squally1313]

But talking about the Cubs as WTP kings is pretty much an April tradition, isn't it? Outside of Friday afternoon (where we hit 4 dongs, most of which being majestic), the weather has been bad, as it always is, and when it warms up that long fly outs turn into dongs.

[Sammy Sofa]

I'm not looking at the team like that at all; the Cubs are 10th in dongs, and only 4 off from the #5 spot. It's just Zobrist especially who seems to be a guy who is hitting well while getting JUST short on some big shots.

[squally1313]

Yeah got it...just from reading your post I thought you were talking about KB. Zobrist will be fine assuming he stays healthy. KB will be fine for other reasons. My happiness at Contreras' start is far outweighing my KB concerns.

[Cubswin11]

I'm not looking at the team like that at all; the Cubs are 10th in dongs, and only 4 off from the #5 spot. It's just Zobrist especially who seems to be a guy who is hitting well while getting JUST short on some big shots.

We probably are higher at per game Dongs too? I’d assume we’ve played 1-3 less games than most teams.

[Sammy Sofa]

All I know is that despite Bryzzo actually being that black hole that was discovered last week, I'm feeling much better about the Cubs' dongs this year.

[Bryants Disco Ball]

Just for fun: Right now, if the years and money were the exact same, who would you want signed to extension more: Javy or KB?

[squally1313]

Kris Bryant. And then I would take the money we saved on Kris Bryant, and use it to sign Baez to an extension.

[Bryants Disco Ball]

Kris Bryant. And then I would take the money we saved on Kris Bryant, and use it to sign Baez to an extension.

 

Hahaha. That's not an option in this hypothetical.

 

But that would be the best idea, yes.

[BigSlick]

Friendship ended with Rizzo and Bryant, now Descalso, Heyward, Baez and Contreras are my best friends

[BigSlick]

Baseball has been upgraded from “bad” to “mediocre”