9/30 Marlins (Alcantara) at Cubs (Hendricks) 1:00 CT ABC

[soccer10k]

Welcome back to the playoffs Cubs!

 

So the last time the Cubs were in the playoffs, things didn't go all that well. But this year, we're guaranteed at least two Cubs playoff games this year rather than one, so that's good. I have to say, I really feel bad for ESPN because I have no idea what storylines they're going to talk about during these games since the Cubs and Marlins have no prior playoff history for them to talk about.

 

I'm going to assume that the Cubs are going to start Darvish but nothing has been announced so I'll update the thread title when things are official. Four years ago, going with some old fashioned Fred stats seemed to work well for me so I'll go back to that well.

 

CUBS are 34-26

CUBS are 17-13 at home (19-14 if you count the three Cards games at Wrigley where the Cubs were the road team as home games)

CUBS are 0-0 against the Marlins this year

CUBS are 111-102 against the Marlins all-time

CUBS are 7-5 when Hendricks starts

CUBS are 5-5 on Wednesdays

 

GO CUBS!!!!

Edited September 29, 2020 by soccer10k

[Cubswin11]

The game is on ABC, fwiw. But guessing it’s also available on ESPN streaming as well.

 

I don’t really care or prefer what way they go, but I’d bet Hendricks goes Game 1. He’ll be on 7 days rest (don’t know if you if you want him on even more rest Thursday), Yu is regular rest Wednesday and extra day Thursday so getting him 1 extra day wouldn’t be the worst thing.

[We Got The Whole 9]

The Marlins have yet to lose a playoff series.

 

horsefeathering curb stomp them. Their history annoys me.

[UMFan83]

I get that ABC owns ESPN but I can’t remember the last time they’ve aired a baseball broadcast (other than ABC7 Cubs games). I’m guessing it’s a way to show all of the games since many will overlap

[itisallpartoftheplan]

8 playoff games Wednesday with 4 of them being elimination games for teams that lose Tuesday. Should be fun. I took the day off work.

 

Anyways, we exorcised the WS demons now we need to do the same to the Marlins.

[Bertz]

I believe I saw that the Marlins are going Alcantara-Lopez-Sanchez in this series. Lopez is probably the best of those three, but he's had a crummy September.

 

Marlins have an 89 wRC+ against righties, and a 111 against lefties. So even beyond the fact that he's clearly cooked Jon Lester *really* shouldn't be starting in this series.

[raw]

LET'S GOOOOOO! My first game thread post this year (I think). Haven't watched the team much live this season. Last game I watched was a no-hitter though.

[Brian707]

I would think Yu game 1. So if they advance Yu can go game 1 NLDS next Monday on regular rest

[bukie]

I admittedly know less about the Marlins than I do any of the playoff teams this year, so I did a bit of research, and the question coming out of the research is: How in the world did the Marlins make the playoffs this year? I'm not sure there's anything they do particularly well.

 

- As a team, they were outscored by 41 runs on the season, bested only by the Pirates and Rockies for worst RD in the NL.

- They scored 263 runs, 2 fewer than the Cubs who basically shut their offense off for the entirety of September.

- As a team, they hit 60 HRs, better than only the Pirates, Indians, Diamondbacks and Cardinals (who played 2 fewer games)

- Their team OBP was .319, good enough for 17th in baseball (Cuts were 18th at .318)

- The one thing they did excel at was SB, where they stole 51 bases, good for second in baseball. They were successful 78% of the time.

- Their starting pitching FIP was 5.02, good for 26th in baseball. Their starting pitching fWAR was 1.9, good for 28th in baseball, or 2/3 of a Yu Darvish (3.0 fWAR). Their best starting pitchers (top 3 are similar) had peripherals similar to Alzolay for the season.

- Their relievers had a 5.65 FIP and -1.5 fWAR, good for 29th in baseball (Cubs ended up 18th). Their closer is Brandon Kintzler, who should be familiar to Cubs fans, and he hasn't exactly been stellar this season, despite a deceptively good looking ERA (similar to Jeffress, but Jeffress has better peripherals).

- Their best reliever (and arguably best player ovreall) has been Yimi Garcia, with a 0.60 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP. He's a righty that throws FB/CH/SL, sitting just under 95 on the fastball, but he's been effective in 14 appearances for the Marlins this season after spending the prior 6 seasons with the Dodgers.

- Their best hitter has been either 31 year old veteran Miguel Rojas, who has doubled his walk rate this year and has a .392 OBP, or 27 year old Brian Anderson, who led the team in HRs with 11, and had a K rate of 28%, similar to Schwarber this year.

[Brian]

Sounds like Marlins in 2.

[PackLandVA]

None of those Marlins’ stats matter if the Cubs can’t score runs. Hoping KB, Rizz and Javy activate their “power ups” during the postseason.

[Brian]

and we have no idea where the next Orlando Arcia is lurking in that lineup.

[Derwood]

The lack of quality GIF's in this thread portends DOOOOOOM

[UMFan83]

LET'S GOOOOOO! My first game thread post this year (I think). Haven't watched the team much live this season. Last game I watched was a no-hitter though.

 

The last game you watched was a game that was being played opposite a Bears game?

[UMFan83]

The lack of quality GIF's in this thread portends DOOOOOOM

 

 

Just ignore the World Series part and the gator logo

[UMFan83]

This Cubs offense facing Marlins pitching

 

[raw]

LET'S GOOOOOO! My first game thread post this year (I think). Haven't watched the team much live this season. Last game I watched was a no-hitter though.

 

The last game you watched was a game that was being played opposite a Bears game?

 

It was on the TV. Game was on the computer. Honestly, it was background fodder during non-commercials. But I believe the Bears game ended around the 6th inning.

[Brian707]

Extra innings in the post season is like it was pre 2020 correct?

[UMFan83]

The lack of quality GIF's in this thread portends DOOOOOOM

 

LMK if I'm doing this right:

 

 

 

[Andy]

Extra innings in the post season is like it was pre 2020 correct?

Yes, no rapid-fire result generators in the playoffs.

[stitchface]

LET'S GOOOOOO! My first game thread post this year (I think). Haven't watched the team much live this season. Last game I watched was a no-hitter though.

 

The last game you watched was a game that was being played opposite a Bears game?

 

It was on the TV. Game was on the computer. Honestly, it was background fodder during non-commercials. But I believe the Bears game ended around the 6th inning.

 

 

shouldn't really be an issue since football games are about 85% commercials.

[squally1313]

I kept seeing Sixto pop up on like, PitchingNinja and what not, and knew he was a top prospect, and figured he was racking up tons of Ks. Turns out he's 112th out of 158 pitchers who threw at least 30 innings this year in K/9. Good numbers, and I'm sure has the pedigree to become a top pitcher, but clearly a step below Hendricks/Yu.

[Sammy Sofa]

The lack of quality GIF's in this thread portends DOOOOOOM

 

[Ding Dong Johnson]

The lack of quality GIF's in this thread portends DOOOOOOM

[Cubswin11]