5/27 Cubs (Hendricks) @ Pirates (Anderson) on now

[Bertz]

Dan Winkler horsefeathering sucks. His results so far are not indicative of any actual skill or underlying things that say he’s a good pitcher. He’s a Duensing, Justin Wilson, etc type.

 

0.53 ERA (including today)

3.45 xERA (not including today)

4.32 xFIP (including today)

 

I actually somehow expected it to look even worse

 

I'm too lazy to do the research on specifics at the moment, but his velo has been up the last few weeks and that has correlated with him actually missing bats and having solid peripherals (before today).

[We Got The Whole 9]

He's safe and that was dumb

[Schwarber Fan]

Just do away with replay, he was clearly out.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

I just watched that Javy play (8 times, never gets old). I don't care what the franchise ever does again. My baseball watching career has peaked.

[Cubswin11]

Javy has 11 errors already, that seems like a lot. Easily could have 12 with that play last inning by throwing that ball he should’ve ate.

[d_money]

Nice W, moves the Cubs into a first place tie with the Turds

[raw]

First place!

[We Got The Whole 9]

We'd probably have the best offense in baseball if we never played the Pirates

[Schwarber Fan]

First place Cubs.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

[raw]

I don't just blame the first baseman the more I watch that play. The catcher gotta know what's going on. They're supposed to be the smartest/captain on the field. He's asking for the throw home. He has no reason to even be there, it's not a true rundown situation. Let Javy go all the way to the plate, it doesn't even matter. It's like Javy depending on them being stupid, and they were.

[We Got The Whole 9]

Would not have known this team won (again) reading this thread. Oh no we have an imperfect waiver wire pickup reliever, unique!

If you were managing this team would you use Winkler in HLS?

[UMFan83]

Would not have known this team won (again) reading this thread. Oh no we have an imperfect waiver wire pickup reliever, unique!

 

Game threads are so sparsely populated these days that its hard to get a good read on how a game goes by reading them. Just because no one replied 'hey nice job getting out of the jam and picking up your teammate Tepera!' doesn't mean we only enjoy discussing when the Cubs do poorly. It's worth discussing how that imperfect waiver wire pitcher was pitching the 8th inning of a 1 run game because Ross for some reason pitched both Kimbrel and Chaffin in a 3 run game last night, both for the 2nd game in a row, rendering them unusable. It's worth discussing that the guy with the sterling ERA but shaky peripherals immediately got into major trouble (hat tip to Javy too) and couldn't finish his inning.

 

We also spend basically an entire page marveling at Javy's magic work, so its not all bad here.

[squally1313]

This team is probably good enough (and the rest of the division not great enough) to play meaningful baseball the rest of the year, while still bad enough to feel like we're almost overachieving somehow. Quite the needle to thread.

[WrigleyField 22]

I don't just blame the first baseman the more I watch that play. The catcher gotta know what's going on. They're supposed to be the smartest/captain on the field. He's asking for the throw home. He has no reason to even be there, it's not a true rundown situation. Let Javy go all the way to the plate, it doesn't even matter. It's like Javy depending on them being stupid, and they were.

Once you realize Javy is a jedi who occasionally uses his jedi mind tricks in game it explains a lot.

[UMFan83]

I don't just blame the first baseman the more I watch that play. The catcher gotta know what's going on. They're supposed to be the smartest/captain on the field. He's asking for the throw home. He has no reason to even be there, it's not a true rundown situation. Let Javy go all the way to the plate, it doesn't even matter. It's like Javy depending on them being stupid, and they were.

 

Right! It's not a run down..Javy can't be 'safe at home'. I counted 6 different idiotic things the Pirates did on the play:

 

1. Not stepping on first right away

2. Not more aggressively running towards home

3. Throwing to the catcher

4. Second baseman not covering 1st

5. Catcher not immediately running towards Javy while he was making the safe gesture

6. Errant throw to 1B allowing him to reach

[chopsx9]

I don't just blame the first baseman the more I watch that play. The catcher gotta know what's going on. They're supposed to be the smartest/captain on the field. He's asking for the throw home. He has no reason to even be there, it's not a true rundown situation. Let Javy go all the way to the plate, it doesn't even matter. It's like Javy depending on them being stupid, and they were.

Once you realize Javy is a jedi who occasionally uses his jedi mind tricks in game it explains a lot.

 

I'm not the baserunner you are looking for. :shock:

[stitchface]

I don't just blame the first baseman the more I watch that play. The catcher gotta know what's going on. They're supposed to be the smartest/captain on the field. He's asking for the throw home. He has no reason to even be there, it's not a true rundown situation. Let Javy go all the way to the plate, it doesn't even matter. It's like Javy depending on them being stupid, and they were.

 

 

the radio announcer seems to think the run will count if they get Javy out.

[UMFan83]

 

I think the Pirates TV broadcast is even better:

 

https://streamable.com/oskwmc

[NonProfitCow]

I don't just blame the first baseman the more I watch that play. The catcher gotta know what's going on. They're supposed to be the smartest/captain on the field. He's asking for the throw home. He has no reason to even be there, it's not a true rundown situation. Let Javy go all the way to the plate, it doesn't even matter. It's like Javy depending on them being stupid, and they were.

 

 

the radio announcer seems to think the run will count if they get Javy out.

The radio announcer is not bright.

[Proven Veteran]

 

I think the Pirates TV broadcast is even better:

 

https://streamable.com/oskwmc

 

 

The calliopes line is great, but I love JD shouting "Go, go, you're invincible!".

[Laura]

I’m mesmerized. Every time I watch it, there’s something new and hilarious, like the first base ump’s WTF reaction after calling Javy safe at first. ALL THE HEARTS FOR JAVY

[sweetpeteman]

I don't just blame the first baseman the more I watch that play. The catcher gotta know what's going on. They're supposed to be the smartest/captain on the field. He's asking for the throw home. He has no reason to even be there, it's not a true rundown situation. Let Javy go all the way to the plate, it doesn't even matter. It's like Javy depending on them being stupid, and they were.

 

Right! It's not a run down..Javy can't be 'safe at home'. I counted 6 different idiotic things the Pirates did on the play:

 

1. Not stepping on first right away

2. Not more aggressively running towards home

3. Throwing to the catcher

4. Second baseman not covering 1st

5. Catcher not immediately running towards Javy while he was making the safe gesture

6. Errant throw to 1B allowing him to reach

 

 

That's the thing that makes this special - it's not just that the first baseman messed up, plenty of players have made dumb decisions, but that every other Pirates player just went along with it. Nobody yelling for him to go back to first or just make the tag, nobody running to cover first and get a throw. Just accepting that this is happening and it's the correct move.

[Sosa21MVP]

Well now I need to hear Pat's radio call to make this play complete! :)

 

Edit - found it on YouTube starting at the 1:34 mark.

 

Edited May 27, 2021 by Sosa21MVP

[stitchface]

I don't just blame the first baseman the more I watch that play. The catcher gotta know what's going on. They're supposed to be the smartest/captain on the field. He's asking for the throw home. He has no reason to even be there, it's not a true rundown situation. Let Javy go all the way to the plate, it doesn't even matter. It's like Javy depending on them being stupid, and they were.

 

Right! It's not a run down..Javy can't be 'safe at home'. I counted 6 different idiotic things the Pirates did on the play:

 

1. Not stepping on first right away

2. Not more aggressively running towards home

3. Throwing to the catcher

4. Second baseman not covering 1st

5. Catcher not immediately running towards Javy while he was making the safe gesture

6. Errant throw to 1B allowing him to reach

 

 

That's the thing that makes this special - it's not just that the first baseman messed up, plenty of players have made dumb decisions, but that every other Pirates player just went along with it. Nobody yelling for him to go back to first or just make the tag, nobody running to cover first and get a throw. Just accepting that this is happening and it's the correct move.

 

Its like they had a pre-series rundown of how Javy will horsefeathers with them on the bases and they were all so focused on that . . .