No Morel, No Velasquez -> No Watch (2022-06-22)

[Tim]

Once again, Villar and Heyward in over the rookies.

 

Cubs management, "Heyward is going to hit..."

[Backtobanks]

Once again, Villar and Heyward in over the rookies.

 

Cubs management, "Heyward is going to hit..."

 

Trying to build up Heyward and Villar's trade value before the deadline.

[UMFan83]

Figures that after all the 2016 heroes were cast aside, Heyward is the one Cubs management stays loyal to until the very end.

[CubinNY]

Ortega stays hot

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Villar just hit a double down the line where he stared straight up off the bat like he popped it up

 

Never seen that before, what a pioneer he is

[Derwood]

This is unusual

[CubinNY]

Brought the bats tonight against this tomato can.

[NewUserName]

I just look up Happs numbers on the season and I see has already set a career high in WAR....by almost a whole Win

[Cubswin11]

Positive RD by the 4th at this rate

[Transmogrified Tiger]

how many groundballs with huge sunday hops can one man boot

[Bertz]

I'm feeling increasingly confident about the viability of Thompson and Steele as viable MLB starters. Steele feels pretty locked in as a back end/swingman type, but Thompson seems to still have a shot at being a guy you want in your rotation, not just a guy you're okay with having in your rotation.

[UMFan83]

I love how they have to pitch Givens and Robertson in a 10-1 game simply so their arms can stay fresh

[Bertz]

 

Okay yeah Keegan might be turning into a thing

[UMFan83]

Keegan Thompson has pitched at least 2.2 IP in 15 of his 16 appearances this year. He has allowed 1 ER or less in 12 of those 15 appearances.

 

Also while it makes no sense to just throw out his 2 worst starts, it does seem like he had a velo drop and some weird stuff going on and has bounced back. So if you did remove those 2 bad starts, his ERA in the other 56.1 IP this year is 1.73

Edited June 23, 2022 by UMFan83

[muntjack]

Why was Happ pulled?

[UMFan83]

Smart move by Robertson to strike out. If he took a walk he would never have an official AB.

[Derwood]

I half expected Robertson to pull an oblique on that swing and be out for 2 months

[itisallpartoftheplan]

I half expected Robertson to pull an oblique on that swing and be out for 2 months

 

Then Jed to announce Heyward as new closer because injuries.

[PackLandVA]

Keegan Thompson has pitched at least 2.2 IP in 15 of his 16 appearances this year. He has allowed 1 ER or less in 12 of those 15 appearances.

 

Also while it makes no sense to just throw out his 2 worst starts, it does seem like he had a velo drop and some weird stuff going on and has bounced back. So if you did remove those 2 bad starts, his ERA in the other 56.1 IP this year is 1.73

 

Do he and Willy represent the Cubs next month??

[Transmogrified Tiger]

 

Okay yeah Keegan might be turning into a thing

 

I'll be a bit of a wet blanket here and say I'm still not to Steele levels of optimism with Thompson yet. Even in his better run as a starter he's still getting tagged for XBH with high frequency(last 7 GS: 31 IP, 8 2B, 2 3B, 5 HR), and he weirdly hasn't been able to solve right handed hitters(.376 wOBA v. RHH during those 7 starts, .296 v. LHH). Maybe the slider he's starting to flash will help here, but I'd want to see him make progress there through the All-Star break/trade deadline before I start considering him more than a backup rotation option in my mind.

[Bertz]

 

Okay yeah Keegan might be turning into a thing

 

I'll be a bit of a wet blanket here and say I'm still not to Steele levels of optimism with Thompson yet. Even in his better run as a starter he's still getting tagged for XBH with high frequency(last 7 GS: 31 IP, 8 2B, 2 3B, 5 HR), and he weirdly hasn't been able to solve right handed hitters(.376 wOBA v. RHH during those 7 starts, .296 v. LHH). Maybe the slider he's starting to flash will help here, but I'd want to see him make progress there through the All-Star break/trade deadline before I start considering him more than a backup rotation option in my mind.

 

I'm not too worried about the quality of contact. As a SP he's given up a hard hit rate of 37.9%, a smidge under the MLB average of 38.4%, and a barrel rate of 8.7%, a bit higher than the MLB average of 7.8%. That's only one extra barrel and one fewer hard hit ball though so I don't think either is all that meaningful.

 

But he's holding his velo deep into games, and the times through the order penalty isn't biting him especially hard, which are by far the top two things I look at in this sort of situation. "Is he good" is obviously a very open question, as even during his hot run to open the year his peripherals were more good than great. But for me I think he's shown enough SP traits that it comes down to the common "would you rather have the meh starter or pretty good reliever" question. And fingers crossed but what he's done these last two starts with the new slider looks more middle than back of the rotation.