7.6 Day Game in Beertown

[chopsx9]

Lets see if the Cubs can manage to hold onto this one. Is PJ Higgins a real thing?

 

He just seems to have a real solid approach - he's older than I thought so maybe that pixie dust will wear off at some point but he's been nice surprise.

[muntjack]

Lets see if the Cubs can manage to hold onto this one. Is PJ Higgins a real thing?

 

His PAs have been consistently impressive. Some guys can just hunt fastballs, or hit mistakes but Higgins seems to have a really good general idea at the plate.

[itisallpartoftheplan]

Hader sucks

[Transmogrified Tiger]

The think with Higgins is his xWOBA... He just does not pack a punch often enough. But he has gotten favorable results for sure.

 

A .300 wOBA backup catcher as the downside is more than fine though, and Higgins's all-field approach might be more likely to beat his exit velocities in a similar way that contact managing pitchers can beat FIP with some regularity.

[chopsx9]

The think with Higgins is his xWOBA... He just does not pack a punch often enough. But he has gotten favorable results for sure.

 

A .300 wOBA backup catcher as the downside is more than fine though, and Higgins's all-field approach might be more likely to beat his exit velocities in a similar way that contact managing pitchers can beat FIP with some regularity.

Plus he play 1b and 3b in a pinch.

[champaignchris]

It was only 33 games, but Higgins hit the crap out of the ball at AAA in 21 and earlier this season. He was trending upward in performance from 17–18-19 before the COVID season.

[itisallpartoftheplan]

4 straight series wins and the losses were for the most part games we should’ve came away with.

[We Got The Whole 9]

The think with Higgins is his xWOBA... He just does not pack a punch often enough. But he has gotten favorable results for sure.

 

A .300 wOBA backup catcher as the downside is more than fine though, and Higgins's all-field approach might be more likely to beat his exit velocities in a similar way that contact managing pitchers can beat FIP with some regularity.

 

Agree with that, I do appreciate his approach. He has a good feel for what they are trying to do against him and doesn't stray from his plan. Simple stroke, doesn't seem to "try to do too much". I have low-key believed in what he's done this year and think he's earned a long look as a potential back-up.

[CubinNY]

Great win! Sampson pitched great. What is Ross’s fetish with bunting?

[chopsx9]

As good as this was how great would a sweep have been that hung 2 losses on Hader.

[Bertz]

Do we know if the 12 pitcher limit on the roster is a go for next year? Because if so it feels like Higgins definitely has a spot on the bench if he keeps hitting.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Do we know if the 12 pitcher limit on the roster is a go for next year? Because if so it feels like Higgins definitely has a spot on the bench if he keeps hitting.

 

Passan has a recent article on the future of the SP that says Theo is loudly advocating to anyone who will hear to make it 11, but I haven't seen any indication that or 12 is affirmatively going to happen.

[Bertz]

Do we know if the 12 pitcher limit on the roster is a go for next year? Because if so it feels like Higgins definitely has a spot on the bench if he keeps hitting.

 

Passan has a recent article on the future of the SP that says Theo is loudly advocating to anyone who will hear to make it 11, but I haven't seen any indication that or 12 is affirmatively going to happen.

 

Yeah I saw that. If he's advocating for 11, I'm wondering if that means 12 is already locked in for next year along with the pitch clock, and just hasn't gotten the press? Or is it something that was on track to happen but has been shelved in favor of other initiatives? I feel like the CBA garbled all of this stuff up. We had a pretty good idea of what was coming down the pipe and in what order, then priorities got shifted and re-ordered in the mad dash to finalize the CBA.