7/2 - Guardians (Civale) vs Cubs (Taillon): 4:05pm, Marquee

[17 Seconds]

3 minutes ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

Do we have to keep pretending like Swanson has been a great signing just because he hasn't been as bad as the other free agent SS's?

what?

[abuck1220]

pitch to the good/hard to k guy instead of walking him to face the bad/slow/DP prone/strikeout prone guy. ross horsefeathering sucks at this job. 

[UMFan83]

4 minutes ago, Andy said:

Glad we wasted 4 runs on that comeback so our underlying metrics can keep saying this team is better than it is.

Also prevented hanging an L on Taillon for another shitty performance

[UMFan83]

6 minutes ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

Do we have to keep pretending like Swanson has been a great signing just because he hasn't been as bad as the other free agent SS's?

I’m pretty sure he leads all NL SS in WAR. From a hitting standpoint I’m a little disappointed in his power but overall he’s been pretty solid and I’m happy with his performance this year. 

Edited July 3, 2023 by UMFan83

[Irrelevant Dude]

52 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

I’m pretty sure he leads all NL SS in WAR. From a hitting standpoint I’m a little disappointed in his power but overall he’s been pretty solid and I’m happy with his performance this year. 

He has been pretty good, and the Cubs are certainly better with him than without him, but I still don't think he has quite lived up to expectations so far.  His SLG is the lowest it has been since 2018.  Admittedly, that is cherry picking one stat (and his OBP is near career high levels), but he has had multiple long stretches with very little offensive production. 

To be fair, if the rest of the offense was more consistent, Swanson's occasional struggles would be easier to overlook, but he has contributed to that overall inconsistency.  I just don't think he should be immune to some of the blame when assessing the team's offensive deficiencies. 

That said, they also gave up 8 runs today, so whose fault was the loss really?

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Swanson is 15th in MLB in fWAR, between Tatis and Trout.  He's at a 109 wRC+ compared to previous highs of 115 & 116.  He's a few HR short of what we might've thought, and the rest of the roster puts more expectation/hope that he can reach/exceed career highs, but he's been an unmitigated success as a signing so far.