7/23 - Cardinals (Montgomery) vs Cubs (Taillon): 1:20pm, Marquee

[CubinNY]

Just now, Tryptamine said:

Herrera's stance irrationally makes me angry

I was thinking the same thing. 

[Andy]

I'm ambivalent about Mowins - she's very solid on football - but it's a bummer that the Cubs have B teams on both the TV and radio sides today. I generally go to the radio feed on MLB.TV on the Boog/no Pat off days and I don't even have that option today because the Spiegel/Menaker radio team actively annoys me.

[Tryptamine]

Mancini put a ball in play, I guess that's something 

[Andy]

Also, I can't remember the last time I saw a hitter as locked in as Bellinger. Soriano in September 07 is the only comp I can think of.

[Irrelevant Dude]

2 minutes ago, JD94 said:

His injury history concerns me. Paying him as an elite CF when PCA will be ready next year scares me. His baseball savant page scares me. But damn he’s been a star this year. He’s the exact type of players we need to be adding, so watching him walk would/will be hard. 

I agree with everything except PCA.  When PCA is ready, finding another spot for Bellinger is a good problem to have.  Maybe he plays 1B full time.  Maybe a corner OF spot can be opened up down the road via a trade.  If the injury and performance history scares the Cubs away from a long term deal, so be it, but if they believe Bellinger is likely to continue performing anywhere near his current level, they absolutely shouldn't let PCA stand in the way.

[Tryptamine]

Continuing my dog piling,  but I wouldn't have guessed Mancini's OPS was still .640, I would have guessed more around .600

[champaignchris]

13 minutes ago, JD94 said:

His injury history concerns me. Paying him as an elite CF when PCA will be ready next year scares me. His baseball savant page scares me. But damn he’s been a star this year. He’s the exact type of players we need to be adding, so watching him walk would/will be hard. 

Nimmo has his own injury history. 

[Irrelevant Dude]

2 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

Continuing my dog piling,  but I wouldn't have guessed Mancini's OPS was still .640, I would have guessed more around .600

I thought the same thing yesterday, along with "How is he still batting .236 when he seemingly only gets a hit 1 out of every 10 at bats."

[muntjack]

Over the last month (50 PAs), Mancini has a 39 wRC+

[Tryptamine]

3 scoreless from Taillon, surely this is proof of miracles 

[bukie]

3 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

3 scoreless from Taillon, surely this is proof of miracles 

Taillon has allowed 3 ER in his last 17 innings.

[JD94]

11 minutes ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

I agree with everything except PCA.  When PCA is ready, finding another spot for Bellinger is a good problem to have.  Maybe he plays 1B full time.  Maybe a corner OF spot can be opened up down the road via a trade.  If the injury and performance history scares the Cubs away from a long term deal, so be it, but if they believe Bellinger is likely to continue performing anywhere near his current level, they absolutely shouldn't let PCA stand in the way.

Right. I’m just saying paying Bellinger as a gold glove 4-5 fWAR CF and then sticking him at 1B is bad value. I’m not saying you can’t find a spot for him, you can, but you’re paying him as a CF and you have a top 10 CF prospect in the game that’s almost ready. It shouldn’t and won’t stop the Cubs from resigning Bellinger if they wanted to do that, but it’s also something that should he considered. I mean Freddie Freeman is the highest paid 1B ever at 6/162 and he’s a perennial 4-6 WAR player. 

[Andy]

This is a heck of an offensive inning, great work by the last several batters.

[CubinNY]

Pour it on Cubs!

[Tim]

Destroy that trade value for Monty!

[Andy]

You know the Cubs are raking when Mancini gets in on the fun

[champaignchris]

Mancini would have been nailed at 2nd with a good throw. 
 

He is so slow. 

[muntjack]

Things are looking bleak for the St.Louis Cardinals.

[Irrelevant Dude]

Just now, TomtheBombadil said:

Run differential at +43

 

Look out .500, here we come (again).

[Tryptamine]

They finish off today and take both games from the WSox, I'll jump on the buying bandwagon. 

[muntjack]

While I still lean toward selling,  I do think sending Smyly and Mancini to the phantom IL and adding a good SP at the deadline would make this team a pretty viable threat.  Arguably the best 1-2 SP tandem in the NL and a pretty versatile lineup sets up well in the playoffs.  Just dug such a big hole....

[UMFan83]

7 minutes ago, TomtheBombadil said:

Run differential at +43....Be buyin', Hoyer!!

 

RD of some teams:

Orioles (60-38): +46

Cubs (47-51): +43

Twins (52-48): +42

Blue Jays (54-45): +36

Red Sox (52-47): +36

Giants (54-45): +26

Diamondbacks (54-45): +15

Phillies (52-46): +5

Brewers (55-44): -4

Reds (54-46): -7

Marlins (53-47): -23

 

7 of those 11 teams are in a playoff position, 3 are within 2 games of the playoffs and the Cubs are 6 games out of the playoffs.

Edited July 23, 2023 by UMFan83

[bukie]

Just now, UMFan83 said:

RD of some teams:

Orioles (60-38): +46

Cubs (47-51): +43

Twins (52-48): +42

Blue Jays (54-45): +36

Red Sox (52-47): +36

Giants (54-45): +26

Diamondbacks (54-45): +15

Phillies (52-46): +5

Brewers (55-44): -4

Reds (54-46): -7

Marlins (53-47): -23

 

7 of those 10 teams are in a playoff position, 2 are within 2 games of the playoffs and the Cubs are 6 games out of the playoffs.

Padres are in a similar boat as the Cubs, two teams that have just continued to lose lots of close games and win blowouts, which would suggest a regression to the mean at some point, but it's kind of running out of time for it to happen in a way that matters.

[Tryptamine]

Just now, bukie said:

Padres are in a similar boat as the Cubs, two teams that have just continued to lose lots of close games and win blowouts, which would suggest a regression to the mean at some point, but it's kind of running out of time for it to happen in a way that matters.

It also suggests the pen kind of sucks

[UMFan83]

1 minute ago, bukie said:

Padres are in a similar boat as the Cubs, two teams that have just continued to lose lots of close games and win blowouts, which would suggest a regression to the mean at some point, but it's kind of running out of time for it to happen in a way that matters.

Forgot about the Padres.  The Padres and Cubs have the 3rd and 4th best RD in the NL and they are both much more likely to sell than buy.  Crazy season.