8/19 - Royals (Singer) vs Cubs (Steele): 1:20pm, Marquee

[Bobson Dugnutt]

22 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

I'll maintain that Barnhart was and is fine as a backup catcher.  The line for an "average" offensive output for a backup catcher this year is about a 64 wRC+, which is a threshold that Barnhart is like 2-3 hits on his season line from reaching(and what his line has been since May).  I also think that while you don't want to fritter away money on marginal players, you can't necessarily pool all that money towards a different upgrade.  Yes, they'd be better off today if they had Senga instead of Mancini/Smyly, but that's also a 5 year commitment that signed much earlier in the offseason, and we have reason to think that Mancini/Barnhart in particular was a Plan B reaction to not getting their primary target(probably Vazquez).  In the case of SP depth they also had Wesneski looking like a mid-rotation stalwart post-trade as insurance.

My criticism of how that roster developed is two-fold.  You can't have 3 catchers on a modern roster if you aren't using them, and we've spent months in a weird liminal space where Amaya increasingly gains trust as a catcher but doesn't get much opportunity as a PH/DH/1B despite yawning chasms in those spots.  And for as much as I can understand how they got to the 1B triad of Mancini/Hosmer/Mervis, you can't go 0 for 3 in getting even MLB average production.  Morel saved them a bit because that would be pretty dark otherwise.

Senga and Smyly signed a week apart. I would think by the time Senga signed they had a pretty good idea of how much it would take to sign each pitcher, and what options were left out there to use the surplus funds on if they signed Smyly instead of Senga. The Mancini-Cubs rumors were persistent going back to early/mid-December, so same idea there.
 

Maybe Senga specifically had no interest in choosing the Cubs over the Mets, but if it came down to who was offering the most money, the Cubs likely had a pretty good idea of what a plan B of Smyly/Mancini would cost.

And for a team that would be staring down the potential departures of Hendricks and Stroman post-2023 and had only Justin Steele, who was coming off 3 excellent months sandwiched between 2 poor months on one end and an injury on the other, penciled in for 2024 and beyond at the time of Senga’s signing, 5 years at an AAV of $15 million (let’s even call at $16 million+, acknowledging that we’d have had to outbid the offer that ultimately brought him to NY), to me, was a feature, not a bug.

 

I’ll concede a bit on Barnhart as Amaya was no sure bet to be a contributor to the 2023 squad and they weren’t going to wrap up the off-season without signing a backup catcher. Even if Barnhart at $3.5 million for two years was not my preferred choice.

[UMFan83]

I just saw the Bellinger HR, did that Royals OF really try to scale the wall to rob it?  lol, did he not realize there's a basket?  It was pretty impressive how high he got but hes just asking for an injury.

[UMFan83]

^^ And I should clarify, I was referring to the first Bellinger HR since he just hit a 2nd one.

 

Clearly Belli saw me put him on the list of slumping Cubs yesterday and he's taking it personally.

Edited August 19, 2023 by UMFan83

[Bobson Dugnutt]

Cody Bellinger was an excellent use of resources.

[chibears55]

Bellinger should take BP everyday 

 

2 Belli bombs

[UMFan83]

Nothing like starting an inning by botching a fly ball for a double.

[Tryptamine]

Tauchmann calling out he doesn't see it, Happ with his back to the ball instead of coming over to help.

[UMFan83]

Really nice inning for Steele after the leadoff double

[Transmogrified Tiger]

good opportunity to end the game here, would be real nice to execute and make the last 5 innings low leverage

[UMFan83]

Cherished number 3 hitter Ian Happ delivers with an RBI single

[Brock Beauchamp]

Now this is what a game versus the Royals is supposed to look like. 

[UMFan83]

Morel the only Cub without a hit today.  At least he didn't strike out this time.  Hard to say about someone who delivered 2 gigantic hits over the last week but he's really struggling, now 4 for his last 47 with 21 K.

Actually the fact that he delivered 2 big hits during that stretch is encouraging, he's able to not let this slump get to him mentally.

Edited August 19, 2023 by UMFan83

[Tim]

6 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

The Royals suck, just put up six runs early and cruise from there.

uh...good call

[Derwood]

Much happier checking in on today’s score than k was yesterday. 

[Cubs420psd]

The air and water show weekend in Chicago is awesome. Seeing the jets flying past the buildings and over the Cubs game is so cool.

[chibears55]

8 minutes ago, Cubs420psd said:

The air and water show weekend in Chicago is awesome. Seeing the jets flying past the buildings and over the Cubs game is so cool.

Every year I'll always remember when Grace was hitting and the Angels flew over and scared the crap out of him.. lol

[UMFan83]

Annoying to give up a run on a well placed grounder, stolen base, and 2 groundouts but either way nice job today Steele.

[javy knows my name]

21 minutes ago, Cubs420psd said:

The air and water show weekend in Chicago is awesome. Seeing the jets flying past the buildings and over the Cubs game is so cool.

Makes me super homesick. It's such a fun weekend every year

[UMFan83]

In other scores,

Marlins are up 1-0 in the 5th inning of Game 1 of their doubleheader against the Dodgers

Diamondbacks are up 3-2 over the Padres in the 3rd

Brewers and Rangers just started

[UMFan83]

Julian, could you cooperate and throw strikes?

Walking back to back guys when your are up 4 runs in the 7th is sub optimal, especially when you have an elevated HR rate

 

Edit:  Also Witt Jr will bat this inning if no GIDP here

Edited August 19, 2023 by UMFan83

[Transmogrified Tiger]

This is why punishing them in the 4th is so important.  One more hit and it's 8-2, Merryweather is not in the game and you aren't getting Leiter/Fulmer hot too

[UMFan83]

Of course Witt comes through.  He's 5-8 with a HR, 3 RBI, 3 runs scored and 2 SB this series. 

Now the Royals are a single from a 1 run game

Edited August 19, 2023 by UMFan83

[UMFan83]

Do we like Merryweather as a 7th inning guy, or would Fulmer be better there at this point?  Not saying Merryweather is doing terrible, he's an important part of the pen but sometimes has control issues, has given up 6 HRs this year.

I get that Ross wants to use Fulmer for high leverage situations that come up during the game vs. giving him a designated inning and maybe thats the best decision.  If you're concerned about Merryweather giving up long balls that certainly he's not the best fit for Fulmer's role, although being able to come in and throw 100 mph has its advantages in those spots.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

6 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

Do we like Merryweather as a 7th inning guy, or would Fulmer be better there at this point?  Not saying Merryweather is doing terrible, he's an important part of the pen but sometimes has control issues, has given up 6 HRs this year.

I get that Ross wants to use Fulmer for high leverage situations that come up during the game vs. giving him a designated inning and maybe thats the best decision.  If you're concerned about Merryweather giving up long balls that certainly he's not the best fit for Fulmer's role, although being able to come in and throw 100 mph has its advantages in those spots.

All things equal I think it's a matchup dependent thing.  Today I think it's more clearly Merryweather, who hasn't pitched since Tuesday, while Fulmer(and Cuas) pitched Wednesday and Friday.

[UMFan83]

Better not end with Alzolay throwing 35 pitches in a 4 out save and being unavailable tomorrow.