9/8 - Diamondbacks (Gallen) vs Cubs (Taillon): 1:20pm, Marquee

[Transmogrified Tiger]

9 minutes ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

Most times I forget he is even on the team. And I'm not sure why he is.  He is a pinch runner or defensive replacement and he isn't particularly good at either of those.

Before last inning Mastrobuoni was 10/10 in Chicago and 9/9 in Iowa at SB, and in less than 300 PA so not all that many opportunities to be in SB position.

[UMFan83]

Complete game 3 hit shutout, the day after the Cubs had 2 hits in the first 8 innings before tacking on a garbage time run.

[abuck1220]

really great abs by nico and happ there.

[itisallpartoftheplan]

Game ended with Happ again lol

[Derwood]

Hoerner and Happ swinging at the first pitch after Gallen just walked a guy is some pretty horsefeathers stupid baseball. That's not on Ross

[We Got The Whole 9]

Feels like one team did a better job preparing for this series than the other did. But what do I know. 

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Guy has 105 pitches and just walked a man.  Not sure going after the 1st pitch was the right approach by those 2 goons.

[s2obed]

Bad AB's to end the game. Use your damn brain. The guy is likely running out of gas at 105 pitches.

[squally1313]

1 minute ago, itisallpartoftheplan said:

Game ended with Happ again lol

Yeah horsefeathers that dude with a 121 wRC in the second half and a 166 wRC in high leverage spots this year 

[UMFan83]

Hopefully tomorrow we can get a baserunner to 2nd base.  Gotta start somewhere

[Rex Buckingham]

Nico just flat missed a fastball low-middle... wasn't a bad pitch to swing at.

[UMFan83]

Just now, squally1313 said:

Yeah horsefeathers that dude with a 121 wRC in the second half and a 166 wRC in high leverage spots this year 

I think the Happ hitting 3rd conversation is silly for exactly what you pointed out but it is funny how many games end with him making an out and the guy that has 13 more RBIs than any other player in baseball in the 2nd half standing on the on-deck circle.

[Cubs420psd]

Pitching Caus in a 0-0 ballgame is an interesting call...

[17 Seconds]

well this is shaping up to be a damaging series

[squally1313]

1 minute ago, UMFan83 said:

I think the Happ hitting 3rd conversation is silly for exactly what you pointed out but it is funny how many games end with him making an out and the guy that has 13 more RBIs than any other player in baseball in the 2nd half standing on the on-deck circle.

Yeah I never really liked hoerner up there though I do think he’s a really smart hitter. Now that tauchman turned back into a (still kinda serviceable) pumpkin, I think you drop them and move everyone else up a couple slots. 

[itisallpartoftheplan]

3 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

Yeah horsefeathers that dude with a 121 wRC in the second half and a 166 wRC in high leverage spots this year 

Cool. Just funny how many times it has happened. I’m aware of the stats.

[17 Seconds]

I really hope we don't remember this as the start of the collapse. can't afford this horsefeathers with 18 wild card contenders right behind us

[UMFan83]

In the past week the Cubs have wasted:

-A game where Smyly and Wesneski pitched 6.1 innings and gave up 1 run

-A game where Assad pitched 8 shutout innings

-A game where Taillon threw 6 shutout innings.

Still 4-4 over that span though I guess

[UMFan83]

6 minutes ago, 17 Seconds said:

well this is shaping up to be a damaging series

I would have been satisfied with a split going into the series but really the worst outcome I could accept is 1-3.  Need to win 1 of the weekend games.

Arizona catching us would suck but they would only be for WC2.  Could mitigate the damage if the other guys struggle

[17 Seconds]

1 minute ago, UMFan83 said:

In the past week the Cubs have wasted:

-A game where Smyly and Wesneski pitched 6.1 innings and gave up 1 run

-A game where Assad pitched 8 shutout innings

-A game where Taillon threw 6 shutout innings.

Still 4-4 over that span though I guess

It's frustrating that we let the reds back in it and are now doing the same with the dbacks

[Irrelevant Dude]

1 minute ago, 17 Seconds said:

I really hope we don't remember this as the start of the collapse. can't afford this horsefeathers with 18 wild card contenders right behind us

Every time it looks the Cubs might be on the verge of a downward spiral, they come back and start winning again.  I fully expect them to win the next 2 games, and 1 of the 2 at a minimum.  If they get swept, then we can start to panic, but I don't think that is likely.

[UMFan83]

Also, that Happ hit was 105 mph with a .380 xBA.  Definitely would have preferred a more patient AB there but he at least hit it hard.

[Irrelevant Dude]

Man, Ross is an ass sometimes.

Asked about why he took Taillon out, he said a combination of "He was done", "It's my decision right?" and "I don't need to explain."

Edited September 8, 2023 by Irrelevant Dude

[squally1313]

The frustrating thing is that games like today are a good reminder that we are good, but definitely flawed, and Ross trying to sequence a bunch of average pitchers isn’t going to work and isn’t going to matter when the offense gets shut down by a stud. 
 

The good thing to remember is that all the other teams in this race are almost definitely way more flawed than we are, and we’ve played ourselves into a spot where there’s theoretically four spots available for us to grab. I like our chances a lot better with that math. 

[17 Seconds]

on the bright side, missing the playoffs would probably get rid of ross