Cubs (Wicks) vs Rangers (Gray): 3/31/24, 1:35pm, Marquee

[PeanutPunch33]

The truth is that Morel should be playing in LF and there was no reason for the Cubs not to give it to him.  Happ is a bad contract that takes up a spot from the next wave of young talent.  

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Did the camera angle play tricks on me or did Dansby miss first base by a lot

[Jason Ross]

1 minute ago, PeanutPunch33 said:

The truth is that Morel should be playing in LF and there was no reason for the Cubs not to give it to him.  Happ is a bad contract that takes up a spot from the next wave of young talent.  

Morel has been awful during his time in center. Now, it's true that CF is a bit harder of a position, but there is no evidence that he is an OF'er in any capacity. 

[Transmogrified Tiger]

2 minutes ago, PeanutPunch33 said:

The truth is that Morel should be playing in LF and there was no reason for the Cubs not to give it to him.  Happ is a bad contract that takes up a spot from the next wave of young talent.  

No

[PeanutPunch33]

2 minutes ago, 1908_Cubs said:

Morel has been awful during his time in center. Now, it's true that CF is a bit harder of a position, but there is no evidence that he is an OF'er in any capacity. 

He's got all the tools to succeed in LF, if I recall Happ wasn't always the best defensive player out there and then he grew into the role.  Morel has way better physical tools to grow into that role than Happ did and certainly a better role for him than 3rd base. 

Happ is just a guy.  

[Rob]

Just now, PeanutPunch33 said:

The truth is that Morel should be playing in LF and there was no reason for the Cubs not to give it to him.  Happ is a bad contract that takes up a spot from the next wave of young talent.  

Honestly, when I look at the Cubs, outside of the obvious remnants of the Mancini and Barnhart contracts, the Cubs are in pretty good shape. There are no obviously bad contracts.

[Rcal10]

1 minute ago, PeanutPunch33 said:

He's got all the tools to succeed in LF, if I recall Happ wasn't always the best defensive player out there and then he grew into the role.  Morel has way better physical tools to grow into that role than Happ did and certainly a better role for him than 3rd base. 

Happ is just a guy.  

Just a guy with a WAR of 4.4 in 22 and 3.0 in 23. Happ is not just a guy. He is a good ballplayer. Morel should not take Happ’s spot. Maybe he is just the DH. 

[Jason Ross]

3 minutes ago, PeanutPunch33 said:

He's got all the tools to succeed in LF, if I recall Happ wasn't always the best defensive player out there and then he grew into the role.  Morel has way better physical tools to grow into that role than Happ did and certainly a better role for him than 3rd base. 

Happ is just a guy.  

Ian Happ has been the fourth most valuable LF in baseball the last two seasons using fWAR and has been worth 7 wins over that span. That's not "just a guy". He isn't a star, but sits comfortably in "above average regular" territory.  Secondly, Morel has all of the tools to succeed at center, left, right, second, third and short and yet consistently succeeds at almost none of them. 

That's a horrible take and you know it.

[Jason Ross]

Two really good swings by Amaya today. He looks really solid.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Boog being flustered speechless by people not drawing a line between ghosts and aliens is the best thing I'll hear today

[PeanutPunch33]

4 minutes ago, 1908_Cubs said:

Ian Happ has been the fourth most valuable LF in baseball the last two seasons using fWAR and has been worth 7 wins over that span. That's not "just a guy". He isn't a star, but sits comfortably in "above average regular" territory.  Secondly, Morel has all of the tools to succeed at center, left, right, second, third and short and yet consistently succeeds at almost none of them. 

That's a horrible take and you know it.

 

If Morel got the same playing time, he would be a 40 HR and 100 RBI guy.  Ian Happ will never be that.  Them not finding Morel a true spot is an egregious organizational failure, if nothing else, IMO.  

[Jason Ross]

5 minutes ago, PeanutPunch33 said:

 

If Morel got the same playing time, he would be a 40 HR and 100 RBI guy.  Ian Happ will never be that.  Them not finding Morel a true spot is an egregious organizational failure, if nothing else, IMO.  

I mean, Christopher Morel has played all three games so far, the Cubs got super pissy with Nightengale over specifically Morel rumors and it's pretty clear by having him play third base, have worked internally with him at first...the organization is dedicated to finding him a home somewhere. But this also represents a goal post move...your initial issue was Happ is "just a guy" and Morel should be the LF'er which just isn't a good take at all. What exactly is the complaint, here? On the surface it appears the Cubs are trying him literally everywhere to find any sort of home for him.

[Jason Ross]

2 minutes ago, TomtheBombadil said:

Yeah, I honestly confused him for Seiya during that PA. Big, physical, calm, no wasted movement

He just went first to home too! Impressive 

Yeah, hand placement is new. Looks much more like Seiya in initial setup. 

[Rcal10]

12 minutes ago, TomtheBombadil said:

How is Happ just a guy and the positionless 25 YO with 2 career WAR not? Tools? It’s regular season MLB, not Rk ball! 

There you go again. Logic! You know there is a certain percentage of people who have no use for logic, stats that show something different than what they are suggesting and facts. If someone doesn’t like Happ for some reason, then he just isn’t good. 

[Jason Ross]

Rare miscue from Swanson. Wicks hurt twice now.

[Rcal10]

What the hell is happening. Come on Dansby! 

[WhyCantWeWin]

Wicks has gotten screwed hard today by the defense, this team has been so sloppy

[Jason Ross]

horsefeathers. Wicks has had some solid stuff, but he's also not good enough to consistently overcome defensive miscues. Left a few very hittable pitches to good hitters and he's gotten hammered for it. 

[Cubs420psd]

Still waiting for all that good young pitching talent we have been promised for years.

 

horsefeathers sucks.

[Rex Buckingham]

2 minutes ago, Cubs420psd said:

Still waiting for all that good young pitching talent we have been promised for years.

 

horsefeathers sucks.

are you kidding? Wicks has been really good. The defense has let him down, but he's made great pitches when he's needed them. Including striking out Jung and Garcia there with the go ahead run on after he should have been out of the inning without giving up a run

[PackLandVA]

2 minutes ago, Cubs420psd said:

Still waiting for all that good young pitching talent we have been promised for years.

 

horsefeathers sucks.

Wicks has actually been really good today. And he’s had a pretty solid start to his MLB career.

[Rcal10]

2 minutes ago, Cubs420psd said:

Still waiting for all that good young pitching talent we have been promised for years.

 

horsefeathers sucks.

Maybe Wicks isn’t going to be that. But he was actually good today. Defense let him down. Had swing and miss stuff today and was throwing 94-95 up in the zone. If he continues to do that and maybe the Cubs catch the ball, he will be fine. 
Also, doesn’t Steele count as good young pitching talent? 

[Derwood]

Pitching staff is not showing out early

[Jason Ross]

4 minutes ago, Cubs420psd said:

Still waiting for all that good young pitching talent we have been promised for years.

 

horsefeathers sucks.

I understand Wicks needs to clean up the hanging curve to Semien and the Langford triple, but he's been bit twice by easy outs on the infield as well. This is a really encouraging start for Wicks. The Rangers had a 115 wRC+ against LHP last year (5th in baseball) with a bottom 10% K% against LHP. And then all they did was add Wyatt Langford. The amount of whiffs Wicks has generated is really encouraging, and begins to show improvement in his biggest "polish" from last year. In a perfect world, Swanson and Morel get to both of those balls and it's like a 5-2 or a 5-3 game right now.

[Rcal10]

7 minutes ago, 1908_Cubs said:

I understand Wicks needs to clean up the hanging curve to Semien and the Langford triple, but he's been bit twice by easy outs on the infield as well. This is a really encouraging start for Wicks. The Rangers had a 115 wRC+ against LHP last year (5th in baseball) with a bottom 10% K% against LHP. And then all they did was add Wyatt Langford. The amount of whiffs Wicks has generated is really encouraging, and begins to show improvement in his biggest "polish" from last year. In a perfect world, Swanson and Morel get to both of those balls and it's like a 5-2 or a 5-3 game right now.

Pretty sure it could have been 5-0. Swanson probably gets a double play on the  all he missed.