Cubs (Assad) vs Mariners (Castillo): 4/14/24, 3:10pm

[Rcal10]

36 minutes ago, LBiittner said:

Steeles hammy? I'm not convinced he's a lock to return to his superb form this season. 

Merryweather with a broken rib in his back is a very strange injury. Stroman had it last season and sucked when he returned.

Taillon had a lower back ouchie. These can tend to flare.

Jed has to deal for a pitcher.

He might have to. But I think you are a little early in making that decision. Steele could be fine. Taillon could be fine. Assad and/or Wicks could be very solid. Horton and/or Brown may be decent starters. There is a chance they will have a solid rotation once Taillon and Steele come back. They will need a pen arm or two, for sure. 

[LBiittner]

Julio Tehran your table is ready

[LBiittner]

1 minute ago, Rcal10 said:

He might have to. But I think you are a little early in making that decision. Steele could be fine. Taillon could be fine. Assad and/or Wicks could be very solid. Horton and/or Brown may be decent starters. There is a chance they will have a solid rotation once Taillon and Steele come back. They will need a pen arm or two, for sure. 

Jed is working see above post

[Rcal10]

36 minutes ago, LBiittner said:

Jed is working see above post

Can’t get too excited about Teheran. Doubt he will be around long. 

[LBiittner]

6 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Can’t get too excited about Teheran. Doubt he will be around long. 

I think counsell had input here

Edited April 15, 2024 by LBiittner

[UMFan83]

8 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Can’t get too excited about Teheran. Doubt he will be around long. 

We'll see. Don't get me wrong, they definitely can easily dispose of him if he's not working out, but have to think the Cubs sold him on having a shot to stick on the MLB roster which is why he agreed to a minor league deal with the Cubs after refusing a minor league assignment with the Mets.

[chibears55]

12 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

We'll see. Don't get me wrong, they definitely can easily dispose of him if he's not working out, but have to think the Cubs sold him on having a shot to stick on the MLB roster which is why he agreed to a minor league deal with the Cubs after refusing a minor league assignment with the Mets.

Guy just got released by the Mets after one start and he wasn't exactly working out last season for the Brewers, I think he might just be a guy on a short lease that they hope can just stick around long enough to eat up some innings til they get healthy and the rest of the pen catches a break.

[Rcal10]

56 minutes ago, LBiittner said:

I think counsell had input here

I agree. But I think his leash will be very short. 

[UMFan83]

So Busch is now 6th in the MLB in home runs, just one HR shy of being at the top of the leaderboard. Pretty fun story, hope he keeps it up. 
 

 

[Stratos]

7 hours ago, chibears55 said:

I wouldn't say fantastic,  5 of those 8 walks came in his first 13 PA..

He's been ok, just wouldn't mind seeing a little more productive bat in there, im guessing Wisdom will be that guy once he returns. 

They're platooning Tauchman and Cooper right now basically, they just haven't seen many LH SP lately.   They're not going to put another RHB in the lineup vs RHP.

I personally wouldn't replace Cooper with Wisdom.  Not sure what they'll do, maybe demote Mastro?   They want a bench LHB in the infield, but since Mastro sucks anyways besides running speed i don't see why that would matter here.  Cooper has also been playing some corner OF.

[Stratos]

7 hours ago, Outshined_One said:

Assad might be our second best SP right now.

And yes, that's a compliment.

The dude can pitch.  Numerous solid pitches he can locate.

[Stratos]

7 hours ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

His recognition of the strike zone has been very impressive.

If Nico could stop swinging at balls, gained 30 lbs of muscle, and started hitting lefthanded he could be the next Busch!

[Stratos]

6 hours ago, PeanutPunch33 said:

Almonte is such a trash bum. I never want to see that punk come out of the bullpen again 

If he could actually locate the fastball I think he could a pretty solid reliever.

[Stratos]

6 hours ago, UMFan83 said:

I don’t know why that was our big pen acquisition but I figured they just knew more than me

I looked on baseball savant.  The last 3 seasons his split has been basically unhittable and his fb has been quite good too.  His fb velo dropped by 1 mph last year and so far is down another 1 mph this year.  His problem right now though is the control is way out of synch.

[Stratos]

4 hours ago, UMFan83 said:

Omg I’m having September flashbacks with the ****** Arizona pitchers lined up to start against the Cubs. 
 

edit: and the “someone worse” is the infamous Pfaadt who I was looking forward to facing last September due to his season ERA being over 6, but he ended up beating the Cubs twice and then pitching several important games for the DBacks in the playoffs. 

Let's go into AZ and beat their butts as payback from last Sept.  Lots of motivation for our guys.  Won't make us pitch any better though lol

[Stratos]

2 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

Can’t get too excited about Teheran. Doubt he will be around long. 

Definitely a depth flier.

If Neris gets the control on track and we get 1 more effective pen arm out of someone maybe we could be ok.  Taillon should push someone to the pen, unless they shelve Hendricks for a bit, though it seems too early in the year for that.

Complicated by the fact that they'd ideally like to keep Brown stretched out.  He could work as a long man though.

[NorthsideAvenger]

6 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

Can’t get too excited about Teheran. Doubt he will be around long. 

If he is with the Iowa Cubs as long as Hideo Nomo was, I'd be surprised. 

[NorthsideAvenger]

5 hours ago, UMFan83 said:

So Busch is now 6th in the MLB in home runs, just one HR shy of being at the top of the leaderboard. Pretty fun story, hope he keeps it up. 
 

 

Pete Alonso who?