Cubs (Brown) vs Diamondbacks (Kelly): 4/15/24, 8:40pm, Marquee

[LBiittner]

11 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

I hate these late start times, but I'm glad they won. It was a happy shower this morning. 

Now I can't un-see that

[Banedon]

8 hours ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

Harris following Nico down the line yelling at him to run faster was the real highlight

Quote

Cubs third base coach Willie Harris never hesitated in sending Hoerner home.

“I feel like I have a very lasting image of Willie Harris just screaming and pointing home,” Hoerner said. “I like to think I would have gone anyways, but that definitely gave me the extra confidence I needed. I saw a passed ball kicked the opposite direction of where the catcher saw it go and I was definitely thinking, especially with two outs, about scoring immediately after that. I was going to run until something stopped me, pretty much, in that situation. I’m glad it worked out.”

 

[BigbadB]

Damn. Fell asleep in the 8th. 

[squally1313]

Yeah of course the only non-competitive game of this west coast swing so far has been the weird early start one against the Padres. Pretty excited to only have one more of these (and, honestly, wouldn't be the worst thing to my short term health if either team decided to put up an 8 spot in the first and put it out of reach).

[Outshined_One]

I'm taking it as a really good sign that the Cubs won another game they should have lost this season, particularly given their recent injury luck.

[Rcal10]

I feel they won last night in spite of Counsel, not because of him. He made a lot of odd choices. Mastrobuoni pinch hitting, Neris in the 9th, taking Morel out for defense in a tie game, walking Marte to get to Carroll did not seem like a great move at the time. BTW, Carroll was hitting over .350 against left banded pitching before that AB. I had to listen to Az announcers for this one, living in Az. Anyway, they were very surprised at the move and like that Counsel made it. But they got the win, so all is good. 

[mul21]

I missed Madrigal coming into the game on defense in the 8th but even that doesn't make much sense to me.  I realize his spot in the order wasn't coming up soon but it was a tie game that you know you need to score more runs to win and the bottom of the order was due up in the 9th.  I hate that move, especially when you have the hindsight of the GIDP in the 10th that killed that rally.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

52 minutes ago, BigbadB said:

Damn. Fell asleep in the 8th. 

Same

[Rex Buckingham]

3 hours ago, Bertz said:

Huge win.  Cubs have locked in at least 6-6 during this gauntlet 12 game stretch.

Also as one of the people who first raised the alarm about Keegan, if he's sitting almost 95 and throwing strikes that's the whole game.  I won't trust him for a bit longer yet but last night is exactly what it would look like if he was officially back.  And man the pen could use it.

He wasn't even throwing strikes last night though...

 

 

[UMFan83]

When the Cubs blew that 8-0 lead and lost, I said that it was fun (in a jerkish way) to see everyone who went to sleep with the big lead waking up and reacting to the loss.  Seeing everyone react to the win the next morning is definitely more fun.

[squally1313]

2 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

I feel they won last night in spite of Counsel, not because of him. He made a lot of odd choices. Mastrobuoni pinch hitting, Neris in the 9th, taking Morel out for defense in a tie game, walking Marte to get to Carroll did not seem like a great move at the time. BTW, Carroll was hitting over .350 against left banded pitching before that AB. I had to listen to Az announcers for this one, living in Az. Anyway, they were very surprised at the move and like that Counsel made it. But they got the win, so all is good. 

Agree with most of this but marte had a wRC 40 points higher than caroll last year against lefties. That specific decision was probably sound even if it didn’t work out. 

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I don't have a strong yes/no opinion on Morel being pulled, but feel it's worth pointing out that he's 0 for his last 20 w/ 7 K, though he was a little BABIP unlucky last night.  So I figure the thinking is 1) maximize defense since they're using lesser relievers in late innings 2) the power downgrade matters a bit less when you know you are likely playing for 1 run/not a big inning and 3) Morel isn't in form and may not be a great matchup anyway, especially if the goal continues to be playing for 1 run where contact has greater value.

[Banedon]

1 hour ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

I don't have a strong yes/no opinion on Morel being pulled, but feel it's worth pointing out that he's 0 for his last 20 w/ 7 K, though he was a little BABIP unlucky last night.  So I figure the thinking is 1) maximize defense since they're using lesser relievers in late innings 2) the power downgrade matters a bit less when you know you are likely playing for 1 run/not a big inning and 3) Morel isn't in form and may not be a great matchup anyway, especially if the goal continues to be playing for 1 run where contact has greater value.

I think Morel has something going on with his hand that he's playing through.  He hurt it on an AB a few days back, and the trainers let him stay in but he was still wincing, and it looked like he reaggravated it the next night or the night after...I forget the exact days.  I know you can't afford to lose another bat from this lineup after Suzuki, but I also would like Morel to get right.  That might mean a day or two off.

[Rcal10]

7 hours ago, squally1313 said:

Agree with most of this but marte had a wRC 40 points higher than caroll last year against lefties. That specific decision was probably sound even if it didn’t work out. 

I get it is a bad spot either way. But walking anyone in that line up ahead of Carroll isn’t a great idea IMO. In fact Az announcers said Cardinals changed pitchers from a lefty to a righty just the day before when Carroll came to bat because he was doing so well against a lefty. I didn’t like the move when it was made. This is not an hindsight point of view. 

[squally1313]

1 hour ago, Rcal10 said:

I get it is a bad spot either way. But walking anyone in that line up ahead of Carroll isn’t a great idea IMO. In fact Az announcers said Cardinals changed pitchers from a lefty to a righty just the day before when Carroll came to bat because he was doing so well against a lefty. I didn’t like the move when it was made. This is not an hindsight point of view. 

I mean, you had first base open with two outs in a tie game in the bottom of the 8th. The only thing you should be worried about is getting the third out before the guy on second scores. Marte is a better hitter against LHP than Carroll, significantly (.724 OPS v .873 OPS, and a higher average (.303 v .272) since all you need is a base hit) based on the full body of information, not 31 PAs in 2024, and putting a runner on first base and giving yourself a force at any base makes it easier to record an out.

Relatedly I will happily take any opportunity to point out the Cardinals being dumb, but unfortunately I don't think that's actually a true story. The only time I saw them change pitchers before a Carroll AB in the three game set they just had was when they pulled Mikolas (a righty) for Andre Vallente (another righty).

[Rcal10]

45 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

I mean, you had first base open with two outs in a tie game in the bottom of the 8th. The only thing you should be worried about is getting the third out before the guy on second scores. Marte is a better hitter against LHP than Carroll, significantly (.724 OPS v .873 OPS, and a higher average (.303 v .272) since all you need is a base hit) based on the full body of information, not 31 PAs in 2024, and putting a runner on first base and giving yourself a force at any base makes it easier to record an out.

Relatedly I will happily take any opportunity to point out the Cardinals being dumb, but unfortunately I don't think that's actually a true story. The only time I saw them change pitchers before a Carroll AB in the three game set they just had was when they pulled Mikolas (a righty) for Andre Vallente (another righty).

Well, all I can tell you is what Az announcers said. I can’t confirm if they made it up or not. If you watched every game and saw every AB or even researched it, I believe you. But that is what they said. 

[squally1313]

1 hour ago, Rcal10 said:

Well, all I can tell you is what Az announcers said. I can’t confirm if they made it up or not. If you watched every game and saw every AB or even researched it, I believe you. But that is what they said. 

Just checked the PBP data of the three game series they just had. Possible I missed something. 

[Rcal10]

32 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

Just checked the PBP data of the three game series they just had. Possible I missed something. 

No big deal. Not important. I just thought Counsell made some questionable decisions. Some worked and some didn’t.