Giants (TBD) vs Cubs (Hendricks): 6/19/24, 1:20pm

[Brock Beauchamp]

Who you got, TBD or Kyle Hendricks?

[jersey cubs fan]

Hendricks is still here? 

[We Got The Whole 9]

TBD for sure. It's a sound strategy vs the Cubs who usually take 3-6 innings to view a pitchers repertoire before scratching a run across. If they get a bullpen game it could be a shutout.

[Marco4]

If its Spencer Howard, he's allowed 4 hits from his 17 batters faced with runners in scoring position. I'd be interested to see which of those two numbers (if either) increased today.

[Eeyore]

Other than the White Sox, the Cubs haven't won two in a row since May 5. Nobody really counts the White Sox.

[squally1313]

I wonder if Craig assumes it’ll be a lefty because otherwise why is Busch still hitting in the bottom third of our lineup 

[Transmogrified Tiger]

1 minute ago, squally1313 said:

I wonder if Craig assumes it’ll be a lefty because otherwise why is Busch still hitting in the bottom third of our lineup 

Gameday says it is a lefty, Erik Miller.

[We Got The Whole 9]

1 minute ago, squally1313 said:

I wonder if Craig assumes it’ll be a lefty because otherwise why is Busch still hitting in the bottom third of our lineup 

Harrison last pitched 6/10 so maybe he senses it'll be him

[We Got The Whole 9]

3 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

Gameday says it is a lefty, Erik Miller.

Great. LHP who averages 97 and has a 128 stuff+ on his SL and 117 on his CH. On the surface, this is a pretty good move by SF.

[squally1313]

5 minutes ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

Great. LHP who averages 97 and has a 128 stuff+ on his SL and 117 on his CH. On the surface, this is a pretty good move by SF.

He’s an opener. Hasn’t pitched more than 2 innings all year and has already thrown this series. 
 

edit: and I believe got taken deep by Happ, if I have my games right 

Edited June 19, 2024 by squally1313
More context

[Eeyore]

Is this Tomas Nido dude an upgrade at catcher?

[CubinNY]

3 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

He’s an opener. Hasn’t pitched more than 2 innings all year and has already thrown this series. 

It's not worth starting a new thread, but I like the idea of an opener in situations where the starter is a 5 or six-inning pitcher. Find a couple of strike throwing young guys with gas to throw a few innings at the beginning of the game and then let the "starter" go until the 9th. 

[WhyCantWeWin]

5 minutes ago, Eeyore said:

Is this Tomas Nido dude an upgrade at catcher?

Considerably defensively and a 77 wRC+ compared to Yans 17 wRC+

[chibears55]

59 minutes ago, Eeyore said:

Is this Tomas Nido dude an upgrade at catcher?

Not really

[squally1313]

44 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

It's not worth starting a new thread, but I like the idea of an opener in situations where the starter is a 5 or six-inning pitcher. Find a couple of strike throwing young guys with gas to throw a few innings at the beginning of the game and then let the "starter" go until the 9th. 

Eh....I think my short, big picture answer is that you need 27 outs and probably shouldn't upset the apple cart too much trying to get them. 

I don't think I agree with the premise/motivation of your idea though, and relatedly thought about chiming in last night to say that Counsell's management of the starters is probably one of the few things I would give him credit for (opted not to because I'm contrarian enough as it is). I think what's implied in your idea is that the later innings are more important than the earlier innings (and that we have a couple 'strike throwing young guys with gas' capable of going multiple innings). If you go with the idea that the 9th inning is the most important*, I don't want a tiring starter on his third turn through the order on the mound. Plus, what happens if the opener or the starter goes sideways? You've kinda committed to using them both (or going full bullpen game and the ramifications there). The three batter rule has obviously made it harder to pick and choose matchups but your idea takes away a lot of the value of a guy like Leiter. And, ultimately, if we had a couple 'strike throwing guys with gas'....we probably wouldn't be in such search of solutions.

* The counter to this, that all 27 outs are equally-ish important, is that you want your best pitcher, ideally fully rested, going up against their best hitters, and the best way to guarantee that is to have him throwing his first pitches in the first against the top of their lineup. 

[Rcal10]

13 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

Not really

He actually looks a lot better than Gomes. Both with the bat and defensively. That said, he is still not very good. To be a guy with a wRC+ of 77 and be 60 pts better than who you are replacing does show how bad that guy is rather than you actually being good. But it is much better. And he is definitely better in all phases defensively. 

[Rcal10]

14 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

Eh....I think my short, big picture answer is that you need 27 outs and probably shouldn't upset the apple cart too much trying to get them. 

I don't think I agree with the premise/motivation of your idea though, and relatedly thought about chiming in last night to say that Counsell's management of the starters is probably one of the few things I would give him credit for (opted not to because I'm contrarian enough as it is). I think what's implied in your idea is that the later innings are more important than the earlier innings (and that we have a couple 'strike throwing young guys with gas' capable of going multiple innings). If you go with the idea that the 9th inning is the most important*, I don't want a tiring starter on his third turn through the order on the mound. Plus, what happens if the opener or the starter goes sideways? You've kinda committed to using them both (or going full bullpen game and the ramifications there). The three batter rule has obviously made it harder to pick and choose matchups but your idea takes away a lot of the value of a guy like Leiter. And, ultimately, if we had a couple 'strike throwing guys with gas'....we probably wouldn't be in such search of solutions.

* The counter to this, that all 27 outs are equally-ish important, is that you want your best pitcher, ideally fully rested, going up against their best hitters, and the best way to guarantee that is to have him throwing his first pitches in the first against the top of their lineup. 

I am not sure I would like the idea of a starter taking over in the 3rd or 4th inning with the thought of finishing the game. Wouldn’t that put the 8th and 9th inning into the dreaded category of facing guys for a 3rd time. Don’t even the best starters struggle with that? I know you are arguing for the idea, I am just adding into what you already said. 

[BKHoo]

lol. The “new guy” is batting .125. 

[We Got The Whole 9]

This is a great move for the defensive upgrade. Both dudes were dropped because they aren't hitting for horsefeathers. Yan's dropoff from 85-95 ish for a considerable time to completely unplayable is pretty surprising. He hurt us really badly this year, bottom line. Awful at everything.

[CubinNY]

good first inning for Kyle.

[We Got The Whole 9]

Real good start for Kyle. Give him some runs please.

[We Got The Whole 9]

Come the hell on Dansby

[profisme]

Just now, We Got The Whole 9 said:

Come the hell on Dansby

2 hangers in the middle of the zone. Ugh. 

[JHBulls]

It should be a team wide rule that if someone hits a double and there are no outs, the next hitter has to bunt him over to 3rd and sacrifice himself. I figure it’s way easier to score runs with someone on 3rd and 1 out, than it is with someone on 2nd and no outs with this lineup.

 

[CubinNY]

Nico smoked that ball.