Cubs (Steele) vs Orioles (Suarez): 7/11/24, 5:35pm

[Stratos]

4 hours ago, UMFan83 said:

Seiya makes some very questionable decisions in RF

Not sure the play you're talking about but he seems pretty bad when going back.

[Stratos]

Anyone notice that this is exactly what happened to the Cubs last season?  Strange.

[Chicago Al]

3 hours ago, Bertz said:

It probably doesnt mean much, I think he's DFA fodder when guys come back healthy, but Jorge Lopez had his best velo of the season tonight including his two fastest individual pitches.

He was throwin gas, I think he hit 99 once.

[thawv]

10 hours ago, PackLandVA said:

I'd actually be happy with a split in a four-game series.

The Cards are hoping for a split.  Spitting against the team we're chasing is not good.  It's a blown opportunity, while removing 4 games against them off the books.  It's good for the Cards though.

[Rcal10]

32 minutes ago, thawv said:

The Cards are hoping for a split.  Spitting against the team we're chasing is not good.  It's a blown opportunity, while removing 4 games against them off the books.  It's good for the Cards though.

Agreed. I am hoping for 3-1. A split means the Cubs need a 5-1 homestand after the break to get back to 500 with 56 games to play. If they want to really be in this and not dump guys they need to keep the momentum going. 

[Stratos]

Yeah let's go for 3-1

[Derwood]

4 game sweep, you ninnies

[gflore34]

Nothing's a kick in the balls to a winning streak like a Hendricks start.  Might as well look forward to sweeping the weekend or, taking 2 of 3, as Lynn and Mikolas both suck and, since we're talking about regression to the mean.  The Cubs are overdue to lay one on the garbage that is Miles Mikolas.

[UMFan83]

Michael Busch is a great reminder that sometimes you just need to let guys figure horsefeathers out.  He was a complete disaster at 1B to start the season, now he's rating as average defensively.  He looked so damn lost offensively for a good chunk of the season and while there's maybe still BABIP concerns there, he's got an .853 OPS for the season and on pace for more than 4 wins this year.

Basically what I'm saying is, stick with Miles Mastrobuoni as your everyday 3B.  He's gotta figure it out eventually

(ok I'm not saying that)

Edited July 12, 2024 by UMFan83

[gflore34]

11 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

Michael Busch is a great reminder that sometimes you just need to let guys figure horsefeathers out.  He was a complete disaster at 1B to start the season, now he's rating as average defensively.  He looked so damn lost offensively for a good chunk of the season and while there's maybe still BABIP concerns there, he's got an .853 OPS for the season and on pace for more than 4 wins this year.

Basically what I'm saying is, stick with Miles Mastrobuoni as your everyday 3B.  He's gotta figure it out eventually

(ok I'm not saying that)

At the very least he won't cost them runs with his glove.

[Bertz]

14 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

Michael Busch is a great reminder that sometimes you just need to let guys figure horsefeathers out.  He was a complete disaster at 1B to start the season, now he's rating as average defensively.  He looked so damn lost offensively for a good chunk of the season and while there's maybe still BABIP concerns there, he's got an .853 OPS for the season and on pace for more than 4 wins this year.

Basically what I'm saying is, stick with Miles Mastrobuoni as your everyday 3B.  He's gotta figure it out eventually

(ok I'm not saying that)

I think the best analogue right now is Wesneski honestly.

[Derwood]

Mastrobuoni has hit .350 since his season low average of .116 (22 PA's)

[Ding Dong Johnson]

53 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

Miles Mastrobuoni as your everyday 3B

Sounds like a harsh punishment handed down by the league.

[squally1313]

58 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

Michael Busch is a great reminder that sometimes you just need to let guys figure horsefeathers out.  He was a complete disaster at 1B to start the season, now he's rating as average defensively.  He looked so damn lost offensively for a good chunk of the season and while there's maybe still BABIP concerns there, he's got an .853 OPS for the season and on pace for more than 4 wins this year.

Basically what I'm saying is, stick with Miles Mastrobuoni as your everyday 3B.  He's gotta figure it out eventually

(ok I'm not saying that)

These are good points, but have you considered just DFAing people when they have a rough month and just plowing through our system for new players?

Separately: I'd say he's comfortably above average defensively. The fWAR defense number is negative but he's 6th among qualified first basemen. He's -2.6 right now and Rizzo never had a full season in Chicago better than -4.9. 

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I very much agree with the broader point, said a different way you should not freak out about performance that one very good week will normalize.

With Busch's defense, I don't have any big concerns, but I'll also note his uptick also coincided with Swanson stopping his early season defensive slump and Morel's throwing stabilizing somewhat(along with playing less 3B), which undoubtedly helps.  I haven't noticed a big uptick in his picking ability(his main early season problem), but I don't watch every inning so maybe others have a different perspective.

[KCCub]

13 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

I very much agree with the broader point, said a different way you should not freak out about performance that one very good week will normalize.

With Busch's defense, I don't have any big concerns, but I'll also note his uptick also coincided with Swanson stopping his early season defensive slump and Morel's throwing stabilizing somewhat(along with playing less 3B), which undoubtedly helps.  I haven't noticed a big uptick in his picking ability(his main early season problem), but I don't watch every inning so maybe others have a different perspective.

He has done better picking lately. It was a difficult spot for him to be in learning 1b, while also experimenting with Morel at 3b and like you mentioned, Swanson having some uncharacteristic throws to 1b. The range and athleticism was apparent from day one. One thing I will say that he also has seemed to get better at is understanding when and when not to move to far to his right. Early in the season, he got caught venturing out too far on plays Nico had under control and then they didn't have anyone covering 1b. Little adjustments like that have helped. 

[CubinNY]

Let’s go, Cubbies