Cubs (Hendricks) vs Pirates (Skenes): 8/28/24, 11:35am

[itisallpartoftheplan]

12 hours ago, UMFan83 said:

Team record apparently is 48, but set back in the 1890s.  We did score 47 runs in a 3 game series against the Pirates back in 2019.  17-8, 14-1 and 16-6.  I definitely remember that one and assumed it was the record.

Also in 1998 the Cubs and Brewers had a series where both teams scored double digits in all 3 games.  Didnt set any scoring records but I always thought that was a fun factoid as I believe its still the only time that's happened.  13-11 Brewers on Friday, 15-12 Cubs on Saturday and 11-10 Cubs on Sunday.  This is also the series that Sammy hit numbers 60, 61 and 62

Orlando Merced’s only career homer as a Cub..

Walk off on Gracie Beanie Baby day..

[Tryptamine]

PCA up to 1.9 fWAR in 303 PAs, so roughly 3.8-4 fWAR pace over a full season of PAs.

[squally1313]

20 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

PCA up to 1.9 fWAR in 303 PAs, so roughly 3.8-4 fWAR pace over a full season of PAs.

in the last two weeks. If you look at the whole month PCA has been the 9th best offensive player in baseball. 

[Outshined_One]

NLROY is going to come down to Merrill vs Skenes, but man, PCA is making a really fun late charge at the award.

[Rob]

17 minutes ago, Outshined_One said:

NLROY is going to come down to Merrill vs Skenes, but man, PCA is making a really fun late charge at the award.

There's too much ground for him to cover to get there. But he could challenge Chourio and Wynn for 3rd place.

[Wilson A2000]

At what point do you move Busch to 2B and DH Bethancourt? Or sit Busch. 

[squally1313]

10 minutes ago, Wilson A2000 said:

At what point do you move Busch to 2B and DH Bethancourt? Or sit Busch. 

[mul21]

17 minutes ago, Wilson A2000 said:

At what point do you move Busch to 2B and DH Bethancourt? Or sit Busch. 

Ah yes, putting a 32 year old catcher at 1B or DH who has a career .628 OPS and has amassed nearly half of his career WAR this season and didn't even have an MLB job from 2018-2021.  Makes tons of sense.

[UMFan83]

1 hour ago, squally1313 said:

in the last two weeks. If you look at the whole month PCA has been the 9th best offensive player in baseball. 

I know the Cubs offense has been hot the last couple of weeks but still kind of crazy to see 4 Cubs on that list.

[Tryptamine]

Can't believe the Cubs are off again. Maybe I'm wrong, but it feels like a ton of off days over the last 3ish weeks. 

[Derwood]

3 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

Can't believe the Cubs are off again. Maybe I'm wrong, but it feels like a ton of off days over the last 3ish weeks. 

Last year we had like 67 games in a row, so I'll take it

[We Got The Whole 9]

Tom's gonna love this one but if PCA finishes the year hot, I wonder if you start talking extension, being that his performance has been uneven, and there's potential for quite a bit of surplus. 

[Wilson A2000]

31 minutes ago, mul21 said:

Ah yes, putting a 32 year old catcher at 1B or DH who has a career .628 OPS and has amassed nearly half of his career WAR this season and didn't even have an MLB job from 2018-2021.  Makes tons of sense.

Just DH. If he’s hot, ride him. Bethancourt’s current hot streak is more relevant than his 2018-2021 seasons.

[UMFan83]

If the Cubs had their current record last year, they'd be 1.5 games out of a Wild Card spot 

[I owned a Suzuki]

Can we rehash the off season discussion of should we resign Bellinger or just let PCA play CF? Wish we would have put the money to better use.

[We Got The Whole 9]

5 minutes ago, I owned a Suzuki said:

Can we rehash the off season discussion of should we resign Bellinger or just let PCA play CF? Wish we would have put the money to better use.

I was against it but in hindsight signing Chapman instead would have been big for the the team

[Tryptamine]

Today's hot take. I don't think I really want Corbin Burnes in FA if he's getting the type of contract I expect him to get. 

Over the last 4 years his K/9 has gone from 12.61 to 10.83 to 9.29 and now sits at 8.22.  His BB% has stayed pretty similar outside of an outlier in 2023. His FIP this year is 3.69, xFIP 3.61, xERA, 3.37. His quality of contact is pretty much in line with the last few years, His Hard% is right along career norms, but he has been barreled up a bit more often. He's still a very very good pitcher and he would make the Cubs better without question, but I'm not sure I want to be tied to him on something like a 7 year $250 million dollar deal like what is being predicted. 

[Tim]

14 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

Today's hot take. I don't think I really want Corbin Burnes in FA if he's getting the type of contract I expect him to get. 

Over the last 4 years his K/9 has gone from 12.61 to 10.83 to 9.29 and now sits at 8.22.  His BB% has stayed pretty similar outside of an outlier in 2023. His FIP this year is 3.69, xFIP 3.61, xERA, 3.37. His quality of contact is pretty much in line with the last few years, His Hard% is right along career norms, but he has been barreled up a bit more often. He's still a very very good pitcher and he would make the Cubs better without question, but I'm not sure I want to be tied to him on something like a 7 year $250 million dollar deal like what is being predicted. 

There is no pitcher I'd ever want to sign to a seven year contract.

[Irrelevant Dude]

54 minutes ago, I owned a Suzuki said:

Can we rehash the off season discussion of should we resign Bellinger or just let PCA play CF? Wish we would have put the money to better use.

I think the move was fine for this season, and things have worked out very well with PCA as it is, but there is a bigger problem next year if Bellinger doesn't opt out.  The Cubs would enter the off-season with players essentially locked into all 9 spots in the lineup.  In some ways, that's a good problem to have, but it doesn't leave much flexibility to improve the roster without significant trades.  It also continues to block the remaining AAA outfielders for the foreseeable future.

While I think the Cubs would be in a better position headed into the off-season without Bellinger, I still think it was the right move to make at the time.  The one thing the Cubs appear to have got extremely lucky with is the Bellinger injury.  If he hadn't broken his finger, how much would PCA have played?  Would he have been able to make progress with only limited at bats, or would he still be relegated to the role of light hitting pinch runner and defensive replacement?  Sometimes you just need to let young players struggle while they figure things out, and the Cubs may have benefited from being forced into doing that.

[Cuzi]

16 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

Today's hot take. I don't think I really want Corbin Burnes in FA if he's getting the type of contract I expect him to get.

Not really a hot take.

I dont expect the Cubs to sign a pitcher to a lengthy deal. I'm expecting a pillow contract to someone like Walker Buehler. Other than that, if they really pursue catcher, then I can see something like Hoerner going to the Mariners in a package to get Woo + Ford.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

My current SP target fixation is one I've liked for a long time but there's never been a promising enough opportunity: Mitch Keller

He's a solid SP north of Taillon quality that fits the rotation well(RHP, strong velo, good durability to date) who is on a contract that won't hamper other spending.  The Pirates structured his extension so that next year is when his dollar figure jumps 10 million, which they may not love given their payroll and the depth they have already.  They have lots of position player needs, which fits a consolidation trade among the AAA 'surplus' pretty well.  The main question is if they have any hesitation doing such a deal in division(I would guess at worst there's a slight premium) and what they think their competitive timeline is so if they might want to hold out for more immediate MLB impact than the Alcantara/Caissie/Ballesteros cohort.

[CubinNY]

3 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

My current SP target fixation is one I've liked for a long time but there's never been a promising enough opportunity: Mitch Keller

He's a solid SP north of Taillon quality that fits the rotation well(RHP, strong velo, good durability to date) who is on a contract that won't hamper other spending.  The Pirates structured his extension so that next year is when his dollar figure jumps 10 million, which they may not love given their payroll and the depth they have already.  They have lots of position player needs, which fits a consolidation trade among the AAA 'surplus' pretty well.  The main question is if they have any hesitation doing such a deal in division(I would guess at worst there's a slight premium) and what they think their competitive timeline is so if they might want to hold out for more immediate MLB impact than the Alcantara/Caissie/Ballesteros cohort.

im in on that.

[squally1313]

Dreaming about:

• Bellinger opting out
• Signing Chapman to 4/100 or whatever
• Paredes for Tucker
• Whatever prospects it takes for Skubal

[Rcal10]

2 hours ago, Wilson A2000 said:

At what point do you move Busch to 2B and DH Bethancourt? Or sit Busch. 

I don’t understand this at all. Why move Busch to 2nd? So take Nico out and hurt the defense? Why would Bethancourt be a DH consideration. I actually hope he is NOT on the team next year. He is a terrible pitch framer who happens to be hitting now. But his career does not suggest he is a good hitter. IF Busch is going to sit it will be Tauchman getting his AB and Bellinger moving to 1st. I do not see any reason for Nico sitting and very little reason to think of Bethancourt being a DH(he is hot now would be the only argument- but a poor one IMO). 

[Cuzi]

5 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

Dreaming about:

• Bellinger opting out

Dream didn't last long