Pirates (German) vs Cubs (Imanaga): 9/4/24, 6:40pm

[Brock Beauchamp]

[CubinNY]

Will be interesting to see what happens after this series. If I'm Jed, I DFA Wisdom, Mastroboni, and bring up some of the kids to get their feet wet. 

[mul21]

I'd have done that 2 months ago.

[jersey cubs fan]

Cubs stayed relevant until week 1 of nfl season, hope the bears can stay in the hunt until the nhl begins because we know the hawks won’t make it until bowl season 

Edited September 4, 2024 by jersey cubs fan

[NorthsideAvenger]

At least the Cubs won't miss the playoffs by one game this year. So we got that going for us. 

[UMFan83]

Don't think the Cubs playoff odds ever got above 7% on FG so I'm not really that upset about the last 2 games, though I was starting to get a little more emotionally involved.  At the end of the day, I thought this was a .500ish team with upside to be a bit better coming into the season.  They've taken a strange route to get there but that's basically what they are.  I've really enjoyed watching the team get hot the last 6ish weeks even though the expectations of making the playoffs had long gone away in my head.

Hopefully the playoff cut line potentially being closer to 87 or 88 wins this season gives Jed some pause when building next year's team and he tries to do something more than "marginally good enough to sneak into the playoffs." I'm not holding my breath though.

Edited September 4, 2024 by UMFan83

[Rcal10]

1 hour ago, UMFan83 said:

Don't think the Cubs playoff odds ever got above 7% on FG so I'm not really that upset about the last 2 games, though I was starting to get a little more emotionally involved.  At the end of the day, I thought this was a .500ish team with upside to be a bit better coming into the season.  They've taken a strange route to get there but that's basically what they are.  I've really enjoyed watching the team get hot the last 6ish weeks even though the expectations of making the playoffs had long gone away in my head.

Hopefully the playoff cut line potentially being closer to 87 or 88 wins this season gives Jed some pause when building next year's team and he tries to do something more than "marginally good enough to sneak into the playoffs." I'm not holding my breath though.

I honestly do think he will be aggressive this off season. I also don’t think they need much to be a 90+ win team. The reason I think he will be aggressive is because next year is “now or never” for him. The only way that changes is if Ricketts gives him an extension. Hopefully he doesn’t. To be clear, being aggressive doesn’t mean we get Soto. That is still a tall order. But I do expect a better roster next season where 90+ the expected win total. They have prospects to trade and money to spend. No excuse not to be good. 

[CubinNY]

39 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

I honestly do think he will be aggressive this off season. I also don’t think they need much to be a 90+ win team. The reason I think he will be aggressive is because next year is “now or never” for him. The only way that changes is if Ricketts gives him an extension. Hopefully he doesn’t. To be clear, being aggressive doesn’t mean we get Soto. That is still a tall order. But I do expect a better roster next season where 90+ the expected win total. They have prospects to trade and money to spend. No excuse not to be good. 

90 wins should be the expectation for most years. 

[UMFan83]

11 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

90 wins should be the expectation for most years. 

Agreed.  Large market club in a division of small market minnows.  We shouldn't be building teams that if everything goes right we can make the playoffs.  We should be building teams good enough that if some stuff goes wrong we're still in a good position to win the division.

[Tryptamine]

4 hours ago, NorthsideAvenger said:

At least the Cubs won't miss the playoffs by one game this year. So we got that going for us. 

I mean, they kind of did what we sarcastically talked about right before the all-star break when we were hoping for a top 5 pick. They played just well enough to eliminate any chance of a top 10 pick and maybe not even pick in the top half of the first round.

[WhyCantWeWin]

So Lopez was pitching injured, nice

[Bertz]

I would think playing down a man is a decent indication that whoever comes up for Steele will be a SP rather than a reliever?

[Outshined_One]

36 minutes ago, Bertz said:

I would think playing down a man is a decent indication that whoever comes up for Steele will be a SP rather than a reliever?

Not necessarily; with Wicks up, they can just keep throwing Kyle Hendricks out there like that old dog your neighbor refuses to put down, despite being incontinent and unable to walk.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

4 minutes ago, Outshined_One said:

Not necessarily; with Wicks up, they can just keep throwing Kyle Hendricks out there like that old dog your neighbor refuses to put down, despite being incontinent and unable to walk.

Bertz's point is if they were going to do that, they'd probably have brought another RP from Iowa along with Wingenter

[chibears55]

Both Steele and Lopez go on IL..

Time to start releasing and bring up the kids that'll be a part of next season roster

[Rcal10]

43 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

Both Steele and Lopez go on IL..

Time to start releasing and bring up the kids that'll be a part of next season roster

Who would that be? I don’t think any offensive players in the minors will be on the team on opening day next year. So who are they releasing in the pitching department to bring up what pitchers? 

[Rcal10]

1 hour ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

Bertz's point is if they were going to do that, they'd probably have brought another RP from Iowa along with Wingenter

2 pen arms brought up. Would have liked to see Killian or Birdsell.

Edited September 4, 2024 by Rcal10

[CubinNY]

PCA!

[chibears55]

45 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Who would that be? I don’t think any offensive players in the minors will be on the team on opening day next year. So who are they releasing in the pitching department to bring up what pitchers? 

Don't necessarily have to be up on opening day,  but I'm sure Caissie,  Shaw,  Alcantara,  Ballesteros,  and a couple pitchers will be making their debuts next season.

As far as releases, they can start woth Wisdom, and  Mastrobuoni. Hendricks can go on IL for whatever they can get away with. Armstrong, Neely, Wingenter.

Not saying all of them but those are candidates that can go bye bye

Edited September 5, 2024 by chibears55

[Cubfanintheknow]

Just tuned in. Where's Boog? Who's the guy with JD?

[Chicago Al]

Ya baby, keep my hopes alive!

[squally1313]

Time to see why Neely was warming up in the bottom of the second 

[squally1313]

Just now, squally1313 said:

Time to see why Neely was warming up in the bottom of the second 

Nevermind, maybe he’s just a weird dude. 

[BKHoo]

Did they say it was over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?!

 

LFG Cubs. 

[Chicago Al]

PCA is no stranger to the weight room