Cubs (Boyd) vs Diamondbacks (Rodriguez, E.): 3/30/25, 3:10pm

[Wilson A2000]

1 hour ago, profisme said:

But he only had that in one elbow right? He could throw with the other arm if needed.

And in the Mets organization now

[Wilson A2000]

Late in the game, in a game you were winning, Couns’ let Morgan put 7 batters in a row on base. Sorry, that’s bad managing. Sticking with the same reliever from up by 4 to down by 3 in the 8th is ridiculous. 

[CubinNY]

I get so irrationally angry when the Cubs lose like this. 

[UMFan83]

Didnt realize Eberflus was managing the Cubs now. 

Edited March 31, 2025 by UMFan83

[Soul]

1 hour ago, Wilson A2000 said:

Late in the game, in a game you were winning, Couns’ let Morgan put 7 batters in a row on base. Sorry, that’s bad managing. Sticking with the same reliever from up by 4 to down by 3 in the 8th is ridiculous. 

Craig just wanted to see him fight through it I guess.

[Soul]

43 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

Didnt realize Eberflus was managing the Cubs now. 

I might claw my eyes out if I have to see these nose dive probability charts all season.  

[gflore34]

On a bit more rational take I believe there are some young arms that could help, the question is how many games will Pressly, Morgan, Rea and Brasier be allowed to blow before going with the young arms?  I don't believe any of these guys should be given a long look most especially when you're trying to reach the post season.

[JHBulls]

1 hour ago, UMFan83 said:

Didnt realize Eberflus was managing the Cubs now. 

Baseball is such a dumb sport.

[Hot Sauce]

I feel for Morgan. He didn’t have it today and was senselessly marooned by his manager.

[Stratos]

7 hours ago, UMFan83 said:

It’s too bad we spent all the way up to the luxury tax and couldn’t improve the pen more. But then again how could we know the pen was gonna be an issue right? Not like every single season has this issue

We're 25m under the tax.  Ricketts sucks.

[Stratos]

7 hours ago, imb said:

This series has been illustrative of the team as a whole. Tucker is so good he must be signed longterm and he might carry us to a decent record 

but not if the bullpen can’t hold a single lead without looking like a bunch of A ballers (no offense to Ethan Hearn)

The Cubs don't sign star hitters.  They don't sign quality FA closers.  They don't sign ace SP.  They're designed to suck so Tommy boy can have a few more yachts.

Joke pen, joke org, joke owner.

[Stratos]

7 hours ago, cl smooth said:

Why is this mf still in the game?

Why indeed.  Trash managing job there.

Edited March 31, 2025 by Stratos

[Stratos]

7 hours ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

The same reason Hodge(or Merryweather) didn't start the inning, no one can go back to back yet.

Keller, Merryweather, and Rea didn't pitch on Sat.  They can't leave Morgan out there to let in 8 runs.

[Stratos]

8 hours ago, itisallpartoftheplan said:

Our attempt to have Peason eat 2 innings will save us from using someone in the 9th.

Pearson is a batting practice pitcher.

[Stratos]

7 hours ago, Dfan25 said:

Pearson throws 100

Imanaga and Steele throw 92.  Guess which of the 3 suck?

Edited March 31, 2025 by Stratos

[Stratos]

5 hours ago, CubinNY said:

I get so irrationally angry when the Cubs lose like this. 

It's rational.

[Max Power]

Kinda sucks that the only trait Jed shares with Theo is the love of bat seeking junkballers.

[BigbadB]

Yesterday's game was so last year. Some things are better left in previous seasons. 

[UMFan83]

7 hours ago, Stratos said:

We're 25m under the tax.  Ricketts sucks.

Im so bad at sarcasm lol

[mul21]

28 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

I'm so bad at sarcasm lol

Nah, he's bad at reading.  I picked up on it immediately.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

7 hours ago, Stratos said:

Keller, Merryweather, and Rea didn't pitch on Sat.  They can't leave Morgan out there to let in 8 runs.

Merryweather was said afterwards to be unavailable because he was warmed up multiple times on Saturday, though in the best case scenario someone has to be available to pitch the 9th too.  Keller threw 46 pitches on Friday and somebody needs to be available in relief of Brown tomorrow(who is probably going to give you 5 max).  It sucks to watch, but there isn't an obvious solution, you don't want to hamstring yourself for Monday in pursuit of *only* losing by 2 Sunday. Thanks to the Tokyo series interrupting preseason buildup they need to be cautious to avoid injury, and that means there aren't a lot of Plan Cs when you need the pen to give you 16 innings over 4 days with no off day coming til Thursday.

[Stratos]

3 hours ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

Merryweather was said afterwards to be unavailable because he was warmed up multiple times on Saturday, though in the best case scenario someone has to be available to pitch the 9th too.  Keller threw 46 pitches on Friday and somebody needs to be available in relief of Brown tomorrow(who is probably going to give you 5 max).  It sucks to watch, but there isn't an obvious solution, you don't want to hamstring yourself for Monday in pursuit of *only* losing by 2 Sunday. Thanks to the Tokyo series interrupting preseason buildup they need to be cautious to avoid injury, and that means there aren't a lot of Plan Cs when you need the pen to give you 16 innings over 4 days with no off day coming til Thursday.

There's just no way they can let one reliever let in 8 runs in 1 inning.  Rea should have been in at least after Naylor hit the RBI double and it was 6-7 dbacks.  That changes the calculation in the top of the 9th into a 1-run strategy with the heart of the Cubs lineup coming up and puts a lot more pressure on Puk/Moreno & the whole defense.

Anyways, Boyd looked quite good, his stuff is very solid, if healthy he can have a good year and be an above-average SP.  Pen giving up 10 runs in 3 IP they just sh*t the bed.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

2 minutes ago, Stratos said:

There's just no way they can let one reliever let in 8 runs in 1 inning.  Rea should have been in at least after Naylor hit the RBI double and it was 6-7 dbacks.  That changes the calculation in the top of the 9th into a 1-run strategy with the heart of the Cubs lineup coming up and puts a lot more pressure on Puk/Moreno & the whole defense.

Bringing in Morgan at all is the attempt to try to optimize for that day, Thielbar didn't have it so since they had the lead they were more aggressive bringing in someone to stop the bleeding after his walks.  Once Morgan got shelled and you lost the lead there isn't another reasonable option unless you want to be in a big hole for Monday.  It's not a black and white decision but it's an example of Counsell managing for more than just today.  The pen put you in a bind, and you can either:

1) just let Morgan wear it and preserve the pen as much as possible for the next 3 days without an off day
2) make the problem worse on Monday on the off chance that Rea escapes a man on 2nd 1 out situation with no further damage and the team comes back on the Dbacks rested closer

[Manny Trillos Brother]

As irritating as it is (and believe me, I hurt my knee kicking a box when the D-Backs went up), there's what 3 teams in baseball that have a truly lockdown pen? There's a reason these guys are relievers.

The Cubs have enough arms where they are going to make it work. As long as they are in it (and they have a much more favorable schedule after April) they should easily be able to trade for another proven reliever or two. 

[Stratos]

6 hours ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

Bringing in Morgan at all is the attempt to try to optimize for that day, Thielbar didn't have it so since they had the lead they were more aggressive bringing in someone to stop the bleeding after his walks.  Once Morgan got shelled and you lost the lead there isn't another reasonable option unless you want to be in a big hole for Monday.  It's not a black and white decision but it's an example of Counsell managing for more than just today.  The pen put you in a bind, and you can either:

1) just let Morgan wear it and preserve the pen as much as possible for the next 3 days without an off day
2) make the problem worse on Monday on the off chance that Rea escapes a man on 2nd 1 out situation with no further damage and the team comes back on the Dbacks rested closer

If they're that short in the pen at this early point in the season maybe they should consider calling up Wicks to get more length/innings in the pen and maybe send down Pearson or Morgan who appear to have options.  Would be better than waving the white flag (not the white "W" flag) in the 8th inning with a lead and sparing me from gouging my eyes out.