Rangers (Eovaldi) vs Cubs (Steele): 4/7/25, 6:40pm

[gflore34]

I think Steele found something over the last innings vs. the Athletics, carried over into this start.

[imb]

Just now, gflore34 said:

I think Steele found something over the last innings vs. the Athletics, carried over into this start.

i still refuse to believe he's good but somehow it works

[Max Power]

Mondays > Sundays 

[imb]

1 hour ago, Derwood said:

He needs to chill the eff out. Dude presses so hard for hits and then beats himself up every time he gets out. Someone needs to get him some weed or some yoga or something

i promise you he has the weed connect under control

[Soul]

Fun game all around.

[Irrelevant Dude]

This offense is fun, and unexpected in the cold Wrigley weather.

[Derwood]

15 minutes ago, imb said:

i promise you he has the weed connect under control

Seems like he'd be more into meth

[Bertz]

With Corbin and Mahle going the next two games it is a pretty decent opportunity for another sweep.  That'd really be nice to bank those wins because this upcoming west coast trip looks extremely tough.

[Stratos]

9 hours ago, imb said:

ryan pressly only has one option left - the option to start striking some horsefeathers guys out!!!!

YYYAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!

[Stratos]

1 hour ago, UMFan83 said:

Oof Workman not even close on these swings tonight. 

He looks pretty bad on secondaries.  Plus he's been chasing them.  Hard to be a bench rookie though.

[PeanutPunch33]

5 hours ago, imb said:

i still refuse to believe he's good but somehow it works

You don't think Steele's that dude?  I think I read somewhere that he has the 2nd or 3rd best ERA in the game in the years 2022-2024.  He's not only borderline great but remarkably consistent.  He doesn't even have a lot of mileage on that arm so he'd be a great extension candidate 

[thawv]

11 hours ago, CUBDOM4life said:

I’d imagine PCA’s backup on the current 26 man roster would be Tucker

Berti is also an option.  It's not going to happen often, but the periodic appearance by Suzuki, Tucker, Berti, or maybe even Happ, shouldn't really hurt us. 

[Rcal10]

I think when Brujan is ready the Cubs will offer spring training hero, Workman, back to the Tigers and Brujan will take his spot. 

[BKHoo]

9 hours ago, PeanutPunch33 said:

You don't think Steele's that dude?  I think I read somewhere that he has the 2nd or 3rd best ERA in the game in the years 2022-2024.  He's not only borderline great but remarkably consistent.  He doesn't even have a lot of mileage on that arm so he'd be a great extension candidate 

His results are great. He is statistically one of the best pitchers in the NL over the last three years.  I think it’s hard for some because his stuff by no means wows anyone. 

[The_Achiever]

Cubs have scored the most runs out of anyone in MLB.  Have played more games than most but leaving many teams well in the dust with 84. 

Kyle Tucker makes such a huge addition to the lineup.  Fun team so far but I'm warning Ricketts that if he doesn't give Tucker an extension I'm going to January 6 Wrigley Field *and* Marquee Studios.   

[squally1313]

Yeah Brujan sucks in a very clear and obvious way. Workman might suck too but going through this whole process to dump him after 7 PAs to swap up your 26th man slot seems like a huge waste of time. 

[CubUgly]

6 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

Yeah Brujan sucks in a very clear and obvious way. Workman might suck too but going through this whole process to dump him after 7 PAs to swap up your 26th man slot seems like a huge waste of time. 

I was hoping against hope that Workman would work out, even though folks kept telling me his minor league strikeout rate was really bad.  Hell, I definitely did not expect his spring success to continue, especially with sporadic AB's.  But with his glove league average or slightly below would have been fine.  But man....he's looked bad. 

[Bertz]

I think you dump Workman when one of three things happens:

1. One of the Iowa kids starts popping off and you want the roster spot 

2. PCA's struggles against lefties reach a point that you want to add a dedicated RHH CF to more proactively platoon him

3. We've got another month or so of Workman looking this helpless

[BKHoo]

Who starts in center field tonight versus Corbin? 

[Bertz]

32 minutes ago, BKHoo said:

Who starts in center field tonight versus Corbin? 

I don't see any reason to think it won't be PCA.

[We Got The Whole 9]

Cubs are on pace for 260 steals, the team record is 121. Jed really built a fast offense. Only a couple of these guys should have red lights. The bottom of the lineup, when it's Nico, PCA, and Shaw/Berti, has to be one of the fastest ever put out there. If these guys start clicking at the plate this offense will be a nightmare to deal with. It is already but there's another gear to hit still. 

[Rcal10]

1 hour ago, Bertz said:

I think you dump Workman when one of three things happens:

1. One of the Iowa kids starts popping off and you want the roster spot 

2. PCA's struggles against lefties reach a point that you want to add a dedicated RHH CF to more proactively platoon him

3. We've got another month or so of Workman looking this helpless

I don’t think it takes another month. Why wouldn’t the Cubs just release Brujan if they liked Worlman more than him? Even if they wanted to see what Workman could do so they gave him 3 weeks while putting Brujan on the IL, Workman has been bad. I think when Brujan is ready the Cubs will have to decide if they can work out some minor arrangement with the Tigers and keep Workman, or send him back. Fact is, it is very hard for a team competing to stash a rule 5 guy all season. If it isn’t now it will be another time. So if they think right now Brujan helps them more I would think when he is ready they will make the move. And if they don’t think he helps them more now, they should have just let Brujan go. Honestly, I am ok with whatever they do. I think Workman got was overhyped this spring. Sure, he might be a decent utility guy to have in the system as a guy who is up and down. But he isn’t anything special. And as a rule 5 guy they can’t move him up and down. My best case scenerio is a deal with the Tigers. Maybe only a cash deal or a ptbnl deal where the Cubs can keep workman. Send him down and put Brujan on the team as the 26th man. 

[JunkyardWalrus]

Tater will be fine. He's going to cook. 

[squally1313]

24 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

I don’t think it takes another month. Why wouldn’t the Cubs just release Brujan if they liked Worlman more than him? Even if they wanted to see what Workman could do so they gave him 3 weeks while putting Brujan on the IL, Workman has been bad. I think when Brujan is ready the Cubs will have to decide if they can work out some minor arrangement with the Tigers and keep Workman, or send him back. Fact is, it is very hard for a team competing to stash a rule 5 guy all season. If it isn’t now it will be another time. So if they think right now Brujan helps them more I would think when he is ready they will make the move. And if they don’t think he helps them more now, they should have just let Brujan go. Honestly, I am ok with whatever they do. I think Workman got was overhyped this spring. Sure, he might be a decent utility guy to have in the system as a guy who is up and down. But he isn’t anything special. And as a rule 5 guy they can’t move him up and down. My best case scenerio is a deal with the Tigers. Maybe only a cash deal or a ptbnl deal where the Cubs can keep workman. Send him down and put Brujan on the team as the 26th man. 

They went through the whole process of making the trade and then gave him the most PAs in spring training (in which he performed very well) to dump him after 7 PAs? It's arguably hard to stash a rule 5 guy all season, so far it's been pretty easy as Workman has gotten basically a PA every other game. Brujan stuck around because Hoerner was coming back from an injury and you can never rule out another injury to the rest of our middle infield options. Basically Lance Lynn but MIF. But now he's healthy and there's nowhere to put him that upgrades our team, so, you're welcome for the rehab, hope you catch on elsewhere. 

The difference between 2025 Gage Workman and Vidal Brujan is immaterial, and there are a lot of of Vidal Brujan's out there in case you, for some reason, need one. If Gage needs to go for the reasons outlined above by Bertz, fine, sure. But for the dude with the career 50 wRC? 

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I don't think there's a black and white answer to what they *will* do, but if I had to guess I think Brujan gets DFA'd.  He was added at a minimal cost and before they were able to get Berti signed, so I think you can argue that he's closer to a flyer that they aren't going to be attached to now that they have more info(Berti signed, Workman's ST performance, Brujan's ST performance).  But you can argue similarly for Brujan over Workman so I don't think it's an 80/20 odds of their decision.