Cubs (Taillon) vs Padres (Cease): 4/14/25, 8:40pm

[CubinNY]

I fell asleep listening to the games with my ear buds. They were up and Jamo was cruising. I woke up in the 8th and all was lost. 

[17 Seconds]

pete is 13th in mlb in fwar

[Bertz]

Hard to be mad about Keller's outing, yeah there was a walk mixed in there but it was simple bad luck.

Morgan and Pearson have to be swapped out today though.  Palencia and Brandon Hughes maybe?

[Jason Ross]

4 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Hard to be mad about Keller's outing, yeah there was a walk mixed in there but it was simple bad luck.

Morgan and Pearson have to be swapped out today though.  Palencia and Brandon Hughes maybe?

Hughes isn't on the 40-man, so my guess would be Palencia and Little unless Morgan needs a 60-man IL slot.

[gflore34]

Morgan really needs to go, when a soft singles hitter like Arraez gets him for a HR, you know he's terrible.  Pearson as well, don't see why Palencia can't be given a chance.

[Bertz]

7 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

Hughes isn't on the 40-man, so my guess would be Palencia and Little unless Morgan needs a 60-man IL slot.

We've got a freebie roster spot in Steele whenever Jed wants to cash that in.

[Jason Ross]

1 minute ago, Bertz said:

We've got a freebie roster spot in Steele whenever Jed wants to cash that in.

Ah yeah, we do. Good call!

Ignore my inability to count- I'd still give preference to Little. Little's more of a walk machine (though Hughes hasn't been great) but I think offers the greatest difference to Thielbar. Hughes is a bit more like-for-like there, and he's got walk issues of his own. That said, outside of his first inning, has been pretty solid.

[Rcal10]

I think they have to replace Morgan and Pearson. Palencia will probably be sent down. Like to see the second guy a lefty. They do have a possible opening in the 40 man when they put Steele in the 60 day IL.

If Taillon could have been allowed to finish the 6th, it might have been an entirely different game. Maybe Keller pitchers the 7th and then some combo of Hodge, Merriweather and Pressly finish it off. 

[gflore34]

Haven't checked, the bullpen blow-ups, I believe Pearson and Morgan been the primary contributors, no?

[Jason Ross]

14 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

I think they have to replace Morgan and Pearson. Palencia will probably be sent down. Like to see the second guy a lefty. They do have a possible opening in the 40 man when they put Steele in the 60 day IL.

If Taillon could have been allowed to finish the 6th, it might have been an entirely different game. Maybe Keller pitchers the 7th and then some combo of Hodge, Merriweather and Pressly finish it off. 

Sounds like Taillon was under the weather last night and why he was pulled when he was.

[Rcal10]

2 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

Sounds like Taillon was under the weather last night and why he was pulled when he was.

Got it. See, those are the things we don’t know, as fans. People are quick to criticize a manager for his pen use, and have no idea of who is actually available. That Machado AB in the 6th hurt. Again, had Taillon been able to get him out earlier he may have been able to finish the 6th.🤷 And again, the pen could have been used differently, provided those guys were available. Something we also do not know. 

[mul21]

30 minutes ago, gflore34 said:

Morgan really needs to go, when a soft singles hitter like Arraez gets him for a HR, you know he's terrible.  Pearson as well, don't see why Palencia can't be given a chance.

That ball was 4" inside.  There's absolutely no reason he should have been able to hit that pitch out.  And if he's actually injured, I kind of have to give him a pass on last night anyway.

[mul21]

I've been resistant to the idea of Robertson, but with Steele down already and all the other options walking the world or not quite ready yet in Iowa, it may be the time to make that move. Neely, Palencia and Little have all walked at least 2 batters in 4 IP or less and they're the only real viable options to bring up in place of Pearson and Morgan right now.

[Rcal10]

13 minutes ago, mul21 said:

I've been resistant to the idea of Robertson, but with Steele down already and all the other options walking the world or not quite ready yet in Iowa, it may be the time to make that move. Neely, Palencia and Little have all walked at least 2 batters in 4 IP or less and they're the only real viable options to bring up in place of Pearson and Morgan right now.

Keegan Thompson? 10K’s in 5.2 innings and a zero era. 

[mul21]

1 minute ago, Rcal10 said:

Keegan Thompson? 10K’s in 5.2 innings and a zero era. 

I was just looking at the 40 man but I suppose they could go down that road again.

[Rcal10]

15 minutes ago, mul21 said:

I was just looking at the 40 man but I suppose they could go down that road again.

🤷 he does go on good runs from time to time. 

[Jason Ross]

15 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

🤷 he does go on good runs from time to time. 

The fastball velo still hasn't come back, so I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this - there's really just a good chance that what I'm about to post is due to Thompson's age and multi-time-repeater status of being in Triple-A. But...

Here is his statcast data from Triple-A last year:

I'm not entirely sure that I would trust him, but the breaking pitch is grading out (in SSS extreme) better and the command in the zone seems to be better. He could be an option, but the more I think about it, the more I do think it's an age thing more so than improvement.

 

[JBears79]

I'm not gonna even think about this game. This stuff will get cleaned up as the year moves along. Cubs didnt lose to the Padres last night, they beat themselves. 

Only think I'm gonna say is I never want to see Nate Pearson throw a pitch in a Cubs jersey ever again. 

[mul21]

8 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

The fastball velo still hasn't come back, so I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this - there's really just a good chance that what I'm about to post is due to Thompson's age and multi-time-repeater status of being in Triple-A. But...

Here is his statcast data from Triple-A last year:

I'm not entirely sure that I would trust him, but the breaking pitch is grading out (in SSS extreme) better and the command in the zone seems to be better. He could be an option, but the more I think about it, the more I do think it's an age thing more so than improvement.

 

Man, if he's nibbling like that in Iowa and walking guys at that rate, there's no way I trust him to come up, especially averaging less than 92 on the fastball.  That just won't play.

[Jason Ross]

6 minutes ago, mul21 said:

Man, if he's nibbling like that in Iowa and walking guys at that rate, there's no way I trust him to come up, especially averaging less than 92 on the fastball.  That just won't play.

The walk rates aren't horrible and remember, it's under 5 innings. And he's getting tons of chase and whiff in zone. But the fastball velo below that of what it was last year is making me wonder if he's just capable right now of being too good for Triple-A hitters. If that was Jack Neeley's statcast data, I'd scream to call him up. But Thompson who has plenty of MLB experience? It makes me question it more. 

A lot of this is SSS. It's why that FB velo might be the most important thing on the list.

[We Got The Whole 9]

Little appears to be nowhere near his potential yet this season, I don't think you bring him up. Palencia's Ks drop precipitously in MLB and when hitters aren't intimidated by his stuff he spirals and can't throw quality strikes. Neely looks like a different guy this year as well. 

 

Get Robertson. He can help.

 

 

[Jason Ross]

10 minutes ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

Little appears to be nowhere near his potential yet this season, I don't think you bring him up. Palencia's Ks drop precipitously in MLB and when hitters aren't intimidated by his stuff he spirals and can't throw quality strikes. Neely looks like a different guy this year as well. 

 

Get Robertson. He can help.

 

 

I think we have to pause a bit on the prospect stuff there. Palencia, Little and Neeley have yet to establish themselves, which is a fair criticism! But rookies do that. Palencia is the oldest of all of them and he's 25. It's fair to be skeptical of them, but if this isn't the time to see, then I don't know when it is. I do think it's kind of a time to see Palencia sink or swim a bit more. He's cruising through Iowa this year. 

I'm not opposed to signing Robertson, but a few caveats:

1. He's sitting at home for a reason. I won't claim to know what that reason is - but there's one. It could be a Robertson personal one, it could be teams are wary...whatever. But good players don't sit at home for nothing. 

2. Even if the Cubs do sign him, it's going to take him probably a while to ramp up. He's been in no camp, he's not been throwing in games...he's a veteran and if he wants to play is likely not doing nothing, but it's probably a few weeks to get him going. You'd probably have to experiment with the names above regardless. 

I'm not sure if any of the names listed here will make themselves mainstays in the bullpen, but I wouldn't mind seeing any of them (for various reasons). 

[Bertz]

Keegan's velo did weird things early last year at Iowa too and then immediately got fixed before his first MLB outing.

He wouldn't be my choice for a callup but I wouldn't be shocked if he came up and looked totally fine.

[JBears79]

I'd like to see  Palencia up. 

Edited April 15, 2025 by JBears79

[Stratos]

23 minutes ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

Get Robertson. He can help.

Problem is he needs time to get in games and build up.  He's so behind.  Shades of Kimbrel.  They should have signed him in early Feb.  This org is so cheap JFC, they do this to themselves.