Dodgers (May) vs Cubs (Imanaga): 4/22/25, 6:40pm

[itisallpartoftheplan]

If Brujan is hurt Workman might survive.. thought he did have some decent contact in his second at bat.. 95mph up the middle but not a hit in today’s era. Also should’ve drawn a walk but the ump missed the full count call.

Edited April 23, 2025 by itisallpartoftheplan

[Rex Buckingham]

3 minutes ago, Thusly Boned said:

2001 Sosa for me, but the best I've seen since then for sure.

Yeah, 01 Sammy put up 10 WAR (bRef) with a 204 ops+ on a team where the 2nd best hitter was 49 games of 37 year old Fred McGriff or 95 games of Rondell White.  

[DYMNO]

Oh, man. Assad tweaked an oblique? That SUCKS. 

[PeanutPunch33]

Random observation, but did anyone else notice what Tucker did after Brujan slid into home plate and appeared to injure himself?  Kyle didn't join the melee but instead made sure Brujan was okay.  This is how a player worth 500+million treats the 25th man on the roster after a game winning play.  The Cubs better find a way to keep this guy because he is a great leader, teammate, and an absolute unit of a player 

[UMFan83]

I just want to point out that Ohtani has gone 1-16 against the Cubs since his BS HR in Japan. Karma?

Edited April 23, 2025 by UMFan83

[We Got The Whole 9]

2 of the last 4 games have been all-timers. Please, bullpen, don't ruin this season for us.

[soccer10k]

1 hour ago, profisme said:

2005 Derrek Lee was pretty special.  That was the year he closed the hole in his swing on the inside fastball.  Only prime Albert Pujols stole that triple crown and MVP from him.  

Edit: Somehow I forgot Andruw Jones hit 51 homers that year... Wow.

2005 DLee was the first post-Sammy guy I thought of. He was absurd that year.

[soccer10k]

 

[Stratos]

3 hours ago, Cubs206 said:

Workman needs to be DFA. Otherwise it’s a country club where failure is ok 

Dopey Jed strikes again 

He's really been horrendous defensively.

[JHBulls]

59 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

I just want to point out that Ohtani has gone 1-16 against the Cubs since his BS HR in Japan. Karma?

He’s in awe of Kyle Tucker and has forgotten how to hit in his presence. 

[Stratos]

2 hours ago, JHBulls said:

Not sure why players rounding the bases don’t just fling the helmet off their head when it’s just dangling there lol.

This is crazy but when i played I wore a helmet that fit me and it rarely if ever came off, like most MLB players.

[JHBulls]

6 minutes ago, Stratos said:

This is crazy but when i played I wore a helmet that fit me and it rarely if ever came off, like most MLB players.

The crazy part, reading back, is my suggestion that players should intentionally remove their helmets if it’s just dangling on their heads. That sounds like a recipe for getting hit in the head at home plate. 

[We Got The Whole 9]

I think it's time to swap PCA and Amaya/Kelly with Nico and Dansby in the lineup. Not that we are suffering for production but just to give them more ABs.

 

PCA has been playing the last 2 weeks at a 12 or 15 war pace or something absolutely stupid - 339/371/678. Inflated by hustle doubles and bloops, sure. Still, his contact quality has been damn good. He probably should have hit a couple more homers actually. He's been hitting a lot of deep fly balls with high EV. 

 

Jed better wise up. Peachy Cheeks All-Star has begun his ascension into the elite.

[Stratos]

2 hours ago, Wilson A2000 said:

Counsell did not sound happy about the latter play in his postgame. “That play has to be made.” I agree, so stop playing him.

Good it needs to be said.  Workman needs to go to Iowa to work out his fielding issues, or be returned to the Tigers.  Problem is Shaw is in Iowa at 3B.  Maybe they trade for him and he goes back to AA or the Tigers.  He has no value on our MLB roster right now.

They either need to just go with Berti at 3B and call up Cowles or someone, or get creative.

They also have a significant issue with this bullpen because its trash.  Going with random pen arms means you get random results until June when we finally figure out who's effective or not.  No excuse not to have signed Yates or Scott or Robertson etc.  What a joke of an org.

[Stratos]

In small defense of Workman, it's tough being a rookie and only playing once every 2 weeks.

[Stratos]

PCA was 11th in fWAR in the MLB before tonight's game.  Gotta think he enters the top 10 when the stats update in the morning.

[NorthsideAvenger]

These are the games that I hate to miss because I have to go to bed for an early shift at work.

Edited April 23, 2025 by NorthsideAvenger

[Jason Ross]

4 hours ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

2 of the last 4 games have been all-timers. Please, bullpen, don't ruin this season for us.

Listen, half the reason the last two have been all-timers are because of the bullpen. They're just entertainers. 

[CubinNY]

Lol, I fell asleep in the 7th inning when I knew it was slipping away with walks. Nice wake up news

[CubUgly]

5 hours ago, Stratos said:

Good it needs to be said.  Workman needs to go to Iowa to work out his fielding issues, or be returned to the Tigers.  Problem is Shaw is in Iowa at 3B.  Maybe they trade for him and he goes back to AA or the Tigers.  He has no value on our MLB roster right now.

They either need to just go with Berti at 3B and call up Cowles or someone, or get creative.

They also have a significant issue with this bullpen because its trash.  Going with random pen arms means you get random results until June when we finally figure out who's effective or not.  No excuse not to have signed Yates or Scott or Robertson etc.  What a joke of an org.

Ironic that they were both part of the Dodgers pen blowing the game tonight and Yates gave up a walk-off to Texas over the weekend. 

[Jason Ross]

5 hours ago, Stratos said:

Good it needs to be said.  Workman needs to go to Iowa to work out his fielding issues, or be returned to the Tigers.  Problem is Shaw is in Iowa at 3B.  Maybe they trade for him and he goes back to AA or the Tigers.  He has no value on our MLB roster right now.

They either need to just go with Berti at 3B and call up Cowles or someone, or get creative.

They also have a significant issue with this bullpen because its trash.  Going with random pen arms means you get random results until June when we finally figure out who's effective or not.  No excuse not to have signed Yates or Scott or Robertson etc.  What a joke of an org.

He's not ready - that's the profile of someone struggling with pitch recognition. He's making good contact when he hits it, but he's chasing a ton and whiffing a ton. There really isn't a creative option right now. But the Cubs shouldn't force it - just play Berti. He's fine. The offense is doing great. The Cubs don't need to try to ruin a Cowles (who's still learning Triple-A) or force a 1b to play 3b in Johnny Long. 

Matt Shaw should hopefully be back in a few weeks. 

[Tryptamine]

6 hours ago, Stratos said:

PCA was 11th in fWAR in the MLB before tonight's game.  Gotta think he enters the top 10 when the stats update in the morning.

Kyle Tucker #5 at 1.6 fWAR,  PCA 6th with 1.5.

[BigbadB]

They are winning even with the lack of production at 3b. Let Shaw have some more minor league at bats against guys who aren't Cy Young votees and bring him back when the schedule softens. Then just leave him there. 

I actually like the current construction of the batting order. The speed of Dansby/Nico/PCA in front of the catcher reduces the chances of double plays with a slow running catcher. The runs per game average supports that.

[gflore34]

Watched the condensed game, Workman' been brutal with the glove.  First whiff I can give him a pass on, second whiff is absolutely a play that should have been made.  Nevertheless, Tucker is the least talked about best player in the MLB and PCA?  He's morphing into a star before our eyes.  Locking up Tucker and PCA could go a long ways towards the Cubs ruling the Central for a while - that means more money Tom!  A hot Happ plus Tucker and Seiya followed by an improving Busch that's a pretty decent first four on par with most any lineup in baseball.  

The Dodgers are just not other worldly, maybe, they've yet to hit their stride and will prove to be.  Continually playing the Padres, Diamondbacks and Dodgers has afforded us a good look at these teams.  The Padres are certainly better than the Dodgers arguments could made the Diamondbacks are the better of the Dodgers as well.   In any case it's awesome to see the Cubs taking it to the Dodgers, Ohtani with a hat trick of K's is the cherry on top.

Edited April 23, 2025 by gflore34

[Rcal10]

1 hour ago, Jason Ross said:

He's not ready - that's the profile of someone struggling with pitch recognition. He's making good contact when he hits it, but he's chasing a ton and whiffing a ton. There really isn't a creative option right now. But the Cubs shouldn't force it - just play Berti. He's fine. The offense is doing great. The Cubs don't need to try to ruin a Cowles (who's still learning Triple-A) or force a 1b to play 3b in Johnny Long. 

Matt Shaw should hopefully be back in a few weeks. 

How about BJ Murray? He is playing 3rd in AA. Won’t disrupt Shaw working at Iowa and gives the Cubs a guy they can play there a bit. He isn’t a high ranked prospect but maybe he does for the Cubs what Morel did when he wasn’t a high ranked prospect and was brought straight from AA, but can also field at 3rd. It isn’t like he has to do much to replace Workman. Plus, Brujan might be hurt again.