Cubs (Horton) vs Marlins (Meyer): 5/21/25, 12:10pm

[gflore34]

1 minute ago, WhyCantWeWin said:

Horton is killing me, so many mistake pitches again 

Didn't someone say he's shown a pattern of taking some time to get dialed in?  Thought this may have been the start he gets comfortable and is executing.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

The real key was Nico not trying to turn 2. He had to make that last play.

[Jason Ross]

9 minutes ago, gflore34 said:

Didn't someone say he's shown a pattern of taking some time to get dialed in?  Thought this may have been the start he gets comfortable and is executing.

It took him a few starts in Triple-A to get dialed in, yes. He did this thing where his worst games he would put people in favorable counts, but then be unable to put them away,. The PA with Stowers feels like a good example of it: he gets up 0-2 but then his fastball doesnt get in on the hands, and it stays up and out - foul ball. Pitch 4 is a curve he spikes too low...he'll never get a chase. He got a good ground ball eventually, on the changeup, but he ends that with a strikeout on pitch three if he gets the 97mph in on the hands and up like, 2 more inches. Probably gets the K on the 

It's just tweaks. Get the curveball up or the fastball up a bit and he's got a swinging strike three. 

I'll give him a little defense; the changeup to Mervis was a good pitch way off the zone he yanked and that pitch he just gave up a double on wasn't a mid-mid fastball. You'd like it a little more up, but that's outter third that Pulley did what you're supposed to on.

[WhyCantWeWin]

Thats a catchable ball, what the hell is Happ doing there

[gflore34]

That horsefeathers Hill again seriously, what is with the Cubs continually giving an absolutely terrible hitter pitches he can handle?

[chibears55]

I mentioned yesterday about hitters going to minors after a stint on IL, Happ definitely could of used a couple games there facing live pitching and games action before returning.  He doesn't look ready 

[Irrelevant Dude]

Hitters dont usually do rehab stints after missing only a couple weeks or less.

[UMFan83]

6 hits allowed in 2.1 IP for Horton

[UMFan83]

Just now, Irrelevant Dude said:

Hitters dont usually do rehab stints after missing only a couple weeks or less.

Right, it would have been silly to give him a rehab stint.  But at the same time it's not terribly surprising that he looks a bit off.  He'll be fine and soon.

[Brian707]

Lets keep it close/tied and get to the Marlins bullpen

[gflore34]

2 minutes ago, Brian707 said:

Lets keep it close/tied and get to the Marlins bullpen

Better yet, let's get some traffic on the bases for Tucker.

[Jason Ross]

1 minute ago, UMFan83 said:

6 hits allowed in 2.1 IP for Horton

Yeah, lots of hits. He's not getting misses on the fastballs - the Marlins hit the fastball pretty well but don't hit breaking balls well. Horton's still just over throwing the slider a bit and throwing the fastball too often as a strike. Result? Hits against a team who hits fastballs well but doesn't hit breaking balls well. 

Positive: his changeup is nasty today and he's really leaning on it. That's a great sign.

[Dfan25]

Overall , surprised by how easy hitters are laying off his slider so far .  

[chibears55]

14 minutes ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

Hitters dont usually do rehab stints after missing only a couple weeks or less.

They should if they choose not to, especially those returning to teams that are actually winning.  I can see if your returning to the Sox or Rockies 

Long time without facing live pitching in game action 

Edited May 21, 2025 by chibears55

[squally1313]

4 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

They should if they choose not to, especially those returning to teams that are actually winning.  I can see if your returning to the Sox or Rockies 

Long time without facing live pitching in game action 

A rusty Ian Happ is very likely going to be better than whatever the other option is. 

[Jason Ross]

9 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

They should if they choose not to, especially those returning to teams that are actually winning.  I can see if your returning to the Sox or Rockies 

Long time without facing live pitching in game action 

The Marlins have the 2nd worst ERA in baseball.

[Andy]

Shaw is hitting opposite field bullets every time up. Very encouraging.

[Jason Ross]

21 minutes ago, Dfan25 said:

hjOverall , surprised by how easy hitters are laying off his slider so far .  

I'm not. 

Red = fastball,. gold = slider, green changeup. He's yanking too many sliders and no one is chasing them. They need to be closer to the zone. Not by a ton, but a little. Whether it's over-hyper, or under-confident he's just missing on those. Less wasteful sliders will result in more chase. 

[javy knows my name]

Bucknor is an atrocity but he seems to be favoring us quite a bit

[Hunter]

Well we got someone on base in front of Tucker. So much for that.

 

[chibears55]

15 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

A rusty Ian Happ is very likely going to be better than whatever the other option is. 

The other option was Ballesteros and it not like Happ would of missed any games, he still would have returned yesterday. Could of played in Iowa over weekend. 

[gflore34]

2 minutes ago, Hunter said:

Well we got someone on base in front of Tucker. So much for that.

 

And a hard hit ball unfortunately, at someone, Tucker getting at bats with base runners will quite often result in good things.

[chibears55]

15 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

The Marlins have the 2nd worst ERA in baseball.

What does that have to do with anything?

Happ looks dead up there so far

[Outshined_One]

Horton getting three swings and misses from Stowers on the change was really, really nice to see.

[Outshined_One]

Looking the game log over, I don't think Horton's had a single swinging strike on his fastball all day.

Credit where it's due for getting through 5 IP so far with some quality pitching, but I expected a bit better from his fastball.