Cubs (Brown) vs Reds (Lodolo): 5/25/25, 12:40pm

[Brock Beauchamp]

I just noticed the Cardinals are six games over .500. Gross.

[BKHoo]

The oblique strains are getting ridiculous!!!

[Irrelevant Dude]

I can't say that I keep up with other teams' injury situations.  How common have oblique strains been across MLB?  It does seem very unusual to have so many oblique injuries on a single team - Happ, Amaya, Imanaga, Assad, Suzuki (if we go back to late last season).  Am I missing any?

[Jason Ross]

20 minutes ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

I can't say that I keep up with other teams' injury situations.  How common have oblique strains been across MLB?  It does seem very unusual to have so many oblique injuries on a single team - Happ, Amaya, Imanaga, Assad, Suzuki (if we go back to late last season).  Am I missing any?

I don't have data behind it, but I saw a tweet last night talking about how it appeared they were up league wide this year,

[Hot Sauce]

2 hours ago, BKHoo said:

The oblique strains are getting ridiculous!!!

Oblique strains are the new turf toe. 

[Derwood]

 

Happ out here getting the coach's son treatment

[chibears55]

2 hours ago, BKHoo said:

The oblique strains are getting ridiculous!!!

Biggest cause for oblique strains is heavy lifting such as weights which is a big norm for athletes these days.  add that to all the normal twisting, throwing motions, and bending a baseball player does every day and boom it due to happen more now.

Same with the hamstring issues, Compared to way back in the day when Athletes just mostly stretched, did light lifting, and ran to stay fit, these guys now do some heavy lifting which builds up muscles but increases the chance of strains and pulls if they're not stretched out enough to deal with all the movements they do in games.

[chibears55]

12 minutes ago, Derwood said:

 

Happ out here getting the coach's son treatment

Magic number has been 4 runs  allowed so far this season, keep them 4 or less they obviously have a great chance to win, when giving up 5+ they are 7 and 7.

Be nice if Brown can give them a quality start today and the offense strikes early with a few runs for him.

[Hot Sauce]

14 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

Biggest cause for oblique strains is heavy lifting such as weights which is a big norm for athletes these days.  add that to all the normal twisting, throwing motions, and bending a baseball player does every day and boom it due to happen more now.

Same with the hamstring issues, Compared to way back in the day when Athletes just mostly stretched, did light lifting, and ran to stay fit, these guys now do some heavy lifting which builds up muscles but increases the chance of strains and pulls if they're not stretched out enough to deal with all the movements they do in games.

I recall a game when Brenly was in the booth and he talked about how working out in his playing days meant throwing the medicine ball around a little bit. 

[CubinNY]

Tall order today. Hopefully, Brown can limit the gopher balls. I still think he has the makings of a good SP, but he needs a third pitch. 

[BKHoo]

He has been good at times without the third pitch. He just need to get ahead of and locate the fast ball well. 
 

I don’t understand Happ continuing to lead off either.  

Edited May 25, 2025 by BKHoo

[KCCub]

 

[Derwood]

Neat, who's the emergency catcher, then?

[gflore34]

Happ breaks out today, big career numbers vs. Lodolo in fact, Swanson, Hoerner and Seiya with big numbers as well.  Yesterday the career numbers suggested a big day for the Reds, today it's flipped and, the numbers suggest a big day for the Cubs.  The Cubs will also pick up a game on the Cardinals today.

Edited May 25, 2025 by gflore34

[Nolansomebody]

Not feeling good with Brown on the mound given his performance in Miami

[KCCub]

10 minutes ago, Derwood said:

Neat, who's the emergency catcher, then?

Believe they said Berti on the broadcast yesterday.

[chibears55]

26 minutes ago, KCCub said:

 

Damn, who cursed the Catchers this weekend. 

Gonna need the top of order to do some damage today, maybe McGuire will have one of those wasn't supposed to play but ended up getting a big hit or two for them today.

[UMFan83]

46 minutes ago, BKHoo said:

He has been good at times without the third pitch. He just need to get ahead of and locate the fast ball well. 
 

I don’t understand Happ continuing to lead off either.  

Honestly who cares he’s been hitting leadoff for years, clearly like him there. He’s streaky which can be frustrating at times but people do this every year and he eventually has a solid 3.5-4 win season 

[PackLandVA]

Would be nice if the Cubs could flip the script in the 1st inning today - maybe score a couple of runs and have the Reds go down in order.

[PackLandVA]

15 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

Honestly who cares he’s been hitting leadoff for years, clearly like him there. He’s streaky which can be frustrating at times but people do this every year and he eventually has a solid 3.5-4 win season 

While I'm fine with Happ leading off, I also don't think it would be a horrible idea to take him out of the leadoff spot (especially with no rehab ABs prior to his return) until he gets his swing back (or for a few games). 

[Derwood]

Happ is 2 for 14 with 7 K's since his return

[chibears55]

7 minutes ago, Derwood said:

Happ is 2 for 14 with 7 K's since his return

After yesterday,  he's 3 for 19 with 9 Ks.

He was 2 for his last 17 with 9 Ks before he got hurt.

He definitely  wasn't ready yet, could of used a couple games in Iowa before returning. 

 

Getting a typical game in Cincinnati from him today would be nice.

Edited May 25, 2025 by chibears55

[Rcal10]

1 minute ago, chibears55 said:

After yesterday,  he's 3 for 19 with 9 Ks

He wasn't ready yet, could of used a couple games in Iowa before returning. 

 

Getting a typical game in Cincinnati from him today would be nice.

Has he played 2 in Iowa instead of Miami how would that have helped him the first 2 games in Cincy? He just needs live action and he will eventually start hitting again. Maybe dropping him wouldn’t be a bad idea, but I doubt he would be any better now has he played 2 games in Iowa before joining the Cubs in Cincy. 

[chibears55]

Just now, Rcal10 said:

Has he played 2 in Iowa instead of Miami how would that have helped him the first 2 games in Cincy? He just needs live action and he will eventually start hitting again. Maybe dropping him wouldn’t be a bad idea, but I doubt he would be any better now has he played 2 games in Iowa before joining the Cubs in Cincy. 

We'll never know, but at least there he could of worked on adjusting or whatever he needed to do before returning, like I showed he was struggling some before he got hurt.

No real time to adjust once your back and all it did was continue his struggle.

Yes, now that he is back, dropping him in order can't hurt, maybe it takes a little pressure off him and he can see the pitcher for a few batters before hitting. 

 

Hopefully today a good day for him, they need him, especially now with both catchers down.

[Derwood]

Ump off to a stellar start