Rockies (Marquez) vs Cubs (Horton): 5/27/25, 7:05pm

[NorthsideAvenger]

It was fun seeing PCA being the first to greet Shaw after the GW hit.

 

[Derwood]

Seitan already 2/3 of the way to his career high in rbi 

[BKHoo]

50 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

Going into the year, my big gripe was a lack of top end talent, but figured we had enough mid rotation depth to get through the year without too much pain. Things are clearly different now, Matthew Boyd is our ace, Horton is already here and pitching into the 7th, we're kinda just closing our eyes and giving the ball to Colin Rea every 5th day. Our internal reinforcements are Jordan Wicks and....Connor Noland?

We've discussed the lack of top end talent and I get it, especially with the calendar still saying May. But this offense is good enough to cover for a generally mediocre innings eater who's future arm health we are less concerned about than Brown and Horton. Just call the Orioles and their 1.8% playoff chance every day and ask what combination of Eflin, Morton, Sugano, Bautista, Soto we can have.  

Don’t mull me for this it this team reminds me a bit of the orioles two years ago. They could mash the ball and had solid starting pitching but no aces.  They won 101 games but did not get it done in the playoffs. I hope Jed swings for the fences at the trade deadline. 

[KCCub]

1 minute ago, BKHoo said:

Don’t mull me for this it this team reminds me a bit of the orioles two years ago. They could mash the ball and had solid starting pitching but no aces.  They won 101 games but did not get it done in the playoffs. I hope Jed swings for the fences at the trade deadline. 

I think if TORP are available at the deadline, Jed is going to be swimming in those waters. I think folks are underestimating how aggressive Jed has been at the deadline. Landed the best hitter (Maybe biggest deadline trade overall?) last season when we were under .500. In 2023 he also landed the best hitter, although it was only Candelario. Those teams were nowhere near this current team. I think if someone like Gausman or equivalent becomes available, I expect Jed to land one of the big fish.

The O's failures are well documented and have been highly criticized. No chance Jed follows their path and doesn't add a difference maker arm (Unless there literally isn't one available).   

[Brian707]

56 minutes ago, Derwood said:

The problem with “our offense is good enough to cover for meh pitching” is that the playoffs tend to have you facing better pitching and better offenses. Having a shut down ace is a must 

Exactly. That is why the trade deadline is so important. If they don't add SP and a couple bullpen arms, their ceiling is a NLDS appearance. If they do address those needs, the ceiling can be a WS title.

[squally1313]

13 minutes ago, BKHoo said:

Don’t mull me for this it this team reminds me a bit of the orioles two years ago. They could mash the ball and had solid starting pitching but no aces.  They won 101 games but did not get it done in the playoffs. I hope Jed swings for the fences at the trade deadline. 

Eh. I see your point but feel like that type of belief ('need an ace for the playoffs') is more selective memory than actually borne out in reality. The Orioles best pitcher that year threw 168 innings, 8.96 K/9, 2.35 BB/9, 2.83/3.77/3.27/3.53 ERA/xERA/FIP/xFIP, 3.8 fWAR. The best Rangers pitcher threw 144 innings, 8.25 K/9, 2.94 BB/9, 3.63/3.98/3.88/3.96. Yes, obviously there's a reputational difference between Kyle Bradish and Nate Eovaldi, but going into the post season there's not really a reason to think they were an ace short vs the eventual champions.

More importantly, typically if you go down the thought process of wanting/needing an ace, there's like 6-8 of them in baseball in general and almost all of them aren't anywhere near available, so I'm just not going to lose sleep over it. Hopefully it's Horton in a year or two, until then we just have to hope that Shota is a big game pitcher and the other guys are healthy come the fall. 

[Bertz]

The Dodgers won a WS last year with Yamamoto, Beuhler (who was ass in the regular season), and a bunch of bullpen games.

The Rangers won with a rotation headed by Eovaldi and Montgomery.  Two good pitchers for sure but very much the same tier as Shota/Boyd.

Everyone would love a Phillies type rotation, but these days with how few innings playoff starters throw (even most aces are 5 and dive) it's not the only way to skin the cat.  

[Transmogrified Tiger]

6 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Everyone would love a Phillies type rotation, but these days with how few innings playoff starters throw (even most aces are 5 and dive) it's not the only way to skin the cat.  

I suspect especially in the LCS and WS we'll see some reversion on this(especially at the top of the rotation), but otherwise yeah.  There's a short term need and a long term need at play.  Short term they need a playoff caliber starter, long term they need that guy for multiple years.  
 

That doesn't have to be a guy with 37 years of control who throws 104.  They may not be able to get both in a perfect package, especially since the most likely appealing options have big enough contracts to make you flinch about what it does to 2026 spending(Sale, Gausman, DeGrom, etc).  

The other option is to optimize more for the long term and make the bet that you can fix a controlled starter midseason.  I'm a little more optimistic about that path given how good the developmental results have been this year with Zombro on board, but it's still a big risk for your biggest need.

[mul21]

4 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

I suspect especially in the LCS and WS we'll see some reversion on this(especially at the top of the rotation), but otherwise yeah.  There's a short term need and a long term need at play.  Short term they need a playoff caliber starter, long term they need that guy for multiple years.  
 

That doesn't have to be a guy with 37 years of control who throws 104.  They may not be able to get both in a perfect package, especially since the most likely appealing options have big enough contracts to make you flinch about what it does to 2026 spending(Sale, Gausman, DeGrom, etc).  

The other option is to optimize more for the long term and make the bet that you can fix a controlled starter midseason.  I'm a little more optimistic about that path given how good the developmental results have been this year with Zombro on board, but it's still a big risk for your biggest need.

I'm most concerned in the near term with getting someone who can give them 6 innings every 5 days so the pen isn't gassed come July.  The recent stretch against subpar teams where the starters (outside of Jamo and Horton last night) have mostly been going 5 IP or less is going to be a problem when they start facing decent teams again.

[KCCub]

1 minute ago, mul21 said:

I'm most concerned in the near term with getting someone who can give them 6 innings every 5 days so the pen isn't gassed come July.  The recent stretch against subpar teams where the starters (outside of Jamo and Horton last night) have mostly been going 5 IP or less is going to be a problem when they start facing decent teams again.

Agree with the concern, but I think Jed will keep pumping new BP arms into the system since it's just highly unlikely a SP trade happens right now. That seems to be his current strategy, to get by until closer to the TDL. 

[squally1313]

You've got over a quarter of the league with a sub-5% chance of making the playoffs. I understand how this stuff normally works but it's going to be really annoying when the Dodgers give up international slot money for Charlie Morton and Soto next week. 

[We Got The Whole 9]

41 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

I suspect especially in the LCS and WS we'll see some reversion on this(especially at the top of the rotation), but otherwise yeah.  There's a short term need and a long term need at play.  Short term they need a playoff caliber starter, long term they need that guy for multiple years.  
 

That doesn't have to be a guy with 37 years of control who throws 104.  They may not be able to get both in a perfect package, especially since the most likely appealing options have big enough contracts to make you flinch about what it does to 2026 spending(Sale, Gausman, DeGrom, etc).  

The other option is to optimize more for the long term and make the bet that you can fix a controlled starter midseason.  I'm a little more optimistic about that path given how good the developmental results have been this year with Zombro on board, but it's still a big risk for your biggest need.

Speaking of Gausman, I'd have some interest. I imagine he'll be available. TOR is going nowhere and he'll be at that 1.5 years of control marker which usually brings the best return.

[Rcal10]

1 hour ago, Jason Ross said:

I see no reason to believe the team wouldn't be shopping for a very good arm. They might be rentals, but they have both need and capital to acquire any player they want. They have already shown a willingness to acquire expiring contracts (Tucker). 

I agree they should shop in the TOR aisle. I said I don’t think they will, but that’s because I don’t see any to be available. They cannot buy someone if he isn’t for sale. I realize things can happen between now and the deadline. So maybe someone opens up. Then, by all means, go all in for someone. Please give me a few examples of who you think might be available. I mentioned Peralta if the Brewers fall out of the race. I guess more teams can fall out and more pitchers become available. I am just not seeing it now. I am fine with a rental or a guy with control left. I agree they have the resources and should be all in on all options. Right now it is too early to figure out who that might be. 

[Jason Ross]

8 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

I agree they should shop in the TOR aisle. I said I don’t think they will, but that’s because I don’t see any to be available. They cannot buy someone if he isn’t for sale. I realize things can happen between now and the deadline. So maybe someone opens up. Then, by all means, go all in for someone. Please give me a few examples of who you think might be available. I mentioned Peralta if the Brewers fall out of the race. I guess more teams can fall out and more pitchers become available. I am just not seeing it now. I am fine with a rental or a guy with control left. I agree they have the resources and should be all in on all options. Right now it is too early to figure out who that might be. 

Figuring out who is available and who isn't available right now is a fool's game. One week of good results or bad results can swing things wildly. 

Most people didn't have Logan O'Hoppe as on the radar and the Cubs made a real push there. I didn't have "acquire Parades" necessarily on the bingo-card last year and it happened. 

As of today, I expect the Cubs will be involved in all of the best names who will be available and likely a few names we don't know are actually available. I'm not sure who that will be. But I believe they will be aggressive regardless.

[KCCub]

1 minute ago, Rcal10 said:

I agree they should shop in the TOR aisle. I said I don’t think they will, but that’s because I don’t see any to be available. They cannot buy someone if he isn’t for sale. I realize things can happen between now and the deadline. So maybe someone opens up. Then, by all means, go all in for someone. Please give me a few examples of who you think might be available. I mentioned Peralta if the Brewers fall out of the race. I guess more teams can fall out and more pitchers become available. I am just not seeing it now. I am fine with a rental or a guy with control left. I agree they have the resources and should be all in on all options. Right now it is too early to figure out who that might be. 

It's just so tough to gauge right now with the added WC spots. There will be decent arms available, there almost always is. Alcantara, Elfin, maybe Gausman. Then you have scenarios like what if the Astros fall out of the race (Valdez), what do the Braves do with Sale if they aren't in the race, we could play the what if game for a bunch of teams, but we just won't know until close to the TDL. Heck, Skubal was rumored to be available for a massive package last TDL and they ended up moving Flaherty and made the playoffs. It's unpredictable at this point. 

[We Got The Whole 9]

2 hours ago, NorthsideAvenger said:

It was fun seeing PCA being the first to greet Shaw after the GW hit.

 

Especially because he was the last to leave the dugout.

Edited May 28, 2025 by We Got The Whole 9

[Rcal10]

8 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

Figuring out who is available and who isn't available right now is a fool's game. One week of good results or bad results can swing things wildly. 

Most people didn't have Logan O'Hoppe as on the radar and the Cubs made a real push there. I didn't have "acquire Parades" necessarily on the bingo-card last year and it happened. 

As of today, I expect the Cubs will be involved in all of the best names who will be available and likely a few names we don't know are actually available. I'm not sure who that will be. But I believe they will be aggressive regardless.

I agree with all of this. I think they will be aggressive. They should be aggressive. I just don’t feel any TOR starters will be available. But like you said, a long way to the TDL and surprised could happen. 

[Jason Ross]

3 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

I agree with all of this. I think they will be aggressive. They should be aggressive. I just don’t feel any TOR starters will be available. But like you said, a long way to the TDL and surprised could happen. 

There will be some pitchers who are capable of being a "TORP" who will be available. Part of the issue here is that fans generally conflate, like, an "Ace" (you know, one of the 6-8 dudes who throw a baseball better than anyone else) and like a guy who's a "TORP". I expect more of those will be available than we suspect. There will be a few teams who probably throw in the towel before others to jump on the value, and others will fall out of things between now and then. 

[Rcal10]

10 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

There will be some pitchers who are capable of being a "TORP" who will be available. Part of the issue here is that fans generally conflate, like, an "Ace" (you know, one of the 6-8 dudes who throw a baseball better than anyone else) and like a guy who's a "TORP". I expect more of those will be available than we suspect. There will be a few teams who probably throw in the towel before others to jump on the value, and others will fall out of things between now and then. 

I hope you are right. And if you are I would expect the Cubs to be in on all pitching options. 

[CubUgly]

3 hours ago, BKHoo said:

 I hope Jed swings for the fences at the trade deadline. 

We need a 1984 Rick Sutcliffe type get before the deadline.  Sutt was 4-5 with a 5.15 ERA when we got him from Cleveland but everyone still saw it as a great pick up they just figured he was not motivated in Cleveland. 

[gflore34]

Thought Horton was close to dominate last night, saw some very good things.  Along with some mistakes, think he's close to settling in and a down turn in mistakes.

[JHBulls]

18 hours ago, chibears55 said:

Im laughing here at what you brought up yesterday how JD and Boog were bringing up old conversations,  as tonight we get for the millionth time JDs baseball cards and old photos along with Boog asking the same questions about them and the do you remember.  😅😅

Funny  that when Len and Boog were together they’d always be telling Seinfeld stories, Seinfeld quotes and many times they were recycled, and I’d always be like “More Seinfeld please!”. Boog and JD recycling stories gives me a very different reaction lol.