Cubs (Rea) vs Phillies (Abel): 6/10/25, 5:45pm

[Brandon Glick]

Brandon Marsh has broken the treaty among all Brandons. He is the enemy now.

[WhyCantWeWin]

Hopefully the offense can put up some runs. Feels like PCA has hit into a lot of bad luck lately. 

[gflore34]

Taking a quick glance of Abel' minor league stats at BR suggests control may have been a problem?  Though it appears to have improved over the previous two years, hasn't issued any BB in his two starts.  Still, the Cubs need to work the count, get his pitch count up and get to the vulnerable Phillies' bullpen.  I'm guessing Abel' stuff is hard FB and slider or curve and change up?  I don't think velocity bothers the Cubs all that much, velocity + location - well, that bothers everyone.

Just took a quick glance at Abel' pitches at MLB - 5/18 and 6/4 - appears to throw a tick harder than Horton and more important;y doesn't leave a bunch of pitches over the middle of the plate.  He already looks like what Horton could be with consistent location.  I'm going to bitch - why is other organizations can develop a SP, such as Abel, who is effective but, we Cubs fans have to endure a mistake prone Horton?  I guess Assad could qualify as an effective SP the Cubs have developed but, I'm talking about a guy with plus stuff.  Sure would be nice if sometime in next few years it could happen.  Maybe Wiggins will be that guy. 

Edited June 10, 2025 by gflore34

[gflore34]

Interesting, Abel was taken one pick, #15, before the Cubs took Ed Howard at #16 in 2020.  Don't know if anyone can recall if the Cubs would have considered Abel had the Phillies not taken him at 15?  As for Howard, injuries and the lack of a hitting tool have really sacked his chances.  Don't believe he'll ever sniff the Major Leagues let alone make it to AAA.

[We Got The Whole 9]

1 hour ago, WhyCantWeWin said:

Hopefully the offense can put up some runs. Feels like PCA has hit into a lot of bad luck lately. 

He's had a couple barrels turn into outs. 

[mul21]

34 minutes ago, gflore34 said:

Taking a quick glance of Abel' minor league stats at BR suggests control may have been a problem?  Though it appears to have improved over the previous two years, hasn't issued any BB in his two starts.  Still, the Cubs need to work the count, get his pitch count up and get to the vulnerable Phillies' bullpen.  I'm guessing Abel' stuff is hard FB and slider or curve and change up?  I don't think velocity bothers the Cubs all that much, velocity + location - well, that bothers everyone.

Just took a quick glance at Abel' pitches at MLB - 5/18 and 6/4 - appears to throw a tick harder than Horton and more importantly doesn't leave a bunch of pitches over the middle of the plate.  He already looks like what Horton could be with consistent location.  I'm going to bitch - why is other organizations can develop a SP, such as Abel, who is effective but, we Cubs fans have to endure a mistake prone Horton?  I guess Assad could qualify as an effective SP the Cubs have developed but, I'm talking about a guy with plus stuff.  Sure would be nice if sometime in next few years it could happen.  Maybe Wiggins will be that guy. 

Your assertion that this guy has been mistake free in his 2 MLB starts is presumptuous at best.  He was allowing about 6.5 walks per 9 last year and had a 6.46 ERA in AAA last year and while he's cut that down to a little over 4BB/9 this year, he's still going to miss frequently.  This is the kind of pitcher the Cubs lineup should chew up and spit out in 4, maybe 5 innings.  This kid is far from fully developed and it's a near guarantee that long term, Horton is a better putcher than Abel. This is also his 5th year as a pro with 94 starts in the minors and Horton is in his 3rd full season with 36 starts in the minors.

[Stratos]

Is there a better corner OF than Happ at getting the ball back into 2b on a potential double?  He's great at it.

[Bertz]

53 minutes ago, gflore34 said:

I'm going to bitch - why is other organizations can develop a SP, such as Abel, who is effective but, we Cubs fans have to endure a mistake prone Horton?

Jesus Christ

[gflore34]

11 minutes ago, mul21 said:

Your assertion that this guy has been mistake free in his 2 MLB starts is presumptuous at best.  He was allowing about 6.5 walks per 9 last year and had a 6.46 ERA in AAA last year and while he's cut that down to a little over 4BB/9 this year, he's still going to miss frequently.  This is the kind of pitcher the Cubs lineup should chew up and spit out in 4, maybe 5 innings.  This kid is far from fully developed and it's a near guarantee that long term, Horton is a better putcher than Abel. This is also his 5th year as a pro with 94 starts in the minors and Horton is in his 3rd full season with 36 starts in the minors.

A hot take on my part, just appears he's left less over the middle than Horton and most definitely Abel has more experience.

[gflore34]

3 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Jesus Christ

More frustration on my part, it would be great to see what Horton can do when he's hitting his spots.  It's going to happen one of these starts maybe, it'll be against the pissbirds.

[Chicago Al]

7 minutes ago, Stratos said:

Is there a better corner OF than Happ at getting the ball back into 2b on a potential double?  He's great at it.

Happer’s a solid defender. We’ve seen him make great plays for years now.

Edited June 10, 2025 by Chicago Al

[KCCub]

1 minute ago, gflore34 said:

More frustration on my part, it would be great to see what Horton can do when he's hitting his spots.  It's going to happen one of these starts maybe, it'll be against the pissbirds.

Cade is doing fine. He's not going to come up and immediately be the polished guy we all hope he turns into. 

Stats - ERA/xERA/FIP/xFIP

Justin Steele 2021 9 GS 4.26/4.04/5.52/4.21

Tarik Skubal 2020 7 GS 5.63/4.48/5.75/4.81

                      2021 29GS 4.34/5.59/5.09/4.06

 

Cade Horton 2025 4.11/4.21/4.02/3.96

[CubinNY]

46 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Jesus Christ

Can he hit a curve? What does his fastball top out at? Where does it sit?

[Brian707]

Doomsday takes will be at Defcon level 4 in this thread if they lose this one

 

 

[Eeyore]

3 hours ago, gflore34 said:

 I guess Assad could qualify as an effective SP the Cubs have developed but, 

He ded

[Rcal10]

1 hour ago, Brian707 said:

Doomsday takes will be at Defcon level 4 in this thread if they lose this one

 

 

Honestly, even if they get swept in Phillie I am still very encouraged by the start of the season. They would still be playing at a 95 win pace. And every team does go through bad spells. It will not alarm me. 

[JHBulls]

I hope Mensa candidate Alex Cohen is in the house today. I am up for some riveting content. 

[chibears55]

4 hours ago, gflore34 said:

Interesting, Abel was taken one pick, #15, before the Cubs took Ed Howard at #16 in 2020.  Don't know if anyone can recall if the Cubs would have considered Abel had the Phillies not taken him at 15?  As for Howard, injuries and the lack of a hitting tool have really sacked his chances.  Don't believe he'll ever sniff the Major Leagues let alone make it to AAA.

Didn't like the Howard pick, I know there wasn't alot to go on that draft because of Covid, just always felt like they chose him just because he was a popular Chicago kid and they didn't really do the work for that draft.

[Derwood]

Phillies are hitting rockets

[Jason Ross]

18 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

Didn't like the Howard pick, I know there wasn't alot to go on that draft because of Covid, just always felt like they chose him just because he was a popular Chicago kid and they didn't really do the work for that draft.

Nothing has been reported that the Cubs basically phoned it in and "just drafted the popular Chicago kid". Kantrovitz has been in this role since 2019 and he's crushed most drafts. 

It's okay to not have liked the Howard pick! But let's stop short of claiming every one was lazy and phoned in a draft, yeah? Howard was essentially the consensus prep-SS in the draft with a decent floor with his glove. Nothing about that is phoning it in.

[JHBulls]

Smoked! 

[Rcal10]

4 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

Nothing has been reported that the Cubs basically phoned it in and "just drafted the popular Chicago kid". Kantrovitz has been in this role since 2019 and he's crushed most drafts. 

It's okay to not have liked the Howard pick! But let's stop short of claiming every one was lazy and phoned in a draft, yeah? Howard was essentially the consensus prep-SS in the draft with a decent floor with his glove. Nothing about that is phoning it in.

It is also easy to now say you never loved the Howard pick. No one is going to dispute you and by what he has done since being drafted, you can claim you are right to have not liked it.

[javy knows my name]

Dongsby Swansdong

[We Got The Whole 9]

Haven't seen him take 97 deep in that location much 

[We Got The Whole 9]

Gotta capitalize on his wildness