Cubs (Imanaga) vs Cardinals (Gray): 8/10/25, 6:10pm

[UMFan83]

1 minute ago, ToolDRT said:

Oh I’m fine with them getting in as a wildcard and going on a run. My fear, is we get in, get eliminated immediately and Jed and Tom use that playoff appearance as a declaration that the way their running this team is right. 
 

They both just suck. Tom needs to forget the damn luxury tax, and Jed needs to stop worrying about the 2032 Chicago Cubs team. This is maddening. 

But you shouldn't fear that because it's going to happen either way.  This is the way Tom wants to run his team and he's doubled down on Jed as the executor of his team building style.  Hawkins, his equally conservative GM, will probably get an extension too.

The Cubs will surely finish over .500 for the 3rd year in a row and have most of the pieces on this year's team set up for next season, except Tucker (and conveniently 2 of the Cubs top 3 hitting prospects play OF).  I highly doubt at this point Tom sees the Cubs collapse, miss the playoffs and decide that all the sudden he's going to be a poor mans Steve Cohen, nor will Jed be on board with team building in that way because he's been a part of a Tom Ricketts led Cubs team that suddenly turned off the money faucet in the middle of a contention period and won't let himself get burned again like he and Theo did.

[Dfan25]

5 minutes ago, ToolDRT said:

This, I agree with. My only hope would be a large enough embarrassment would change the philosophy of the offseason from one of the two in charge. I know it’s not gonna happen though. 

I wouldn’t expect much next offseason . Jesse Rogers has implied several times that they aren’t interested in signing big long term money deals until they know how the new CBA looks like . ( That will be the excuse ) . 

Edited August 11, 2025 by Dfan25

[UMFan83]

1 minute ago, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

I sure hope he does something in the near future that would make this a bad thing.

Likely even with this slump he's going to be worth 6 wins this year.  It would definitely be a bad thing to lose a 6 win player for nothing.

[Wilson A2000]

As much as I want to put most of this on Jed (some of this is his fault), I don’t know if you can do anything if your top 4 hitters all stop hitting and the Brewers play at a historic pace. Would I have liked bigger moves at the deadline? Yes, but our best hitters just have to hit and they aren’t. 

[Irrelevant Dude]

I still don't know whether Berti was actually safe or out, and I can't argue with the "call stands" on that review.  What sucks is the call stood based on a faulty premise.  The umpire called Berti out because he thought the tag beat him, which wasn't the case.  If he had properly determined that Berti beat the throw, then the call stands in the Cubs favor.  It was obviously a bang bang play, but it is unfortunate that it played out the way it did. 

[Irrelevant Dude]

13 minutes ago, Dfan25 said:

I wouldn’t expect much next offseason . Jesse Rogers has implied several times that they aren’t interested in signing big long term money deals until they know how the new CBA looks like . ( That will be the excuse ) . 

Give Schwarber like $50 Million for 1 year then.  At least give us something exciting to work with.

[Caesar]

1 hour ago, UMFan83 said:

I was kind of thinking about this earlier.  The 2023 Cubs had an extended hot stretch similar to the start of this year (it just happened June-August) and won at a similar rate as this year's team started the season out.  Then suddenly the offense went cold, the pen collapsed and the Cubs played themselves out of the playoffs.

2024 the offense also started out red hot for maybe a month before going into a 2 month extended offensive funk.  

This offense is better, I truly believe that, but still many of the same players who were involved in the last 2 years of this.

I'm kind of a tweener at this point in the overreaction/calling out overreactions battle.  If I'm overreacting here please do call me out, it just feels similar.  I'm too tired to do my usual statical checking to see how they've looked the last couple weeks as a team, but it seems like every series is 2 games of terrible offense and then one game where they score a healthy amount of runs.  Maybe thats just bad luck, like sequencing but over the course of a series instead of a game.

I’ve already said this every game. This is not a slump it’s who they are. 3rd year in a row and will miss the playoffs, watch. 

[Caesar]

It’s the offense likes it’s been the last 3years down the stretch. Common denominator are 3 players that have been your core the go on prolong slumps, Happ, Suzuki and Dansby.  They give you a couple of good weeks and disappear for months. Changes need to be made with that core.

[UMFan83]

Reading on twitter that the Statcast broadcast was breaking down Tucker’s hitting before and after the finger injury and it seems like he’s had a significant decline in bat speed and other areas that would suggest he’s not 100%. How long would it take to heal that finger? Is it one of those things where he needs surgery that will keep him out 2 months but can play through it if it doesn’t hurt him so he’s grinding it out? (Seems counterproductive when you are trying to earn a $500m payday)

Because the Cubs need superstar Tucker desperately. You can see how teams are pitching the Cubs knowing that Tucker is not hitting like himself. We go back to having a lineup that has several good to very good hitters but no one that teams have to gameplan around. 

Edited August 11, 2025 by UMFan83

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

He hurt his finger on June 1 and went on to have his best month. Unless there was some sort of re-injury I didn't hear about.

Edited August 11, 2025 by Tangled Up in Plaid

[Irrelevant Dude]

11 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

Reading on twitter that the Statcast broadcast was breaking down Tucker’s hitting before and after the finger injury and it seems like he’s had a significant decline in bat speed and other areas that would suggest he’s not 100%.

I thought I recently saw somewhere here stating that his bat speed was virtually the same.

The interesting thing is, even if Tucker's finger is 100%, it is probably in his best interest not to say that.  Let teams think maybe the reason he struggled was because his finger wasn't right, and that way they may have less to worry about going forward in offering him a huge contract. 

I'm not saying the finger ISN'T part of the reason, just that it may be difficult to determine whether that is actually the case.

[nihilist]

Right about tree fiddy 

[JHBulls]

Brewers going 25-5 since July 4th is just dumb. That roster leading the baseball by 5 games makes no sense and unless they really are as good as they’ve shown, they should regress at some point. The idea is for us to make up the ground and not suck. 

[We Got The Whole 9]

If I were Tom Id cut the payroll by 60m or so. It's embarrassing to have the Brewers continually run circles around you with a massive payroll disparity. I imagine that actually pisses Tom off. 

[Stratos]

2 hours ago, CledusSnow said:

Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t stand the ESPN baseball crew.

It's a bad broadcast.   When Shaw hit his HR and was trotting from 2nd to 3rd there was a camera man on the field of play between the pitcher and 3rd base frantically trying to film Shaw.  Then you have them mic'ing up players during the game while they're trying to do their job.

I get its a national broadcast and MLB wants to sell the sport but c'mon.

[Stratos]

3 hours ago, Wilson A2000 said:

I think Berti’s hand popped off

It's really hard for your hand or foot to not pop off at some point when sliding into a bag.  I think there should be a rule where the pop-off isn't an out when you're initially sliding into the bag.   If you overslide or whatnot then that would still be an out. 

[Stratos]

3 hours ago, abuck1220 said:

PH-ing for PCA didn’t work. Pinch running Berti didn’t work. not super complicated. 

It's not his fault his players suck.   Or maybe it is, I dunno.

Edited August 11, 2025 by Stratos

[Stratos]

We need a members-only thread on this forum where we can spew endless uncensored profanity when bad things happen on this team.

[17 Seconds]

this season is going perfectly for the Ricketts. the cubs will probably sneak into the playoffs AND tucker is having a disappointing enough year that a lot of people already don't want to sign him. they're probably thrilled.

[CubUgly]

8 hours ago, Wilson A2000 said:

As much as I want to put most of this on Jed (some of this is his fault), I don’t know if you can do anything if your top 4 hitters all stop hitting and the Brewers play at a historic pace. Would I have liked bigger moves at the deadline? Yes, but our best hitters just have to hit and they aren’t. 

Yep, Jed and Tom have earned criticism in this.  But the biggest reason - not getting a starting pitcher, has not been the reason we are scuffling right now.  We can't hit and our best hitters have all quit hitting at the same time.  And it sure seems as if they cannot find their way back.....doesn't it.  I mean logic says they will but geez it's hard to watch. 

[Soul]

Not too long ago the Cubs were 6 games up in the division.  The Cubs are 4.5 up in the WC.  I think we’re at a crossroads right now.  The team is clearly pressing at the plate.  They could either right the ship and at least play well enough to make the playoffs.  But it’s also possible they just tank out and fade away.  They have the day off today before a tough series.  It’s time for these guys to figure out what they were doing right before and get back to that.

[Geographyhater8888]

9 hours ago, UMFan83 said:

I was kind of thinking about this earlier.  The 2023 Cubs had an extended hot stretch similar to the start of this year (it just happened June-August) and won at a similar rate as this year's team started the season out.  Then suddenly the offense went cold, the pen collapsed and the Cubs played themselves out of the playoffs.

2024 the offense also started out red hot for maybe a month before going into a 2 month extended offensive funk.  

This offense is better, I truly believe that, but still many of the same players who were involved in the last 2 years of this.

I'm kind of a tweener at this point in the overreaction/calling out overreactions battle.  If I'm overreacting here please do call me out, it just feels similar.  I'm too tired to do my usual statical checking to see how they've looked the last couple weeks as a team, but it seems like every series is 2 games of terrible offense and then one game where they score a healthy amount of runs.  Maybe thats just bad luck, like sequencing but over the course of a series instead of a game.

We’re basically watching an offense without Tucker playing like a star and it’s similar to much of what we saw last season, which is a lineup without that dude to pick up other slumping bats. 
 

The power isn’t there and the lineup isn’t constructed to manufacture runs. When or if the pop comes back so will the runs on a consistent basis. We’re likely watching natural regression to the mean from Suzuki Kelly PCA and Busch and a lack sustainable production that will carry over through all 6 months. Unless of course all 4 are capable of sustaining OPSs of over 850+ and 921 in the case of Busch and are due for a huge breakout over the next couple weeks, I can’t confidently say that everything will be fine.

things evening out is a common theme on this board, which direction will they go? Nothing but south so far.

Edited August 11, 2025 by Geographyhater8888

[Cubs420psd]

7 hours ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

If I were Tom Id cut the payroll by 60m or so. It's embarrassing to have the Brewers continually run circles around you with a massive payroll disparity. I imagine that actually pisses Tom off. 

Well then don't resign your top baseball guy that keeps allowing that to happen.

[17 Seconds]

41 minutes ago, Soul said:

Not too long ago the Cubs were 6 games up in the division.  The Cubs are 4.5 up in the WC.  I think we’re at a crossroads right now.  The team is clearly pressing at the plate.  They could either right the ship and at least play well enough to make the playoffs.  But it’s also possible they just tank out and fade away.  They have the day off today before a tough series.  It’s time for these guys to figure out what they were doing right before and get back to that.

the WC lead is 6 games (7 in the loss column) , 4.5 is the distance ahead of the mets

[CubinNY]

10 hours ago, NorthsideAvenger said:

Which means this is still the same 83 win team they have been the past couple of years. 

Maybe Jed should stop trying to build the roster and give that job to somebody who actually knows what he is doing. 

It's designed to be an 80ish win team.