Cubs (Horton) vs Blue Jays (Gausman): 8/13/25, 6:07pm

[Connor McConnor]

1 minute ago, Jason Ross said:

Sure. But neither will play. They'd be fun for a moment, but I don't think either would be in line for even 10 PAs between today and Sept 1st. They have no true path. Castro is capable of playing everywhere and giving anyone a day off while also a RHH. 

It's fun, but only for the initial surprise. 

If it makes you feel better I don't think Nicky Lopez would play at all either. Why I expect it will be him. Less fun on the initial tweet, same general addition to the team in terms of playing time. 

Bleh with all the common sense and logic.   It's been a brutal month or so.   I'll take a little fun please. 

[Jason Ross]

Just now, Connor McConnor said:

Bleh with all the common sense and logic.   It's been a brutal month or so.   I'll take a little fun please. 

I think Caissie will be up in September, if it helps. 

[Geographyhater8888]

Salute to Cade Horton and Matt Shaw.

[Connor McConnor]

Good grief we won.   FFS.  I'll be damned.  

[chibears55]

So Horton is the new stopper in the rotation..

Nice to get a W and have it be against a WS contender, maybe they should just keep playing the AL East more cause they sure can handle them.

Hopefully Boyd can continue his good starts and Scherzer shows his age 😆

[Wilson A2000]

Where would Caissie play? If they bring him up and he gets hot, you sit Happ. Put Suzuki in LF and DH Caissie.

[BKHoo]

I love the inconsistent tempo that Palencia pitches with. 

[Hot Sauce]

26 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

Brutal, man. I feel for that guy so much. He has had injury after injury and he keeps coming back. He looked devastated. 

I hope a combination of fhe replay making it look worse and some initial shock from Amaya has made what is a bad ankle sprain look worse in the moment. 

But that reminds me so much of Alexander Canario's injury and that threw a massive wrench in his development and career. 

The jarring nature of the fall is often times worse than the actual injury. If he does indeed miss time, well, that just breaks my heart for the guy.

Heal up and come back soon, Miguel.

[Jason Ross]

8 minutes ago, Wilson A2000 said:

Where would Caissie play? If they bring him up and he gets hot, you sit Happ. Put Suzuki in LF and DH Caissie.

He won't get a chance to get hot. He won't play. That's the thing. Against a RHH is the only spot to start Caissie or Ballesteros. Castro will give any of the LHH a day off (PCA, Tucker, Happ). Turner will spell Busch. None will realistically sit against RHP unless they play a very long stretch of RHP. 

The Cubs will not sit anyone of those guys for a rookie. Rookies struggle league wide. All of those hitters are proven and more than capable. They are far better bets today than a rookie. 

If Caissie or Mo were more versatile, or RHH, or great base runners you probably would see them. Roster wise they don't fit. They are a round peg for a square hole. Even if they do call them up, I would expect to barely see them. They will probably be seen as much as Jon Berti has been for the last two months. 

[Tryptamine]

We're at the point where Horton has to have a serious chance at NL ROY right? 

ERA is sitting at 3.07, FIP is starting to come down nicely and stands at 3.73. His W=L is 7-3 for the old timey stat folks. I'd really love that extra pick. 

 

[Jason Ross]

2 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

We're at the point where Horton has to have a serious chance at NL ROY right? 

ERA is sitting at 3.07, FIP is starting to come down nicely and stands at 3.73. His W=L is 7-3 for the old timey stat folks. I'd really love that extra pick. 

 

I think he will get votes. Drake Balwdin is probably running away with it. 

There will be no pick however. Horton would have had to have been on the active roster Opening Day (or within two weeks). It will just be for Horton's sake, the Cubs would gain nothing. 

[Tryptamine]

Unfortunately I don't think Shaw has enough time left in the season to get caught back up. 

 

[chibears55]

I guess it the best result for the injury 

Left Ankle Sprain Xray negative 

IL stint but guessing he should be back by Sept 1st maybe

 

[Wilson A2000]

7 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

He won't get a chance to get hot. He won't play. That's the thing. Against a RHH is the only spot to start Caissie or Ballesteros. Castro will give any of the LHH a day off (PCA, Tucker, Happ). Turner will spell Busch. None will realistically sit against RHP unless they play a very long stretch of RHP. 

The Cubs will not sit anyone of those guys for a rookie. Rookies struggle league wide. All of those hitters are proven and more than capable. They are far better bets today than a rookie. 

If Caissie or Mo were more versatile, or RHH, or great base runners you probably would see them. Roster wise they don't fit. They are a round peg for a square hole. Even if they do call them up, I would expect to barely see them. They will probably be seen as much as Jon Berti has been for the last two months. 

It all depends on how bad the team is slumping. If for whatever Caissie gets hot and Happ is cold, you ride the hot hand. Do I expect it? Not really, but I’m willing to try at this point. 

[Rcal10]

2 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

I guess it the best result for the injury 

Left Ankle Sprain Xray negative 

IL stint but guessing he should be back by Sept 1st maybe

 

Is this your guess? Is this what you hope? Or is this the official statement on the injury? 

[Tryptamine]

2 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

I guess it the best result for the injury 

Left Ankle Sprain Xray negative 

IL stint but guessing he should be back by Sept 1st maybe

 

That's probably very optimistic

[Jason Ross]

6 minutes ago, Wilson A2000 said:

It all depends on how bad the team is slumping. If for whatever Caissie gets hot and Happ is cold, you ride the hot hand. Do I expect it? Not really, but I’m willing to try at this point. 

Ian Happ has been one of the better hitting OFers in baseball since 2022 and all of his batted ball data is fine. I havent checked in for a few days, but he had a 134 wRC+ since the ASB just a few days ago. His slump is mostly perceived by fans and less so by data. 

I think the chances the Cubs would sit Happ, a consistent hitter with underlying data that is at his career norm or better since June 1st for an unproven rookie in a playoff chase is about slim to none. While "never say never" I feel pretty confident that it's very, very, very unlikely. Caissie is only starting in 2025 with an injury. 

[BKHoo]

Really happy for that (positive) injury news. 

[Jason Ross]

While we likely don't see much of Amaya the rest of 2025, I am so glad its a sprain. Sprains can be healed with time. A massive break and it could have altered his career. 

Sigh of relief. Even if they find a small fracture, this is truly a best case scenario. 

[Rcal10]

5 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

Ian Happ has been one of the better hitting OFers in baseball since 2022 and all of his batted ball data is fine. I havent checked in for a few days, but he had a 134 wRC+ since the ASB just a few days ago. His slump is mostly perceived by fans and less so by data. 

I think the chances the Cubs would sit Happ, a consistent hitter with underlying data that is at his career norm or better since June 1st for an unproven rookie in a playoff chase is about slim to none. While "never say never" I feel pretty confident that it's very, very, very unlikely. Caissie is only starting in 2025 with an injury. 

I agree Jason. I absolutely am amazed at the negative Happ comments on this board. He is a high end outfielder and has been for several years, and yet doesn’t get respect here. Even today, he saved the tying run from scoring by fielding the ball and making a perfect relay throw to hold the guy at 3rd. That goes unnoticed here because people want to hate him. 

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Is this your guess? Is this what you hope? Or is this the official statement on the injury? 

Xrays officially negative:

Cubs manager Craig Counsell said after the game that Amaya was diagnosed with a left ankle sprain, though X-rays were negative. He will head to the injured list, though it's unclear for how long.

[Guest]

i've had a couple bad ankle sprains and took months to get back to normal. I'm kind of lazy tho 

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

So happy it's not his knee.

[Rex Buckingham]

7 minutes ago, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

So happy it's not his knee.

💯 looked like it could have been a whole lot worse

[Wilson A2000]

16 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

Ian Happ has been one of the better hitting OFers in baseball since 2022 and all of his batted ball data is fine. I havent checked in for a few days, but he had a 134 wRC+ since the ASB just a few days ago. His slump is mostly perceived by fans and less so by data. 

I think the chances the Cubs would sit Happ, a consistent hitter with underlying data that is at his career norm or better since June 1st for an unproven rookie in a playoff chase is about slim to none. While "never say never" I feel pretty confident that it's very, very, very unlikely. Caissie is only starting in 2025 with an injury. 

When the team is struggling offensively and you are the worst hitter among the starters, if your number one prospect begins to play better than you and the playoff race gets tight, you shouldn’t expect to keep your job. I just don’t see why a .710 OPS corner OF can’t get benched for your #1 prospect if that prospect shows some pop.