Pirates (Mlodzinski) vs Cubs (Assad): 8/17/25, 1:20pm

[chibears55]

17 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

If the sweep is part of the Cubs winning 14 in a row they might be in first by the time it ends… I know that isn’t happening. It’s a joke. 

Crazier things have happened in baseball 🤷‍♂️🤪🤣

[Stratos]

18 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

Ugly but effective. Bats are showing small signs of life. Let’s see what happens this week. 

9 runs in 3 games vs the Pirates.  A nifty 3.00 ERA for the Bucs this series, maybe lower if some weren't earned (don't know, didn't watch).  Power outage continues.

Assad has looked good though in 2 starts.

[UMFan83]

If the Brewers go .500ish the rest of the way (20-19), the Cubs need to go 28-11 or better to win the division (assuming they win 3 of 5 against the Brewers in the upcoming series)

[Stratos]

26 minutes ago, Soul said:

At least 2 HR taketh away.

Some may have died in deep CF in Toronto too.  That's a cavernous park. 

[cubfansince77]

5 minutes ago, Stratos said:

9 runs in 3 games vs the Pirates.  A nifty 3.00 ERA for the Bucs this series, maybe lower if some weren't earned (don't know, didn't watch).  Power outage continues.

Assad has looked good though in 2 starts.

Yeah, I like watching Assad pitch personally. I know he's a BOR kinda guy....a 4/5 type pitcher but so what? He's solid in my book. Kinda know what you're gonna get and he really competes. Have always like him.

[squally1313]

12 minutes ago, Stratos said:

9 runs in 3 games vs the Pirates.  A nifty 3.00 ERA for the Bucs this series, maybe lower if some weren't earned (don't know, didn't watch).  Power outage continues.

Assad has looked good though in 2 starts.

7 runs given up and anecdotally balls we’re seemingly hit harder, wind took away a couple home runs. Not championing some elite production but PCA, Busch, Dansby, Happ all had good signs. 
 

Javier Assad has allowed 15 baserunners in 8 innings and has matched that with 5 total strikeouts. Know they need plenty of arms with the DH tomorrow but assuming health everywhere else he should be at the bottom of the totem pole, starters wise. 

[javy knows my name]

35 minutes ago, Stratos said:

9 runs in 3 games vs the Pirates.  A nifty 3.00 ERA for the Bucs this series, maybe lower if some weren't earned (don't know, didn't watch).  Power outage continues.

Assad has looked good though in 2 starts.

No, no he hasn't 

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

9 minutes ago, javy knows my name said:

No, no he hasn't 

Yeah, I like the Assman as much as the next guy, but he's given up a ton of hard contact with almost no ability to miss bats.

[Derwood]

11 minutes ago, javy knows my name said:

No, no he hasn't 

Right. He keeps doing his “allow two base runners per inning but wiggle out of it” thing. 

[Rcal10]

5 minutes ago, Derwood said:

Right. He keeps doing his “allow two base runners per inning but wiggle out of it” thing. 

He is ok as a 5th starter, or a swing starter. Nothing more than that. He does seem to gr out of trouble, but I would rather he didn’t get in trouble. He isn’t very good. 

[BKHoo]

Cubs slight favorite per espn in every single game of this upcoming series. 

[UMFan83]

15 minutes ago, Derwood said:

Right. He keeps doing his “allow two base runners per inning but wiggle out of it” thing. 

He keeps maintaining a historically high strand rate.  There is enough of a sample size at this point to wonder if it's possible that it's sustainable.

[Derwood]

Just now, UMFan83 said:

He keeps maintaining a historically high strand rate.  There is enough of a sample size at this point to wonder if it's possible that it's sustainable.

Would rather he just not allow runners on base

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

2 minutes ago, BKHoo said:

Cubs slight favorite per espn in every single game of this upcoming series. 

Would still be shocked if they won 3/5.

[UMFan83]

5 minutes ago, Derwood said:

Would rather he just not allow runners on base

Sure and I'd like Kyle Tucker to hit a HR every time he comes up, but neither is going to happen.  Assad is going to allow baserunners, the question is whether he can continue stranding them at historic rates.  Probably not, or at least not consistently, but he has over 300 MLB IP in his career now and still seems to be stranding a high number of baserunners so its worth asking the question IMO.

It seems like the Cubs are maybe asking the same question...I don't even think he had a locked in roster spot before he got injured this spring so clearly they have some questions about his ability to perform as he did the last couple years.

Edited August 17, 2025 by UMFan83

[Bull]

2 hours ago, Stratos said:

9 runs in 3 games vs the Pirates.  A nifty 3.00 ERA for the Bucs this series, maybe lower if some weren't earned (don't know, didn't watch).  Power outage continues.

Assad has looked good though in 2 starts.

higher. no 9th inning pitching for the Pirates the last two days. 

[squally1313]

If Assad has some additional ability he can pull out with runners on, the obvious question is why he doesn’t just pitch like that all the time. 
 

or he’s just gotten very lucky 

[Bull]

57 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

He keeps maintaining a historically high strand rate.  There is enough of a sample size at this point to wonder if it's possible that it's sustainable.

Maybe he'd be better as a reliever. There's obviously a "next level" of stuff that he can call on for short spurts, but not over the long haul of a start.

I'd love to see how his stuff profiles with runners on base vs bases empty.

 

[Rcal10]

1 hour ago, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

Would still be shocked if they won 3/5.

I think shocked is a little strong. I wouldn’t even be surprised, let alone shocked. Sure, they may not win 3 of 5 but they have as much a chance of doing so as the Brewers do. 

[JHBulls]

1 hour ago, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

Would still be shocked if they won 3/5.

The real positive is the Brewers did struggle a bit against the Reds. Won the series, but that included a comeback win from 8-1 down in Game 1, trailing heading into the 9th in Game 2 before finally losing today’s game. Maybe it means nothing or maybe it means the Brewers are finally regressing a bit. 

[squally1313]

I’m sure I’ll look into it before tomorrow would assume the last two brewers game required a pretty large amount of high leverage bullpen work 

[Rcal10]

5 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

I’m sure I’ll look into it before tomorrow would assume the last two brewers game required a pretty large amount of high leverage bullpen work 

Today, anyway, it didn’t appear they used their top guys. They can do that with a 9 game lead. 

[Andy]

1 hour ago, BKHoo said:

Cubs slight favorite per espn in every single game of this upcoming series. 

ESPN doesn't measure supernatural forces or whatever the hell is happening in Milwaukee

[squally1313]

9 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Today, anyway, it didn’t appear they used their top guys. They can do that with a 9 game lead. 

Quick scan of FG shows that they used all five of their top five relievers both Friday and Saturday, which is probably the better explanation for using their other guys today. Not sure how strict they adhere to something like avoiding three appearances in four days, but definitely stretched thin at the moment. 

[Rcal10]

2 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

Quick scan of FG shows that they used all five of their top five relievers both Friday and Saturday, which is probably the better explanation for using their other guys today. Not sure how strict they adhere to something like avoiding three appearances in four days, but definitely stretched thin at the moment. 

True. After I answered about today I looke d at the precious 2 days. Was going to post it but you beat me to it. I would think Kittredge is down tomorrow. Not sure who else. Maybe they send Brown down since he won’t be available for several days.