Brewers (Strider) vs Cubs (Rea): 9/1/25, 3:05pm

[Stratos]

10 hours ago, Post Count Padder said:

Ben Cowles DFAd for Santana. Kind of a bummer but the bench has been a nightmare all year and they never bothered giving him a shot, so...

I liked Cowles when they acquired him but a tough year for him.  Maybe they can resign.  If I were him I'd probably look for a fresh start elsewhere to be honest, just for the sake of it.

[Stratos]

7 hours ago, Gjfificifjdej said:

Colin Rea probably isn’t a bad guy but his face makes me angry. 

He looks exactly like ben Zobrist, which confuses me.

Edited September 2, 2025 by Stratos

[Stratos]

6 hours ago, muntjack said:

How has Matt Shaw not been moved up in the lineup yet? 

I think they like him in the 9 spot as like a 2nd leadoff hitter.  Caissie hit higher in the lineup so it's not inexperience or performance.

[Geographyhater8888]

9 hours ago, UMFan83 said:

That’s wild. Though only 6 Monday games total in June, July and August (out of 13 total Mondays

First win with the opponents scoring 5+ runs since June 22nd too.

Edited September 2, 2025 by Geographyhater8888

[Geographyhater8888]

Fangraphs currently has the Cubs at 3.9% odds of winning the World Series, the lowest of any of the 12 seeded teams currently.

 

 

Edited September 2, 2025 by Geographyhater8888

[17 Seconds]

2 hours ago, Geographyhater8888 said:

Fangraphs currently has the Cubs at 3.9% odds of winning the World Series, the lowest of any of the 12 seeded teams currently.

 

 

it updated and they're ahead of SD now

[Geographyhater8888]

32 minutes ago, 17 Seconds said:

it updated and they're ahead of SD now

Still interesting how those doomers at Fangraph set their odds so low relative to the other contenders. The 74-64 Mets stand at 7.3%.

Edited September 2, 2025 by Geographyhater8888

[muntjack]

7 hours ago, Stratos said:

I think they like him in the 9 spot as like a 2nd leadoff hitter.  Caissie hit higher in the lineup so it's not inexperience or performance.

I can understand that part.  In the NL, only Schwarber has a higher SLG in the 2nd half.   He's right there with Schwarbs and Ohtani in wRC+.  I think he should get more PAs.

[Jason Ross]

5 minutes ago, muntjack said:

I can understand that part.  In the NL, only Schwarber has a higher SLG in the 2nd half.   He's right there with Schwarbs and Ohtani in wRC+.  I think he should get more PAs.

He's had a nice second half but as much as I advocated for him earlier, we can, probably, safely assume he's not the second best power hitter in baseball moving forward. Whether he's hitting 7th or 9th it's probably not anything that is truly affecting the Cubs ability to score runs right now, and I think it's probably safe to assume that anytime Busch, Tucker, Suzuki, Happ, Hoerner and PCA start that those six will hit above Matt Shaw. 

[UMFan83]

Reminds me of the infamous September 2018 Cubs Death March

[Jason Ross]

8 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

Reminds me of the infamous September 2018 Cubs Death March

My theory on umpires costing a game will never change; if you leave the game up to the umpires, it's your fault. The Brewers gave up 10 runs. Maybe, give up less than 10 runs first, then start worrying about what a check swing is or isn't. 

I believe the same for the Cubs for what it's worth.

[We Got The Whole 9]

14 hours ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

If anyone is keeping score of Jed's trade deadline acquisitions.  It is 1 pretty good and 3 complete disasters.  Not great, Jed.

The Brewers indisputably worse with their deadline acquisition. Miller missed time earlier this season with an elbow issue and felt a pop in yesterday's game. But nobody says anything because their offense didnt horsefeathers all over themselves for a month.

Edited September 2, 2025 by We Got The Whole 9

[Stratos]

39 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

My theory on umpires costing a game will never change; if you leave the game up to the umpires, it's your fault. The Brewers gave up 10 runs. Maybe, give up less than 10 runs first, then start worrying about what a check swing is or isn't. 

I believe the same for the Cubs for what it's worth.

Agree 100%.  Blaming umps for things is usually lame.   They're human like everyone else and aren't perfect just like any player.

Their influence on non-reviewable plays is typically on the margins anyways.

[We Got The Whole 9]

Such a weird little sport - Shaw and Happ leading the offensive charge in the 2nd half.

[Rcal10]

10 minutes ago, Stratos said:

Agree 100%.  Blaming umps for things is usually lame.   They're human like everyone else and aren't perfect just like any player.

Their influence on non-reviewable plays is typically on the margins anyways.

Agreed. And tbh, I think the no swing on Reamuto was about closer to a 50/50 call than an obvious swing. I get him being upset with the call. But I don’t find it as egregious as the Brewers announcers made it out to be. I think if it was the Cubs,  Deshaies would have said 50/50. 

[Rcal10]

11 minutes ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

Such a weird little sport - Shaw and Happ leading the offensive charge in the 2nd half.

Nice to come here and not see all the Happ hate. Once again, his numbers are stabilizing to what they usually are. Shocking to some, who apparently don’t follow the team yearly. But to those who do, not a great surprise. 

[Brian707]

1 hour ago, UMFan83 said:

Reminds me of the infamous September 2018 Cubs Death March

 

Their fans are already preparing for a one and done postseason. 

It will be hilarious if/when the Cubs knock them out in the NLDS

[Geographyhater8888]

24 minutes ago, Brian707 said:

 

Their fans are already preparing for a one and done postseason. 

It will be hilarious if/when the Cubs knock them out in the NLDS

there’s nothing damning about that that camera angle either. It was a textbook coin flip of a swing, even when you freeze it. 

[thawv]

15 hours ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

Real good work by Civale today to both eat innings and keep the game within reach.

I would swap him a Rea out moving forward. 

 

[SABR Gamer]

1 hour ago, Rcal10 said:

Nice to come here and not see all the Happ hate. Once again, his numbers are stabilizing to what they usually are. Shocking to some, who apparently don’t follow the team yearly. But to those who do, not a great surprise. 

Ian is only one point below his career high in xwOBA. He's just been really unlucky for most of the year. 

[Transmogrified Tiger]

3 hours ago, Jason Ross said:

My theory on umpires costing a game will never change; if you leave the game up to the umpires, it's your fault. The Brewers gave up 10 runs. Maybe, give up less than 10 runs first, then start worrying about what a check swing is or isn't. 

I believe the same for the Cubs for what it's worth.

Also there was one out and a runner on when this happened, the next 2 players after this call hit singles, and the Brewers went down scoreless in their half.  Saying this call cost Milwaukee the game is requiring some real butterfly effect logical leaps.

[CubinNY]

1 hour ago, SABR Gamer said:

Ian is only one point below his career high in xwOBA. He's just been really unlucky for most of the year. 

lol

[Rcal10]

8 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

lol

Why is this “lol”? It is true. He is just pointing out facts. Just like Jason has done several times when people rip Happ. Ian is right around his career norm now, even with poor luck. He has not had a bad year, for him. Now, if you don’t like him even at his career norms, that is another story. I can understand that. I don’t agree with it, but I understand it.
In reality he is an above average offensive player his entire career (15%-20% above average) and a gold glove left fielder for the last 3 years. He will not be easily replaced, as many suggest. 

[mul21]

3 hours ago, Stratos said:

Agree 100%.  Blaming umps for things is usually lame.   They're human like everyone else and aren't perfect just like any player.

Their influence on non-reviewable plays is typically on the margins anyways.

Unless it's CB Bucknor, and then it's okay to blame him for everything that goes wrong because he's truly terrible at his job.

[CubinNY]

35 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Why is this “lol”? It is true. He is just pointing out facts. Just like Jason has done several times when people rip Happ. Ian is right around his career norm now, even with poor luck. He has not had a bad year, for him. Now, if you don’t like him even at his career norms, that is another story. I can understand that. I don’t agree with it, but I understand it.
In reality he is an above average offensive player his entire career (15%-20% above average) and a gold glove left fielder for the last 3 years. He will not be easily replaced, as many suggest. 

Take it easy. It’s not remotely viable he’s had bad luck all year. It’s the kind of argument that doesn’t hold water. We’ve had long conversations on luck here. I’m not going to rehash. 
 

I’m fine with Happ, so lol again.