Cubs (N/A) vs Day Off: 9/4/25

[Brandon Glick]

How are you feeling about the Cubs right now?

[mul21]

[NorthsideAvenger]

Despite my constant consternation, they are fine. 

[PackLandVA]

Who's pitching for "Day off"? (like it matters)

[muntjack]

wRC+ since the break

 

Kelly 65
Suzuki 82
Busch 82
PCA 70
Swanson 95

The other 4 starters are doing well,  but the offensive juggernaut of the 1st half is nowhere to be seen.  There was a point in June that I'd have said the Cubs are the team to beat but now I'd be pleasantly surprised if they could make the NLDS.

[Rex Buckingham]

at this point, it's just make it to October healthy and hope the bats can catch fire for a month or so and the pitching can hold up

[UMFan83]

They have 22 games to learn how to hit again.  I would never have imagined in June that its the offense that I'd be so worried about but here we are.

[Geographyhater8888]

All I know is Dusty Baker never would’ve pulled Horton after 5 no hit innings. 

[Neuby]

 

Is Amaya coming back? I thought he would be out for a rehab game or two by now.

Edited September 4, 2025 by Neuby

[Ding Dong Johnson]

1 hour ago, Neuby said:

 

Is Amaya coming back? I thought he would be out for a rehab game or two by now.

Yesterday Counsell said he still has some swelling and pain.

[We Got The Whole 9]

3 hours ago, muntjack said:

wRC+ since the break

 

Kelly 65
Suzuki 82
Busch 82
PCA 70
Swanson 95

The other 4 starters are doing well,  but the offensive juggernaut of the 1st half is nowhere to be seen.  There was a point in June that I'd have said the Cubs are the team to beat but now I'd be pleasantly surprised if they could make the NLDS.

I posted this in the last game thread but the team hasn't been able to take the heat since the break. Like what the hell?

 

1st half/2nd half

 

Cutters - 17.6 (2nd)/ -7.5 (29th)

Sinkers - 11.6 (3rd)/ -9.6 (23rd)

4 seams - -6.5 (14th)/ -16.3 (26th)

[We Got The Whole 9]

1 hour ago, Geographyhater8888 said:

All I know is Dusty Baker never would’ve pulled Horton after 5 no hit innings. 

I mean dude he wasnt going to complete that no-hitter in any universe. He could have pitched one more inning, max, in today's environment. And what would that have accomplished? The team was not going to win that game. The offense didnt even deserve the run that they got.

[Brian707]

It looks like Counsell has given up on the division. So lets hope they hang on for the 4th seed.

 

Who would you rather face? Padres or Mets? Padres might fall to #6 soon

[Geographyhater8888]

5 hours ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

I mean dude he wasnt going to complete that no-hitter in any universe. He could have pitched one more inning, max, in today's environment. And what would that have accomplished? The team was not going to win that game. The offense didnt even deserve the run that they got.

Just a joke. 

Edited September 4, 2025 by Geographyhater8888

[Geographyhater8888]

1 hour ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

I posted this in the last game thread but the team hasn't been able to take the heat since the break. Like what the hell?

 

1st half/2nd half

 

Cutters - 17.6 (2nd)/ -7.5 (29th)

Sinkers - 11.6 (3rd)/ -9.6 (23rd)

4 seams - -6.5 (14th)/ -16.3 (26th)

I’d like to know Suzukis splits on sliders and sweepers during the second half too. 

[BKHoo]

1 hour ago, Brian707 said:

It looks like Counsell has given up on the division. So lets hope they hang on for the 4th seed.

 

Who would you rather face? Padres or Mets? Padres might fall to #6 soon

Have you seen the Padres upcoming schedule? 

[BKHoo]

6 hours ago, Brandon Glick said:

How are you feeling about the Cubs right now?

About the offense….

 

 

[Derwood]

Despite how fully the offense went into the sh!tter, the team is 23-21 since the ASB and is 99.5% for the playoffs. You only need to be 1 game over .500 in every playoff series to win it all

[Stratos]

6 hours ago, UMFan83 said:

They have 22 games to learn how to hit again.  I would never have imagined in June that its the offense that I'd be so worried about but here we are.

Yeah.  They need Suzuki and someone else, like PCA, to start hitting again.  They have a shot in the playoffs if Boyd and Horton hold up plus Imanaga.   Taillon/Assad can keep them in the game hopefully too.

I guess Dusty Baker runs the Cubs now.  Boyd is at 159 IP already, he's well into abuse territory and he's got 2 months to go.   Horton is over 130 IP for the year between levels with 2 months to go.   Next year's injured list will be fun.  This org is run by clowns sometimes.  At some point a team should be held legally liable for these things for messing with people's health and careers.

[Derwood]

Matthew Boyd is 18th in the league in innings pitched. No one else is in the top 50

[NorthsideAvenger]

The offense is what it is going to be for the rest of the season. The gameplan should for be the offense to squeeze out 3-4 runs a game, the defense to be immaculate and the pitching keeps the other team to 2-3 runs a game. 

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Maybe in 2025 we can be a little more curious than claiming an IP number is an injury harbinger like it's an ironclad rule of the universe.  For example, Horton has pitched on 4 days rest in only 7 of his 20 starts. In only 2 of those 7 did he throw more than 80 pitches, and he has thrown more than 90 pitches just 4 times in total(0 times since the All-Star break).  Injury risk increases with fatigue, that's why people use innings as a crude barometer and why pitch counts get highlighted.  The Cubs are almost certainly looking at more detailed markers than that, but it's very clear even using those simplified markers that they're being very careful to avoid Horton hitting the point of fatigue in order to manage the injury risk.

Also for a quick comparison: in 2003 Mark Prior made 17 of his 30 starts on 4 days rest, threw less than 95 pitches once, and threw more than 110 pitches 19 times(regular season only).

[Bertz]

15 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

Maybe in 2025 we can be a little more curious than claiming an IP number is an injury harbinger like it's an ironclad rule of the universe.  For example, Horton has pitched on 4 days rest in only 7 of his 20 starts. In only 2 of those 7 did he throw more than 80 pitches, and he has thrown more than 90 pitches just 4 times in total(0 times since the All-Star break).  Injury risk increases with fatigue, that's why people use innings as a crude barometer and why pitch counts get highlighted.  The Cubs are almost certainly looking at more detailed markers than that, but it's very clear even using those simplified markers that they're being very careful to avoid Horton hitting the point of fatigue in order to manage the injury risk.

Also for a quick comparison: in 2003 Mark Prior made 17 of his 30 starts on 4 days rest, threw less than 95 pitches once, and threw more than 110 pitches 19 times(regular season only).

I've been as guilty as anyone about handwringing about IP counts earlier in the year, but it's pretty clear with Horton that something like the Garret Crochet plan last year is the template.  Horton's incredible midseason level up results wise has made it so that ~70 pitch target each outing hasn't killed the bullpen like I would have worried about 3 months ago.

[We Got The Whole 9]

So many pitchers are put in bubble wrap these days and still break. What a crock. 

[Derwood]

50 minutes ago, Derwood said:

Matthew Boyd is 18th in the league in innings pitched. No one else is in the top 50

Also, none of the Cubs pitchers are in the top 25 list of Batters Faced