Cubs (Horton) vs Braves (Strider): 9/9/25, 6:15pm

[sweetpeteman]

Or does he just mean he looks like Wood?

[Irrelevant Dude]

Just now, sweetpeteman said:

Or does he just mean he looks like Wood?

He absolutely does.

[Hot Sauce]

7 minutes ago, sweetpeteman said:

Or does he just mean he looks like Wood?

I’m here for any Kerry Wood comparisons.

[CubinNY]

6 hours ago, UMFan83 said:

I wonder how or if these 2nd half slumps affect their offseason strategy.  Seiya has 1 year left after this.  If you can't feel confident that he's a middle of the order bat, you're going to need to find one.  Especially if Tucker leaves which seems overwhelmingly likely.  

Busch is solid but unspectacular, PCA is young enough to improve but obviously his free swinging profile is always going to make it harder for him to succeed.  Javy found a way but even at his best I don't think he could ever be the best hitter on a World Series team, he was a great number 2 though in 2018-2019.

Overall 8 of the 9 starting hitters look locked in for next year, and the one that isn't locked in is your best overall hitter when healthy.  It's gonna be tough to improve this offense unless one of the prospects steps up.

Overall, I really don't feel great about the short term prospects of this team.  The SP (Steele, Shota, Horton, Boyd) and defense will raise the floor of next year's team but I'm not sure how much we can raise the ceiling.

Their mold for a player is “solid but unspectacular”. 

[abuck1220]

34 minutes ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

Retroactive to 9/6?  Tucker hasn't played since 9/2.

you can only back date it three days and the cubs horsefeathered this up like they do most things. 

[JHBulls]

So they’ve basically been a man down on the ML roster for an entire week. A refusal to put Kyle Tucker on the IL has now blown up in their faces twice this year. 

Edited September 9, 2025 by JHBulls

[squally1313]

That’s pretty ugly from Nico, uncharacteristically 

[BKHoo]

Bases loaded no outs and we get - wait for it - one run. 

[Derwood]

1 run after bases loaded/0 out is a little on the nose

[Cubbies1996]

Get ready to have to hold on to a 1-0 lead all night, Cade!

[chibears55]

That Cub..

1 run after loading the bases

[We Got The Whole 9]

Kelly gave it a ride, sure. That was a complete meatball and should have been yanked into the LF seats, not hit up the middle. 

 

More major fails against fastballs.

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

Bases loaded, nobody out sac flies are the biggest baseball boner killers.

[We Got The Whole 9]

Shaw has followed suit with the offense the last couple weeks. Brutal numbers. 

[JHBulls]

18 minutes ago, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

Bases loaded, nobody out sac flies are the biggest baseball boner killers.

Or a regular boner killer. 

[Eeyore]

Hey look! Bases loaded! It's been minutes since they did that. They're guaranteed multiple runs!

[chibears55]

7 hours ago, UMFan83 said:

I wonder how or if these 2nd half slumps affect their offseason strategy.  Seiya has 1 year left after this.  If you can't feel confident that he's a middle of the order bat, you're going to need to find one.  Especially if Tucker leaves which seems overwhelmingly likely.  

Busch is solid but unspectacular, PCA is young enough to improve but obviously his free swinging profile is always going to make it harder for him to succeed.  Javy found a way but even at his best I don't think he could ever be the best hitter on a World Series team, he was a great number 2 though in 2018-2019.

Overall 8 of the 9 starting hitters look locked in for next year, and the one that isn't locked in is your best overall hitter when healthy.  It's gonna be tough to improve this offense unless one of the prospects steps up.

Overall, I really don't feel great about the short term prospects of this team.  The SP (Steele, Shota, Horton, Boyd) and defense will raise the floor of next year's team but I'm not sure how much we can raise the ceiling.

I think it depends on what their plans are for guys like Caissie Ballesteros Long etc that are ready or close to it as far as when (offseason/Deadline) or if they trade Suzuki Happ and or Hoerner, all in final year of contract in 2026.

I personally think that we wont see any major additions in the offseason as far as position players goes, probably just add one or two Turner types for the bench.

 

Yea, I can see 2026 roster basically being the same guys position players wise outside of Tucker and they look to trade Happ Suzuki and or Hoerner in July so they can bring up and or start playing the young guys more in the second half.

 

[JHBulls]

After all that, PCA got the only run via a softie hit (thanks JD) for this limp dick lineup. 

[Eeyore]

If only they had more than three outfielders on the roster

[We Got The Whole 9]

At least Pete inched closer to 100 RBI?

[chibears55]

Bases loaded and yep they leave them stranded..lol

[BKHoo]

Castro is an embarrassment at the plate.  

[DYMNO]

This team has become so boring and predictable. There isn’t much of anything on the horizon to look forward to either, save a likely early playoff exit. 

Edited September 10, 2025 by DYMNO

[chibears55]

Just now, We Got The Whole 9 said:

At least Pete inched closer to 100 RBI?

Crazy how in June we thought both PCA and Suzuki could easily hit 35-40 HRs and both have over 100 RBI and here we are with 17 games to go after this and both may not reach 100 RBI and could possibly not reach 30 HRs 🙄

[muntjack]

So.. odds they stop scoring now and lose like, 5-2?