Cubs-Padres Game Two Thread: Imanaga's Opener Is A Necessary Evil

[Geographyhater8888]

Padres are built to win these short elimination series with that bullpen going 5 innings. This strategy works until the later rounds when the fatigue sets in but not in a best of 3. 

Edited October 2, 2025 by Geographyhater8888

[Geographyhater8888]

8 hours ago, BKHoo said:

Let’s get real PCA has absolutely sucked at the plate since the ASB. But tomorrow is a new opportunity. 

I would’ve pinched hit him for Turner in the bottom of the fourth with 2 outs and 2 on vs Morejon and let Alcantara replace him in center field. Letting him hit in that situation basically conceded the inning.

Edited October 2, 2025 by Geographyhater8888

[CubUgly]

4 hours ago, Geographyhater8888 said:

Padres are built to win these short elimination series with that bullpen going 5 innings. This strategy works until the later rounds when the fatigue sets in but not in a best of 3. 

Yep gotta get to the early, we know this.....very disappointing.  Cease has not been good this year and even worse on the road.   

Yes, it was puzzling that Kittridge was the starter an faces Tatis and Arraez just as he did just a day earlier, I'm not sure I'll ever really understand that - but it really didn't matter in the end because we did not score a runs. 

 

Happ, if you're going to hit 3rd you gotta do something.  PCA, calm it down and help us!! LFG!!

[Jason Ross]

25 minutes ago, CubUgly said:

Yep gotta get to the early, we know this.....very disappointing.  Cease has not been good this year and even worse on the road.   

Yes, it was puzzling that Kittridge was the starter an faces Tatis and Arraez just as he did just a day earlier, I'm not sure I'll ever really understand that - but it really didn't matter in the end because we did not score a runs. 

 

Happ, if you're going to hit 3rd you gotta do something.  PCA, calm it down and help us!! LFG!!

I think he "Padres faced Kittredge the day before" stuff is super over rated. Yes, Tatis and Arraez saw Kittredge the day before. You know who saw Morejon and Miller and other relievers the day before? The Cubs lineup. No one here was saying "Man, we really have the advantage now!". Sure, Miller is a step above Kittredge, but Kittredge, especially since coming to Chicago (and some tweaks to his stuff and location) had been elite. He's posted a 1.87 xFIP, a 38% K%, and a .211 BABIP against. Speaking of Miller, he's literally the only RP who's had a better xFIP since the TDL in baseball. That's how good he's been.

I don't think the single PA and a handful of pitches yesterday made those guys any better yesterday; in fact, both hits from those guys were on chase pitches out of the zone. If I told you Kittredge got Tatis to swing at a 95mph sinker in on the hands and got Arrez, on an 0-2 count to swing at a slider 3 inches below the zone, you'd probably expect better outcomes than two on and zero outs. Credit to both of the Padres hitters for getting those pitches, but it wasn't like he was bad, and I don't think the day before lead to those hits.

Speaking on Cease; he's been a roller coaster this year but has been a great pitcher over his career most of the time. He was pretty great yesterday. Sadly, that's what players can do. The Cubs had some bad luck (they smoked three balls in the first inning, Michael Busch had what appeared to be an RBI single up the middle - .xBA over .700 - taken way) coupled with Cease who had his control. Tip your hat to that. 

You hope that the Cubs can do better, but yesterday was a little dash of early variance going the Padres' way instead of the Cubs' way, with a settled-in-Cease, a dominating bullpen and I think a bad call to let Shota face Machado. Cubs offense had an uphill battle all day and when things roll against you early it becomes hard to get it to swing the other way when you're facing roughly 5 innings from dominant arms.

[Geographyhater8888]

43 minutes ago, CubUgly said:

Yep gotta get to the early, we know this.....very disappointing.  Cease has not been good this year and even worse on the road.   

Yes, it was puzzling that Kittridge was the starter an faces Tatis and Arraez just as he did just a day earlier, I'm not sure I'll ever really understand that - but it really didn't matter in the end because we did not score a runs. 

 

Happ, if you're going to hit 3rd you gotta do something.  PCA, calm it down and help us!! LFG!!

Bad choice by the computer there. They’ll need some BABIP luck if the wind is knocking everything down before the nuclear power plant padres pen arms come in.

Edited October 2, 2025 by Geographyhater8888

[CubUgly]

10 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

I think he "Padres faced Kittredge the day before" stuff is super over rated. Yes, Tatis and Arraez saw Kittredge the day before. You know who saw Morejon and Miller and other relievers the day before? The Cubs lineup. No one here was saying "Man, we really have the advantage now!". Sure, Miller is a step above Kittredge, but Kittredge, especially since coming to Chicago (and some tweaks to his stuff and location) had been elite. He's posted a 1.87 xFIP, a 38% K%, and a .211 BABIP against. Speaking of Miller, he's literally the only RP who's had a better xFIP since the TDL in baseball. That's how good he's been.

I don't think the single PA and a handful of pitches yesterday made those guys any better yesterday; in fact, both hits from those guys were on chase pitches out of the zone. If I told you Kittredge got Tatis to swing at a 95mph sinker in on the hands and got Arrez, on an 0-2 count to swing at a slider 3 inches below the zone, you'd probably expect better outcomes than two on and zero outs. Credit to both of the Padres hitters for getting those pitches, but it wasn't like he was bad, and I don't think the day before lead to those hits.

Speaking on Cease; he's been a roller coaster this year but has been a great pitcher over his career most of the time. He was pretty great yesterday. Sadly, that's what players can do. The Cubs had some bad luck (they smoked three balls in the first inning, Michael Busch had what appeared to be an RBI single up the middle - .xBA over .700 - taken way) coupled with Cease who had his control. Tip your hat to that. 

You hope that the Cubs can do better, but yesterday was a little dash of early variance going the Padres' way instead of the Cubs' way, with a settled-in-Cease, a dominating bullpen and I think a bad call to let Shota face Machado. Cubs offense had an uphill battle all day and when things roll against you early it becomes hard to get it to swing the other way when you're facing roughly 5 innings from dominant arms.

You make some good points Jason, I hear you.  My point on the opener is I'm not opposed to it but not sure I'd have choses Kittridge - even if you dismiss he faced the same guys yesterday, I'm wondering if Kittridge was the best choice for it?    But ultimately that did not matter at all, we didn't score a run. So it's kind of useless to beat our heads against the was about something that in the end made no difference.

As for the we hit some hard thing, I know the randomness of baseball is something that makes it so great but so maddening at the same time - the "we hit it hard" stuff I just can't do anymore.  We need to score runs early today!!! LFG!!
 

 

[Geographyhater8888]

 

10 minutes ago, CubUgly said:

You make some good points Jason, I hear you.  My point on the opener is I'm not opposed to it but not sure I'd have choses Kittridge - even if you dismiss he faced the same guys yesterday, I'm wondering if Kittridge was the best choice for it?    But ultimately that did not matter at all, we didn't score a run. So it's kind of useless to beat our heads against the was about something that in the end made no difference.

As for the we hit some hard thing, I know the randomness of baseball is something that makes it so great but so maddening at the same time - the "we hit it hard" stuff I just can't do anymore.  We need to score runs early today!!! LFG!!
 

 

They’re 9th in offense war since June 1st and 17th in runs scored. Make of it what you will. I’m sure the park factor explains some of it but it’s a large gap. 

Edited October 2, 2025 by Geographyhater8888

[ILMindState]

12 hours ago, Jason Ross said:

Thanks man! I really think our weekly podcast is good stuff. We're working on hard on optimizing youtube (shoutout to @Mitch Widmeier- he's working on our thumbnails and SEO hard right now). Live reacting to playoff games just feels like a natural progression of it all. And I think it helps me get my feelings and emotions out. 

There's so much Cubs content out there that anyone who's willing to read my articles or spend 45 minutes to me nerding out on data just warms my heart. Really. Not in a cheesy way. Like in "Im honored" way. 

Where can I find your podcast? I was looking for ones to listen to the other day on Spotify and didn't really see many out there.

[ILMindState]

Athletic article this morning:

"Miller threw the fastest postseason pitch of the pitch-tracking era (2008-present) at 104.5 mph, and he became the first big-leaguer to strike out the first eight hitters he faced in postseason play."

Normally I'd be like typical Cubs but nobody is hitting what this guy has been throwing the past couple days. As a baseball fan it's fun to watch. I hope we don't have to see him anymore this season though!

[CubUgly]

57 minutes ago, ILMindState said:

Athletic article this morning:

"Miller threw the fastest postseason pitch of the pitch-tracking era (2008-present) at 104.5 mph, and he became the first big-leaguer to strike out the first eight hitters he faced in postseason play."

Normally I'd be like typical Cubs but nobody is hitting what this guy has been throwing the past couple days. As a baseball fan it's fun to watch. I hope we don't have to see him anymore this season though!

Yes, he seems almost unhittable - so we better score early.  I noticed his ERA was over 3.76 in Oakland this year, pretty big sample size.  Hard to believe.  The change of scenery can't be all that changed? .77 ERA since being in San Diego. 

[WhyCantWeWin]

Yeah Miller was worth every penny they paid for him. 

[Outshined_One]

Side note, but, as pointed out on Defector this morning, Mason Miller has the honor of being possibly the only pitcher to throw an Immaculate White Castle Inning: 9 Filthy Sliders in a Row:

 

[javy knows my name]

16 hours ago, Caesar said:

All kidding aside. I don’t know how to operate this message boards well. I’m a bit older. Relax buddy! I’m not tech savvy.

Huh. Given your love of bunts and questioning people's effort I never would have guessed you were a boomer

[PeanutPunch33]

The Padres scored first in each of the first 2 games, it would be nice to jump on them early.. Happ and PCA need to do something productive today 

[Rcal10]

2 hours ago, javy knows my name said:

Huh. Given your love of bunts and questioning people's effort I never would have guessed you were a boomer

Hey, not all boomers are the same! 

[javy knows my name]

1 hour ago, Rcal10 said:

Hey, not all boomers are the same! 

Nor did I suggest they were!

[Jason Ross]

7 hours ago, ILMindState said:

Where can I find your podcast? I was looking for ones to listen to the other day on Spotify and didn't really see many out there.

Apple, Spotify, and Youtube!

"North Side Baseball". Myself and @Mitch Widmeier do 90% of them, sometimes Matt Trueblood is on instead of me. 

We do weekly recaps, Minor League reports, and just shoot the horsefeathers. Right now we're joined by @Brock Beauchamp for live reactions after every playoff game.

[Brock Beauchamp]

8 hours ago, ILMindState said:

Where can I find your podcast? I was looking for ones to listen to the other day on Spotify and didn't really see many out there.

You can find an assortment of links in here:

[soccer10k]

10 hours ago, PeanutPunch33 said:

The Padres scored first in each of the first 2 games,

This was my fault. Threw on my Rizzo jersey for both games. Today, no jersey and the Cubs scored first.