Cubs (Imanaga) vs Brewers (Ashby): 10/6/25, 8:08pm

[Jason Ross]

4 minutes ago, soccer10k said:

LOL. Sure, in between those two starts where he gave up 15 combined runs, he wasn't that bad!

No doubt those starts were bad. But he had 60 IP after a terrible start against the White Sox. Do you think after you post a 3.69 ERA and a 3.79 xFIP over 60 innings someone should have said "I know what we should do: tear it all down!" You and I both know that would be stupid. 

 It's pretty obvious something got much worse with Shota starting that last start and has carried through to now over his last three. But there really wasn't much concern in his profile prior to that last start of the season that suggested an implosion was about to hit right then, either. 

[ILMindState]

Getting beaten by HRs by the BAPIP merchants makes this even more horsefeathers frustrating 

[Wilson A2000]

4 minutes ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

Injured or not, it sucks that Kyle Tucker has completely let Ricketts off the hook.  Nobody will even bat an eye when the Cubs let him walk.

I couldn't have said this 3 months ago, but I can't blame Ricketts once he lets him walk now

[Stratos]

Shota leads baseball in flyball rate and also HR/9.  Not a coincidence obviously.   They might want to fix that.   If you give up 29% groundballs and you're not K'ing everyone you're probably going to suck.

I'm no expert but rule of thumb is you either get the ball way up, way inside, or otherwise keep it low and away or at least away so they can't pull.

Edited October 7, 2025 by Stratos

[Irrelevant Dude]

5 minutes ago, Wilson A2000 said:

I couldn't have said this 3 months ago, but I can't blame Ricketts once he lets him walk now

Absolutely, and that's what I meant.  The Cubs weren't going to re-sign him regardless, but now Jed and Tom can stand behind it being the right baseball decision to let him walk and nobody can really argue with that.

They were going to do the wrong thing for the wrong reasons.  Now it's the right thing and the reason no longer matters.

Edited October 7, 2025 by Irrelevant Dude

[Derwood]

Cubs can't even hit foul balls correctly. Everything just barely staying in play for easy outs

[chibears55]

9 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Sorry dude. But the Cubs aren’t just going through the motions. Brewers are just beating them. So you really think the Cubs aren’t trying? I mean, really? Take a second and think how ridiculous that statement sounds.

Sure they are now, watch the body language 

 

[Rcal10]

1 minute ago, Derwood said:

Cubs can't even hit foul balls correctly. Everything just barely staying in play for easy outs

That’s because they gave up. 

[Caesar]

Colin Rea now? What a stupid waste! 

[Stratos]

3 minutes ago, Wilson A2000 said:

I couldn't have said this 3 months ago, but I can't blame Ricketts once he lets him walk now

They could buy low on him.  The worry is if he's still injured in the hand.  But i guess the Cubs would know better than anyone.

But I don't think Tucker will accept any deal without opt-outs out the ying yang.

[Caesar]

Counsel is flat out dumb!

[Wilson A2000]

Just now, Stratos said:

They could buy low on him.  The worry is if he's still injured in the hand.  But i guess the Cubs would know better than anyone.

But I don't think Tucker will accept any deal without opt-outs out the ying yang.

He's been injured the last 2 years. Maybe he doesn't want many, if any, opt outs. 

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

1 minute ago, Stratos said:

They could buy low on him.  The worry is if he's still injured in the hand.  But i guess the Cubs would know better than anyone.

But I don't think Tucker will accept any deal without opt-outs out the ying yang.

Yeah, he could go the Bregman route if he feels he isn't getting fair value.

[Rcal10]

Just now, Caesar said:

Counsel is flat out dumb!

Didn’t think we could get through a thread where the Cubs are losing without your expert analysis. So please, Mr baseball, tell us why Counsell is dumb, now? 

[SpongeWorthy]

10 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

No doubt those starts were bad. But he had 60 IP after a terrible start against the White Sox. Do you think after you post a 3.69 ERA and a 3.79 xFIP over 60 innings someone should have said "I know what we should do: tear it all down!" You and I both know that would be stupid. 

 It's pretty obvious something got much worse with Shota starting that last start and has carried through to now over his last three. But there really wasn't much concern in his profile prior to that last start of the season that suggested an implosion was about to hit right then, either. 

it’s not clear to me that if we had “torn it all down” that we’d be in any worse a position than we are right now

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

Just now, Rcal10 said:

Didn’t think we could get through a thread where the Cubs are losing without your expert analysis. So please, Mr baseball, tell us why Counsell is dumb, now? 

I wouldn't even engage with this guy anymore. Almost seems like a troll at this point.

[Jason Ross]

Just now, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

Yeah, he could go the Bregman route if he feels he isn't getting fair value.

With the potential of a lockout looming, I think there is a zero chance he's taking the short term, high AAV deal. 

[Hankchifan]

10 minutes ago, Wilson A2000 said:

I couldn't have said this 3 months ago, but I can't blame Ricketts once he lets him walk now

Turned out that the we paid too high a price for the Tucker rental.

[NorthsideAvenger]

Watching the Brewers get sent home by the Dodgers/Phillies will be fun.

[Caesar]

1 minute ago, Rcal10 said:

Didn’t think we could get through a thread where the Cubs are losing without your expert analysis. So please, Mr baseball, tell us why Counsell is dumb, now? 

Why use Rea now? Should’ve started one of the 2 games or immediately relieved Shota. 

[gflore34]

1 minute ago, Jason Ross said:

With the potential of a lockout looming, I think there is a zero chance he's taking the short term, high AAV deal. 

Won't the injury history serve as a big deterrent?

[Stratos]

2 minutes ago, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

Yeah, he could go the Bregman route if he feels he isn't getting fair value.

He's young enough I think he still gets a very good deal with opt outs if the medicals check out ok.

[Rcal10]

1 minute ago, Jason Ross said:

With the potential of a lockout looming, I think there is a zero chance he's taking the short term, high AAV deal. 

How does a contract work in a lock out? Why should it matter if he got a short term deal with opt outs the first 3 years? Is he paid anyway, if he opts in? 

[Jason Ross]

Just now, SpongeWorthy said:

it’s not clear to me that if we had “torn it all down” that we’d be in any worse a position than we are right now

Teams don't make drastic decisions based on one start. Remember, until his last start of the year, he had posted a 60 IP (10 start) sample in which his ERA and his xFIP matched. His K% was up, and his walk rate was down. The one flag was an inflated HR rate, but xFIP factors this in. Pitchers have bad starts. Even really good pitchers have bad starts. Teams don't change arm slots by 5-degrees because of them. That's an offseason type of a change. 

So yeah, it hasn't gone well over his last three starts. But being realistic with ourselves, a mechanical change like this isn't something any team is going to try to implement on the fly. 

[Wilson A2000]

1 minute ago, Rcal10 said:

How does a contract work in a lock out? Why should it matter if he got a short term deal with opt outs the first 3 years? Is he paid anyway, if he opts in? 

My guess is that a salary cap is coming and you better get the big money before the cap sets in