The Day Before Sudden Death Baseball (Again): Game 5 NLDS Eve Thread

[UMFan83]

Michael Busch moves up to 6th place in the Cubs all time postseason HR leaderboard with his HR last night

1. Schwarber - 6

1. Rizzo - 6

1. Bryant - 6

4. Baez - 5

4. Fowler - 5

6. Busch - 4

6. Russell - 4

6. Alex Gonzalez - 4

6. Aramis Ramirez - 4

[Chicago Al]

27 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

whoever has a (fancier) defector subscription, go get this guy to come join us asap

He’s right, Brewers are so irritating.

[bukie]

The Brewers had a 6 week stretch of baseball this season where they went 37-4. That stretch counts and is the most insane 41 game stretch in MLB history.

Outside that stretch, the Brewers are 62-62.

[mul21]

15 minutes ago, bukie said:

The Brewers had a 6 week stretch of baseball this season where they went 37-4. That stretch counts and is the most insane 41 game stretch in MLB history.

Outside that stretch, the Brewers are 62-62.

Best I can find is 30-4, but your point stands because outside of that stretch they're 69-63 including postseason games.

Edited October 10, 2025 by mul21

[soccer10k]

15 minutes ago, bukie said:

The Brewers had a 6 week stretch of baseball this season where they went 37-4. That stretch counts and is the most insane 41 game stretch in MLB history.

Outside that stretch, the Brewers are 62-62.

It was 29-4, not that it makes it that much less absurd. They went from 49-40 to 78-44.

[BigSlick]

56 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

whoever has a (fancier) defector subscription, go get this guy to come join us asap

This rocks 

[soccer10k]

 

[DrCub]

3 hours ago, I owned a Suzuki said:

Unfortunately I think the Cubs are going to be one of the 1st teams without a chair

Sadly, I think you’re right.  

[We Got The Whole 9]

What kind of deal do you guys think he signs?

[macarthur31]

1 hour ago, squally1313 said:

whoever has a (fancier) defector subscription, go get this guy to come join us asap

 

Ah!  I'm happy to stan for BYCTOM which stands for Bring Your Champions, They're Our Meat.  The moniker is a reference to a lyric of "Wild Cats", a super obscure Northwestern University fight/spirit song.  As a long suffering Northwestern University sports fan, I often visit their blog, which is mainly ruminations on Northwestern sports (very much in the same tone), but also dabbles into Chicago sports and sports in general.  If you like that post, then check out the brilliant "The Chicago Cubs Have Spiraled into the Toilet Zone" (8/27/25) which includes riffs like:

 

Quote

The Cubs are miserable and frustrated. The best offense in baseball has instantly vanished.  The entire team is on a two-month long slump to the point where the only explanation for what has happened that makes sense is some sort of coordinated industrial action.  They've got Kyle Tucker-- a man who is boring to the point of it being some sort of avant-garde art project, a guy so stoic and devoid of personality and emotion that I am convinced that if he were to undergo questioning by Jack Bauer and his array of rusted implements and car batteries and jumper cables that are just lying around, Bauer would still only manage to get a "we just you know need to keep seeing the ball out there" from him-- throwing his helmet in the dugout and bellowing horsefeathers after striking out.  It's harder to tell if he's more upset that he can no longer play baseball or that he is costing himself tens of millions of dollars from his free agent contract with the Dodgers next season.

 

[macarthur31]

1 hour ago, squally1313 said:

whoever has a (fancier) defector subscription, go get this guy to come join us asap

 

Ah!  I'm happy to stan for BYCTOM which stands for Bring Your Champions, They're Our Meat.  The moniker is a reference to a lyric of "Wild Cats", a super obscure Northwestern University fight/spirit song.  As a long suffering Northwestern University sports fan, I often visit their blog, which is mainly ruminations on Northwestern sports (very much in the same tone), but also dabbles into Chicago sports and sports in general.  If you like that post, then check out the brilliant "The Chicago Cubs Have Spiraled into the Toilet Zone" (8/27/25) which includes riffs like:

 

Quote

The Cubs are miserable and frustrated. The best offense in baseball has instantly vanished.  The entire team is on a two-month long slump to the point where the only explanation for what has happened that makes sense is some sort of coordinated industrial action.  They've got Kyle Tucker-- a man who is boring to the point of it being some sort of avant-garde art project, a guy so stoic and devoid of personality and emotion that I am convinced that if he were to undergo questioning by Jack Bauer and his array of rusted implements and car batteries and jumper cables that are just lying around, Bauer would still only manage to get a "we just you know need to keep seeing the ball out there" from him-- throwing his helmet in the dugout and bellowing horsefeathers after striking out.  It's harder to tell if he's more upset that he can no longer play baseball or that he is costing himself tens of millions of dollars from his free agent contract with the Dodgers next season.

 

[DrCub]

1 hour ago, UMFan83 said:

Michael Busch moves up to 6th place in the Cubs all time postseason HR leaderboard with his HR last night

1. Schwarber - 6

1. Rizzo - 6

1. Bryant - 6

4. Baez - 5

4. Fowler - 5

6. Busch - 4

6. Russell - 4

6. Alex Gonzalez - 4

6. Aramis Ramirez - 4

Busch will take over first place on his own THIS YEAR.  BET! 

[squally1313]

1 minute ago, macarthur31 said:

They've got Kyle Tucker-- a man who is boring to the point of it being some sort of avant-garde art project, a guy so stoic and devoid of personality and emotion that I am convinced that if he were to undergo questioning by Jack Bauer and his array of rusted implements and car batteries and jumper cables that are just lying around, Bauer would still only manage to get a "we just you know need to keep seeing the ball out there" from him-- throwing his helmet in the dugout and bellowing horsefeathers after striking out.

This is so spot on. I remember reading an article over the summer that he took it upon himself to spearhead the team fantasy football and I was momentarily happy to see he actually had a personality trait, and then I realized that 'guy who has the personality of a block of wood' and 'guy who's entire personality is fantasy football' is the same thing. 

[cubfansince77]

5 hours ago, mul21 said:

I have absolutely zero metrics and I'm working off vibes here, but I think Colin Rea is the guy I'm most comfortable with sending out there to start the game and get 6-9 outs.  He's been throwing the ball well of late, he's a veteran who's less likely to get rattled by the moment, and he's pitched a ton of games in Milwaukee.  Hopefully the offense can score off (likely) Misiorowski early and give the pitchers some breathing room.

Only been on this board for a few months but I've never seen 8 likes for a post before. Rea is my choice too...I like him a lot and have all season. Hope they re-sign him for next year, dude has a rubber arm. Shota? Hard pass. Nice guy but he's running on fumes.

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

If stoicism helps Kyle Tucker hit baseballs, I hope he has the same blank expression for the rest of eternity.

[CubUgly]

5 hours ago, mul21 said:

I have absolutely zero metrics and I'm working off vibes here, but I think Colin Rea is the guy I'm most comfortable with sending out there to start the game and get 6-9 outs.  He's been throwing the ball well of late, he's a veteran who's less likely to get rattled by the moment, and he's pitched a ton of games in Milwaukee.  Hopefully the offense can score off (likely) Misiorowski early and give the pitchers some breathing room.

I know many here have expressed trepidation Re: Rea but his outing earlier in this series was fine even though it was not what one would consider a high leverage situation you can bet the Brewers were not letting up.  

Also, they will definitely use Misiorowski - and I still have not forgotten his celebration dance at our expense and neither I bet, have the Cubs.   He'll walk a few if we let him. 

[JunkyardWalrus]

Anyone else finding themselves yelling ‘Full F*CKING Busch!’ quite often this post-season?

[chibears55]

Colin Rea probably 

 

[Hot Sauce]

1 hour ago, UMFan83 said:

Michael Busch moves up to 6th place in the Cubs all time postseason HR leaderboard with his HR last night

1. Schwarber - 6

1. Rizzo - 6

1. Bryant - 6

4. Baez - 5

4. Fowler - 5

6. Busch - 4

6. Russell - 4

6. Alex Gonzalez - 4

6. Aramis Ramirez - 4

Aramis’ two HR in game 3 of the NLCS had me believing. 🥲

[Rcal10]

14 minutes ago, CubUgly said:

I know many here have expressed trepidation Re: Rea but his outing earlier in this series was fine even though it was not what one would consider a high leverage situation you can bet the Brewers were not letting up.  

Also, they will definitely use Misiorowski - and I still have not forgotten his celebration dance at our expense and neither I bet, have the Cubs.   He'll walk a few if we let him. 

They may go Rea, and if they do I will be fine with it. However, besides his appearance being low leverage he didn’t exactly fool the Brewees. In 3.1 innings he put 6 guys on base and did not strike a guy out. Basically he got lucky not to give up a run. Problem is there are no good options. So it may be him. But don’t kid yourself into thinking he is a good option. He isn’t. Might be the best option, but it is not great. 

[UMFan83]

14 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

Colin Rea probably 

 

Absolutely the right call.  He has given up 15 HRs in his last 8 starts, 23 HR in his last 14 starts, at least 1 HR in 13 of those 14 starts and at least 2 HR in 8 of those 14 starts.  For a game 5 you can't take a chance on a guy that got blasted in the same ballpark by the same team a few days ago.  I am not at all opposed to pitching him in the NLCS if the Cubs advance, but right now with the season on the line, the entire Milwaukee pen at their disposal, etc you can't risk him giving up a 3 run HR or something like that.

[Bertz]

30 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

Absolutely the right call.  He has given up 15 HRs in his last 8 starts, 23 HR in his last 14 starts, at least 1 HR in 13 of those 14 starts and at least 2 HR in 8 of those 14 starts.  For a game 5 you can't take a chance on a guy that got blasted in the same ballpark by the same team a few days ago.  I am not at all opposed to pitching him in the NLCS if the Cubs advance, but right now with the season on the line, the entire Milwaukee pen at their disposal, etc you can't risk him giving up a 3 run HR or something like that.

I'm as "focus big picture, avoid recency bias" as anyone but yeah I don't think you can let Shota see Chourio/Vaughn/Contreras.  The way they were on him, whether it's sign stealing (not very likely), they see him really well (medium likely) or pitch tipping (very likely) I'm skeptical it was fixed in five days.  There's a pocket of the lineup where Shota can slot in and get some reps, but he's just not the choice for getting even the plurality of the outs tomorrow IMO.

[squally1313]

2 minutes ago, Bertz said:

I'm as "focus big picture, avoid recency bias" as anyone but yeah I don't think you can let Shota see Chourio/Vaughn/Contreras.  The way they were on him, whether it's sign stealing (not very likely), they see him really well (medium likely) or pitch tipping (very likely) I'm skeptical it was fixed in five days.  There's a pocket of the lineup where Shota can slot in and get some reps, but he's just not the choice for getting even the plurality of the outs tomorrow IMO.

A (begrudging) plus one here. I'm loathe to change up anything on what has been a good team, probably to a fault, but....we've got 9 rested arms besides him ready to go. If we were in a different spot with the pen, I'd say you have to take your chances with him just from a length perspective, but in a win or go home setting with another day off and a well rested Taillon (and very well rested Shota) (and a potential ROY riding in to save the pitching staff) ready to go on Monday....let's throw the whole kitchen sink at them. No one should see the same guy twice.  

[Caesar]

Colin Rea is the guy who should start and Ben Brown to replace and this should get you to the 6th or 7th. 

[Rcal10]

27 minutes ago, Caesar said:

Colin Rea is the guy who should start and Ben Brown to replace and this should get you to the 6th or 7th. 

Maybe they can do that and get through 5. That would be awesome.