Spring Training games thread

[chibears55]

Yikes,  Boyd got lit up by Reds tonight 9 hits 8 runs in 4.2 innings 

Taillon gave up 3 in the 5th

I sure hope our starters dont horsefeathers the bed to begin the season 

[Stratos]

Nvm

Edited March 21 by Stratos

[Stratos]

53 minutes ago, Bertz said:

*sigh*

With this AZ hitting environment i could care less about how guys are hitting any of our pitchers.  The concern with Jamo should be the velo (obviously) and his mechanics.

I think if he's feeling good with his command and overall mechanics they can still start him when the season starts and pray he isn't batting practice and see what happens.

Even with prime mechanics if the velo doesn't somehow improve he's almost certainly going to put up below-average results unless he simply gets lucky, with a real chance of him being cooked.

[Gjfificifjdej]

16 minutes ago, Stratos said:

With this AZ hitting environment i could care less about how guys are hitting any of our pitchers.  The concern with Jamo should be the velo (obviously) and his mechanics.

I think if he's feeling good with his command and overall mechanics they can still start him when the season starts and pray he isn't batting practice and see what happens.

Even with prime mechanics if the velo doesn't somehow improve he's almost certainly going to put up below-average results unless he simply gets lucky, with a real chance of him being cooked.

Thats cool and all but he looks like a guy who had never even heard of professional hitting 

[We Got The Whole 9]

Video of Snell's 9th inning double? Ball was crushed 395 feet

[Geographyhater8888]

14 hours ago, chibears55 said:

Theres 2 open spots for 2027

Theyll have Steele, Horton, and Cabrera returning.

Im sure Wiggins will get an opportunity to take a spot, especially if he takes a step forward this season. 

Brown might just end up being a long reliever/spot starter for the cubs next year and could be a trade piece at the deadline.

Maybe they can use Taillon and Imanaga money towards Skubal, or Gallen, Flaherty if they return to form

 

Right, but he’ll likely open the season in Iowa. While he’s in Iowa he can work on a tertiary pitch. If he succeeds in developing one he’ll potentially become another cheap option in the rotation for the future, more $ to be used on high end talent ($40 million on Shota and Tailon instead of Cease or Devin Williams), Giving multi year deals to Flathery or Gallen is repeating the same cycle. 

I expect Jed to sign one of either, I won’t hold my breath on it happening but it’d be terrific if Brown can master a third pitch in Iowa and earn a rotation spot on merit. 
 

 

 

Edited March 21 by Geographyhater8888

[Geographyhater8888]

The entire rotation had bloated ERAs last winter. They often throw with less than maximum effort to avoid injuries. Everything is half assed.. Tailon is the only real red flag. 

Edited March 21 by Geographyhater8888

[Bertz]

In the other game last night James Triantos had a dong and a walk.  The dong was not really hit impressively hard, very much an Isaac Paredes ball, but still good to see.  Him pulling the ball in the air more frequently is probably how he unlocks the best versions of himself.

[Backtobanks]

18 hours ago, Jason Ross said:

The team just signed Alex Bregman, I don't think we necessarily need to worry about how the team will handle money. Ask yourself this: what's the worst FA signing the Cubs have made since Hoyer came about? I'm pretty sure it's Trey Mancini. And we can't really be worried about them cheaping out three months after signing Bregman, can we? 

Like, if you want to say "I don't think the team will give Skubal the biggest contract a SP has ever gotten" I think that's a fair thing to say (even if I don't think it's fair for the Cubs to act that way). But Hoyer generally spends the money he's given on players who contribute, and did just drop $150m on a modern deferral type deal, so I don't have a ton of worry that they'll punt a position of need when they have the funds.

I'm more worried about the Cubs going cheap and the RNC getting a huge donation.

[Bertz]

Quote

 

Ben Brown is preparing “for the possibility” of pitching out of the bullpen, Counsell confirmed, declining to say whether that is the likely outcome for the 6-foot-6 right-hander, whose intriguing potential landed him in the season-opening rotation last year and on the Cubs’ National League Division Series roster last October.

The Cubs also believe there are ways to use him out of the bullpen early in the season while keeping him stretched out for multiple innings, leaving open the possibility for Brown to join the rotation at a later date.

That’s not a sustainable year-long plan, but it could initially place him in a swingman role. After deliberately creating so much rotation depth, the Cubs don’t want to cancel too many insurance policies against injuries.

 

Via the Athletic

I wonder if we're about to see Taillon on the IL, Rea in the rotation, and Brown in the pen.

[Bertz]

None of the regulars are in the lineup today.  Given the calendar I suspect tomorrow we see the OD lineup except maybe sans Seiya.

[Andy]

Counsell just said Seiya won't be playing Opening Day.

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

15 minutes ago, Andy said:

Counsell just said Seiya won't be playing Opening Day.

Sounds like they're just being cautious, especially because he's gonna have to play the field most of the time with Mo DH'ing.

[Post Count Padder]

Conforto will be on the OD roster.

[Neuby]

They need to DL him take advantage of the built in off days.  ZERO need to rush him now. Hopefully the Cubs don't  do what they normally  do not play a guy for ten days then DL him 30 days immediately after.

[Bertz]

 

 

[Geographyhater8888]

I think the Cubs floor is 91 wins and their ceiling is 92 wins. 

[Andy]

11 hours ago, Bertz said:

 

 

I happened to have the game on for that. Very funny and I loved that Rodriguez was chuckling about it as well.

[cl smooth]

12 hours ago, Bertz said:

 

 

outside of the wbc, i haven't been paying much attention to the cubs spring training. will alcantara make the opening day roster?

[Bertz]

6 minutes ago, cl smooth said:

outside of the wbc, i haven't been paying much attention to the cubs spring training. will alcantara make the opening day roster?

No, it sounds like he'll go to Iowa so he can play every day and come up mid-season if there's some runway due to injury.

I suspect if we hadn't gotten Bregman he would have made the team.  But Bregman pushed the bulk of Shaw's playing time to the outfield.

[Bertz]

By process of elimination sounds like Carlson and Brown made the team.  Pretty surprised Snider is willto go to Iowa.

[JBears79]

27 minutes ago, Bertz said:

By process of elimination sounds like Carlson and Brown made the team.  Pretty surprised Snider is willto go to Iowa.

Carlson is the right choice. There is still a good hitter there imo. He had a good spring too.

[Illiterate Scholar]

I think Sharma said recently that Snider has an early season opt out but didn't have one at the end of spring training. If he looks good at Iowa, we'll probably see him soon. 

Also if the plan for Shaw is to play a lot of outfield, we'll see if they think Carlson is worth a 40 man move. The fit might be a little awkward. 

[Rcal10]

22 minutes ago, Illiterate Scholar said:

I think Sharma said recently that Snider has an early season opt out but didn't have one at the end of spring training. If he looks good at Iowa, we'll probably see him soon. 

Also if the plan for Shaw is to play a lot of outfield, we'll see if they think Carlson is worth a 40 man move. The fit might be a little awkward. 

I think Carlson is an easy choice to make the team. Even with a healthy Suzuki I felt the bench would be- back up catcher. Shaw, Carlson and Conforto. Mo starts at DH. 

[Bertz]

20 hours ago, Bertz said:

None of the regulars are in the lineup today.  Given the calendar I suspect tomorrow we see the OD lineup except maybe sans Seiya.

Yup