Dodgers (TBD) vs Cubs (Boyd): 8/3/26, 7:05pm

[Jason Ross]

7 hours ago, Papa Cub said:

I agree with all that - I’m curious if they give Assad the boot - he’s been versatile for them. It’ll be interesting for sure to see the shuffle that’s gonna happen

Assad as options and my guess is he will be in Iowa at some point. He's been solid, but Colin Rea as a swingman makes a lot of sense. This way you can allow Assad to be stretched to any injuries down the stretch and because you cannot assume Cabrera's healthy return to the rotation. 

Sucks for Assad because he's been fine, but it's the best way to maintain depth for the Cubs. 

[Geographyhater8888]

If the playoffs started today or when Holmes finishes his rehab outings, how does the rotation line up in a best of 3/5/7 series? 

Edited 5 hours ago by Geographyhater8888

[BKHoo]

8 hours ago, Outshined_One said:

I stand by my earlier statement that the Dodgers are not the inevitable WS Champs.

They might win it, but they can be beaten, and their failure to get a notable bat at the TDL might come back to haunt them.

Yes but if they are healthy they are the overwhelming favorite.  It’s not even close. 

[CubUgly]

1 hour ago, Geographyhater8888 said:

It’s Hard to believe that this team is currently only 1 game worse than the 65-39 2025 Cubs at the 113 game mark with sub replacement level pitching for 2 months. 
 

Suzuki is having a really solid year. He’s basically canceling out Happ’s disastrous last 2 months. 

That can't be emphasized enough, the sheer volume of significant pitching injuries but also not hitting as a team for basically a 5-week chunk of the season and still being where we are.  Outstanding job by the coaching staff to navigate that. 

[Jason Ross]

51 minutes ago, Geographyhater8888 said:

If the playoffs started today or when Holmes finishes his rehab outings, how does the rotation line up in a best of 3/5/7 series? 

I think we need two months for that to best shake out. So I think the answer is:

You pick three of the guys you are the most comfortable with between Gausman, Holmes, Boyd, Shota, and potentially Cabrera or Peterson (though I think he's unlikely). The fourth on this list is the guy you line up for Game 1 of the NLDS. The fifth is in the BP the entirety of the playoffs and the sixth may very well not make a playoff roster at all. The handedness of the pitcher may inform you some too: you may go righty or lefty heavy depending on the opposition.

Need to see how Cabrera comes back, how Holmes comes back and the general health of everyone first. But I'd suspect by mid September is becomes fairly obvious. 

[CubUgly]

26 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

I think we need two months for that to best shake out. So I think the answer is:

You pick three of the guys you are the most comfortable with between Gausman, Holmes, Boyd, Shota, and potentially Cabrera or Peterson (though I think he's unlikely). The fourth on this list is the guy you line up for Game 1 of the NLDS. The fifth is in the BP the entirety of the playoffs and the sixth may very well not make a playoff roster at all. The handedness of the pitcher may inform you some too: you may go righty or lefty heavy depending on the opposition.

Need to see how Cabrera comes back, how Holmes comes back and the general health of everyone first. But I'd suspect by mid September is becomes fairly obvious. 

Hopefully the re-set does Cabrera some good.   He really struggled to find anything before the injury, and I see he gave up 3 runs in 43 pitches in his first rehab stint despite hitting 99 mph.  I'm baffled that he was not better, he should be better than he was.  May take an offseason to find it?  Maybe a bullpen option till then?

 

[Rcal10]

1 hour ago, BKHoo said:

Yes but if they are healthy they are the overwhelming favorite.  It’s not even close. 

What, exactly, is an overwhelming favorite in a 5 or 7 game series? Would you say they have an 80% chance of winning? Is that oveeehelming? Personally I think the chance any team beats them in a series is closer to 40%. And I wouldn’t put the Dodgers as a 60% favorite to win any series and overwhelming. 

[Brian707]

9 hours ago, mk49 said:

 

And, I don't like T Mac.😁

[The_Achiever]

Just wanted to post HORSEFEATHER THE DODGERS!

[Outshined_One]

3 hours ago, BKHoo said:

Yes but if they are healthy they are the overwhelming favorite.  It’s not even close. 

I agree they're the favorite, but I just can't shake the feeling that upgrading their rotation without adding to their offense or bullpen was a mistake.

[CubUgly]

2 minutes ago, Outshined_One said:

I agree they're the favorite, but I just can't shake the feeling that upgrading their rotation without adding to their offense or bullpen was a mistake.

They think they can do like they did the last two, use starters coming of the IL in the bullpen for the playoffs. But Yeah their pen is mediocre at best and there is some aging and natural decline with their core players - albeit slow and minimal -  it is occurring. 

[I owned a Suzuki]

3 hours ago, BKHoo said:

Yes but if they are healthy they are the overwhelming favorite.  It’s not even close. 

And I would still have no issues throwing a lot of money at the field

[UMFan83]

I'm so confused at why Kyle Tucker is so hated by Cubs fans and was booed so loudly yesterday.  I get that he gave off a vibe of not being passionate about the Cubs/baseball in general and that he struggled down the stretch, but that doesn't cross my threshold for booing.  There's a quote from Tucker about the booing on social media saying he tried his hardest, etc. and all the replies are torching him and calling him a crybaby.  I know social media is not the best place to get a true rational gauge on fan feelings but that plus the loud booing makes me feel like I'm missing some detail as to why he's so hated.

I wasn't a big fan of booing Contreras either, but that one I could understand with the comments he made after joining the Cardinals.  This one is a head scratcher.

[Rcal10]

2 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

I'm so confused at why Kyle Tucker is so hated by Cubs fans and was booed so loudly yesterday.  I get that he gave off a vibe of not being passionate about the Cubs/baseball in general and that he struggled down the stretch, but that doesn't cross my threshold for booing.  There's a quote from Tucker about the booing on social media saying he tried his hardest, etc. and all the replies are torching him and calling him a crybaby.  I know social media is not the best place to get a true rational gauge on fan feelings but that plus the loud booing makes me feel like I'm missing some detail as to why he's so hated.

I wasn't a big fan of booing Contreras either, but that one I could understand with the comments he made after joining the Cardinals.  This one is a head scratcher.

I think, right or wrong, fans feel like he couldn’t care less about the team. It was 100% his job and nothing more was given beyond that. He is probably just an introvert and a decent guy, but that is what I feel the perception of the fans. He just never fit in. Add that to actually not being very good the seasons half of the season, regardless of it was because he was injured, and you will get fans booing. I’m not saying I agree with it. But you said you don’t understand it. I am giving you what I think the reason is. 

[Irrelevant Dude]

3 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

I'm so confused at why Kyle Tucker is so hated by Cubs fans and was booed so loudly yesterday.

I think it's mostly just a reflection of the fans' general disappointment with Tucker's performance.  He was the big move who was supposed to anchor the offense last year, and he didn't do that.  And then going to the evil Dodgers on top of that certainly didn't help things.

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

Just now, Irrelevant Dude said:

And then going to the evil Dodgers on top of that certainly didn't help things.

I think this is a big factor

[Derwood]

The fans wrote themselves a narrative that he never wanted to be here and never had any intention of staying *shrug*

[Bertz]

Tucker bailing on the team to go to Florida in September was legitimately not great.  But mainly Tucker had a normal Tucker year, but the shape of it made the fanbase set its expectations too high and then they lashed out when that didn't keep up.

Also anything involving the Dodgers right now makes baseball fans foam at the mouth like idiots.

[Andy]

8 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Also anything involving the Dodgers right now makes baseball fans foam at the mouth like idiots.

1,000 percent. It's pretty ridiculous.

[CubUgly]

13 minutes ago, Derwood said:

The fans wrote themselves a narrative that he never wanted to be here and never had any intention of staying *shrug*

I definitely got that feeling.   And I'm absolutely just speculating but I got the sense that his teammates kind of felt that way too.  That he did not seem particularly interested in joining the team when they clinched the playoffs a bit off putting.  You would literally have had to chain me up to keep me from celebrating with my teammates when I was active in team sports.   A few other things that many would likely also shrug off bothered me a bit - a lot of little things in total.  I would not have booed him were I there, but I was not at all disappointed that he did not return here.  I don't think he'll age well. 

[PeanutPunch33]

44 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

I'm so confused at why Kyle Tucker is so hated by Cubs fans and was booed so loudly yesterday.  I get that he gave off a vibe of not being passionate about the Cubs/baseball in general and that he struggled down the stretch, but that doesn't cross my threshold for booing.  There's a quote from Tucker about the booing on social media saying he tried his hardest, etc. and all the replies are torching him and calling him a crybaby.  I know social media is not the best place to get a true rational gauge on fan feelings but that plus the loud booing makes me feel like I'm missing some detail as to why he's so hated.

I wasn't a big fan of booing Contreras either, but that one I could understand with the comments he made after joining the Cardinals.  This one is a head scratcher.

Perception that he never embraced being a Cub nor had a strong work ethic.  I know people hate Sutcliffe but he said something earlier in the year about how Tucker seemed more interested in being on his phone than being in a batting cage.  Maybe there is some truth to that, or at least some truth to the idea that he wasn't a great clubhouse guy.  

Also, don't discount how many of those boos came from Dodger fans.  The guy is performing like a replacement level player