Cubs (Imanaga) vs Nationals (TBD): 08/11/26, 5:45 PM

[Brock Beauchamp]

The Cubs visit the Nationals as Imanaga takes the mound at Nationals Park.

[Brock Beauchamp]

	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN	MON	TOT
Trent Thornton	12	14	0	0	0	26
Ryan Zeferjahn	0	0	0	24	0	24
Ryan Rolison	14	0	0	0	0	14
Javier Assad	0	0	0	5	0	5
Jacob Webb	0	13	0	0	0	13
Colin Rea	0	0	63	0	0	63
Caleb Thielbar	12	13	0	0	0	25
Aaron Civale	45	0	0	0	0	45

[mul21]

Cubs seem to be up against TBD pretty frequently lately.  Post TDL is so weird for a few weeks.

[squally1313]

Looking like we'll get Irwin today who is a mediocre righty, better than he was last year, Jackson Kent tomorrow, who looks to be a mediocre lefty making his ML debut, and then Cavalli Thursday, who is good. Shame we miss Mikolas.

 

[Brian707]

Yeah its Irvin tonight. Might be a dong party for the Cubs

[cl smooth]

1 hour ago, squally1313 said:

Shame we miss Mikolas.

 

[bukie]

1 hour ago, cl smooth said:

He will somehow still hit Ian Happ with a pitch because of that slight from 3 years ago.

[Rex Buckingham]

2 hours ago, squally1313 said:

 Shame we miss Mikolas.

 

Nobody is more upset about this than Michael Busch and PCA

https://www.statmuse.com/mlb/ask/current-chicago-cubs-vs-miles-mikolas

lol at PCA having 5 dongs in 11 ABs against him

[Dfan25]

If the Cubs want any chance to catch Milwaukee , they will probably need to have a huge week in the standings here . Go like 5-1 on this trip while the Brewers are out west ( which is always difficult )

[PeanutPunch33]

I was watching their podcast earlier and Sharma and Mooney don't think the Cubs will bring Seiya back.  They think he's priced himself out of the Cubs range with his performance this season and that they wouldn't match a 5 year deal if he got it from someone (which he probably will).  

Lame.

[The_Achiever]

I wonder if Zeferjahn is aware of "The Zephyr Song"  🤔

Instead of it being entrance music, it could be played when he gives up a dong (which is infrequent because he's good).  

[Corbi296]

50 minutes ago, PeanutPunch33 said:

I was watching their podcast earlier and Sharma and Mooney don't think the Cubs will bring Seiya back.  They think he's priced himself out of the Cubs range with his performance this season and that they wouldn't match a 5 year deal if he got it from someone (which he probably will).  

Lame.

That would be really disappointing, especially because there is a lot of money rolling off the Cubs payroll. Seiya in RF, PCA in CF and a cheap Matt Shaw in LF would be a really nice combination for next year and beyond. 

[BKHoo]

54 minutes ago, PeanutPunch33 said:

I was watching their podcast earlier and Sharma and Mooney don't think the Cubs will bring Seiya back.  They think he's priced himself out of the Cubs range with his performance this season and that they wouldn't match a 5 year deal if he got it from someone (which he probably will).  

Lame.

I wonder if there was an earlier opportunity to get a contract done or if he was waiting for FA all along? 

[BKHoo]

2 minutes ago, Corbi296 said:

That would be really disappointing, especially because there is a lot of money rolling off the Cubs payroll. Seiya in RF, PCA in CF and a cheap Matt Shaw in LF would be a really nice combination for next year and beyond. 

Do you think Shaw is better in LF or RF? 

[Corbi296]

6 minutes ago, BKHoo said:

Do you think Shaw is better in LF or RF? 

I think he is a good athlete who could play either side equally well if given some time to become proficient. If the opening is in LF because Happ does not get resigned, Shaw can easily step into that position. , 

[CubUgly]

1 minute ago, Corbi296 said:

I think he is a good athlete who could play either side equally well if given some time to become proficient. If the opening is in LF because Happ does not get resigned, Shaw can easily step into that position. , 

Agreed, I think he has shown the ability to learn new positions quickly and play at an at worst an average level and likely better and his athleticism plays well in the outfield too. 

[PeanutPunch33]

25 minutes ago, BKHoo said:

I wonder if there was an earlier opportunity to get a contract done or if he was waiting for FA all along? 

I'm starting to think the latter.  Seiya is going to get PAID.  He deserves it but I wish he could stay a Cub.  This offense needs him.  

[Jason Ross]

1 hour ago, BKHoo said:

I wonder if there was an earlier opportunity to get a contract done or if he was waiting for FA all along? 

If the Cubs aren't likely to give him five years today, then they were almost assuredly not going to offer him a five-year extension anytime before today. Nothing he has done in 2026 changed the math on what teams were going to offer him, either. He hasn't had some transformative year. In fact, it's not even, really, a career year at this stage.

So to wrap it all up succinctly; there was probably never an opportunity in which the Cubs were going to be able to sign Suzuki to a contract that was below his market value will be this offseason.

[Dfan25]

Without Seiya this team looks really different  PCA and him are the ones leading the way .  It’s going to be interesting to see what they do with the 2 CO spots . Arozarena will probably want 5 years as well . 
 

I really don’t trust Shaw / Alcantara . Pedro in LF ? I thank Happ for everything but I wouldn’t bring him back .

With that said maybe he takes the QO with the uncertainty of a rush FA period when the lockout ends 

[Bertz]

I would like to keep Seiya but it's very much NOT not a situation where you should do something irresponsible.  Like hard pass on 5 years or 9 figures

[Eeyore]

No power or Internet here. I might listen to the game for a while 

[PeanutPunch33]

43 minutes ago, Bertz said:

I would like to keep Seiya but it's very much NOT not a situation where you should do something irresponsible.  Like hard pass on 5 years or 9 figures

Seiya is definitely worth 9 figures in the open market, IMO.  Can the Cubs afford to lose a 130+ WRC+ right handed bat from the lineup?  They could go years without finding a replacement that could do that.  

5 years 110 mill seems like a fair offer, from my perspective.  They've kept Happ around for 10+ years on a similar AAV.  I'll be really disappointed if they let a much better player walk over a couple million

[Eeyore]

Will they be able to pay him what he's worth after the biblical losses of a one year lockout?

[Derwood]

Christ, that was clobbered

[Papa Cub]

Love how Shota looks 🤯 when he gives up a moon rocket lol - not sure whether to laugh or be annoyed at his reaction