Cardinals (McGreevy) vs Cubs (Boyd): 08/15/26, 1:20 PM

[Geographyhater8888]

37 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

I get what you are saying, but if you took a star player from any team and turned into a 106 wRC+ player instead of the star numbers he is producing, wouldn’t any team drop from elite to just good? I do think the offense will drop some. But still very good. I also agree the pitching has to be better, but I think they addressed that at the deadline. The staff we see come mid to late October will be way different than what we saw up to August 3rd. Between trades made and guys coming back from injuries we might see as many as 8 guys who were not part of the staff on 8/2 on the staff on 9/15. Gausman, Holmes, Zeferjahn, Brown, Steele, Palencia, Milner, Miller, Cabrera and maybe even Harvey all potentially could be on the pitching staff on 9/15. Most likely they won’t all be, but at a minimum they willl have 6 different pitchers from 8/2 to 9/15. 

Right. If Miz scuffles then Milwaukee is in trouble too. PCA could be in a mini slump or history could be repeating itself. Who knows. We’re hoping for major positive reinforcements from the pitching staff, we know for a fact that the offense can perform at a high level, and PCA is at the center of that. There’s a smaller margin for error until we see otherwise. 
 

They’ve allowed 5 or more runs in 7/12 games since the all star break and they’re miraculously 9-3. Sure enough the pitching staff held them off on Friday with the offense on a 3 game mini skid and they couldn’t hold an opponent to under 4 for a second game in a row when needed. That’s not complimentary baseball and we’ve been missing it practically all year. 

Edited 15 hours ago by Geographyhater8888

[Rcal10]

37 minutes ago, Geographyhater8888 said:

Right. If Miz scuffles then Milwaukee is in trouble too. PCA could be in a mini slump or history could be repeating itself. Who knows. We’re hoping for major positive reinforcements from the pitching staff, we know for a fact that the offense can perform at a high level, and PCA is at the center of that. There’s a smaller margin for error until we see otherwise. 
 

They’ve allowed 5 or more runs in 7/12 games since the all star break and they’re miraculously 9-3. Sure enough the pitching staff held them off on Friday with the offense on a 3 game mini skid and they couldn’t hold an opponent to under 4 for a second game in a row when needed. That’s not complimentary baseball and we’ve been missing it practically all year. 

And yet they are 20 games over 500 with the 5th best record in all of baseball. Cubs aren’t missing complimentary baseball (whatever that is) all year. They are very good. What we are seeing is a normal 162 game season of ball. Dodgers lost 6 in a row recently. Brewers have struggled a bit too. Cubs had a horrendous 7-22 stretch. It is baseball. To turn a mini stretch into a statement about missing something all year is an overreach. 

[chibears55]

9 hours ago, Stratos said:

You forgot Braxton Garrett.

They're losing 5 good SP, which is their entire current rotation.  That's nuts. IMO they have to replace about 4 of the 5, plus grab a cheap depth guy or 2 to replace/upgrade Rea,  That's going to cost a lot of money, and fortunately we have a lot coming off the books.

I would consider anything we get from Steele and Horton as a bonus and make plans assuming both may not pitch at all.

Yea I forgot about Garrett...

My hope is that the money coming off the book with Imanaga(22), and Boyd(17) can be used towards bringing in someone like Skubal(I know Dodgers) or whomever will be available in that tier of pitching under him.

Hopefully Steele returns in September and has a few good outings and no setback,  if so, he should have a normal offseason and be ready to go whenever ST starts.

Horton is definitely out for next season,  only hope for him is like Steele this season,  he can be ready to give them a few games in August/September. 

Hopefully they can bring Holmes back on an extension,  and work out a deal with Gausman..

If the above happens,  then the rotation next season should be pretty solid.

TOR addition, Steele, Holmes, Gausman,  Cabrera 

Brown, Assad, Wiggins, and Garrett as Depth

Edited 13 hours ago by chibears55

[Geographyhater8888]

1 hour ago, Rcal10 said:

To turn a mini stretch into a statement about missing something all year is an overreach. 

It’s not an overreach to say that the pitching has been bad all year or that they’re 20 game over 500 inspite of the pitching staff. The mini stretch is one of quite a few mini stretches of sub par pitching. 
 

So far so good with Clay Holmes. Let’s hope that Cabrera can be a reason why they win post injury too.

Edited 13 hours ago by Geographyhater8888

[Rcal10]

23 minutes ago, Geographyhater8888 said:

It’s not an overreach to say that the pitching has been bad all year or that they’re 20 game over 500 inspite of the pitching staff. The mini stretch is one of quite a few mini stretches of sub par pitching. 
 

So far so good with Clay Holmes. Let’s hope that Cabrera can be a reason why they win post injury too.

Their pitching staff actual game results has been middle of the pack all year. Granted, it is because superb defense, but they are more average than bad, on the results end if things.   And, as I said, there are several differences we will see in mid September than what they had August 2nd. I think with the defense the Cubs have they will probably have a top 8-10 staff come mid September. Maybe even  better. 

[gflore34]

Say Cabrera comes back strong, with Holmes and Gausman, is there any reason to give Imanaga or Boyd a playoff start?  Certainly, if they advance, not against the Brewers, if it's the Phillies in the WC are they especially weak against LHP?  Looked it up, appears the Phillies are fairly neutral when it comes to RHP vs. LHP - 105 vs. 97 sOPS+, meaning there's no compelling reason for giving Imanaga or Boyd a playoff start at all.

Edited 12 hours ago by gflore34

[chibears55]

1 hour ago, gflore34 said:

Say Cabrera comes back strong, with Holmes and Gausman, is there any reason to give Imanaga or Boyd a playoff start?  Certainly, if they advance, not against the Brewers, if it's the Phillies in the WC are they especially weak against LHP?  Looked it up, appears the Phillies are fairly neutral when it comes to RHP vs. LHP - 105 vs. 97 sOPS+, meaning there's no compelling reason for giving Imanaga or Boyd a playoff start at all.

Have to think Gausman and Holmes will definitely be scheduled to pitch in all the series they play in, those 2 were traded for to be those guys for them.

Then it'll likely be whomever pitching the best along with matchup between Imanaga, Boyd, and Cabrera for the series.

[profisme]

Deleted

Edited 10 hours ago by profisme

[Stratos]

8 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

I think you are a little doomsday either way Steele and Horton, but I do get it. I also doubt they upgrade/replace Rea. He is perfect for how they plan to use him. And when the plan fails and he has to be in the rotation he does an OK job. Assuming they figured out Brown’s problems they should have him and Cabrera. I think (hope) Steele could be back in the rotation next year. So that is a 3rd guy. If they can keep Holmes that would be 4. Then you have Garrett, Rea, & Assad as depth pieces. I can see either keeping Boyd with a QO he accepts or spending that money on a starting pitcher via FA, or trading for a controllable pitcher, like they did for Cabrera last year. I don’t see 4 or 5 adds, plus upgrading Rea. 

Rea has done his job this year, but I just wouldn't bring him back at 36 years old and risk him turning into Taillon.  Any kind of decline on Rea and he becomes a pumpkin.  Id rather just sign someone like him who is 2-3 years younger. 

I would probably bring back Boyd on a QO.

It will be interesting to see how many SP Jed goes with to start 2027.  Assad is also the only guy we'll have going into the offseason who is anywhere near reliable health-wise.