Reds (Burns) vs Cubs (Imanaga): 08/30/26, 6:20 PM

[Snott]

Finally shots can go sit in the bullpen. Without anybody whining 

[We Got The Whole 9]

5 minutes ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

Funny you should mention 2005 Derrek Lee.  It is insane to think that PCA is doing everything he is doing, but is still nowhere close (.954) to 2005 Lee (1.080) in OPS.  I get that it was a totally different environment for hitters, but interesting nonetheless.

In fairness Lee hit like 440 in April and just bulldozed for 6 months. Pete has been hitting like him for 3 months though.

[ILMindState]

The pitching is such an abomination. We’re the team other teams want to face in the playoffs. 

[chibears55]

Funny, NBC has 2  Sox fans doing cubs post-game 😅

[NorthsideAvenger]

September is not going to be fun, other than watching PCA hit. 

[Irrelevant Dude]

Just now, NorthsideAvenger said:

September is not going to be fun, other than watching PCA hit. 

That sounds pretty fun though.

[chibears55]

1 minute ago, NorthsideAvenger said:

September is not going to be fun, other than watching PCA hit. 

Need to see him do some running too, get to 40 SB

[Irrelevant Dude]

8 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

Need to see him do some running too, get to 40 SB

If he keeps hitting home runs at this pace, he may get to 50 before he gets 40 stolen bases.

[17 Seconds]

I wonder if they'd still give him the MVP if the cubs miss the playoffs

[chibears55]

36 minutes ago, 17 Seconds said:

I wonder if they'd still give him the MVP if the cubs miss the playoffs

They shouldn't, if they totally fall flat and go 10-15, Padres would need to go 16-9 to pass them.

I think the only question for them is will they be good enough to win 2 WC games

[NorthsideAvenger]

32 minutes ago, 17 Seconds said:

I wonder if they'd still give him the MVP if the cubs miss the playoffs

That would be enough of an opening for the writers to justify giving the MVP to Ohtani. 

[soccer10k]

46 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

They shouldn't, if they totally fall flat and go 10-15, Padres would need to go 16-9 to pass them.

I think the only question for them is will they be good enough to win 2 WC games

Arizona would have to pass us too.

Cubs are 77-60, Ari is 73-65, SD is 72-65. The Cubs have the tiebreaker over both. Basically either the Cubs would have to really suck and both Ari/SD would have to be decent (aka, the 2023 Cubs formula) or the Cubs would have to be .500ish and both of Ari/SD would have to get hot. Oh and Ari-SD play 3 times to end the year. The difference between 2026 and 2023 is we don't have H2H games left. The 2023 team blew it because they went 1-6 against Arizona in Sept.

[chibears55]

1 hour ago, soccer10k said:

Arizona would have to pass us too.

Cubs are 77-60, Ari is 73-65, SD is 72-65. The Cubs have the tiebreaker over both. Basically either the Cubs would have to really suck and both Ari/SD would have to be decent (aka, the 2023 Cubs formula) or the Cubs would have to be .500ish and both of Ari/SD would have to get hot. Oh and Ari-SD play 3 times to end the year. The difference between 2026 and 2023 is we don't have H2H games left. The 2023 team blew it because they went 1-6 against Arizona in Sept.

Well yea.. I should of included Arizona too

Cubs go 10 and 15, Arizona would need to go 15 and 9 and SD would need to go 16 and 9 to pass the Cubs

So, Cubs would really have to collapse to miss the playoffs, magic number is 21

[Geographyhater8888]

Shota can’t be allowed to start another game for the Cubs.

This team has had a 3 run lead in 4 of their last 6 losses and a less manageable 2 run lead with 2 outs in the 9th at Seattle.

A combination of losing Swanson and a bottom 28 pitching staff (30th at the moment) replacement level staff was bound to implode.

Edited 17 hours ago by Geographyhater8888

[Butch Gernant]

Hey no worries, just enjoy the PCA ride!

[Geographyhater8888]

8 hours ago, gflore34 said:

Only thing I can could see possibly happening is Cabrera getting hot, stuff is there to dominate.  But that's a long shot.

They miss Swanson. The flawless MI defense covered up a lot of holes on this pitching staff and the LOB% is down by over 3% since his injury, ranking 16th down from #2, and the staff ERA is up from 4.07 to 4.79. I refuse to believe it’s a coincidence. 

One less diving stop by Swanson with 2 outs or a double play turned with means an extra opportunity for a multi run homer. 

Edited 17 hours ago by Geographyhater8888

[BigbadB]

Fell asleep and missed that last PCA homer. Dammit! Dude is accepting the challenge of being the best player in the world right now.

[Rcal10]

11 hours ago, gflore34 said:

Only thing I can could see possibly happening is Cabrera getting hot, stuff is there to dominate.  But that's a long shot.

I was thinking this as well. I can’t see Shota starting again. IMO it has to be someone else. Assad, Civale or Cabrera need to fill that last spot. Shota definitely should not face the Brewers in Milwaukee next week. Even if they start him in Miami and he pitches well(which I hope they don’t start him) he can’t face the Brewers after that. Cabrera is the upside play. He has the highest ceiling. But I feel more comfortable with Assad or Civale giving the Cubs 5 good innings. 

[Rcal10]

3 hours ago, Geographyhater8888 said:

They miss Swanson. The flawless MI defense covered up a lot of holes on this pitching staff and the LOB% is down by over 3% since his injury, ranking 16th down from #2, and the staff ERA is up from 4.07 to 4.79. I refuse to believe it’s a coincidence. 

One less diving stop by Swanson with 2 outs or a double play turned with means an extra opportunity for a multi run homer. 

They absolutely miss Swanson. If anything, Swanson’s injury has shown people exactly how valuable he is. Even hitting low .200’s, he has to be in the line up. He needs to be in the short side of that 4-6 week IL stint. Unfortunately the way this season is going 4-6 weeks will end up not coming back at all. 

Edited 14 hours ago by Rcal10

[gflore34]

4 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

I was thinking this as well. I can’t see Shota starting again. IMO it has to be someone else. Assad, Civale or Cabrera need to fill that last spot. Shota definitely should not face the Brewers in Milwaukee next week. Even if they start him in Miami and he pitches well(which I hope they don’t start him) he can’t face the Brewers after that. Cabrera is the upside play. He has the highest ceiling. But I feel more comfortable with Assad or Civale giving the Cubs 5 good innings. 

In games you really need to win Shota is absolutely un-pitch-able. The only context in which he should be pitching are blowouts or, if some miracle occurs, and they're able to clinch before the last series.  I'd be perfectly fine if yesterday was his last start as Cub or even, appearance.  Regardless of what happens he's a former Cub after game 162, no way does he make a playoff roster. 

[Geographyhater8888]

21 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

They absolutely miss Swanson. If anything, Swanson’s injury has shown people exactly how valuable he is. Even hitting low .200’s, he has to be in the line up. He needs to be in the short side of that 4-6 week IL stint. Unfortunately the way this season is going 4-6 weeks will end up not coming back at all. 

They’re also down .17 defensive war per game from the middle infield too. They’ve lost 3 1 run games with a busy middle infield and who knows how many multi run homers would’ve never happened if they to turn a double play or Nico made a better read than Pedro on grounder that blasted through the infield.
 

That’s 2 possible runs that might’ve never occurred and that’s just in a vacuum. Maybe nothing changes, very coincidental. 
 

There’s no margin for error, and Milwaukee is the king of ground balls. 

Edited 14 hours ago by Geographyhater8888

[WhyCantWeWin]

Should have signed Yamamoto instead of cheaping out on Imanaga

[gflore34]

21 minutes ago, WhyCantWeWin said:

Should have signed Yamamoto instead of cheaping out on Imanaga

Money may have played a factor.  I truly believe that all gesturing, etc. about this team or that team having a shot at Yamamoto was a load of horsefeathers.  He, like Sasaki or Ohtani, was going to a be a Dodger from day 1, it was done deal.

Edited 13 hours ago by gflore34

[ILMindState]

41 minutes ago, gflore34 said:

Money may have played a factor.  I truly believe that all gesturing, etc. about this team or that team having a shot at Yamamoto was a load of horsefeathers.  He, like Sasaki or Ohtani, was going to a be a Dodger from day 1, it was done deal.

Yeah unless we had our own money laundering scheme to land Ohtani the year before, Yamamoto wasn't coming to Chicago

[Andy]

1 hour ago, Rcal10 said:

They absolutely miss Swanson. If anything, Swanson’s injury has shown people exactly how valuable he is. Even hitting low .200’s, he has to be in the line up. He needs to be in the short side of that 4-6 week IL stint. Unfortunately the way this season is going 4-6 weeks will end up not coming back at all. 

FWIW I think there was a report yesterday that Dansby's rehab is going well and there's optimism he'll be on the short side of that 4-6 weeks.