Cubs (Gausman) vs Brewers (Henderson): 09/09/26, 6:40 PM

[Brock Beauchamp]

Gausman gets the ball for the Cubs against Henderson and the Brewers at American Family Field tonight.

[Brock Beauchamp]

	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN	MON	TOT
Trent Thornton	0	0	13	0	0	13
Ryan Zeferjahn	10	0	19	0	14	43
Ryan Rolison	10	0	8	0	0	18
Jacob Webb	0	0	0	0	18	18
Daniel Palencia	0	0	0	16	0	16
Colin Rea	0	0	0	61	0	61
Caleb Thielbar	0	0	27	0	0	27
Aaron Civale	0	46	0	0	0	46

[The_Achiever]

Do we not have any living pitchers in the minors?  I'm tired of watching these bums blow every game.  

[chibears55]

Get this one over with tonight and be done with the Brewers....

They'll have 15 games left, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Miami, Cincinnati,  and Boston.

Theyre only up 3 now against Arizona and San Diego, are we at the point now where we need to hope Phillies, DBacks, and Padres all play a little worse then they do in order for them to survive 

[chibears55]

50 minutes ago, The_Achiever said:

Do we not have any living pitchers in the minors?  I'm tired of watching these bums blow every game.  

Pretty much just the guys that are rehabbing to get back, everyone else are pretty bad 

Steele, Cabrera, Miller, and Hollowell are it, and not exactly guys you can say 100% will be any better than what we have right now coming off injuries 

Edited Wednesday at 02:40 PM by chibears55

[Gjfificifjdej]

Maybe they need to try using the bullpen first so they know how many runs they’ll need to come back by. 

[Geographyhater8888]

Just score 15 runs and avoid the drama. 

[ILMindState]

25 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

Pretty much just the guys that are rehabbing to get back, everyone else are pretty bad 

Steele, Cabrera, Miller, and Hollowell are it, and not exactly guys you can say 100% will be any better than what we have right now coming off injuries 

They'll probably all suck but we gotta do something to shake it up. At least we'll have a sense of hope for like 5 mins before they eventually give up a walk off like the others. 

[Funky-daddy]

I guess there’s a slim chance they give Wiggins a try, but think it’s unlikely as iirc his velo is still down. Not sure I can bring myself to watch tonight 

[ILMindState]

4 minutes ago, Funky-daddy said:

I guess there’s a slim chance they give Wiggins a try, but think it’s unlikely as iirc his velo is still down. Not sure I can bring myself to watch tonight 

It's fine as long as you stop watching if they have a lead. 

[chibears55]

14 minutes ago, Funky-daddy said:

I guess there’s a slim chance they give Wiggins a try, but think it’s unlikely as iirc his velo is still down. Not sure I can bring myself to watch tonight 

If it were me, id be cautious with Wiggins and Steele now and just get them ready for next season.

No need to rush them back to pitch a handful of games this season in stressful situations.

[Rcal10]

1 minute ago, chibears55 said:

If it were me, id be cautious with Wiggins and Steele now and just get them ready for next season.

No need to rush them back to pitch a handful of games this season in stressful situations.

There is very much a reason to pitch them this season, if they are ready. I get wanting to make sure they are healthy next year, but how can you say there is no reason for them to pitch this year down the stretch for the team? Wiggins has pitched at least 10 games in relief now? Is him coming back now pushing him to come back early? I wouldn’t think so. I agree with Steele. That is a harder choice. I am not sure he comes back after maybe 2 or 3 more games in Iowa. But if he does, coming back after surgery 19 months ago is hard to argue against on the premise he came back too early. If he is heathy and his velo is where it needs to be, he can also come back. There is plenty to play for this year. 

[squally1313]

it's because he thinks the team has no chance of doing anything. but also that the pitching chances will still be stressful, even though it's a lost cause. it's just negative from every viewpoint. 

[Rcal10]

50 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

it's because he thinks the team has no chance of doing anything. but also that the pitching chances will still be stressful, even though it's a lost cause. it's just negative from every viewpoint. 

I know. Very frustrating. I mean, I doubt any of us expects the Cubs to win the WS. I know I don’t. But I also don’t think there is no way they can’t. Some team in the playoffs is going to overcome their flaws and win. There isn’t one team who will play WC round who is substantially more likely to win their round than the Cubs. Then if/when those teams get past that round, IMO, there isn’t one team, with the possible exception of the Dodgers, that is substantially more likely to win the WS than the Cubs. Will the Cubs win? I doubt it. But there is certainly a reason they should try. 

[Jason Ross]

1 hour ago, Funky-daddy said:

I guess there’s a slim chance they give Wiggins a try, but think it’s unlikely as iirc his velo is still down. Not sure I can bring myself to watch tonight 

Wiggins isn't ready. Velo isn't right and despite the better run of games in which he hasn't been scored on, he hasn't looked particularly good. 

From a pure "eye-test" standpoint, Shelby Miller looks closer to really helping and he has been bombed on a few of his goes. But the stuff looks sharp, I think it's more of a "shaking off a years' worth of rust" with him and could click any time. Wiggins just doesn't look entirely right and I wouldn't mess with that in September.

[soccer10k]

2 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

I know. Very frustrating. I mean, I doubt any of us expects the Cubs to win the WS. I know I don’t. But I also don’t think there is no way they can’t. Some team in the playoffs is going to overcome their flaws and win. There isn’t one team who will play WC round who is substantially more likely to win their round than the Cubs. Then if/when those teams get past that round, IMO, there isn’t one team, with the possible exception of the Dodgers, that is substantially more likely to win the WS than the Cubs. Will the Cubs win? I doubt it. But there is certainly a reason they should try. 

I’m not going to say the Cubs absolutely can’t or won’t win the WS. But I do think their flaw is so obvious and glaring that I just can’t see it happening.

I don’t have a quick way of looking this up, but what the worst rank in pitching fWAR for a WS winner? Its not like we’re 17th where you can mix and match, play matchups, cut out the bad 5th starter and bottom couple relievers and your staff looks better. I mean to some extent we can, but I’m not sure it’s enough to make a meaningful difference.

[gflore34]

9 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

Wiggins isn't ready. Velo isn't right and despite the better run of games in which he hasn't been scored on, he hasn't looked particularly good. 

From a pure "eye-test" standpoint, Shelby Miller looks closer to really helping and he has been bombed on a few of his goes. But the stuff looks sharp, I think it's more of a "shaking off a years' worth of rust" with him and could click any time. Wiggins just doesn't look entirely right and I wouldn't mess with that in September.

Agree, there's also, of course, the injury history, Wiggins has yet to show he can stay healthy.  Why risk a potential injury and adding doubt going into 2027?

[ILMindState]

 

Miller and Cabrera gotta be coming soon right? 

Edited Wednesday at 06:54 PM by ILMindState

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

Cabrera can throw 107 and it won't matter if his command is still dogshit

[Stratos]

1 hour ago, Rcal10 said:

I know. Very frustrating. I mean, I doubt any of us expects the Cubs to win the WS. I know I don’t. But I also don’t think there is no way they can’t. Some team in the playoffs is going to overcome their flaws and win. There isn’t one team who will play WC round who is substantially more likely to win their round than the Cubs. Then if/when those teams get past that round, IMO, there isn’t one team, with the possible exception of the Dodgers, that is substantially more likely to win the WS than the Cubs. Will the Cubs win? I doubt it. But there is certainly a reason they should try. 

Unless you're a powerhouse team with room for error you essentially need a bunch of luck and to go on a heater in order to win a WS.

So once Oct comes the leverage guys in the pen need to pitch like they were before the last few weeks, the SP need to be effective, and the bats need to keep hitting.

We just need to pray the pen is just going through a bad lull and aren't cooked.  Palencia should hopefully get sharp at least.  I think someone like Thorton was getting by on some luck and great defence and is regressing to the mean.  You wonder if someone like Webb isn't a bit gassed, it can be mentally/physically draining pitching in high leverage through the summer heat.  Or he could be regressing to the mean also, who knows.  Maybe they get a 2nd wind as the weather cools, but the bats stay hot.

[ILMindState]

26 minutes ago, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

Cabrera can throw 107 and it won't matter if his command is still dogshit

You either trot out the same bums and hope someone figures it out or trot out different bums and hope someone figures it out. Neither plan is great but I’m ready to at least try something different. 

[gflore34]

6 minutes ago, Stratos said:

Unless you're a powerhouse team with room for error you essentially need a bunch of luck and to go on a heater in order to win a WS.

So once Oct comes the leverage guys in the pen need to pitch like they were before the last few weeks, the SP need to be effective, and the bats need to keep hitting.

We just need to pray the pen is just going through a bad lull and aren't cooked.  Palencia should hopefully get sharp at least.  I think someone like Thorton was getting by on some luck and great defence and is regressing to the mean.  You wonder if someone like Webb isn't a bit gassed, it can be mentally/physically draining pitching in high leverage through the summer heat.  Or he could be regressing to the mean also, who knows.  Maybe they get a 2nd wind as the weather cools, but the bats stay hot.

I truly believe Palencia is cooked for this season, he's not 100% and continuing to deploy him in high leverage situations is an exercise in madness.

[chibears55]

3 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

There is very much a reason to pitch them this season, if they are ready. I get wanting to make sure they are healthy next year, but how can you say there is no reason for them to pitch this year down the stretch for the team? Wiggins has pitched at least 10 games in relief now? Is him coming back now pushing him to come back early? I wouldn’t think so. I agree with Steele. That is a harder choice. I am not sure he comes back after maybe 2 or 3 more games in Iowa. But if he does, coming back after surgery 19 months ago is hard to argue against on the premise he came back too early. If he is heathy and his velo is where it needs to be, he can also come back. There is plenty to play for this year. 

They may be ready health wise but I dont think theyre ready to be pushed in what is now a stressful final 15 games stretch for them, where theyre going to need to win as many games as they can to make the playoffs. 

I dont know, maybe Wiggins can be useful for a 1 inning outing, in his probably 5 appearances, doubt he gets back to back games.

Steele, he'll likely be heavily restricted, and with these games being super important now and stressful,  not sure itll be worth pushing him out there unless its in a lopsided game. 

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

2 minutes ago, gflore34 said:

I truly believe Palencia is cooked for this season, he's not 100% and continuing to deploy him in high leverage situations is an exercise in madness.

Yeah, Palencia has gotten away with ****** command because he can touch 102, but I don't think he's even touched 100 since coming back. I know his last pitch against the Marlins was 96 down the dick.

[chibears55]

12 minutes ago, Stratos said:

Unless you're a powerhouse team with room for error you essentially need a bunch of luck and to go on a heater in order to win a WS.

So once Oct comes the leverage guys in the pen need to pitch like they were before the last few weeks, the SP need to be effective, and the bats need to keep hitting.

We just need to pray the pen is just going through a bad lull and aren't cooked.  Palencia should hopefully get sharp at least.  I think someone like Thorton was getting by on some luck and great defence and is regressing to the mean.  You wonder if someone like Webb isn't a bit gassed, it can be mentally/physically draining pitching in high leverage through the summer heat.  Or he could be regressing to the mean also, who knows.  Maybe they get a 2nd wind as the weather cools, but the bats stay hot.

They would need Rolison, Zeferjahn,  Palencia, and Webb to be totally on their game for a month, and hopefully have a surprise or two from another bullpen arm, but those 4 have to pretty much be the guys to get them through the final 3 innings with a lead.