Cubs (Imanaga) vs Red Sox (TBD): 09/27/26, 2:05 PM

[Geographyhater8888]

7 minutes ago, Derwood said:

Nico finished the year with the lowest wRC+ of any Cub with at least 150 PA's.

Nico - 88
Moises - 92
Dansby - 93

 

He’s a career 102 since he’s been a full time starter in 2022. Was at a 110 last season and due to the high variance of BABIP he regressed to the mean with an 88.

Happ was as much if not more of a disappointment. He was always a lock for a 115+.

Edited 20 hours ago by Geographyhater8888

[Derwood]

Just now, Geographyhater8888 said:

He’s a career 102 since he’s been a full time starter in 2022. Was at a 110 last season and due to the high variance of BABIP evened things out at an 88. 

Happ was as much of if not more of a disappointment. He was always a lock for a 115+.

Nico's OPS through April 30 - .819

Nico's OPS from May 1 onward - .627

[Geographyhater8888]

20 minutes ago, Derwood said:

Nico's OPS through April 30 - .819

Nico's OPS from May 1 onward - .627

He batted 300 in the second half too, all for a 100 wRC+. 

[mk49]

7 hours ago, Derwood said:

Nico finished the year with the lowest wRC+ of any Cub with at least 150 PA's.

Nico - 88
Moises - 92
Dansby - 93

 

The thing with Nico this year was his wRC+ with RISP.  

2026: 74 wRC+ with RISP
2025: 149 wRC+ with RISP

That's probably the main reason why most of us loved him last year.  Seiya was kind of the same with RISP this season, but not as bad.

 

[Stratos]

8 hours ago, Geographyhater8888 said:

Happ was as much if not more of a disappointment. He was always a lock for a 115+.

Happ's only issue was LHP.  Versus RHP this year he put up 127 wRC+, which is virtually identical to every other season since 2021.

He's hit about 100 wRC+ vs LHP in those years, but this year it was 36.  With a Tyrone Taylor platoon it shouldn't really affect us this postseason.

I suppose its possible some teams might miss this and assume he's just age regressing, and we can resign him at a decent contract.

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

Happ will probably take the QO if offered 

[gflore34]

Why is Suzuki automatically gone?

[gflore34]

5 minutes ago, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

Happ will probably take the QO if offered 

I'd say the probability of this happening is almost 1.

Edited 12 hours ago by gflore34

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

Just now, gflore34 said:

Why is Suzuki automatically gone?

Seiya is gonna get at least 5 years and it would be surprising if Jed went that far for an old OF.

[Outshined_One]

It's also worth noting that the best OF available in FA this offseason is Randy Arozarena.  The market for OFs is not going to be a good one.

What sucks is the Cubs' internal OF options are either better suited in other roles (Shaw/Ramirez) or are at least a year away from being MLB-ready (Hartshorn/Kepley).  They might end up giving QOs to Happ and Seiya simply because they're the best options.

[Rcal10]

34 minutes ago, gflore34 said:

I'd say the probability of this happening is almost 1.

What does this mean? I do think he will get a QO from the Cubs. I would put it at 50/50 he accepts. Not much out there this off season. He could get a 3/$54M deal if he didn’t take the QO, IMO.

32 minutes ago, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

Seiya is gonna get at least 5 years and it would be surprising if Jed went that far for an old OF.

Why is Seiya getting at least 5 years? People love to post things like this as if it is gospel, but doesn’t mean it is true. What did Teoscar Hernandez get? We have no idea if Seiya even wants to stay in the country for 5 more years. If he will take 3 and an option for year 4, no reason the Cubs should be after him. I think he could very well come back, but not if Happ takes the QO. 

Edited 11 hours ago by Rcal10

[gflore34]

3 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

What does this mean? I do think he will get a QO from the Cubs. I would put it at 50/50 he accepts. Not much out there this off season. He could get a 3/$54M deal if he didn’t take the QO, IMO.

Why is Seiya getting at least 5 years? People love to post things like this as if it is gospel, but doesn’t mean it is true. What did Teoscar Hernandez get? We have no idea if Seiya even wants to stay in the country for 5 more years. If he will take 3 and an option for year 4, no reason the Cubs should be after him. I think he could very well come back, but not if Happ takes the QO. 

Probability of 1 is fancy, nerdy way of me saying Happ, if offered, will take the QO.

[Stratos]

4 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

What does this mean? I do think he will get a QO from the Cubs. I would put it at 50/50 he accepts. Not much out there this off season. He could get a 3/$54M deal if he didn’t take the QO, IMO.

Why is Seiya getting at least 5 years? People love to post things like this as if it is gospel, but doesn’t mean it is true. What did Teoscar Hernandez get? We have no idea if Seiya even wants to stay in the country for 5 more years. If he will take 3 and an option for year 4, no reason the Cubs should be after him. I think he could very well come back, but not if Happ takes the QO. 

100% chance they both get offered a QO and i think the odds of Happ taking the QO is very low.  The Cubs themselves would very likely offer him more than 1/22 or whatever the QO salary is this year.

[Rcal10]

2 minutes ago, Stratos said:

100% chance they both get offered a QO and i think the odds of Happ taking the QO is very low.  The Cubs themselves would very likely offer him more than 1/22 or whatever the QO salary is this year.

I am sure they are both given a QO. And I agree with you that neither will take it. But I think there is a better chance Happ does take it. I want Seiya over Happ. I also don’t think it is a slam dunk he gets a 5 year deal. I would be fine with the Cubs giving him 4 years. 

[Stratos]

Just now, Rcal10 said:

I am sure they are both given a QO. And I agree with you that neither will take it. But I think there is a better chance Happ does take it. I want Seiya over Happ. I also don’t think it is a slam dunk he gets a 5 year deal. I would be fine with the Cubs giving him 4 years. 

Yes I agtee on all this  I would guess a 0% chance Seiya takes it.  No idea how many years he'd get. 

Let the Seiya rumors begin!  https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/09/blue-jays-interested-in-seiya-suzuki.html

[gflore34]

So MLB forces the Cubs and Red Sox to Tropicana Field for last game while the Yankees game is merely cancelled?

[chibears55]

3 hours ago, gflore34 said:

Why is Suzuki automatically gone?

Saw today Toronto has alot of interest in him

[Stratos]

1 hour ago, gflore34 said:

So MLB forces the Cubs and Red Sox to Tropicana Field for last game while the Yankees game is merely cancelled?

Did Sunday's game have World Series implications if they both got there?  If Sox won they'd have a tied season record i believe. 

[gflore34]

17 minutes ago, Stratos said:

Did Sunday's game have World Series implications if they both got there?  If Sox won they'd have a tied season record i believe. 

No, point is both games were meaningless yet, the Red Sox and Cubs were forced to play and the not the Yankees.

[UMFan83]

So Boyd starting tomorrow. He’s started twice against the Padres this year giving up 8 ER in 9 IP

[mk49]

Somebody asked Counsell if Shota would pitch in this series.  He said "yes, he's going to pitch this series.  I'm confident.  As a starter, as a reliever, I don't know."  If there's no game 3, I don't think he'd pitch, though I wouldn't be surprised, if he (or any other SP) starts the game 2.

[UMFan83]

2 minutes ago, mk49 said:

Somebody asked Counsell if Shota would pitch in this series.  He said "yes, he's going to pitch this series.  I'm confident.  As a starter, as a reliever, I don't know."  If there's no game 3, I don't think he'd pitch, though I wouldn't be surprised, if he (or any other SP) starts the game 2.

Shota vs marine layer is quite the epic matchup in this series

[mk49]

1 minute ago, UMFan83 said:

Shota vs marine layer is quite the epic matchup in this series

Super small sample, but Shota pitched well against Padres this year.  Boyd didn't pitch well in SD this year, like you said.  King will start tomorrow, so I guess it's possibly the hardest game to win.

[Andy]

54 minutes ago, gflore34 said:

No, point is both games were meaningless yet, the Red Sox and Cubs were forced to play and the not the Yankees.

The Cubs game only became meaningless after it was rescheduled

[soccer10k]

4 hours ago, Andy said:

The Cubs game only became meaningless after it was rescheduled

Yeah, I assume once they traveled there, it was a wrap. If the game became meaningless based on results Friday night, that would be different.