Cubs (Gausman) vs Padres (Pivetta): Wild Card Game 2, 9:00pm CST

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

11 minutes ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

I seriously don't know how the Cubs fix this.  Realistically, PCA isn't going to repeat what he did this year, and there are gaping holes at LF, RF, possibly C, and the entire pitching staff.  The team is going to look a lot different next year, and probably not for the better.

I probably shoudn't put this in writing, but it would be almost impossible if the pitching staff didn't improve next year. Couldn't care less about losing Kelly and I think there's a good chance Happ is back on the QO. Seiya is going to be a big loss though.

[Geographyhater8888]

I can live with a loss, I can’t live with such uncompetitiveness. What an embarrassment, and this is far from the first time they’ve lost a playoff series where they looked like the 2024 Whitesox.

Edited Thursday at 06:09 AM by Geographyhater8888

[NorthsideAvenger]

11 minutes ago, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

if they insist on the WC round, i'd rather have them cut the season by a week and make all the playoff series 4/7. two ****** games and your season is over f'n sucks

I am on the opposite side of that, I prefer the 1 game, do or die WC If I can not have that, I prefer best out of 5 in the WC. Best out of three is weak. 

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

2 minutes ago, NorthsideAvenger said:

I am on the opposite side of that, I prefer the 1 game, do or die WC If I can not have that, I prefer best out of 5 in the WC. Best out of three is weak. 

I don't know, I just can't get behind going through the marathon of the baseball regular season and it all coming down to a one-game playoff. Doesn't make any sense to me.

[Irrelevant Dude]

1 minute ago, NorthsideAvenger said:

I am on the opposite side of that, I prefer the 1 game, do or die WC If I can not have that, I prefer best out of 5 in the WC. Best out of three is weak. 

Best of 5 is just too long to have teams sitting around not playing.  Best of 3 is already pushing it.  I think I lean toward the previous 1 game format, but that had fewer teams and we know there's no going back.  And I don't ever want to put a division winner in a 1 game series.

[Irrelevant Dude]

Sounds like Gausman is at least considering retirement.

[NorthsideAvenger]

8 minutes ago, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

I don't know, I just can't get behind going through the marathon of the baseball regular season and it all coming down to a one-game playoff. Doesn't make any sense to me.

That's the thing, if you do not want your team season comes down to one game......then win the division. 

[NorthsideAvenger]

8 minutes ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

Best of 5 is just too long to have teams sitting around not playing.  Best of 3 is already pushing it.  I think I lean toward the previous 1 game format, but that had fewer teams and we know there's no going back.  And I don't ever want to put a division winner in a 1 game series.

Then I don't know the answer. Best of three is weak, though

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

Just now, NorthsideAvenger said:

Then I don't know the answer. Best of three is weak, though

the best answer would be to just get rid of the extra wild card teams, but there's no chance of that happening

[Geographyhater8888]

2007: 0-3 vs Az. Outscored 16-6,

2008: 0-3 vs LA, outscored 20-6

2015: 0-4 vs Mets, R vs RA 21-8 

1-4 vs LA 2017, outscored 29-7

2018 vs Rockies: 0-1, outscored 5-1

2020: 0-2 Vs Marlins, outscored 1-7

2025: 2-3 vs Milwaukee, outscored 17-22 (competitive)

2026: 0-2 vs the Padres, outscored 12-1

I’m sick and tired of this horsefeathers. I guess the extra night games have delayed their fatigue until late September when the bags inevitably go limp 

Edited Thursday at 09:22 AM by Geographyhater8888

[17 Seconds]

at least they won't lose to the brewers sgain

[chibears55]

53 minutes ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

Counsell thinks "we've raised the bar."

That narrative worked last year, but I'm not buying it this time 

I think it was lets raid the bar 🍺🍺🍺

😅😅

[Stratos]

55 minutes ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

I seriously don't know how the Cubs fix this.  Realistically, PCA isn't going to repeat what he did this year, and there are gaping holes at LF, RF, possibly C, and the entire pitching staff.  The team is going to look a lot different next year, and probably not for the better.

For next year i would assume a decline in the team's offensive production and improvement in the pitching (hard to be as bad and injured as they were).

So the good thing is if they pitch better that can make up for a decline in offense via i.e. PCA not being as good and Seiya likely leaving.  Hard to see the team improving much overall though, unless they raise payroll a bunch.

At least corner OF is the easiest position to find if Happ/Seiya leave.

[Geographyhater8888]

1 hour ago, 17 Seconds said:

at least they won't lose to the brewers sgain

And the Padres bullpen is well rested for for the Milwaukee series. 

[Geographyhater8888]

4 hours ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

I seriously don't know how the Cubs fix this.  Realistically, PCA isn't going to repeat what he did this year, and there are gaping holes at LF, RF, possibly C, and the entire pitching staff.  The team is going to look a lot different next year, and probably not for the better.

Sign more number 3/4 starters on medium length deals as bandaids, hope that one Edward Cabrera/Braxton Garret, or whoever outperform projections after the pitching lab spends an entire offseason “fixing” them, find a few platoon bats to fill the the corner outfield positions and hope to string together 85 wins. 
 

That’s not a fix, but what else should we expect? The more I think about it the less happy I am with so much $ invested in middle infield defense. It’ll raise your regular season floor but a team that’s underperformed their expected win total by over 5 games on average and over 2 war since 2023 with an average win total of 87 games is result of flawed roster construction.

Edited Thursday at 10:17 AM by Geographyhater8888

[NorthsideAvenger]

22 minutes ago, Geographyhater8888 said:

And the Padres bullpen is well rested for for the Milwaukee series. 

At least the Cubs potentially screwed over the Brewers one last time in 2026.

[Butch Gernant]

Resign Holmes and Peterson please.

[We Got The Whole 9]

4 hours ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

Pitching was pretty good tonight all things considered.  Take away Sheets running into a 101 mph fastball and they would have held the Padres to 2.  But even with that, 4 runs should have kept the Cubs in the game if their offense wasn't completely non existent.

That wasn't running into a fastball. That was locking in on a zone and being perfectly on time for 101 heat. 

 

80% of Cubs hitters played like absolute ass for most of September. The science behind how all 13 can start sucking at once seriously needs to be studied. The most embarrassing results with RISP you could ever imagine. 

 

1 run in 2 games. Hope they had nightmares.

[Geographyhater8888]

53 minutes ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

That wasn't running into a fastball. That was locking in on a zone and being perfectly on time for 101 heat. 

 

80% of Cubs hitters played like absolute ass for most of September. The science behind how all 13 can start sucking at once seriously needs to be studied. The most embarrassing results with RISP you could ever imagine. 

 

1 run in 2 games. Hope they had nightmares.

It’s a lineup full of many redundant bats with 20-25 home run power who try and pull everything in the air. I can’t figure the 2/66 or whatever it is but they’re prone to rolling over pitches and weak fly outs, which makes bringing in a runner from second base a painful process. They had the 5th highest soft contact rate in baseball.

We went through this back in May too.

Edited Thursday at 10:19 AM by Geographyhater8888

[Derwood]

6 hours ago, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

I probably shoudn't put this in writing, but it would be almost impossible if the pitching staff didn't improve next year. Couldn't care less about losing Kelly and I think there's a good chance Happ is back on the QO. Seiya is going to be a big loss though.

Losing Seiya would offset a lot of pitching improvement

[Outshined_One]

5 hours ago, Stratos said:

At least corner OF is the easiest position to find if Happ/Seiya leave.

You'll want to rethink that after looking at the upcoming FA class.

[Jason Ross]

The Cubs are clearly altruistic and want to let others keep playing. It's selfish to not let others play...

[PeanutPunch33]

What’s disappointing is that they were noticeably worse in 2026 then 2025.  They aren’t getting better nor is the arrow pointing up.  Worse record, more injuries, no playoff wins despite facing the same opponent as last year.  Just a much larger payroll despite having all of the same pitching issues as 2025.

This core is already declining.  

Edited Thursday at 12:26 PM by PeanutPunch33

[17 Seconds]

2 minutes ago, PeanutPunch33 said:

What’s disappointing is that they were noticeably worse in 2026 then 2025.  They aren’t getting better nor is the arrow pointing up.  Worse record, more injuries, no playoff wins despite facing the same opponent as last year.  This core is already declining and that’s before guys like Seiya and Happ leave.  

I think they were only worse because of the pitching injuries. I don't think this organization is very good but I don't think they're about to fall off a cliff either

[Andy]

I'm at the point where I just want MLBs salary cap push to look as stupid as possible. If that means Milwaukee vs Tampa in the World Series, whatever.

No fan base has had a front row seat for longer to see how stupid this whole thing is than ours. The lack of a cap hasn't stopped the Brewers from making us their bitch for nigh a decade now and it won't stop them moving forward, either. 

Edited Thursday at 12:29 PM by Andy