USSoccer

Nice pitch Kyle

Ughhhh that bump

Dangit

Maybe CPD is going to arrest Tomlin for dipping in Chicago

That's what I was worried about going in. Javy was trying to yank the ball off the Nuveen sigh, same with Willie and Bryant. 2nd time through when everyone settles down should be better.

Damn take that pitch to RF

Yikes

Dat middle infield tho

Yeah I've noticed the broadcasts have been on a few second delay since the NLCS It's because of the dumbass mic they have in front of the mound.

Guh

That was lame

Hendricks is getting the Kluber zone early

Finish him

He's out

That was close

Not optimal

BABIP

This is the coolest thing

I thought it was easily the best game of the 4 but that isn't saying much. Benny had one of the best games I've seen him have, ever. SKC would have won had someone not named Seth Sinovec or Graham Zusi been on the end of the chances created.

Yes, it's wrong. They're already all trying to dong as it is. Basically the whole lineup is looking to elevate the ball in every single at bat. https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/statcast_search?hfPT=&hfZ=&hfGT=R%7C&hfPR=&hfAB=&stadium=&hfBBT=1%7C2%7C3%7C&hfBBL=&hfC=&season=2016&player_type=batter&hfOuts=&pitcher_throws=&batter_stands=&start_speed_gt=&start_speed_lt=&perceived_speed_gt=&perceived_speed_lt=&spin_rate_gt=&spin_rate_lt=&exit_velocity_gt=&exit_velocity_lt=&launch_angle_gt=&launch_angle_lt=&distance_gt=&distance_lt=&batted_ball_angle_gt=&batted_ball_angle_lt=&game_date_gt=&game_date_lt=&team=&position=&hfRO=&home_road=&hfInn=&min_pitches=0&min_results=0&group_by=team&sort_col=launch_angle&player_event_sort=start_speed&sort_order=desc&min_abs=0&xba_gt=&xba_lt=&px1=&px2=&pz1=&pz2=&ss_gt=&ss_lt=&is_barrel=#results They don't have to change their approach to do so. That already is their approach. The only guys who aren't trying to dong every time already are Dex, Zobrist, and Willy. I don't see those guys trying to hit the ball 500 feet. Maybe Willson. I should expand on this. I've got an article on Willson that I started working on that's sitting in the hopper. (I'll try to get it done tomorrow, fwiw.) And it's about his approach. But, I've also looked into all the other Cubs, too. Basically, the article is going to show why Willson is going to be a BABIP freak. A lot of it has to do with his approach. He's a line drive hitter, with a good approach. Zobrist and Fowler fall into that category, too. But they're not quite as impressive at it as Willson. Anyway, all the other Cubs in the lineup tonight are swinging for the fences. They have high launch angles on their balls in the air. They are trying to hit home runs. Where they are good, though, is that the standard deviations on the balls they hit are relatively low, especially for guys that are hitting balls at those launch angles. So a guy like Randal Grichuk has a similar average launch angle, but his standard deviation is much higher. He's hitting a lot of pop-ups and making a lot of other weak contact. He's selling out for power. And he's not as consistent with how he hits the ball. We have a bunch of home run hitters swinging for the fences, but they don't get fooled as much. They are consistent with their approach. Their balls in play are closer, on average, to where they want them to be. What that means for tonight, I think, would be that they don't need to change their approaches. They already are trying to elevate the ball. And they do so without selling out. So if that is already their mindset, how would this change things? They would just be trying to do what they do every other game. Gotcha; makes sense.

I felt like Schwarber would struggle against Kluber, and thought starting Coghlan was pointless. Soler hasn't done anything of note since before September. I get that I went against the popular sentiment on the first one, but the other two aren't particularly thin limbs to climb out on. Who would you play over Soler tonight and why? Especially knowing what we know about Tomlins splits and the wind? Assuming this is a sincere question, I would put Heyward out there because I think we have enough offense on hand to win the game, especially against Tomlin, and I'd be more concerned with making sure we had a sure handed OF out there with the wind being a factor on fly balls.

I was wrong about Schwarber struggling against Kluber, and I'll be happy to be wrong about Soler, but what about his last 2.5 months of baseball makes you confident he's going to not go 0-3 with a K and struggle in the OF? Maybe he will. It's baseball...and that happens. But you've been down about just about every decision the Cubs have made here recently. Maybe it's time to trust that they know what they're doing. I felt like Schwarber would struggle against Kluber, and thought starting Coghlan was pointless. Soler hasn't done anything of note since before September. I get that I went against the popular sentiment on the first one, but the other two aren't particularly thin limbs to climb out on.

I was wrong you can stop right there :roll:

I was wrong about Schwarber struggling against Kluber, and I'll be happy to be wrong about Soler, but what about his last 2.5 months of baseball makes you confident he's going to not go 0-3 with a K and struggle in the OF?

Is it wrong that I worry about guys trying to elevate the ball to the point where it screws up their approach?