RammyFanny

I feel like we'd probably be pulling guys if it's a blowout. But then again we'd just be going to Soler and Javy...

Heyward, Rizzo, Bryant, Schwarber go 2 for 15 and we still drop a 9 spot.

I read that post while visualizing it as the opening scene from Interstellar. Go back to bed, Murph.

tinyknees

I still think he looks like the offspring of Jed Hoyer and some Jersey Shore stripper.

I can't remember who I used to argue with this about, maybe it was you. But I don't get the LaStella hate. He played in 9 games from April to August (and I think the majority of them were injury riddled). He then played 24 games in Sept/Oct (11 starts to finally get a little rhythm) and hit .311/.360/.489 for an .849 OPS in those 24 games. He was on a tear down the stretch for us. His injuries sucked but he was good when he was healthy.

So the actual leg kick looks the same to me from like 3 videos I watched from this year and last year, BUT I noticed that it seems like his leg kick this year lands much closer to where it started compared than last year. Last year his post leg kick would leave his back foot behind his front foot. This year, it looks like his back foot is still in front of his front foot. So basically, he seemed to drag the leg kick across his body much more last year. That was kind of hard to write out, maybe this can illustrate better. Also, the vids I saw were from the last week of the season and the postseason. It's possible Heyward started the leg kick we see go a little bit off the ground at some point last year vs. a toe tap. He did hit like .312 over the last 3 or 4 months of the season. http://s10.postimg.org/m7unbkcmt/image.jpg http://s10.postimg.org/70enr7ks5/image.jpg http://s10.postimg.org/rur091f5h/image.jpg http://s10.postimg.org/bigyjb0tx/image.jpg

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/168371016/cubs-prospect-ian-happ-misses-sharing-with-dad?topicid=151437456

Yeah, and I feel like he repeated it a few times verbatim throughout the year.

Spoilered for dong.

I notice a lot of people hate Kenny. I realize he's a little douchey but I can't hate a guy who brings up advanced statistics as much as he does. I like him.

Ehh, I think that video could just go in the Kris Bryant megathread. http://s8.postimg.org/7jzqjgeat/image.jpg

It isn't a big deal. I honestly forget what it even was now, but I noticed something semi-interesting about Warren's pitch usage from the last two years the other day and was going to mention something about it, but it didn't really fit anywhere. It didn't really seem thread worthy so I just said F it.

It really isn't weird at all. Players genuinely believe (right or wrong) that the clubhouse is their place and that management doesn't belong there. I generally agree with them so long as there aren't major issues, and baseball has a long history of kids in the clubhouse. I think the 100% involvement is probably unique, but I don't necessarily disagree with LaRoche taking his ball and going home. KW handled it extremely poorly so I understand why someone like Sale would stage a little protest. He might be coming across as a bit of a "crybaby", but I'd venture to guess the majority of players around the league agree with him. KW comes over to LaRoche and kindly asks, on his knees "hey...I know it is in your contract and everything, but do you think it would be ok if your teenaged kid didn't live in the clubhouse all the time? I mean, maybe he can crash at his mom's every other Sunday maybe?" and then LaRoche RETIRES FROM BASEBALL?!? And then the best pitcher on the team creates a shrine to commemorate the exceptional martyrdom that occurred. And it isn't weird at all? Whatever you say. I think KW said he told him that "the kid comes to 100% of the games. Dial it down to somewhere between 0-50%, and probably closer to the low end of that." I know you were exaggerating but it wasn't an every other Sunday kind of thing. From LaRoche's perspective, KW had just agreed the 100% thing when he signed him so I can see why he'd be pissed. But it was stupid to promise it in the first place. That being said, this would have been addressed before ST if Kenny really cared about it, so chances are he's coming off as the bad guy to protect whatever players recently complained.

P.S. Are we still not doing megathreads? A lot of unthreadworthy stuff lately that could be put into a General Cubs Talk or whatever we called it thread.

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/chicago-cubs-joe-maddon-kris-bryant-kyle-schwarber-anthony-rizzo-too-loaded-to-fail-031616 I don't think I ever saw an exact number put on it. Rosenthal says we have a plan to get all the outfielders at least 450 PA.

Sale is acting like the kid just died.

I don't disagree with any of this, I just don't think this falls under his plexiglass scenario. You talk about it being "not just about players overperforming"," and I'm saying none of those players were here last year to overperform.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-cubs-and-the-best-start-ever/ I think this may be the most pointless article I've ever read.

Meh, Bernstein basically read the entire article on the Score yesterday. I don't think the plexiglas principle is a terrible argument, when you look at it historically its been very accurate. It doesn't mean the Cubs are guaranteed to take a step back just that we can't necessarily count on being as healthy as we were last year (particularly with our starters), can't count on leading baseball in walk off wins, can't count on our young players not having sophomore slumps (which tbh is a dumber principle than plexiglas), can't count on the back end of the bullpen being as good and (relatively) consistent, etc. A lot can go wrong in a season, and the fact that Sheehan, who is a strong believer of the plexiglass principle, is still picking the Cubs to win the division and 90 games tells you a lot about how good and deep the Cubs are. It's a terrible argument. Anthony Rizzo is the only position player from the entirety of 2014 still on the team (sans late season callups for Baez and Soler). Our lineup we trotted out most days was Bonifacio/Lake/Rizzo/Castro/Olt/Schierholtz Castillo/Barney. With deadline fire sales. If you can convince me why that team should have any bearing on projecting the 2016 Cubs, then I salute you. Edit: David beat me.

Bears resign Zach Miller 2 years.

I got em' all except the dude between Brown and Briggs. Major Wright? Yeah. Had to look it up too.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/pzf/status/708336888021708800[/tweet] [tweet] [/tweet] [tweet] [/tweet] [tweet] [/tweet]

I can't remember when we usually start it up. Seems about time. I'm a hurry so I'll just do a few. I'll start it off with the good: - My most bold prediction: Kris Bryant posts a higher BABIP than last season. -Kyle Hendricks posts a K/9 of 9. - Adam Warren is our second best bullpen pitcher (his splits as a reliever last year were pretty sick, and he was great the year before). - Schwarber grades out in the positive on defensive metrics. The bad: With everyone tabbing him as an MVP candidate, Rizzo struggles a bit and hits in the .250's with some of the strikeouts coming back. Miguel Montero becomes a complete blackhole offensively, OBP included. We suffer one serious pitching injury. It takes us a stressful 7 games to win the WS, not an easy 4. As always, some predictions will always be more bold than others, but try to include something fairly shocking. I'm probably light on the negatives but it's hard to be negative with all the dongs. I just threw the Rizzo thing in there for the sake of it, and it wasn't even that dramatic.

#sparkle I just looked up Bryant on B-ref and "Sparkles" is listed next to his name as his official nickname. Damnit.