BigSlick

It's true, he's been swinging the bat very well since getting back to Chicago. Alright bullpen, be the Best You Can Be Or play screw the closer, whatever the team prefers

All things considered, it's pretty great that this is a tied game

Strike out the guy batting .049 and the pitcher and you can get out of this

Well I guess we're gonna have to score some runs off their scrub pitcher

I'm very much enjoying this TEX-STL series. Texas won yesterday 1-0, and now STL blows a 3-0 lead in the 8th to go down 4-3 in the 9th. Rosenthal is also walking nearly 8 guys every 9 IP, which is something

This is where I'm starting to lean. I understand that everything doesn't work out perfectly and the Cubs are successful now because of tons of resources and waves of young talent.....but now that Contreras and Almora are up, I have a hard time arguing that any current minor leaguer is untouchable. Even if it means you have to give up slightly more than you'd like, obviously it'd be worth it if the Cubs win it all. The top prospects the Cubs have are Torres, Happ, McKinney, and Eloy among others. All 4 of these guys are either 3 levels away or in McKinney's case, has diminished a bit. And as much as it is a gamble, I'd bank on the guys that are up staying productive and healthy for at least a couple years to basically block any prospect that might come up in the near future. I'd have 0 problem giving up Torres and a package that resembles a typical deadline trade for a top hitter/pitcher for Andrew Miller. He's really good, under control for 2.5 more years at a modest 9M per, and has a 16.6K/9 rate, while walking less than 1 per 9. I keep trying to return to the grand plan of winning a World Series in the next few years. Even with the bullpen's recent shakiness (and really, it's not been *that* shaky) every addition is going to come with diminishing returns in the regular season. I can be swayed that good high leverage guys have a somewhat disproportionate role in the postseason, but they will ultimately not move the needle much, because nothing can move the needle that much. In the long term to win a World Series means putting out a juggernaut for many years in a row and hoping to hit the jackpot in one of the crapshoots. That being the case, an eye towards whatever holes we may have in the next few years should be where the resources go. It's true, we won't be hurting for positional talent for years to come, but 3/5 of the rotation is over 30, Jake may depart, who knows what pieces you'll need to move to keep the staff strong. All that being said, given the years left and just how downright good he'll likely be for a while, paying a little over for Miller I think would be fine.

10 walks in the game, lol. Really hope there's nothing serious to Rizzo

i enjoy when bad things happen to the pirates outfielders

Joe really loves Cahill at bats

Give in Luebke. Give in and walk him

Is it possible, and stay with me here, that Clint Hurdle is a bad manager?

lol at intentionally walking Javier Baez for anyone but the pitcher

Albert Almora should stay in the majors imo

Zobrist seems to never throw an at-bat away. There are times when he's not picking up the ball and he swings wildly, like anyone else, but he comes in with the same determination and strategy in every at bat.

Zobrist is so good So so so so so good

Holy moly this is a freaking unbelievably frustrating game in terms of scoring opportunities

Look at how stupid i am

....Coghlan? What?

It's good having a Superhero pitch for your team

lol, sit down scrub Arrieta just wanted some drama

This crowd is going to murder the umpire if he doesn't call a strike here

what in the hell

Jake tapped into that magic again

No one was up in the bullpen (someone should have been up after the 2nd walk IMO)

i dont even care if you throw a meatball down the middle, just hit the strike zone jake