Cubswin11

Bryce already preparing for his new team next year by being a middle of the order bat who shows bunt

If you move the L and O around it’s Fowler, it means he’s coming to fill our Dexter void next year

Damn that took a perfect throw

He was there in 2016 too though, and they were better that year than this year in literally everything (HRs, slash line, wOBA, wRC+, etc) I have no idea what it is. Would the presence of David Ortiz in '16 account for that difference? Some but not really if we’re just tracking guys from 16 through 18. Betts, JBJ and Bogarts all had good years that year. Betts and Bogarts both hit more like 18 than 17 that year and JBJ has sucked this year and was much better in 16. In terms of the 3 main young holdover guys from 16 to 18, the veterans have swapped out a bit and Benintendi was only up for like 35 games, the rest of the roster is pretty much turned over every year or guys debuted in 17.

Murphy out of leadoff and in the middle of the order where he belongs

Win, idiots Bote in the OF http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/tumblr_mlnnyvLMUw1qbvaudo1_500.gif

Granted, they added JD Martinez, so that's helped, but Boston 2017 to Boston 2018 would show that a hitting coach does matter that much. He was there in 2016 too though, and they were better that year than this year in literally everything (HRs, slash line, wOBA, wRC+, etc) I have no idea what it is.

Isn’t it adjusted for position? There’s only like 4 qualified catchers and he has the highest OBP of any of them and like 2nd highest BA.

Yup. I wanted him really bad and I’m sure we were in on him. The rest of the stuff it’s whatever, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say continuing every offseason with signing and depending on journeymen starters won’t work long term and hope they keep signing the Wade Miley’s of the world.

Right, exactly. And you still probably want to keep some of those surplus parts (Russell, Almora, Happ) instead of just selling off because there’s still upside and pedigree in there and you still need backups. I’d rather have Russell next year than like Hechavarria, Alcides Escobar, etc in a backup role and Happ over like Austin Jackson or Cameron Maybin. I agree a huge thing with Willy is the innings catching up. Not having a real backup catcher was as bad a move as signing Duensing this offseason. That needs to be fixed this offseason. If we have a real backup catcher at the beginning of the year I bet we have an extra win or two right now because that guy actually did something good and/or Willy is more fresh the last month.

we just dont have nearly as many good players as we did a couple years ago. almora/happ/russell all completely collapsed, schwarber and Willson have been mediocre for a long time, kb is broken, the choices we've made in the roatation have been disastrous, and lester/Hendricks have regressed. there is going to be a lot of pressure on theo this offseason to stop the bleeding. Do you think all those guys are irreparably broken and suck and need to be replaced? Or could it just be growing pains, some luck, injuries, down year, etc? Like do you think they need to overturn most of the guys you mentioned above in offseason? I'm curious. Add Bryce in the offseason and all of Almora/Happ/Russell mostly become role players anyways and not everyday guys, if they aren't traded because there's a roster surplus. Hendricks has been pretty much same old Kyle in his last ~100 innings.

Do your work and win games, Cubs

LOL Rizzo https://www.instagram.com/p/Bnp2PLOHj7d/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

We should just take Bryce, Scherzer and Doolittle back with us after the game. Tell MLB to horsefeathers off, it’s what we get for making this ridiculous make up trip.

Aren’t HR numbers back down to more pre-juiced ball era (like 2015)? I still want more Dongs too and we should be hitting more but I think the HR numbers have fallen off from the juiced ball of 2017 (and part of 16?) years.

That he’s being one of the only reasonable people in here instead of being a doom boner making wildly pessimistic proclamations about the team now and moving forward. Yes it sucks they aren’t playing well and we’re all pissed, but they’re still a plenty good team who’s had to overcome horsefeathers before and knows how to figure it out and they still have a 2 game L column lead with like 16 games left. It’s not like we’re 5 games back. I’m going to trust the track record of most of these guys being good to great players figuring it out, at least enough of them, than buying in to them all of the sudden being awful in arbitrary sample sizes. Get to the next off day with a lead. Yeah the guy who has written four articles declaring Jason Hayward fixed has some special insight into the cubs. Duke just takes whatever positive thing he can find, gloms onto it and declares that things are fine because ultimately the cubs aren’t a bad team and any idiot can look at the standings and see they’re good overall. He’s horsefeathering bill James wow My mentality is it’s just better to look at the good things and believe in them and maintain a positive outlook because, like you said, this is ultimately a good team and the best team in the division. Instead of having a miserable, pessimistic outlook every time they hit a rough patch and make ridiculous proclamations on the teams downfall short and long term. But maybe that’s just me.

Put this in context for me. I have lost all sense of anything else going on besides our team. Keeps the Dodgers out of the West

I don’t remember the tired thing being a deal in 2015, just ran in to the one time all the Mets pitchers were firing on all cylinders and Murphy going god mode. Seems more like bad luck with last year and this year with some extremes happening with the running out of gas thing. We had the rain out game and the crazy game 5 in the DS and short travel turnaround time that led to pitchers going on short rest in the CS or being completely unavailable, which any team is going to get gassed with that happening and then this year with this unfortunate situation of consecutive games and a few injuries lessening options for cycling guys in and out. Again any team would get gassed in this spot, I don’t think it’s unique to us. Luckily guys are getting back and it’s expanded rosters so that helps. I just think it’s some bad luck to have the situation pop up.

Nah, man. You aren't giving yourself enough credit. If they hold onto this, I don't care what teams they hold off, you are going into the Hall of Fame even before you retire. This isn't a head to head type race where everything is equal. I hate when people use the tired thing as an excuse, but there is a good chance it's real. And it isn't getting better any time soon. Add in injuries, etc., and if you are right about this, it's a lot better call than just picking the more talented team. No offense to Duke, but what is really so amazing about what he’s predicting? He’s got a 50% chance of being right? They’ll either win the division or they won’t. What am I missing? That he’s being one of the only reasonable people in here instead of being a doom boner making wildly pessimistic proclamations about the team now and moving forward. Yes it sucks they aren’t playing well and we’re all pissed, but they’re still a plenty good team who’s had to overcome horsefeathers before and knows how to figure it out and they still have a 2 game L column lead with like 16 games left. It’s not like we’re 5 games back. I’m going to trust the track record of most of these guys being good to great players figuring it out, at least enough of them, than buying in to them all of the sudden being awful in arbitrary sample sizes. Get to the next off day with a lead.

It’s an even year, we can just wild card it like those dumb Giants teams.* *But we’re still going to win the division anyways.

Yeah, hopefully something flips while we still have a lead. Starters have been good for a while now at least. Everything else sucks and I think the death march and injuries finally caught up is a big reason.

I guess in case Caratini gets hurt They have at least one, if not 2, other catchers up right now. It’s just Joe being an idiot, same with Murphy still in.