Bryants Disco Ball

A non-Cubs fan friend just pointed this out before the game. It's crazy. I look at tonight's lineup with Costellanos now added, and it looks imposing on paper. It looks pretty damn deep. But then they just don't do anything if they don't hit home runs.

I'll tell you what has helped the past week. Not watching the games. Checking the score on ESPN and coming to the game thread is enough. I don't think I could handle this offense right now. But it does make the frustration a lot less.

I can top it. I'd like to see a guy get on first to lead off an inning and then steal. Then the next guy hit it to the right side and move him to third and the next guy hit a sac fly to score him.

I guess also if Tony Kemp is worthy of being on a 25-man roster, there is more value here because he's controlled rather than being a free agent like Maldonado. We all really need the Cubs to add something bigger, though.

Man, if you are semi throwing in the towel, this train doesn't have anybody left.

I'm sensing the first two guys make outs, the third guy somehow reaches first and then the fourth guy makes an out. Which would not be a rally, but it would be annoying.

Like, individually, I enjoy a decent amount of hitters in the lineup. More than one or two are even stars. But collectively, I hate the offense. Can't stand it.

Listen, Cubs, if you are mostly only going to score runs when you hit dongs, then damn it, go hit some dongs.

Yeah, this one confuses me. For the same reasons why they traded for him is the same reason why they should still want him. Sure, if somebody makes a nice offer, fine. But that's not going to happen. Also, I don't think they'd consider sending down Vic. As of right now, he has earned his spot as a Major League player. I just don't think they'd dick with him like that. He doesn't belong in the minors. For roster construction/flexibility reasons he might have to go down for 2-4 weeks here. He’s proven to be a worthy backup but I’d rather send him down and preserve depth than send Maldonado away for nothing or have to do some other roster move that doesn’t optimize things. We shall see. I suppose they always could find an injury to make up for Martin or Vic for a few weeks, too.

I’m calling BS on this rumor. I think it’s idiots making idiotic guesses. Theo lamented with no waiver trades how he wanted to build out depth, especially at C. It’s far more likely Vic is sent down or they go with 3 catchers on the roster until Sept 1 than move Maldonado. Yeah, this one confuses me. For the same reasons why they traded for him is the same reason why they should still want him. Sure, if somebody makes a nice offer, fine. But that's not going to happen. Also, I don't think they'd consider sending down Vic. As of right now, he has earned his spot as a Major League player. I just don't think they'd dick with him like that. He doesn't belong in the minors.

It will also be interesting to see what moves the Cards make as well. Do the Cards ever make big moves at the deadline? I feel like when they make a move at the deadline, at most they get like some middle reliever if they make a trade. Matt Holiday, but that also was nine years ago.

Am I correct in assuming that even if he doesn't get hammered, you'd still look to trade him? Because it would be sort of bold to base what to do with Q at the deadline on one specific start.

Couple observations/questions 1. With apologies to Cox, I actually view this game as bigger than the second one against the Giants last week. I wouldn't claim it's the biggest game of the season, but it's still bigger than that one. 2. I haven't watched the last couple outings, and I won't be watching this one as I can't stomach anything Brewers. Is Cox turning out to be right on Robel Garcia or nah? 3. I don't know if Derek Johnson forgot his notes or just left them behind before leaving for Cincinnati, but the Cubs don't seem to score runs against many of the Brewers pitchers except for a few games here and there. Many of those pitchers aren't that great and give up runs to other teams. 4. It's a bit too late in the season to expect otherwise, but I'd love a more diverse offense that doesn't rely so much on the home run. But if we are going to go that route, I'd like to see at least five today, including a couple with a guy on first. 5. We had that KB dongless meter going earlier this season. It might be time to bust out a Javy walkless one. Would love to see one today, perhaps even two. Even if it's an IBB. 6. I think Craig Kimbrell will overall be fine the last two seasons of his contract, but I've written it before and I'll write it again, for this season, I do not have that fuzzy warm feeling any time he comes into a game.

It’s almost like there was a reason that nobody wanted him in the off-season. A lot of teams’ scouting departments were saying “stay away” I'm willing to bet, however, that had he been asking for three years, $43 million that a lot of scouting departments would have said, "Go get him now."

The big decider could be which of the three teams does the most at the deadline. That actually could be the Cardinals. I'm trying to figure out how the Brewers get a reasonable sized piece with their farm system. I don't even know how they get a Zach Wheeler rental, but maybe it's possible.

Assuming no ridiculous sell off by us or injuries and no team winning like 35 of 46 or whatever the Brewers did we are still winning this division. The talent sucks, but we suck least. there's a good chance the cubs win the division, but there is absolutely no reason to be confident of that in any way. it's basically a crapshoot at this point. whatever advantage they have in talent obviously isn't enough to pull away. If you feel there is a good chance, then that's better than a crapshoot. That said, I'm pissed right now. I horsefeathering hate the Brewers.

No it’s true. Frustrating, but true. https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2019&month=0&season1=2019&ind=0&team=0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&startdate=&enddate= Brewers passed the Cubs tonight, though somehow their offense is actually a little worse Wait. Am I reading correctly that it says the Mets are better than both of them? Because if I am, I don't think I care about this anymore.

Cubswin11, that's what makes me want to punch a hole in the wall, which I would do if I wasn't worried about me breaking it. We have more talent than the Brewers. And I don't like the fact that we don't stomp them into the ground a lot more than we should since the early part of last season. It's really starting to irritate the horsefeathers out of me. idk why you're stuck on the brewers when the cardinals exist and look like the best team in the division. I'm not sure because I didn't look, but I'm still pretty sure the Cardinals got hot playing a really shitty part of the sked and now have a really difficult part (except for us) coming up, and very well could go back to being the team that was a few games below .500 and whose fans on their message board had thrown in the towel and also wanted to sell.

Cubswin11, that's what makes me want to punch a hole in the wall, which I would do if I wasn't worried about me breaking it. We have more talent than the Brewers. And I don't like the fact that we don't stomp them into the ground a lot more than we should since the early part of last season. It's really starting to irritate the horsefeathers out of me.

I mean, he's pitched 11 innings. 11 max effort innings. he's been in the majors for a month now. rust is not even close to an excuse at this point. If you think Craig Kimbrel is up to speed at this point, you are crazy, son. Just my opinion, though.

We’re definitely scoring like 10 runs tomorrow and winning before scoring 4 total in the first two games of the Cards series. That’s classic 2018 second half Cubs. I hope. We do pull out a 7-0 win out of nowhere every once in a while against this horsefeathering team.

he's pitched in plenty of games already, he's not in spring training mode I mean, he's pitched 11 innings......in eight months. If that ain't spring training mode, it ain't yet regular season mode.

Also, they have a difficult time scoring runs without hitting home runs, and that doesn't feel like a great recipe for offensive consistency.

The other thing that sort of sucks that I think we all thought was possible, is that Kimbrel could very well still be good, but he's not going to be Kimbrel having missed eight months and still in spring training mode. So there isn't even that comfort of him coming into close a tight game because he has a higher chance than usual of being really shitty.

Such a fascinating swing series. The Cubs could have gone a long way toward ending the Brewers by somehow sweeping them, but that was never going to happen. Also, the Cubs don't score a lot of runs against the Brewers that often, so I'm thinking they won't score a lot of runs tomorrow.