Aaron Kennelly

Addi!

Beast

I'll give you one now. But if he doesn't, I'm taking it away.

Get the Jake photoshop ready, OMC.

Hell yea, Jake.

Filthy.

Not too worried about the pitch count. By the 6th we'll be up enough to let Montero come in and finish it off.

Thanks for the extra 9 pitches, Joe.

Don't worry, god-mode's got this.

97?! Woo boy.

horsefeathers yes!

MVP! MVP! MVP!

Get them bats going!

I think Jake's going to be good tonight. I don't know about god-mode Jake, but I expect he'll pitch well. The walks have been trending down since the start of September. And he's done a good job limiting them in the post-season. Obviously, he's still been up and down. And when he's off, he's been done in by the long ball and big innings. If he keeps the ball in the park, I think he shuts them down again. And the fact that they didn't hit him well last time gives me hope that he can avoid the big inning and give us a solid start. He's got to keep the ball in the park, though. Do that and we are playing Game 7.

This take was astoundingly stupid: In fairness, he did a bit of a mea culpa in an article later. After Sam Miller pointed out that it was a pretty savvy idea, but still. The Bauer/curveball thing is just so simple though. Trevor Bauer's curveball is not good enough to get Bryant/Rizzo/Zobrist to chase. In 12 plate appearances this series those 3 swung at 2 curveballs out of the zone, both were Zobrist fouling off pitches up in the zone in his 10 pitch at bat that culminated with a lineout. It wasn't a weapon against them and therefore he didn't use it. When he faced hitters where it would work(Russell) he went right back to it, as Cameron points out. But treating the entire offense as a homogenous unit that has curveball kryptonite is just baffling. If you're Corey Kluber maybe, but this is Trevor Bauer on short rest. The "Corey Kluber maybe" part is key, too -- maybe being the key word. Because a couple weeks ago the Dodgers had us figured out with Hill and Kershaw... until they didn't. Kershaw was mowing us down when he had his ridiculous curve working, and he looked like Travis Wood when he didn't. So, basically, the Cubs' kryptonite could be defined as "Cy Young winners with their best stuff." Riveting.

This take was astoundingly stupid:

The Cubs only struggled at Wrigley so that Schwarber could still be World Series MVP with a big showing the next two games.

I keep picturing god-mode Arrieta strolling off the mound after his 12th K of the night to end the 7th, with the Cubs up 6-0. Make it happen, Jake.

I hated seeing Chapman having to pitch 2+. The only reason it happened was b/c the team had their backs against the wall and a narrow lead to protect. I also hated seeing Chapman bat, but I was glad he ended the 8th b/c I hated the thought of him hanging around on the bases in the cold even more. And I *really* would have been pissed if Maddon had put in Coghlan as a pinch runner. That would probably have been a waste of two very good Cub pitcher outings. I loved it actually. Now that thought of Chapman coming in at any point is just something else they've got to think about. Could indirectly help Jake or Kyle out, by hitters being overaggressive and keeping the PC down. Yeah, instead of Fox showing Andrew Miller picking his nose in the bullpen every 30 seconds from the second inning on, they are going to be showing Chapman now.

Chapman was hitting 102 after 40 pitches. Unreal.

Does that fact that he only threw around 60 pitches or so negate the short rest thing or no? 60 pitches is better than 100, but it doesn't negate the effect of short rest. You still have to exert a lot of energy to warm up and throw 60 pitches, to come back and throw another 60-80 after 3 days when you've been doing so on 4 or more days your entire career means you aren't going to be quite as sharp. It also helps to understand the razor's edge that pitchers have to walk, especially pitchers with Tomlin's stuff/profile. You can be the same guy for 75 of the 80 pitches but one curve that doesn't bite and one fastball that catches too much plate can be the difference in 0 runs and 4, especially against an offense with the Cubs' capabilities. Yeah, and take this for what it's worth: something coming from a guy who never even pitched in Little League. I really don't have a clue how it would affect him. But, like TT is saying, it's not just the 60 pitches. It's the whole gameday routine -- the bullpen before the game, pitches between innings, sitting down and getting back up and pitching. 60 certainly seems better for him than 100. But he still went through the whole routine and he did exert himself by throwing even as few as 60 pitches. And I feel like this matters too: A pitcher is conditioned to throw upwards of 100 pitches. I don't think there's much in there between 60-100 that changes things all too much. That's why when you read stuff about pitcher abuse, everyone is always worried about pitches 120 and up, or wherever you draw the line -- somewhere over 100. It's because guys aren't used to doing that. They aren't conditioned to do that. And they are probably fatigued by then. That can lead to problems with mechanics and release point and consistency in what you are doing. Nobody's concerned about 60-100, because that stuff's all normal. What's key here is that he did throw 60. And he is on short rest. The short rest is the more important thing. That's the thing that's unusual for him. And I don't think it matters too much if it was only 60 or if it was 100. But I could be full of horsefeathers.

Tomlin is bad and has been bad. Don't let one game, or one month, fool you. He's always given up a ton of dongs. And we are going to dong the hell out of him.

We're doing this. Tomlin is owed a donging really badly. He isn't pulling that horsefeathers on short rest and with Schwarbs in the lineup. And Kluber is going to be gassed. And Kyle is the Clinch Master. I can feel it in my loins.

That trade's looking pretty good right now. Let Chapman just get all the outs in Cleveland.