Aaron Kennelly

It's a shame the guy we're going against doesn't allow fly balls to be hit very far. Oh wait, that's not right. https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/statcast_search?hfPT=&hfZ=&hfGT=R%7C&hfPR=&hfAB=&stadium=&hfBBT=1%7C&hfBBL=&hfC=&season=2016&player_type=pitcher&hfOuts=&pitcher_throws=&batter_stands=&start_speed_gt=&start_speed_lt=&perceived_speed_gt=&perceived_speed_lt=&spin_rate_gt=&spin_rate_lt=&exit_velocity_gt=&exit_velocity_lt=&launch_angle_gt=&launch_angle_lt=&distance_gt=&distance_lt=&batted_ball_angle_gt=&batted_ball_angle_lt=&game_date_gt=&game_date_lt=&team=&position=&hfRO=&home_road=&hfInn=&min_pitches=2000&min_results=0&group_by=name&sort_col=bbdist&player_event_sort=start_speed&sort_order=desc&min_abs=0&xba_gt=&xba_lt=&px1=&px2=&pz1=&pz2=&ss_gt=&ss_lt=&is_barrel=#results That's right. It's our pitcher who is good at that. It'd also be a shame if the guy on the other team has relied on getting flyouts on balls hit at least 300 feet -- you know, the kind that might fly out of the park instead in that kind of wind. https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/statcast_search?hfPT=&hfZ=&hfGT=R%7C&hfPR=&hfAB=12%7C&stadium=&hfBBT=&hfBBL=&hfC=&season=2016&player_type=pitcher&hfOuts=&pitcher_throws=&batter_stands=&start_speed_gt=&start_speed_lt=&perceived_speed_gt=&perceived_speed_lt=&spin_rate_gt=&spin_rate_lt=&exit_velocity_gt=&exit_velocity_lt=&launch_angle_gt=&launch_angle_lt=&distance_gt=300&distance_lt=&batted_ball_angle_gt=&batted_ball_angle_lt=&game_date_gt=&game_date_lt=&team=&position=&hfRO=&home_road=&hfInn=&min_pitches=2000&min_results=0&group_by=name&sort_col=pitch_percent&player_event_sort=start_speed&sort_order=desc&min_abs=0&xba_gt=&xba_lt=&px1=&px2=&pz1=&pz2=&ss_gt=&ss_lt=&is_barrel=#results Oh, he's gotten a ton of outs that way. And our guy hasn't needed them.

The name of the hurricane is "Hurricane Schwarber."

All that wondering is called "The 2017 Victory Lap."

I'm younger than Grandpa. But I've discussed Montero being old and washed up a lot on here this year. And then I remember looking at his Fangraphs page or something and realizing that he was only a year older than me. And that made me think about if he's washed up, then I'm officially the age of a washed-up person. That was a kick in the nuts. It's weird growing up rooting for guys when you are kid, and then all of a sudden you are the same age as the guys you root for. And eventually you look at the guys you root for as kids. But me being washed-up? That's a tough pill to swallow.

No. It makes perfect sense. I feel like I'm in a trance. We've been following them all year -- our whole lives, actually. And it just kinda crept up on us. I can see it with my own eyes. But I don't really understand it. The Cubs are in the horsefeathering World Series and Kyle Schwarber came back to join them. I don't know how to process it.

And even if he doesn't, I'd be beyond thrilled if he can feel like he contributed to us winning the World Series.

If he gets MVP, I think it's gonna be more because of the story than anything. Presuming he can't play the field in the Wrigley games, he's just not gonna get the AB's, and Zobrist has been just as good. That's where the heroic pinch hit home run comes in. Maybe he needs to do it twice to make sure. But he's going to do it.

I figured they just shut down the league after Schwarber left.

I want a Schwarber homer to cement himself as World Series MVP so bad.

Yeah, keep betting against him and see where that get you. Writing for Fangraphs?

I just love this team so much. And it might be [expletive], but the narrative of everyone having each other's back and picking each other up is certainly playing out. If you just look at our path here, different guys have stepped up at different times. One guy struggles and another guy steps up. Rizzo and Russell were having a terrible time of it, and suddenly they are carrying us to the World Series. When all the bats were cold, we relied on a bunch of pitchers getting huge hits. Miggy comes off the bench with a huge pinch hit grand slam. Javy dominates the first two series and then goes to horsefeathers. And some guy who hasn't played all year is like, "I'll take it from here." Heading into the World Series, pretty much everyone had already chipped in, except Zobrist (at this point, Heyward doesn't count). So Zobrist's like, "Well, gosh, I guess I'll just have to get a hit in every AB." Big Jon's been a rock and finally faltered. So Arrieta decides, "Time for me to take a no-hitter into the sixth and pick him up." Fowler's now the one struggling, so, inevitably, he'll reach base four times and score three runs on Friday. If we end up winning this and you told me that we were lucky to survive the crap shoot, I wouldn't argue. We'd be fortunate. But the actual reason we'd have won is because we are deeper than everyone else and we are better than everyone else. We showed it all year and now we are showing it in the playoffs. I'm not sure if there is any link between depth and playoff success. I don't know if anyone's even studied it. I would surmise that there isn't, or if there is that it has a very small affect. There's just too much randomness for anything to matter too much. But, it'd be nice to know that we can overcome the randomness through sheer dominance and excellence. The Dodgers were like, "Kershaw and Hill will take us to the World Series." And the Cubs said, "Nah. That's not going to work." And then the Indians thought they could ride Kluber to the title, and soon found out it was going to take more than that. It's just a great team. And I love them all so much.

This reminded me of something I was thinking about before Game 1. I imagined a conversation between Schwarber and La Stella when Schwarber came in to take his possible roster spot going something like the one Homer had with Darryl Strawberry: TLS: hey, you're Kyle Schwarber KS: Yes TLS: You're a left handed hitter KS: Yes TLS: I'm a left handed hitter, too KS: So... TLS: Well are you better than me? KS: Well... I haven't played all year, but yes Perfect.

How loud is Wrigley going to be when they hear this on Friday?

The idiots on the broadcast were talking about this, and they were actually right for once. But, the fact that he is 23 and doing it makes it all the more crazy. This isn't Miguel Cabrera picking up a bat and instantly being Miguel Cabrera. This is a kid that was playing college ball two years ago. Including the playoffs, he'd only had 309 PA against major league pitching. Normal 23-year-olds that have half of a season's worth of PA against big league pitching usually are still struggling with getting used to the competition... when they are in the middle of the season and have seen those 300 PA everyday over the course of the last several months.

Only Jered Weaver and James Shields gave up more homers than Tomlin this year. We are going to dong the ever-living hell out of him.

"Kyle, you guys need another set-up man with Rondon not being himself. Is that something you could do?" "Well, I've never pitched before, but, horsefeathers it, yeah, I'll get it done."

Can we just pencil him in at left and have him sit in a lawn chair in foul territory and let the 8 other guys handle it themselves?

W! 3 to go! Way to go, fellas! Thanks for the assist, Fred!

Hey, that's a really good outing. Can't ask for much more than that from Mortal Jake. Shut 'em down, pen.

Dave Cameron. And I quote:

And a bat flip!

Let's get some 6-pitch innings and finish off the no-no, Jake.

It's official: Schwarber is my favorite and always will be. He's a freak of nature.

So much for their bullpen of death.