Aaron_Kennelly

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.

"Y'all thought this show was over, motherfuckers!?"

Alright, we were just messing around. But now it's on!

I was pretty much distraught during that game and resigned to a fate of losing. But I don't want to go out like that. We laid a turd going out last year. Let's not do it again. I don't want that taste in my mouth, coming from my favorite team ever -- a team that is better than any team I've ever followed, the best team in baseball. So we have to win three in a row. Big deal. I still think we've got favorable matchups. For one, we don't have to see Lackey's stupid face again. Lester's got this tomorrow. Just win that one first. Focus on one at a time. It's not some monumental task. They are throwing two shitty pitchers, both on short rest. And then they are throwing a beast on short rest. But he'll be on short rest for the second consecutive outing. And he already looked diminished last night. Sure, he might be going from being invincible to nearly invincible. But it gives me some hope. We have our three studs lined up. And they could do something magical.

Speaking of the odds, I saw on twitter yesterday someone said something like, "Even if the Cubs lose this game, we've still got something like an 18% chance of winning the World Series. And that's still better than pretty much every day that we've been alive."

horsefeathering stupid sport. I woke up in the middle of the night and I'm all pissed off and can't get back to sleep.

I would really reconsider the impact sports has on your well-being. That isn't healthy. This is my favorite post in the history of ever.

Shoot him into the sun.

Because we're down a run in a 2-1 world series? GTFO. If it keeps him away, I'm for it.

Get Monty in.

J-HEY!

Go cut your hair.

Try not to suck, Lackey.

Let's score a bunch of runs early, please.

I'm not going to freak out or anything, because why start now? We were in this position against the Dodgers and made out all right. And throwing nothing but starters on short rest is a really, really dumb idea. I think it backfires magnificently. The circumstances are a lot different than the Dodgers series. But, it's basically the same thing: Win tomorrow and we're set up really well to take the series. I really thought we were going to run over them last night, though. Ah well, it's not going to be easy.

What the hell happened?

Heyward Bingo. He sucks at everything.

Speaking of standard deviation on balls in play. Would anyone care to take a guess at which Cub has the highest standard deviation of launch angles on his balls in play?

Yes, it's wrong. They're already all trying to dong as it is. Basically the whole lineup is looking to elevate the ball in every single at bat. https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/statcast_search?hfPT=&hfZ=&hfGT=R%7C&hfPR=&hfAB=&stadium=&hfBBT=1%7C2%7C3%7C&hfBBL=&hfC=&season=2016&player_type=batter&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=0&min_results=0&group_by=team&sort_col=launch_angle&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 They don't have to change their approach to do so. That already is their approach. The only guys who aren't trying to dong every time already are Dex, Zobrist, and Willy. I don't see those guys trying to hit the ball 500 feet. Maybe Willson. I should expand on this. I've got an article on Willson that I started working on that's sitting in the hopper. (I'll try to get it done tomorrow, fwiw.) And it's about his approach. But, I've also looked into all the other Cubs, too. Basically, the article is going to show why Willson is going to be a BABIP freak. A lot of it has to do with his approach. He's a line drive hitter, with a good approach. Zobrist and Fowler fall into that category, too. But they're not quite as impressive at it as Willson. Anyway, all the other Cubs in the lineup tonight are swinging for the fences. They have high launch angles on their balls in the air. They are trying to hit home runs. Where they are good, though, is that the standard deviations on the balls they hit are relatively low, especially for guys that are hitting balls at those launch angles. So a guy like Randal Grichuk has a similar average launch angle, but his standard deviation is much higher. He's hitting a lot of pop-ups and making a lot of other weak contact. He's selling out for power. And he's not as consistent with how he hits the ball. We have a bunch of home run hitters swinging for the fences, but they don't get fooled as much. They are consistent with their approach. Their balls in play are closer, on average, to where they want them to be. What that means for tonight, I think, would be that they don't need to change their approaches. They already are trying to elevate the ball. And they do so without selling out. So if that is already their mindset, how would this change things? They would just be trying to do what they do every other game.

Yes, it's wrong. They're already all trying to dong as it is. Basically the whole lineup is looking to elevate the ball in every single at bat. https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/statcast_search?hfPT=&hfZ=&hfGT=R%7C&hfPR=&hfAB=&stadium=&hfBBT=1%7C2%7C3%7C&hfBBL=&hfC=&season=2016&player_type=batter&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=0&min_results=0&group_by=team&sort_col=launch_angle&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 They don't have to change their approach to do so. That already is their approach. The only guys who aren't trying to dong every time already are Dex, Zobrist, and Willy. I don't see those guys trying to hit the ball 500 feet. Maybe Willson.

The 2016 Fielding Bible Award winners are: First Base – Anthony Rizzo, Chicago Cubs Second Base – Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox Third Base – Nolan Arenado, Colorado Rockies Shortstop – Andrelton Simmons, Atlanta Braves Left Field – Starling Marte, Pittsburgh Pirates Center Field - Kevin Pillar, Toronto Blue Jays Right Field – Mookie Betts, Boston Red Sox Catcher – Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants Pitcher – Dallas Keuchel, Houston Astros Multi-Position – Javier Baez, Chicago Cubs

108,000?