Aaron_Kennelly

We still employ Gary Jones as our third base coach.

The two most commonly used advanced stats for defense are DRS and UZR. As a team, we rank second in UZR and first in DRS. According to these stats, we've saved somewhere around 15 or 16 runs above the average team with our defense. So, basically, our defense is saving a run every other game, on average, that an average defensive team would give up. That's a very significant amount. We could also look at things like our FIP, which is fielding independent pitching, which basically takes defense out of the equation. This stat is looking at walks, hit by pitch, strikeouts, and homers -- things a pitcher is solely in control of. So this puts everyone on a level playing field. There's no accounting for luck or good or bad fielding here. A team who has an ERA lower than their FIP has either been very lucky or very good defensively. Our FIP is 3.13 and our ERA is 2.48. Along the same lines, you could look at our pitchers' BABIP, or batting average on balls in play. This is looking at balls that our fielders have to make a play on. The second lowest BABIP in the league is the White Sox at .271. We are at .251. Now there is probably some other stuff going on here. BABIP isn't a perfect tool to measure anything. Some pitchers are going to get weaker contact than others -- Arrieta. Luck will skew things a lot. There could be some weird stuff happening because of defensive positioning. There's a litany of other things that can affect BABIP, which ensures that it won't be a perfect measure. However, when balls have been put in play against us, our fielders have clearly done alright at turning them into outs.

Zobrist looks bad because he is old and slow. He is sure-handed, though. So he can make up for his lack of range some. Also, we keep measuring him up against Javier Baez. So he looks worse in that respect, because we are measuring him against Javier horsefeathering Baez and not some other random second baseman. Zobrist certainly isn't good, but he's not bad enough to offset the awesomeness we have elsewhere. Soler is our only truly bad defender and he's only played 125 innings in the outfield this year. We have, like, four or five guys -- Heyward, Russell, Baez, Rizzo, Ross -- that could win a Gold Glove. How could anyone think our defense has been bad? I mean, have you seen these guys play?

According to BP, Berg has an 82% GB% this year, after being at 83% in Eugene and 73% in Myrtle Beach last year.

Carl Edwards Jr. with 3 K's in 1 inning of work. 1 hit and no walks. That's his fourth consecutive appearance that he hasn't allowed a walk. His last four appearances: 4.1IP 2H 0ER 0BB 8K

Can we just assign them days of the week when one of them plays the outfield? Or maybe we can just switch them around each inning? Have them draw straws before the game? Or maybe the last one to make an out has to go out to left field?

This is where I am at. I am really missing all of his SuperDongs. But the wait is much more palatable knowing he is lurking. We are already a terrifying menace. And this big, beautiful dongsmith is just chilling on ice.

Yes, the 24-6 Cubs are quite known for playing scared.

http://m.mlb.com/video/v673941983/wshchc-grimm-escapes-a-basesloaded-jam What a sexy play. He makes it look effortless, too. Here's a screenshot. Look how far back Javy is playing -- and that's with some time after contact before the camera pans over to him. If he can make the play on that ball, being positioned there, there's really nothing he can't do. http://i.imgur.com/Vj7aR3s.jpg

It's just a shame that Willson Contreras wasn't there to see Javy be Javy. Though, I am starting to come around to Vinestal's side. Federowicz has undoubtedly cost our run differential a couple of runs.

Even if he is a mole that has infiltrated their board, circumstances have pretty much made him the greatest troll ever. He is so confident that the Cubs will blow it at every turn, and yet we never lose. The stars have aligned properly for his shtick to work.

I thought it was interesting that Javy said in the post-game that he likes playing third base the most right now. I tend to agree with that sentiment, though it sucks that it comes at the expense of Bryant moving to the outfield. Javy knows that he is a beast over there, though. His skill set is probably best suited for third. And with it being the hot corner, it definitely makes sense. Javy goes from 0 to 100 real quick, and he doesn't like doing things like being deliberate and considering the consequences of his actions. He does everything fast. There's probably nobody more suited for a position where you make plays at such a breakneck speed.

Same here. But, to be fair, I try to will him into being the hero of every game he plays in.

David Ross is gonna be tired as hell. Please come back, Miggy. Oh and let's dong the hell out of these guys and get 7+ from Jon to give the pen some reprieve. This week was fun as hell. But we need a little less drama for a bit. Let's win 'em all by at least 5 or 6.

I'm so damn happy that Javy is a part of the core again.

Javy!

Javy. horsefeathering. Baez.

I mean, he is blocking the plate. Horrible, horrible send, though.

Doing it against Papelbon will be even more enjoyable.

ARGGHHH!

Good start!

Great call. Sorry, Bryce, but you should ask your manager to reconsider having Ryan Zimmerman behind you.

Phew

Oh dear.

Or not