UMFan83

If you think about it, it's pretty crazy how much has gone wrong. We've gotten very little from all three OF spots (3.4 WAR from Heyward/ALmora/Jay/Schwarbs) Russell sucked and got hurt (or got hurt and sucked,) same for Zobrist. So the only offensive production we've gotten is from KB/Rizzo/Willson with cameos from Happ and Baez. Our SP has gone backwards both in production and health, our bullpen is trash save CEJ and Wade, who both have the same Achilles heel anyway. Our trade acquisitions have been either disappointing or regretful. Even the bright spots are marred by problems — Bryant hasn't had anyone to knock in and is gonna finish with an RBI total in 60s, and Contreras started cold and missed a month with an injury. Even Baez's defense has gone backwards. All good points. The question is how much of that is aberration, how much is not and how much can we fix in the offseason. Do you expect improvements from Heyward, Almora, Schwarber, Russell, Zobrist? Russell I feel the best about but my confidence has waned on him this year. Schwarber can still be good but it's far from a sure thing. And then how do we fix any holes? We lose 2 SP, a closer and Jay so we will have money but even if you put Monty in a rotation spot, that is a lot to fix. I dunno you are right a LOT has gone wrong and I probably shouldn't put more emphasis on this year than the previous 2.

I agree. The Brewers are the plucky underdogs that are making goofy tshirts and getting what they seem statememt wins. The Cubs are the heavy favorite that has a been there done that kind of approach these games. It sucks to watch them come in here and grow their confidence and continue to let them feel like they are anywhere near as good as the Cubs. But you know what? It won't matter if the Cubs win tomorrow. And if the Cubs don't win tomorrow they can split the series in Milwaukee and the Brewers still have to play 3 games better than the Cubs over the other 13 games in order to pass the Cubs outright. So they may be getting confidence for future years (when a large chunk of the team won't be around) but it's still not going to mean anything for this year barring a total Cubs collapse (and even if they do that will mean giving the Cardinals a bunch of wins)

If we don't score in the last 3 innings it will be the 5th time in the last 7 games we score 0 or 1 runs

Guys we might actually get our 20 run game today

But Duke told me the Brewers offense sucked. He showed us numbers and everything. It's almost like he has some sort of jinxing effect.

Damn almost a run. Good effort getting to 3rd base

Jon Jay in his last 30 games has a .643 OPS. But for some reason he remains the everyday leadoff hitter while guys like Happ and Schwarber play sporadically

I blame Monty and Grimm equally. Monty was awful and couldn't throw strikes. Grimm could (sometimes) throw strikes but they were put into play in places the Cubs weren't positioned.

Someone on the non-Cubs game thread was calling me an idiot but I still think the Cardinals win the division. I stopped listening to probability sites when the election happened. You do realize what a probability is right? If the Cardinals make up a 3/4 game lead with 19 games left with an inferior team that qualifies as fairly improbable even though it's not impossible

The team is still in an enviable position moving forward but just thinking about the gutted farm system, relatively high payroll, stunted development from 2 cornerstones (Russell and Schwarber), losing 2 starters including co-ace, I don't feel as great about the long term team as I did before the season. These things are not static though and I fully trust in theo to make necessary changes. Oh and we still have a chance to win the World Series and it's not a complete stretch.

Typical reliever variance.

Not bad Grimmer, you allowed both inherited runners to score but you only gave up 4 runs of your own

This is the least enjoyable 85+ win team ever

Ok we're in fun bad mode here. 7 straight hitters have reached to start. Let's see a grannie here

Why does it seem like the Cubs are usually on the wrong side of these? Confirmation bias. The Cubs have plenty of innings with a lot of dink and dunk hits

Are the Cubs trying to give up a 9+ run inning against every NL Central team? Already got the Cardinals, Pirates and Reds, with the Brewers on their way here

That's one way to let an inherited runner score. Wtf Zobrist you gonna let Almora run 200 feet for that?

We really picked a poor time to slump

2nd time the Brewers have loaded the bases in 3 innings today. They have 1 hit.

Seems like whenever he gets into the rotation he has a couple really nice starts and then starts to struggle. I could be wrong that's just my perception

47 pitches through 2+ innings for Monty. Hope Rob Z is ready to eat some innings.

Wait i just realized Almora is starting and batting 5th against a righty. Wassup with that??

Not having Schwarber and Happ in a lineup makes it look really weak from a power perspective.

A little less vaunted now. Does that put Garza back in the rotation?

https://twitter.com/jwyllys/status/906565015041449984 https://twitter.com/jwyllys/status/906565269841211392