UMFan83

That was some fantastic pitching by Leiter. Good horsefeathers

really really sucks to only get 1 there after 3 of the first 4 hitters reached and the heart of the order due up but good that we're at least tied

Michael Harris is everywhere

Please get the tying run home from 3rd with less than 2 outs. Also, Amaya on 3 times today nice work

ummm I'll take it

No not bad at all considering the lineup and conditions. Definitely wasn't at his best tonight but he battled admirably to get out of several jams and gave his team a chance.

Cubs get out of it again. Let’s get some runs

Damn, multiple walks this inning after starting off 0-2. Not Assad’s finest performance though certainly a tough matchup.

Of course, spectacular (possibly unnecessary) leaping catch

Morton is petrified of Amaya for some reason

Assad is a magician tonight

3 weak IF grounders ugh.

I'm trying to be as patient as I can be with Happ but its so hard to not be frustrated. If we weren't also suffering through massive slumps by Busch, Gomes, Amaya, Madrigal and probably Swanson it would be easier to ride this slump out but there's just too many black holes in the lineup right now.

He’s never been a part of his life though

30-40 mph gusts directly from the south. Hope Javier keeps the ball on the ground as much as possible. I fear for his sparkling ERA

I’m not necessarily pissed about PCA going down in the short term but damn, 2nd highest position player bWAR on the roster and he’s sent down to Iowa.

RE: the Hendricks/Atlanta question - according to the beat guys the probable pitcher for Thursday is listed as "TBD" so I'm guessing Hendricks will not be starting. Believe they can skip his turn anyways with the off day if they wanted to.

I agree which is why I'm confused the comparison to Lance Armstrong was made. Pep compared the 6 titles to the Bulls of the 90s which seems more apt I guess. You can't compare something to Armstrong without there being as association with cheating. That said big clubs spend like crazy but there are rules in place. City apparently has 115 charges of overspending and the PL seemingly refuses to address it while smaller clubs like Everton and Forest are given swift points deductions for a single charge.

If Dansby returns and Vazquez is called up, who are the 2 that go down/DFA'd? Currently active players with virtually no chance: Busch, Hoerner, Morel, Amaya, Gomes, Happ, Bellinger, Tauchman and Suzuki That leaves Mastrobuoni, Madrigal, PCA and Wisdom as the prime candidates I don't see why they'd send PCA down while he's being a WAR machine but they did say they'd be sending him back down eventually (though might have changed their minds). Mastrobuoni is almost certainly involved and will be sent back to Iowa. That leaves Madrigal and Wisdom. Wisdom has his flaws but he's hitting acceptably well and I think the Cubs really like his bat whenever they want to give the lineup extra juice, especially against lefties. So the other most obvious target is Madrigal.... UNLESS, as has been discussed here, someone else is going on the IL, whether it be Nico, Morel (been banged up though seems to be playing through it fine), Happ (also been banged up at times) or a mystery injury. So either Madrigal is being DFA'd, or Nico, Morel, Happ or mystery player are going on the IL, unless im missing an obvious alternate option.

Is this a reference to City doing this while having 115 Financial Fair Play charges? Anyways, I remember being happy for them the first time they won with that amazing dramatic final matchday similar to how I was happy about the Warriors winning the first of their NBA titles but they've long since been the evil empire in English football no matter how much I enjoy watching Haaland and De Bruyne and respect Pep.

That would be hiliarous if the Cubs put Hoerner on the IL. I believe you are only allowed to backdate by 3 days so Nico would have to miss an additional week for an injury we were told for the past few days was not worth putting him on the IL for. I get that hammy injuries are tough to diagnose but seems like the worst case scenario is playing a man short for 6 games only to lose the player for an additional 6 games. I'm gonna guess given the mental errors this weekend and the sub-.400 OPS plus the existance of options, they are sending Mastro down.

Would be interested to hear the boards thoughts level of panic regarding the following players. No panic is a perfectly fine answer if that is what you believe Ian Happ Miles Mastrobuoni Nick Madrigal Michael Busch Kyle Hendricks Christopher Morel Miguel Amaya Yan Gomes I’ll leave off the injured players like Dansby. I just want to get a general consensus on at least some of these guys and whether it’s too soon to be concerned (or maybe there’s nothing to be concerned about), it’s time to be concerned or “they’re at the end of their rope” General thoughts: Happ - When everyone is healthy there’s enough flexibility (with AAA options) to play Happ vs LHP and other potentially good matchups but I’m still not ready to really do anything with Happ. Unless something major has changed in his profile, I think sticking with him most days is still going to be the best decision in the long run. Mastrobuoni - Under .400 OPS and now struggling defensively. Kind of at the end of my rope. I know the arguments TT made re: Vazquez but I find it hard to believe he can be worse than Mastro and have little hope Mastro can hit in majors Madrigal - Concerned but not ready to give up on yet Busch - Not close to ready to give up on him but losing hope that he’s going to be an important bat for us this year. Hendricks - OK if we move on but if they want to give him one last chance as a long reliever I am ok with that. Morel - I think he’s kind of slumping again but he has enough of an MLB track record that I think he’ll be fine and get hit at some point. Play every day Amaya/Gones - Don’t think you can cut bait on Amaya at all but getting close to the point where we may need to consider making a move for a catcher in July and dump Gomes. In reality the likelihood of the cubs bringing in a catcher at the deadline and getting rid of a respected vet like Gomes is unlikely. Might be overreacting. I know there’s much more to catching than their hitting but when most of the lineup is slumping, their struggles become glaring Anyways there are other opinions here and other arguments and data I’m sure im not considering so I’d be interested to hear others thoughts.

And the Cubs have been 2 hit and finish off a 2-5 week. Blah.

Bednar has to be terrified knowing Madrigal and Mastrobuoni are due up next.