UMFan83

Since I'm a dork, I went and looked this up. Games with 5 L/S starting: 4/1 - 1 run 4/3 - 1 run 4/7 - 2 runs 4/9 - 2 runs 4/12 - 2 runs 4/19 - 12 runs 5/2 - 1 run 5/13 - 1 run 5/16 - 3 runs 5/21 - 1 run 5/24 - 4 runs 5/26 - 0 runs 5/31 - 3 runs Games with 6 L/S starting: 5/29 - 1 run 6/3 - 0 runs So 15 times they've started at least 5 lefties or switch hitters (mostly Happ) in the lineup. They have scored 2 runs or less in 11 of those 15 games and scored more than 4 runs 1 time. Even with the crazy outlier 12 run game, they are averaging 2.3 runs per game when they trot out a lineup with 5+ lefties. Remove the 12 run outlier and its 1.6 runs per game. Oh and they are 4-11 in those games.

Howso for the Diamondbacks? Not sure what they've done to be competitive but their payroll is only at $83m so I'm curious what they are doing that the Cubs should emulate.

Looks like the corresponding move is NOT Seiya to the DL, its Brandon Hughes

There's really not a ton of truly bad teams this year it seems like compared to other years. And of the actual bad teams record-wise we have a lot of games left against them CWS - 4/4 remaining Detroit - 3/3 remaining KC - 3/3 remaining Oakland - 0/3 remaining Washington - 3/7 remaining St Louis - 10/13 remaining Colorado - 6/6 remaining That's every team more than 4 games under .500 right now, and of the 41 games against those teams on the schedule, we've only played 10 of them so far. Only 2 more of those games will be played between now and July 16th which is roughly the deadline for the Cubs picking a lane in terms of buying or selling. 29 of "easier games" will be played after that date (13 straight games against those teams begin on July 17). Like you pointed out, it doesn't mean the Cubs are magically good because their schedule has been tougher, but if 29 of their 41 easiest games came before any trade deadline decisions needed to be made instead of after, there's a chance we'd be in a better position to buy. *Also just a caveat that its still possible the Pirates are actually not that good and by the end of the season they may be grouped into the bad teams.

Really love this new era of more organic championship teams and overall parity. After getting Warriors/Cavs for literally 4 years straight we’ve gotten 8 different teams over the last 5 Finals, only repeats have been the Warriors and Heat x2

Season ERAs of the Cubs pitchers today: Wesneski - 5.33 Fulmer - 5.93 Hughes - 7.24 Rucker - 5.04 Estrada - 6.75 Assad - 6.00 Guess I shouldn't be surprised that we've given up 13 runs

This pen horsefeathering sucks

Happy the Cubs scored 2 to tie it but would have been nice if they were on solid hits rather than an error and a fielders choice. Otherwise they are 0-7 with RISP so far

Yeah it seemed like Happ gave up on it a bit too soon but whatever. The no hitter would have been over much earlier without that great Tauchman catch.

damn

Through 7 and only at 81 pitches...

Seriously wtf, he's terrible.

So umm Kyle is pitching well

Attaboy Morel

Vintage Hendricks so far

Damn, I kind of liked 2-3-2

Yeah even if they win Game 5, I just cant see them going back to the Denver altitude and winning games 6 and 7. But they've been defying expectations all playoffs so we'll see.

Just tried out that rumor thing on the site. Didn't realize it would create a new topic, but here we are. Stroman randomly responded to a tweet from a Cub fan about his desire to get extended and the Cubs not being interested at this time:

View full rumor

Technically the Cubs are 8-6 on the west coast this year. It’s the only place we’ve actually done decent. 😂. Though I suppose those A’s games hardly count.

It's just crazy to me....they're my favorite team, I'm not doing anything particularly entertaining right now and I just have no desire to put the game on. I somehow have more desire to come on this forum to talk about how much I don't want to watch them than I do to actually hit 202 on my tv remote.

I applaud everyone who still watches this team.

Possible candidates imo: Leiter, Jr - Cubs could easily keep him too but having a career year and 32 years old...might be better to sell high even if his improvement is sustainable Hendricks - Final year of deal but team option if he pitches well. All depends on how well he pitches. If he pitches well he becomes a somewhat attractive piece. Otherwise, Cubs will probably just keep him and run out the clock. Merryweather - Similar to Leiter....he'll be 32 in October and having a solid enough season to potentially get something of use for him Smyly - Less likely because he has another year on his deal and to TT's point I don't think the Cubs are looking to take a huge step back, but if you get a crazy offer from a SP needy team and it includes MLB or near MLB players, you at least consider it. Stroman - everyones talked about this enough Gomes - highly regarded pitch framer having a solid hitting season is bound to have some value for a team needing catching help, though the same questions that Contreras had about adding a catcher mid-season is a factor, plus the Cubs probably plan to have him in a similar role next year. Mancini - talked about enough, your standard extra low cost bat for a contender. Was in the same role last year with Houston Mastrobuoni/Tauchman/Madrigal - I guess? Don't really have any strong ties to them and if a team is looking for a bat, cya. Madrigal is probably better keeping and giving regular PT to see if you can get anything from him long term but he's very limited by having an everyday starter at 2B and SS. Bellinger - covered by TT and I agree with his take Yeah, after typing all this up, there's definitely not a ton there. I think you shop most of those guys, if you get a strong offer you take it. You definitely shop Stroman to see if a SP needy team will throw something crazy at you. Would be stupid to not at least shop him.

Yes I'm using an arbitrary start date, but the Cubs offense since April 22nd (42 games): Runs scored - 150 (Last) BB% - 10.4% (2nd) K% - 26.5% (28th) ISO - .140 (27th) AVG - .224 (29th) OBP - .310 (19th) SLG - .364 (29th) wOBA - .299 (25th) wRC+ - 86 (25th) - If you move the start date to May 2nd its 82 and dead last.