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Jason Ross
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Everything posted by Jason Ross
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Marlins only have one lefty in the bullpen, Cade Gibson. Gibson threw 33 pitches last night. My guess would be that the Cubs are sure Gibson won't be a factor in the game because of that and they can easily get away with it.
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Yeah, I think that's part of the issue though. He's not walking hitters. What he is doing is piping his fastball down the middle. His edge % is down 4% from last year, and conversely his meatball % and zone contact are both up. He's getting killed in the heart of the zone. This is typical from "I don't know where I'm throwing it" pitchers - they compensate walks for "here's a strike!" pitches. but those "here's a strike" pitches are generally in bad spots on their own. He's giving up a lot of hits, He's given up nine barrels over his last 24 IP which is double what he gave up his first 24 IP. He's got to find the middle ground. This version is going to get hit to death.
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Perhaps. But even then, they'll have to work themselves into a trusting position. I like Ben Brown, but the reality is even in the BP, his control can be an issue. Stuff is awesome, but trust will reign supreme.
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Yep. We (as in me and Mitch) talked about this on the pod last night - brought up a lot of these teams and the BS and the ERA. The Cubs pen feels worse, I think because we're good, so we have leads to blow and because we don't watch other teams. That's not to say the Cubs bullpen is rock solid, but that a lot of times we overrate Cub issues; like "situational hitting" or "blown saves" but when you look at the league as a whole, we're not so far out of line most years that it's a real issue. But if all you do is watch one team 162 times and have the cursory check-in with the rest, your team issues feel bigger than they really are. Still - and this is really meatbally of me, so please, forgive me - I want a reliever that has a cool entrance, if that makes sense. Or is worthy of one. I want one of those guys.
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Much like double plays, we forget that to blow games, good things need to happen first. For example, two things are usually true of a double-play: a hitter has to get on base and another has to hit the ball pretty hard at some one. Weak contact usually results in a fielders choice. It's usually good processes mixed with bad. The same is true for a blown save. You can't blow a save in the fifth inning and you can't blow a save when behind, so you have to be ahead late which is objectively a good thing. It's not that blown saves are good, but good teams blow games because...they're winning. That's not to say the Cubs' bullpen is perfect as is; I think I have a bigger concern with the playoff bullpen in close games than I do any worry about blown saves in the regular season right now, if that makes sense. Right now, going against a really good lineup, who do we trust? Keller, Thielbar, Hodge? Maybe? We need two more in the circle of trust at least and probably three. Some of that can come internally. But in terms of blown saves? We'll be fine. It's a red herring.
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The moment I saw the new swing analyzer my first thought was "Man, Matt is gonna use that right away and it's going to be really cool".
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Mathew Shaw.
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On one hand that was a strike to Dansby. On the other, umpires like that need to get a grip.
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Injuries are bad. But it also explains why he's been so horrible the last two goes.
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Sometimes they do. But they also have systems like the Trajekt system which can help create game-like hitting situations available. Short IL trips dont need an Iowa stint.
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Me: Ian Happ's cohost is Dakota Mekkes Like...former 9th or 10th round pick out of Michigan State? That guy? Also me: You horsefeathers dork you shouldn't know that so quickly. Get a life.
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Yeah, hes not a terrible hitter against LHP. I doubt he's going to necessarily *excel* at it, especially at first. But he's likely capable and in a world where LHH are getting worse against LHP, thats useful.
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Right, but just because they played Nick Madrigal during the years when the Cubs weren't projected to be good at 3b to squeeze value out of him doesn't mean they should essentially keep Ballesteros up to be a LHH who hits against LHP exclusively, either. His development at catcher means far more and they're not asking Turner a ton right now. His best place is in Iowa right now, he's not better than Happ, Suzuki, Turner or Busch so he won't start against RHP very often at all. He had a really good cup of coffee. The Cubs can trust him if an injury to any of the four previously mentioned "better" players get hurt and he can continue to catch and develop in Triple-A. It's win-win.
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The Cubs pitching is a bit banged up and short handed but the Marlins are one of the worst hitting teams in baseball, sporting a 93 wRC+. So while the Cubs pitching is a bit rough and Weathers looked pretty good when we last saw him, Taillon is plenty good to give the Cubs 6 good ones against a bad team and the Cubs are good enough offensively to crack Ryan Weathers.
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So, the more moving parts the more that can go wrong. If you want a yellow flag on Shaw, a lot of it, IMO, comes back to that. Here's thing thing; outside of this year, he's not really had any extended slumps. He'd struggle a bit at the start of a level, maybe, but he never went 30 days where he was just bad. Maybe he was too good for his levels. Maybe he's more capable of keeping that under control. If you want to explain this away, obliques are there on your hip, which is the connection between "top" and "bottom" and he had issues with his top half, it appears. So maybe this stems from that. Maybe it doesn't, but maybe it does? No one is fully consistent, it's impossible. We'd be robots. But I think with less movement it becomes easier to repeat. We'll see what he does at the highest level more and more. The hope is that he can be funky and be fine. If it isn't, the Cubs have had successes with PCA and Amaya mid-year in fixing swing flaws while going through an MLB grind, so it's not impossible to suggest Shaw could do the same.
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Jesse Rogers confirmation. Shaw has been recalled and will meet team in Miami.
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Rogers confirmation. Shaw up and will meet team in Miami.
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It could have been. But I also dont think a full ST would have necessarily fixed this. It very well could have been oblique related. But sometimes hitters come out of their best swing for a while. Regardless of *why* its clear *something* was off. And that something *appears* to be fixed. And now its very likely based on reports that Shaw will meet the team in South Beach.
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Brujan: "if I get a single will you please DFA Lopez instead of me?"
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Berti's had far more track record than Brujan or Lopez being good. I would be shocked if the Cubs dumped Berti.
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Coupled with the Shaw news, that feels even more likely.
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I would think that's a very likely outcome here. The I-Cubs are off tomorrow, and the Cubs are headed directly to Miami. He shouldn't need a rest in Triple-A with a rest coming. However, it's a lot easier to meet the team in Miami tomorrow evening if he's headed out that way already.
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Well, we'll probably get our wish soon. Shockingly, Shaw isn't in the I-Cub lineup. With an off day tomorrow for the Triple-A team...wonder why *that* might suggest?
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Matt Shaw is not in the Iowa Cubs lineup today. Do with that as please.
