Thusly Boned

Bregman may win the GG at 3B this year (tied for the lead in DRS at 3B), and Nico is Nico at 2B, so I don't see that happening in the short term. If (when) Dansby's defense falls off (he's still a top 5-7 defensive SS, probably), you cross that bridge when you come to it. But I don't think we're at the precipice of that.

Yeah, you'd much rather keep Suzuki than Happ (I love Seiya), but as you say Suzuki isn't going to accept the QO. And if he does in fact command a nine-figure contract over 5+ years, I don't think that is a wise move to make. I'm not convinced Happ will take the QO given the state of thew market, but he's definitely more likely. But as much as I have appreciated him, I hope he doesn't. I'd be pretty irritated Jed offered him any kind of multi-year deal, tbh. His extreme streakiness is frustrating, and with another similarly hot/cold everyday player in the lineup, I think he should be let go. But otoh, as bad as the offseason market is, I think replacing either or both of them in any meaningful way would end up being trade and/or Alcantara.

I thought it was plainly obvious how it affected the team when he was out, with a number of notable game altering plays that didn't get made (either at SS or 2B) that would have with him. Enough that I don't want to see him go anywhere, at least so long as we have such a contact heavy staff. Of course, his inconsistency at the plate (and to K in big spots) is often completely maddening, and that leads to negativity bias for a lot of people, but the Cubs are better with him without question.

Exactly. Their offense depends on stringing stuff together and maintaining pressure, and in the postseason where pitching is optimized, that is largely taken away from everyone. Which what makes the Cubs situation so frustrating: the ability to explode at almost any point in the lineup, but without the pitching to suppress any kind of offense, really.

I think any team with a couple really good starters and/or a lockdown bullpen has a good shot at taking the Brewers out. It's been a point of discussion for a while and I think foolish bailey did a good video about it recently, but the Brewers offense is actually ranks worse against really good pitching than most other teams. Unless they suddenly start thumping, they'll remain vulnerable in series against teams with strong pitching. I think they have a better shot than last year with the emergence of Misiorowski and Henderson, but against teams than can match up almost 1 to 1 with their pitching (like LA, but unlike the Cubs), they're at a disadvantage, imo. Of course it's October, so anything and everything is on the table, so I'd rather the Cubs get a shot at them than not, at the end of the day.

Yeah, I don't think the Brewers offense can work well in the postseason and they are destined to get bounced again, but our pitching is so bad that I can't see it being the Cubs who do it. Knowing that their fans have such a complex about the Cubs that they almost don't care if they are eliminated so long as they beat us almost makes me not want to even see them have the opportunity almost

I see the NL playing out a lot like last year, unfortunately. The pitching (mostly the bullpen) is just too iffy for the Cubs to survive for long. I can see them getting past the pads, but not further.

Yeah, of we're talking excitement over one player's season, 1998 stands alone in my lifetime (imo). That was crazy. Of course that is partially because I just can't get excited for these things in quite the same way I did 25-30 years ago.

It's hard to get mad at the homer, it's his best pitch and it was well executed. If he throws that exact same pitch to him 10 more times I doubt he hits it out again. The walk is what pissed me off.

Yeah, that's really all you can say about this game. Even with a top-notch offense during a good stretch, you can run into the occasional buzzsaw.

I was around A- to B+, so I went with a B. I would have preferred one of the SP had more control, but all the major needs were hit, and both Gausman and Holmes are good fits (I wouldn't mind Holmes being extended, depending on how things go). Zeferjahn adds much needed strikeouts to the bullpen and has a lot of control. It'll be interesting to see what the lab can make of Braxton Garrett, too. Not in love with giving up Mo/Rojas, but some of that is probably prospect bias. If Brown/Cabrera come back healthy, the new depth will give the team a lot of options for pitcher deployment in October. Not sure how anyone could rationally grade this lower than a B.

Seems like a lot of inexplicable non-challenges by Cubs hitters lately

Bregman's K really annoyed me, but Nico not challenging there was inexcusable. I don't usually yell at the TV, but I did there. In that situation you have to challenge, even if it isn't clearly a ball (which it was). And challenge again on the next close pitch if it comes to it. Like once it got to 3-0 he should have been primed to challenge anything close. That was just a supremely frustrating game.

I was thinking the exact same thing again, lol

I was about to make a snide remark about not PH Alcantara for Conforto vs the LHP, but I guess I'll take that