Transmogrified Tiger

The distilled choice is basically: would you rather have one less bench player for ~5 games, or be without a ready-to-play Rizzo for ~5 games?

Is this common for two concurrent proceedings to happen like this? I have no idea, I assume it's only possible because they have homes in multiple states, which naturally excludes the huge majority of marriages.

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/williamson/2019/05/15/chicago-cubs-ben-zobrist-files-separation-wife-williamson-county/3680470002/

I think the simplest way to say it is that they are invested and "believe in" Russell. They used a big trade chip to get him when he was only in AA, he rewarded them with multiple strong MLB seasons and being a part of the title team. I believe the FO when they say they're interested/invested in the people, and even absent the circumstances I think they hold the core players tighter than is optimal. Schwarber is a less gross example of this, it would've been easy/tempting to trade him at multiple points, but they believe in him being the best version of the player he could be. As far as the DV stuff goes, part of it is not being able to reconcile the Russell you know and the Russell that did those things, and I think that comes out in how they've approached it. Reading Mooney's article on it this week, it's fairly clear that they've engaged earnestly on the broad issue of domestic violence, and there is logic to trying to be an example of rehabilitation, especially if your primary goal is preventing repeat offenses by that person. But all of that is mostly behind the scenes and doesn't force you to confront the outward message you send when you keep Russell around. It's a lesson they have not learned from Chapman and Murphy, that while we should do our best to rehabilitate those players, they are also avatars for the pain that so many people have experienced. Their bar for keeping those avatars around in the name of rehabilitation has not been near high enough, given the comments that all 3 of Chapman, Murphy, and Russell have made about those issues since being acquired/retained.

The Cubs need to play at an 89 win pace the rest of the year to stay ahead of the current 2nd place pace (92 wins). They need to play at a 94 win pace to stay ahead of last year's 1st place pace (95 wins).

Hawaiian Happ

Fowler posted a .393 OBP in 2016. I'd be VERY curious to see if the Cubs' leadoff spot has topped that in the 2 full season since. I can try and figure it out tonight, have to head out to golf league soon. I’m almost positive I’ve seen tweets or mentions in articles our leadoff spot has been better than Dexter every year since he’s been. If someone wants to dig in to it before then feel free. Last year it was a similar/slightly better because they left Rizzo there after his early season slump ended. Team 2016: .267/.381/.434 2017: .246/.324/.422 2018: .303/.366/.454 Individual 2016 Fowler: 546 PA, .276/.393/.449 Zobrist: 96 PA, .219/.333/.402 2017 Jay: 239 PA, .267/.325/.350 Zobrist: 182 PA, .253/.330/.438 Schwarber: 173 PA, .191/.312/.381 2018 Almora: 213 PA, .333/.368/.429 Zobrist: 140 PA, .285/.371/.439 Rizzo: 138 PA, .328/.428/.552 Murphy: 131 PA, .312/.336/.504

Yeah, it was mentioned in a few places. One of the logistical considerations I saw is that in the new clubhouse Maddon’s office is a bit isolated, so he’s making more of an effort to mingle on top of being more of an instructor.

I audibly gasped when that shot went in, oh man

Repent

did Joe Buck just say John Gant has electric stuff

Rizzo took off a throw too late, needed to force the longer throw from the 2nd base side of the rundown, or at least bluff it to see if he could get Javy safely back to first.

Even if you think that Heyward is permanently fixed going forward, you're going to objectively prefer Zobrist, Bryant, Rizzo, Baez, Contreras, and Schwarber over him. Add in that even a good/fixed Heyward isn't an OBP machine and it makes sense that in most lineups he's going to stay in the bottom 3rd.

You know you've crossed the point of no return when people remark on your week of hitting .389 with abject disgust.

The SP have been nearly a full run better than their FIP so far, so even with positive regression from a peripheral perspective that could be canceled out by regression in true results. That said, I wish I had said this more strongly before the season than a stray prediction, but the Cardinals were going to be the stiffest competition for the Central. Between the pitching not taking a leap forward and their position player group not going to continue to put up a .360 wOBA, they're going to slow down though.

Yeah, it's been like 10 games each home and away, plus Miller has been hitter friendly to all teams so far and there's no team-wide benefit the home offense seems to be getting. It's weird and noteworthy but not at all scandalous at this stage. His K and BB rate seem to be the kicker in all this. Park factors are unlikely to make that huge of a difference on those stats. It's like 60 PA on either side of a split where you expect there to be deviation, even with BB/K. Maybe he really loves the batters eye, or he faced a handful of pitchers at home who had no idea what they were doing early in the season. It'd be more meaningful if that were the case in August, but until then it's trivia.

you watch your mouth when talking about my stout adult son

Yeah, it's been like 10 games each home and away, plus Miller has been hitter friendly to all teams so far and there's no team-wide benefit the home offense seems to be getting. It's weird and noteworthy but not at all scandalous at this stage.

only 4 more years at 17M per after this one

the most baseball thing I've seen happen all year

One hopper Baez fielded to the glove side, hit the pocket of the glove and slipped out because of how much velocity it had. Not the type of error you see in MLB too often, especially for someone like Javy

Rocky Gale is absolutely not a real person, come on

With the days off it's probably fine(especially given the current backup), but day after night and then a cross country flight is non-trivial for a catcher. I'd rather punt a couple at bats worth of benefit to be extra conservative that Willson doesn't wear down.

Just to take that fun fact a step further, Strop is the only reliever in MLB to get to 50 IP and sub-3 ERA each of the last 5 years by my quick count. The only other pitcher in total to do so is Kershaw.

OF COURSE it's Nightengale