David

It's the reason you can't tell a good hitter from a bad one without looking at a record of hundreds of plate appearances.

What happens in those situations is basically a matter of luck or happenstance. The idea is to get a lot of base runners on so that some of those times when we happen to get hits, there are runners on. We're inevitably going to fail more often than not in those situations. That's a fact. For people to be complaining about not getting hits in certain cherry picked situations is missing the point, entirely. Luck? Sure, sometimes. If you hammer the ball but it goes directly towards the third baseman's glove, yes, that's bad luck. But grounding out to SS when you need a fly ball isn't bad luck. It's bad hitting. Most of the time when people fail in those situations, it isn't because they're unlucky. It's because of a bad approach. I doubt it's "most of the time". You really think that more than half of the time when a guy fails with the bases loaded, it's because he's unlucky? I sure don't. It's not about being lucky or unlucky. I'm not saying that we didn't get a hit because we were unlucky, or we got a hit because we were lucky. Hitting is extremely luck dependent. There are of factors coming into play to determine whether a hit happens or not. You honestly think that if a hitter went up there with the "correct" approach he'd have success more than half the time? Because, damn, that would be the key to unlocking the best offensive player in the history of the game.

FWIW, Harden has said he's fine. Lou has been the one to suggest there's something "wrong" beyond just getting him some rest for normal aches and pains...both in today and yesterday's comments...

All this ambiguity drives me nuts. They're pitchers, of course they have discomfort all year. I can't imagine it's that big of a deal if they're starting him next week, but I guess we'll see.

And let's also not forget that Z has had a history of cramping up. It's not like this is the first time that he's had to come out of a game early. It's just the timing (September pennant race, losing streak, coming immediately after he was scratched) that has everybody all nervous. Well, he doesn't usually wind up seeing a doctor to have his arm checked out when that happens, but yea, I was thinking (or, rather, hoping) about that possibility, too.

...and they also couldn't have... like they didn't... because, you know.. that happens a really good percentage of the time, too.

That sucks. Big time.

What happens in those situations is basically a matter of luck or happenstance. The idea is to get a lot of base runners on so that some of those times when we happen to get hits, there are runners on. We're inevitably going to fail more often than not in those situations. That's a fact. For people to be complaining about not getting hits in certain cherry picked situations is missing the point, entirely. Hey... the CUBS are really clutch with the bases loaded !!! CUBS AB R H 2b 3b HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS BABIP P/PA IsoD RBI% bases loaded 136 26 44 15 0 6 145 19 29 0.324 0.370 0.566 0.936 0.376 3.76 0.046 0.345 All ABs 4816 750 1353 286 19 161 711 558 1007 0.281 0.358 0.449 0.807 0.327 3.88 0.077 0.198 I'm not trying to argue with you, as I know you're posting this tongue in cheek - just a disclaimer. ...but even if those numbers held true over a somewhat significant amount of time, right there is an example of a situation where someone would say, "Look at how good they are in the clutch," or whatever, while totally overlooking the fact that for the bases to be loaded in that situation, a number of factors that would be conducive to good offensive production would probably already be in play, i.e. an already struggling pitcher, less freedom to pitch outside the zone, margin for error, etc.

CUBS are 48-3 when they score 7 runs or more. Games like last night just don't happen that often. And, quite frankly, that record would very likely be 49-2 if Lou hadn't brought our worst and least reliable reliever, by far, into a close (tied?) game.

Because when the Cubs lose, it's because they aren't trying as hard to win.

What happens in those situations is basically a matter of luck or happenstance. The idea is to get a lot of base runners on so that some of those times when we happen to get hits, there are runners on. We're inevitably going to fail more often than not in those situations. That's a fact. For people to be complaining about not getting hits in certain cherry picked situations is missing the point, entirely.

*sigh* If people haven't learned anything about what makes a good offense and what doesn't this year, they never will.

How does our playoff magic number go down with the Brewers loss? I thought Phillie would have to lose because they are in Wild Card second place. 14 for the WC 19 for the division if the Phillies and Brewers lose respectively. Did you mean 19 for the division if the Brewers lose? Philly would only be considered in the WC. He meant 14 for the wild card if the Phillies lose and 19 for the division if the Brewers lose

It's because of that stuff you posted.

Our offense was fine yesterday. Depends on what you mean by fine. home runs, check. base hits, check. Clutch hitting with RISP, not so much. Don't give me that clutch hitting crap. We scored 7 runs. We didn't lose because of the offense. No, we lost because of a combination of offense, defense, and pitching. You're right... we should fault the offense for not cashing in every single runner that got on base. Sorry, but the offense did more than enough. Expectations are ridiculous if you want to start nitpicking about the fact that they didn't happen to get hits in some situations late in the game, especially when the Astros should've had no business being tied in that game. You can't complain because hits don't happen to come in clutch situations, especially not when you score 7 runs in the game. Well, scratch that, you can, but that complaint would be dumb. Complain all you want if they go up there with a bad approach and give the other team easy outs all game. Hell, complain if they go out there with a good approach but don't manage to score much (I'm not inclined to do that, because that's basically blaming them for bad luck, but to each his own)... but when you both have a good approach and score 7 runs in a game, the offense is the last place you should be looking to lay any blame.

Then again, its rotoworld and they by opinion more than anything. All they're doing is taking the same story/quote we've seen and adding their analysis. They don't know anything we don't.

I'm not sure about that. I'd rather skip starts now than the middle of the month, when the schedule is going to be tougher. The 12th through the 25th is going to be the time to drop the hammer, IMO. Particularly during Milwaukee's 7 gamer in Philly and Chicago. They may close a game or two on us in the interim, but that's where the Cubs can really put it away, I think. Also, that 4 game series with at the Mets looks like it may be relevant. Maybe, but if we don't win tonight, we're looking at Lilly, Marshall, and Marquis coming up... 8 game losing streak, anyone? Dempster's gotta stop it tonight. lol wow way to get ahead of yourself

That was a sick turn

Can't wait to put them away for good in the head to head.. In fact, all it'll take is a split :grin:

Just freaking pound the zone, you're up 6 runs...

Big Game Olly (lol) has got this

Our offense was fine yesterday. Depends on what you mean by fine. home runs, check. base hits, check. Clutch hitting with RISP, not so much. Don't give me that clutch hitting crap. We scored 7 runs. We didn't lose because of the offense.

Wow... after all the hand-wringing.. We could easily end this stretch 5.5 games up. Makes me sick thinking about how far back we could've buried them, but oh well. I'd definitely take it if that's how today turns out.

Did I read that right? Mets with 5 in the first?

Our offense was fine yesterday.