Bertz
-
Posts
12,366 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
29
Content Type
Profiles
Joomla Posts 1
Chicago Cubs Videos
Chicago Cubs Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits
2026 Chicago Cubs Top Prospects Ranking
News
2023 Chicago Cubs Draft Picks
Guides & Resources
2024 Chicago Cubs Draft Picks
The Chicago Cubs Players Project
2025 Chicago Cubs Draft Pick Tracker
Blogs
Events
Forums
Store
Gallery
Everything posted by Bertz
-
I think letting Shota go would be a knee jerk emotional reaction to the past two weeks. Thankfully I think even Jed's biggest critics would agree he doesn’t do knee jerk emotional reactions. I understand if the team wants to try a gambit to not commit to 2028 this far out. That feels fair. I suspect Shota would not opt out of his deal. He'd certainly beat his 2026 salary on the open market, we saw just last year team's desperate enough to give frickin Walker Buehler 21 million, but that player option for '27 likely makes up the difference (and then some?).
-
Cubs (Imanaga) vs Brewers (Ashby): 10/6/25, 8:08pm
Bertz replied to Brandon Glick's topic in Fred Hornkohl Game Thread Forum
Yeah i think knowing now what the sticker price was for SP IMO the answer is that Taylor Rogers should have instead been David Bednar or Griffin Jax. -
Cubs (Imanaga) vs Brewers (Ashby): 10/6/25, 8:08pm
Bertz replied to Brandon Glick's topic in Fred Hornkohl Game Thread Forum
Craig is doing the Busch gambit, I approve -
I like Eno Sarris, but its horsefeathering asinine that this is not the default way of doing things. Like "the blue on the map is clearly land" level stupid.
-
Cubs (Imanaga) vs Brewers (Ashby): 10/6/25, 8:08pm
Bertz replied to Brandon Glick's topic in Fred Hornkohl Game Thread Forum
This caught my eye. I was pretty positive that Priester did not have big splits. Reason being is I remember being surprised when we faced him earlier in the year by that fact, sinker/slider guys generally do. when we faced him. So I went digging: https://www.fangraphs.com/players/quinn-priester/25977/splits-tool?position=P&splitArr=5&splitArrPitch=&autoPt=false&splitTeams=false&statType=player&statgroup=2&startDate=2025-3-1&endDate=2025-11-1&players=&filter=&groupBy=month&wxTemperature=&wxPressure=&wxAirDensity=&wxElevation=&wxWindSpeed=&sort=-1%2C1 It looks like Priester just suddenly stopped being able to get lefties out starting in August? Curious what the hell happened there. But yeah I like the Turner/Busch gambit. I also agree sliding Happ down is a good idea. He's broadly a high ball hitter righty and a low ball hitter lefty, so with the Brewers going from a lefty sinkerballer to a righty I'd ideally want him to avoid Ashby and on the other hand want him to face Priester ASAP after he comes into the game. -
Catching up on some Athletic articles from this weekend: - Craig obviously wouldn't say anything so definitive, but sounds like Tucker's probably not going to see the field again this season - If Horton comes back, it's going to be as a reliever - Steele is currently tracking towards Opening Day-ish next year. I would expect a couple rehab starts, both for his sake and for roster management reasons, but still I was not expecting anything before Memorial Day
-
I didn't expect 12 pitchers again but it makes sense with the off days
-
Cubs-Brewers Game One Thread, By The Numbers
Bertz replied to Brock Beauchamp's topic in Fred Hornkohl Game Thread Forum
-
It's mostly BABIP, they have a .319 against lefties which at the team level is preposterous. And it's not earned through batted ball quality, their hard hit rate is simply fine and their barrel rate sucks. Like they're not a disaster against lefties, but I'd say they're noticeably worse. xwOBA is .313 against lefties and .325 against righties. And for whatever issues you can take with xwOBA hard to quibble comparing the same team against itself.
-
All else being equal you want to throw LHP at the Brewers. If you think Boyd threw so little on Tuesday that this short rest won't hurt him, he's the clear top option. I'd have done a Rea/Bullpen game, but I get it.
-
How in the world does a splitter have negative vertical break? I thought only fastballs could do that?? This has got to be the most unicorn pitch in the system right? It makes Neely's slider sound boring.
-
-
I believe it's simple record, no H2H or anything. So we'd have it against the M's or Tigers but not against the Jays or Yankees.
-
I think Amaya is healthy he just ran out of time to get ready. Like he started a few games for Iowa, so I think if there was an injury he'd be added immediately. I doubt he gets added otherwise though. Kelly can play every day from here on because of the off days. And McGuire provides better defense than Amaya in a situation where e.g. you pinch hit Mo for Kelly. And I agree I'd guess Alcantara is the guy who loses his spot too. Maybe he comes back if we face the Phillies next round? But otherwise Castro can cover.
-
2025 In-Season Cubs Top Prospect Lists Updates
Bertz replied to CaliforniaRaisin's topic in Cubs Minor League Talk
Alcantara 44, Rojas 55, Wiggins 66 No Caissie or Mo still, but maybe in his fuller offseason update they make their way back on. -
Jordan Wicks ate 3 innings Sunday allowing the bullpen to come into the WC completely rested. Pretty valuable in a series where we were side-eying every member of the rotation coming in. I'd also guess that a minimum 15 day stay is a pipe dream regardless, but we'll see.
-
I believe Woodruff is out but Quintana is probably back. I'd assume Peralta Priester Patrick Quintana Peralta Though with the off days it's actually doable to go to Peralta and Priester 2x each if you are comfortable with 4 days rest. Might be a case where Quintana goes game 4 if they're up Peralta goes if they're down.
-
There's a similar one from Fangraphs a few weeks ago https://blogs.fangraphs.com/what-will-the-brewers-do-if-theres-no-meatwaste/ Basically the Brewers are patient without falling into the trap of being passive, but realistically there's a definite talent deficit there.
-
I mean Happ was a complete mess this past series, so having at least the option of going Seiya in LF and Mo at DH would be nice, no? Or if Seiya goes back to being ice cold. My point is mainly about options. Tucker's the one hitter in the lineup complete enough that he'll never ever ever come out, so it sucks that he's currently locked into DH.
-
I'm curious how close we are to Tucker being able to play the OF, especially with all the off days coming up. Because once he can play the OF i think getting Ballesteros into the mix gets a lot easier.
-
I like Preller. Frankly the league needs 2-3 Prellers to keep all the Jeds on track. But yeah, the window probably closed for them last night. If you assume they keep their payroll flat, they have ~$40M to replace quite a bit heading out the door in FA. Namely Cease, King, Arraez, and Suarez. If WC3 is as uninspiring next year as it was this year, Maybe AJ can keep enough plates spinning for one more go? But we're definitely near the end. And with the farm and the payroll bloat it's probably not a quick lay down for a year and come back good as new situation.
-
-
Yeah I think especially with the game being sandwiched by off days you don't overthink it: just pitch Rea and have a quick trigger finger for the bullpen.
-
https://bsky.app/profile/blandalytics.pitcherlist.com/post/3m2asw6mczc2y Not sure why this isn't embedding, but apparently the pitch to Bogaerts was a strike
