PeanutPunch33

Seiya is amazing..

I can't remember the last time I've been this excited to watch a Cubs offense play, probably not since the WS squad. They have a really nice blend of veterans + young talent, and nearly all of them seem to churn a good AB consistently. Hard to believe Morel is only 24.

I'm wondering what the rational is for starting LL today, didn't he get a relief appearance yesterday? And isn't there a 'surprise' element that's lost if those hitters just saw him? I'm thinking maybe he's just an 'opener' that goes 1 inning today

Madrigal turning into a guy would be exciting

If Morel got the same playing time, he would be a 40 HR and 100 RBI guy. Ian Happ will never be that. Them not finding Morel a true spot is an egregious organizational failure, if nothing else, IMO.

He's got all the tools to succeed in LF, if I recall Happ wasn't always the best defensive player out there and then he grew into the role. Morel has way better physical tools to grow into that role than Happ did and certainly a better role for him than 3rd base. Happ is just a guy.

The truth is that Morel should be playing in LF and there was no reason for the Cubs not to give it to him. Happ is a bad contract that takes up a spot from the next wave of young talent.

If any Cubs players are fortunate enough to make the home run derby this year, they need to bring Hendricks along as their pitcher.. lol jk Hendricks seems useless in road games, if this exact game was at Wrigley Field he'd probably throw 6 innings with 2 ER

🙂

Great debut Hector!

Spring training and today, he's swinging at some crazy pitches right now. 5 feet short of the plate or outside

Nico has been very Gordon beckham ish lately

Steele is a legit Ace

Shaw is so dang special..honestly you could stick him on the opening day roster and expect better production than a guy like Ian Happ already, at least offensively, they got a GREAT prospect here. He could be a top 10 prospect in baseball by the end of the year if he isn't already at the big league level

I'm thrilled that Assad and Wicks are getting a chance.. maybe I just have a misguided or unrealistic view of these guys but, I see 1 future all-star between these 2 and the other will be a reliable big-leaguer, probably out of the bullpen or a bottom of rotation starter. Jed is such a good GM.

The Cubs have a loaded lineup, rotation, bullpen, and farm system. This team is built for the long-run. Jed has done an incredible job

So this is purely based on my "eye test" analysis, but I don't see how the Cubs don't win 88 to 90 games next year or more if they re-sign Bellinger. When I watched the team last year, they were devoid in 2 key areas: Left handed hitting, and coaching (imo) A few reasons why I'm optimistic: 1. I legitimately think Cody Bellinger is one of the best players in baseball when he is on this team. I'm all-on in the idea that the Cubs have "fixed" him and his approach. People forget that he was legit the best player in the game in the month of July last year, and he was basically a .820+ ish (if i recall) OPS guy before he got hurt and came back in July to be even better than that. This is an Arizona/LA kid who translated right away to Chicago baseball. I also think that he can consistently mantain a high BABIP now because of his new appraoch of putting the ball in play and spraying it all over. He has taken to hitting at Wrigley the way Castellanos did in 2019. 2. Emergence of Seiya Suzuki: I don't think we've seen the best from this guy yet, and he clearly turned a corner the 2nd half of last year. If his new "IDGAF" attitude extrapolates to a full season, he could be a top 20 hitter in baseball. I expect it to come all together this year with CC at manager and giving him his "mental break" days as needed 3. The Cubs got nothing from left handed hitting last year outside of Belly and some days from Happ. Now you are adding 2 top LHH prospects in Armstrong and Busch this year, in addition to retaining Tauchman and Happ. The Cubs can platoon the **** out of teams all year long, similar to the 2021 SF Giants. 4. Insane Pitching Depth: Up and down the roster, the Cubs have excellent pitching, both left handed and right handed. This is not even including Ben Brown and Cade Horton and both of them could force their way up in 2024. They have more pitching talent than they know what to do with. 5. Coaching - the Cubs lost a ton of close games last year, and they added probably the best manager in the game. IDK guys, I'm really optimistic this year. BTW the Cubs have 2 bonafide starting caliber players coming off of their bench - Morel and Madrigal - this is a loaded team. They could absorb an injury in the rotation, bullpen, or lineup and be fine given the depth

I don’t understand advanced stats well enough to carry on but if he’s moving up the minors at the rate he is, he could be pretty dang special.

Edit that’s true, I just hope it’s not Chapman lol I’m not sold on him

Matt Shaw is a unicorn. He’s got “best player in the organization” potential. TBH, a 1 year placeholder at 3B makes sense. Maybe run it back with Madrigal or sign a bounce back guy like Tim Anderson for 1 year to play there

I would be upset if they trade Morel. He’s just a kid that makes things happen in big moments, like Baez or Trea Turner

How about now

Definitely. I’m intrigued that the Cubs just swapped out basically heavy ground-ball guy (Stro) to a heavy fly-ball guy from what I’ve read in Shota. Hawkins and team have completely changed the pitching here in just a few years

Arrieta and Lackey fell off so quickly.. with this team it just seems like 1 option after another. Wicks seems like an after thought sometimes but even he reminds me a bit of a young Lester. Just so many arms everywhere and control on everyone

Jed > Theo when it’s all said and done