Rcal10

I think Kyle to the one is just temporary. I think if/when all are healthy (July) there is not a place for Kyle. IMO, Alzolay will be out for the year. With that in mind this is the 13 I would have on the staff: Steele, Imanaga, Taillion, Assad, Wicks, Leiter, Neris, Merryweather, Wesneski, Brown, Smyly, Miller, & Almonte. The only 2 with options left are Brown and Wesneski. They lack a closer. That would be what I would look for at the deadline. That would push everyone back a spot in their role. Kind of what the Dbacks did when they got Seward last year. If/when they change anyone out either Brown or Wesneski would have to be sent down. None of the others could be without clearing waivers. For now, they Cubs can mess around with that 4th and 5th spot. Mainly go Assad and Wicks, but if you want to limit a few innings you can skip them and plug in Brown or Wesneski once or twice. You can also start one of Brown or Wesneski to give the entire rotation an extra day.

That right does not include the right to not accept being dfa. So no idea what having a full 10/5 does in this situation.

Second hard hit ball from him. Hopefully he breaks out of his dunk. But he’s, trrrible luck.

My guess is unless that ball is fumbled away after it drops one of the Cubs runners would have been out on the bases anyway. That Suzuki ball puts runners in a real bad spot. Swanson got back, which tells me he probably wouldn’t have made 3rd.

Is Miller a guy? He has looked pretty good. He doesn’t have any options, so he better be a guy.

2 earned runs in 4 2/3 with the wind blowing out against a very good line up isn’t too bad. Too many pitches.

Agreed. And/or in mop up duty in games they are down by a lot.

But with bench guys it is more luck that they have a good year than actually a quality player who agrees to sit the bench. Watching the Phillies right now.. They have Roger Clemens kid playing second base. He is a bench bat hitting over .320. But he is 28 and sucked until now. But because he is hitting now does that make him a good bench bat? Most likely he will suck again. Last year when Mastrobuoni came back he hit over .300. Madrigal’s carrier average isn’t bad. The bench bat is just a tough spot to fill with guys being good one year and sucking the next. Thr nature of the position, bench middle infielder almost guarantees whoever you have is a crap shoot on if he will be good or not. It is kind of sinilar to middle relief pitchers. Also guesswork. I am not saying you are wrong. They do need more production from the bench. I am just saying going into the year there is no sure fire bench bat, especially not for middle infield. Zack Short is the Braves bench middle infielder.

How many teams have great benches, really. Baseball has become pay the main guys and fill in the rest with low paid guys. Sure, perfect world you have capable bench bats. But with the Cubs spending thru just didn’t have the money to add bench help. You can say all you want that you shouldn’t take the bench for granted, but most of the time teams do. Cubs had 3 guys signed to minor league deals (Cooper, Peralta, and Casili) all opt out to take bench spots elsewhere. Those are guys the Cubs didn’t even want on their bench that other teams gladly took. I am not sure, but Dom Smith might also be in a major league roster. If so, that is a 4th guy. You keep saying they need a better bench. Tell us who they should have signed for the middle infield back up. And even if you do name someone it comes with the benefit of hindsight.

I’d they wanted to attempt to catch lightening in a bottle they could send down Madrigal and bring up Davis. Then play Bellinger, Tauchman, Happ, Suzuki, Busch and Davis interchangeably at 3 OF spots, the DH and 1st base. This would give them a better bench bat (the guy left out of those 6) than Madrigal and still leave them with Wisdom for a guy they use to maybe hit a homer(or, if need be, play first very occasionally)Vasquez as a back up infielder, and whoever isn’t catching on the bench. Each of those 6 guys gets at least 3 or 4 starts a week. I imagine, for now, Bellinger and Suzuki play pretty much everyday.

That’s fine with me. Not really the point I was making anyway. The point is for those who constantly complain about the guy and suggesting the guy is not with his contract, I feel as if they have never watched the Cubs play since he came up. He is who he is. A streaky hitter. He will get in a streak and play well. Most likely at seasons end he will be right around a 115 offensive player who plays solid, not great, defense in left. Probably end around a 3WAR. I understand why some don’t like that sort of player. Too many lows. But as you said, he is here until he doesn’t want to be. So we need to live with him. And he isn’t going to sit so PCA can play everyday.

And for now, that is the correct call. I find the Happ conversation especially interesting. It is like people haven’t watched the Cubs ever. This is a yearly thing with him. He struggles and everyone suggest he sucks. Then he turns it around and people act like he has it figured out and is great. He is what he is. A streaky player who at the end of the day is probably a 3 WAR player. So they need to keep playing him and get to the good Happ soon enough. I am fine if they want to move him next year. But I also know he is one of the better left fielders in baseball. I just hate the highs and lows he goes through every year. Tauchman, on the other hand, does not have a long history of success. If/when he falters maybe PCA comes back. Maybe then you get the outfield you want with Happ DH.

Pretty much what I suggested earlier today. Don’t like PCA not being in the major league roster, but I do get it. I was afraid this is what they would do. But he probably should get regular AB.

Wisdom can play the outfield if they need to have someone fill in during a game. PCA didn’t make the opening day roster and that only has those 4 guys. So if it didn’t matter then why should it now? Then they had Cooper and now it is Wisdom. So actually Wisdom is a better extra outfielder option then Cooper

Obviously when comparing Mastro to PCA, Mastro would have to be sent down if they want the best roster right now. But, as you said, it depends on how comfortable they are with Morel at 3rd and Vasquez is the back up. But another factor is what is best for a player they have a lot of hope for as a long term solution beyond 24’ what is better for PCA? Should he be getting regular AB at AAA. Do the Cubs possibly sacrifice some extra AB from him in the minors, where he might gain more experience, for a slightly better ML roster now? Not sure what they would do. But if he is sent down, that is the reason. They may want him to be playing everyday.

I think he can play 3rd. I know they started him there last week.

As I said earlier, not a popular decision, but it could be PCA. When they brought back Suzuki and Bellinger they sent down Canario, but not PCA. That could have been as insurance for Happ at the time. Before Bellinger and Suzuki got hurt they didn’t have a 5th outfielder. They may want PCA to get regular AB. I think we all feel the obvious guys to not be on the roster would be Mastro and Madrigal. But I am not certain what is who goes down.

Timing does seem odd and concerning. If Swanson is coming back they have to make move to take someone off the roster. Now adding Vasquez is a second guy off the roster. I just don’t see both Madrigal and Mastrobuoni being sent down. Maybe a trade? Maybe someone takes Madrigal and Mastro sent down? As you said, more likely is Hoerner isn’t ready. Which really sucks. Not sure if Mastro or Madrigal goes down. BTW, I know people won’t like this idea, but they could send down PCA and one of the infielders if Swanson and Hoerner are in the line up Tuesday. I hate that idea, but it could happen.

I’m hoping either Madrigal is traded or Mastrobouni is sent down. Or both.

I team is as bad as they look when they are going bad as good as they look when things are going well. The fact that the Cubs are 4 over and actually look pretty bad is encouraging. They will start playing better. Guys like Happ, Swanson, Morel all either have a history of history better than this or.in Morel’s case, hitting into very bad luck. What we need to hope for is Busch to find his stroke again. If he doesn’t I would consider moving Bellinger to 1st and maybe trying Davis. Maybe he gives them a spark. Outfield and DH consist of Tauchman, Davis, PCA, Suzuki and Happ. Rotate guys in. I think catcher is going to be a problem all year. Just going to have to live with what they have. As for guys constantly complaining about Mastrobouni and Madrigal, I just don’t get it. They are bench guys. They shouldn’t be playing so really them being bad shouldn’t be a surprise. And there is no one else in the system. I also doubt they trade for a backup middle infielder/bench bat. I am not advocating Davis now. I would still give Busch a chance to come out of his funk. I am just saying if there is one thing they can do aafter trying Busch a little longer, that might be it. Glad to see Vasquez coming up. But I do think he probably isn’t any better a hitter than Madrigal or Mastrobuoni. I just hope he replaces one of them and isn’t coming up because now Hoerner is going on the IL. At least he is supposed to play good defense.

Morel leads MLB in MLB RBI. Not too bad for a guy slumping. I am not worried about him. His BABIP is very low. His hard contact is very high. He is fine. Just not very lucky.

I didn’t hear foul ball. Maybe he did say that, but watching the game it was obviously fair.

For a guy with the stuff that Brown has, he gives up a lot of hard contact.

Ballgame over. Man they really suck right now.

Tailon deserved better today. He pitched well. Defense hurt him and the umpire missed a 3rd strike call before the homer he gave up. Hope they get out of this inning. He doesn’t deserve to lose this game.