Stratos

Which team's SP do our hitters match up better against? Hopefully we can avoid SP that neutralize LHB.

Agree. The Brewers being god-like for a month doesn't even bug me that much since the Cubs can't control that. Watching key hitters and a whole offense struggle for a month+ does get frustrating to watch every day. We should be grateful the pitching stepped up during that stretch or things would have been much uglier. We could easily be 10 games back.

I'm not saying I expect them to throw for 2 more months but they need to obviously prepare for that possibility if they have plans to go deep in Oct. Do they really expect Boyd and Horton to do that? Or are they just using them now while they're healthy and effective and rolling the dice in the playoffs?

PCA hit .160/.216/.230 (.430 OPS) in Aug. Yikes. .984 OPS in July. Let's hope he heats up again.

Yes pitch counts matter more than IP. Horton;s situation is better than the IP because he's been throwing strikes and been effective/efficient and avoiding walks and K's. I'm also not arguing his treatment is as bad as Mark Prior. But they have 2 months to pitch, and they need to be at their strongest in the playoffs, not running on fumes. It appears obvious the Cubs have no plans for any significant rest for either Boyd or Horton unless they show fatigue (which Boyd could be?) or get injured. Were Prior and Wood showing fatigue in 2003? Who knows but it didn't seem that way from what I remember. Comparing pitch counts from 20 years ago to now is also not 1:1. Some preventative caution doesn't seem unreasonable at all. When the load on a part of the body is too much it can cause injury in an instant, it doesn't always come with warnings. The data shows pitching injuries dramatically increased in 2021 and 2022 because of limited usage in 2020 and have been trending down every year since. This is also an org that just traded for a SP with declining velo red flags and then immediately threw him on the mound and got immediately hurt. 2 years ago they also pitched their oft-injured closer into the ground because they were desperately short on pitching talent, which doesn't seem much different this year with the rotation. They also threw Steele back on the mound in late Sept last yr for meaningless games after a couple weeks out with an elbow injury. instead of shutting him down. This org doesn't have a clue and continually ignores red flags and shouldn't be given the benefit of the doubt.

Yeah. They need Suzuki and someone else, like PCA, to start hitting again. They have a shot in the playoffs if Boyd and Horton hold up plus Imanaga. Taillon/Assad can keep them in the game hopefully too. I guess Dusty Baker runs the Cubs now. Boyd is at 159 IP already, he's well into abuse territory and he's got 2 months to go. Horton is over 130 IP for the year between levels with 2 months to go. Next year's injured list will be fun. This org is run by clowns sometimes. At some point a team should be held legally liable for these things for messing with people's health and careers.

Shaw has become a glove god at 3B. This infield is fantastic. One of the best I've ever seen as Cubs.

Im done with Ben Brown for the 2025 season. Time to try anyone else.

Cubs: "No"

Julian "I gotta be me!" Tavarez.

Jason Dubois. There's a name i haven't thought about in 20 years lol. 2004 Mat Mervis lol

True. Lately he keeps throwing pitches down the heart of the plate. He got lucky on that 3rd out, another fb right down the middle. Hopefully its mechanical and not fatigue and he cleans that up soon.

Agree 100%. Blaming umps for things is usually lame. They're human like everyone else and aren't perfect just like any player. Their influence on non-reviewable plays is typically on the margins anyways.

I think they like him in the 9 spot as like a 2nd leadoff hitter. Caissie hit higher in the lineup so it's not inexperience or performance.

He looks exactly like ben Zobrist, which confuses me.

I liked Cowles when they acquired him but a tough year for him. Maybe they can resign. If I were him I'd probably look for a fresh start elsewhere to be honest, just for the sake of it.

When Taillon is back wouldn't be the worst idea to skip a start for him. Right now we're a little thin.

Interesting. Velo is down significantly this year.

3 years in a row the same thing happening is the odd part. Feast or famine offense, rarely in between.

They're not playing remotely like a 90 win team right now, The only thing that matters is if they do in Oct. Each of the last 3 seasons their offense has been extremely streaky. Most of the guys seem to hit or not hit at the same time, which is very weird, and frustrating as a fan when they're cold. Not sure i've ever seen anything like it on a Cubs team.

He definitely wasn't sharp today. FB right over the heart of the plate and a hanging slider down the middle. The velo seems fine but i've noticed the command being spotty the last while.

Kirk is one of the slowest runners in baseball.

Old dudes want a shot at a ring i guess.

Where would be play in Sept? Random pinch hitter vs LHP?

Just compared to the other seasons he's had with us.