macarthur31

I'd imagine that whether or not he's on the Injured List would be a significant tell. If Bregman/Cubs were feeling optimistic, I would've expected at least a 7-day concussion symptoms IL list stay (which I imagine they could make a compelling case). If they go with the 10-day, does that cut it way too close to make WC series? I don't think there has been an announcement yet, but I'd be very surprised that the Cubs would be willing to be down a man on the bench with homefield advantage still in play.

If I recall, Kyle Schwarber was doing as much work in the cage as well other adjacent activities to be ready for the possibility of breaking into that WS roster. I imagine that 10 years later, Bregs will also be tapping into the Cubs tech to make the same case.

To borrow from "Football Manager"/"Championship Manager", I'd definitely rate Bregman's "Determination" as a 20 of 20. As much as I respect it - it's so much to believe that 1)come back at all for any postseason play, 2)even if he did, is trajekt enough to get him back up to game speed much less any understandable mental fear/yips when the opposing pitcher fires a fastball up and in on him? Not trying to be a downer, but at this point, we just gotta assume it's gonna be Shaw/Ramirez and hope those dudes can catch fire.

Whoa. I'm looking at the Cincy Logo that's painted in that first photo, and Bregman's left foot (in batting stance) is lined up with the "top of the C." I know there's factoring for angles and such, but that looks really really close. 😬

Very late on this thread, but wanted to share that as I'm on the midst of a relo from Wisconsin to New Jersey after becoming empty nesters, the wife and I took a detour on the cross-country drive and decided to catch this tilt at the GABP, making PNC park the only spot left in my NL Central stadium visit list: Was able to get covered seats, 3rd base side for just $35 a pop. Great views, and solid protection from the late game shower. (Wanted to be extra cautious as rainy weather was forecasted.) The District surrounding GABP had a great vibe. After living in Milwaukee for 16 years, I've probably gone to more games at AmFam (nee Miller Park) than at Wrigley, and prefer this than the parking lots (albeit tailgating is cool). Pleasantly surprised by the big crowd, given the Reds are out of it. While a significant portion were Cubs fans, I'd say it seemed like a 70/30 split Reds/Cubs. Compare that to when it's practically 50/50 at AmFam. I'm not sure if it's the layout, but outside of usual gametime noise, it seemed quiet to me. My recollection of being at AmFam is that I'm being constantly bombarded by sound - be it walkup music, or some sort of promotion. They did have the usual videoboard between inning activities - instead of rotating caps, it was skyline chili cups, and the "kiss cam," as well as a cart dragging a T-shirt cannon. But, for the most part, it seemed pretty chill, and I kinda liked it. I was curious about the post "Take Me Out" song, as the Houston Astros would play "Deep in the Heart of Texas," or the Brewers would run, "Roll Out The Barrel." There was a Cincinnati themed song, but I couldn't spot it, and it was abruptly cut off mid play. It was mid 80s and humid, and with little air-flow, GABP felt quite hot - even at twilight and no sun. I get why this place is Coors East. I had to eat the Coneys, just to do the visiting fan thing. And, I won't be doing that again. Overall, good vibes. I could only imagine how rocking that place could be if/when the Reds ever get back in the playoff hunt. (Preferably far far in the future, thanks.)

Zef's shown some fascinating tools; it's just a matter if 1)he can harness them, and 2)can he handle the brighter lights? I'm lean optimistic over the long haul since he's young, but it might be a heckuva lot to expect him to sort it all out in the next few weeks. Somewhat related, my timeline reminded me that 9 years ago on this date Wade Davis closed out the Cardinals to go 31 for 31 in save opportunities at that point in the season. Now that dude was NAILS.

Cubs got 9 games left to optimize the lineup, starters and bullpen. For me, that's: Get Dansby enough reps so he's back to being the elite shortstop and tough 8/9 hitter. Get Busch closer to May (.300/.446/.510) rather than what September has been so far: (.224/.328/.408) Sort out the WC-round rotation. Shota seems to be on "the podium" with his recent run of 4ER over 3 starts; Is it Gausman, Holmes, Shota? Can Boyd or Peterson force themselves into the picture? Get Seiya started up again - he's been .157/.328/.234 in September (Oy.), but in August he was .303/397/.560 (Yay.) Get Zef, Danny and Webb trending in the right direction. See if Cabrera is up for doing a cover version of Sasaki '25 Playoffs. Who is going to be the key pen lefty - Rolison? Theils? (Death is not an option.) Get enough ABs for Matt Shaw and Pedro Ramirez to stay sharp. Is it still Carson then Miggy in the catching platoon? In terms of September Batting: Carson is .237/.275/.289 in 40 PA while Miggy is .364/429/.727 in 16 PA In terms of what Couns hopes to maintain: PCA as MVP Bregs as the Pippen to PCA's Jordan Happ/Taylor LF Platoon

If Tom Ricketts wanted to go another direction, he would've done so already - instead he extended Jed. C'mon dude.

As long as Jed Hoyer is President of the Cubs, I got a hard time imagining he'd want anyone else but Counsell managing the club. Counsell aligns with Jed on the use of analytics, and yet tap into his decorated playing experience to inform a clubhouse culture where everyone is pulling in the same direction.

This. Couns has been like this his whole career (again, living in Milwaukee for the past 15 years, I've just gleaned so many of these complaints from Brewers fans before - "why is he running him out there?!"). 130 games into this season, and he'd be ecstatic if he could get Palencia/Webb/Zeferjahn to be a wrecking crew. Maybe not a classic 7/8/9 situation, but a 3 headed monster that he could deploy in high lev as needed. He's also searching for that lefty: and Theils has had track record but is Father Time finally got the edge on him. Rolison appears to be putting it all together, but he doesn't have playoff reps. Not counting Civale, Rea or Assad (who are swing starter/long relief - and likely only 2 will make the roster), Couns likely would love another to emerge as a medium lev option. Trent Thornton and Tyler Ferguson don't have it, and are treading water in hopes that a miracle can emerge: Shelby Miller seems to be the leading candidate, but he just pitched back-to-back for the 1st time. Result aside, we still await to see how healthy he feels today. Gavin Hollowell? Last night he had a rehab appearance at AAA, and had 1 IP, 1 ER, 2H 2 BB/0 K. That was his first appearance in any game since July 30. He'll need to do more convincing. Eddie Cabrera and Justin Steele are the other options. Both seem like long shots given they still need to get healed up, and executing consistently in a bullpen role. It's gonna be tough, but I'm confident Couns will get it sorted out as best as possible.

Agreed! I click back on this post several times during each game.

The SP market is definitely more robust than the position player market, and those numbers seem super reasonable given their long-term performance. Jed'll likely only QO one of them.

Folks can fan how they want to fan, but gentle reminder that The Athletic has the Cubs in their Power Rankings usually in the top 6 in all of MLB. Sure, it may be hard to hear after the last couple of games, but invite folks to touch grass and take in the fact that the season isn't over until it's actually over. kthxbi

Understandable that going into this offseason that is uncertain w/r/t the CBA, perhaps paired with a really positive run in the playoffs he's enamored with Chicago (and the dyson vacuums behind him in the infield), and a pretty healthy SP FA market (Skubal headlines it, but you got Foster Griffin, Casey Mize, Michael King, Sonny Gray, Robbie Ray, Luis Severino, Jack Flaherty, Kevin Gausman, Freddy Peralta, Adrian Morejon...) perhaps he bites early on a contract extension. But, man, you're likely going to have to pay for him not to go to market - as this will be Holmes last shot at a big contract. Scanning Spotrac projections for 2027, we're at $146.5M in guaranteed contracts. CBT is at $244 and Tom will likely want to get back under an "reset" after going to $262M this year. (Of course, new CBA will likely change, but just trying to play out the thought experiment). What would it take for Clay to volunteer out of the shop window? $120M/4Y? 😬

19 G, 88 PA, .333/.384/.410, 8.0%BB, 21.6%K, 127 wRC+, 0.9 fWAR. The .433 BABIP and the .273 xwOBA suggests that he's likely gonna cool down, but BB has indeed done quite well in his first MLB stint.

You've convinced me to give Ayers the call. You've also backdoored into a "Predict the 28 on the Expanded Roster" thread. They'll have 24 games remaining, and I anticipate that the Couns has to balance the goals of 1)winning enough to get at least WC1 (or steal a bye) and 2)sorting out the outgetters and teeing them up to peak by playoff start. At this point, I'm seeing: Position Players (14) PCA Suzuki Busch Bregman Happ Nico Ramirez Kelly Amaya Conforto Dansby Ty Taylor Shaw? Ayers? Pushing: Kevin Alcantara? Gabriel Arias? James Triantos? Starters/Pen (14) Gausman Holmes Boyd Imanaga Peterson Ben Brown Aaron Civale Colin Rea Ryan Rolison Ryan Zeferjahn Trent Thornton Jacob Webb Danny Palencia Caleb Theilbar Pushing: Shelby Miller? Hoby Milner? Justin Steele? Javy Assad? @Jason Ross Also, just want to double click on this for your next pod (assuming you're recording before Sep 1) - who you got on the 28?

A google search turned up this graphic from DraftKings facebook page, and it was posted yesterday. Yeah - the Cubs being in the neighborhood of those teams is weird. The Pirates have improved their offense from last year - they sit 5th in team wRC+ of 105 (compared to Cubs' MLB leading 111) and they have a propensity to being shut out as well.

I dig that she's just an earnest Cub fan who has the bandwidth to post-up in the mid-afternoon to take snaps (and selfies) with Cub players; and in the process ends of back-dooring into scoops.

That's over 123 PAs; K%/BB% 22.8%/8.9%; xwOBA .380, 158 wRC+. I'll always have a soft spot for C-Mo, so hope he's able to make it stick this time.

As usual, great write up. This year's Cub bench was yearning for a savvy, veteran utility player - and it turned out that they got two of them in Michael Conforto and Pedro Ramirez. I've had the Suzuki/Happ free agency conundrum on the backburner of my mind, and yet I hadn't thought of the Shaw/Ramirez platoon being a viable option in case Jed only wants to bring one of the two corner OFs back.

I share the video not just because the clickbaity title reveals how my algorithm is tilted (though to be fair, the back end of his opening statement after he calls them frauds is, "they're also very good...particularly their offense..."), but rather since the Cubs have similar outcomes to the Brewers, you see them in comparison on the data tables shared. The "too long, didn't watch" of it is: Since 2025, the Brewers have collectively been an elite run producing team because they are disproportiately good vs. pitchers who don't throw hard, don't throw strikes, and don't prevent runs, a.k.a. "The Mitch Keller Theory" because over the course of 162 games, teams have to account for 1400+ innings, and half of those they're facing a pitcher worse that Mitch Keller. OK, here's the Cub side of it: Since '25, the Cubs have the best wOBA against the bottom 48 pitchers (.380) However, unlike the Brewers, they have the best wOBA (.311) against the top 48 pitchers. The Cubs are the 3rd BEST vs pitches below 98 mph. However, they're the 3rd WORST wOBA vs. pitches above 98MPH This is significant given that the playoff pitching ramps up in velo as teams are facing the 1-3 starter and high lev relievers. (Note the average 4S FB during the '25 regular season is clocked at 94.5 MPH v '25 playoffs at 95.8 MPH.) Like the Brewers, the Cubs are super patient - both teams are at the bottom of the Chase Rate% and Swing% tables in 2026, and conversely the top of the BB% rate. While the Brewers are 28th in HRs since 2025 (266), the Cubs are 4th (357). And a scan of the '26 leaderboards show that the Cubs are 6th in SLG (.415) while the Brewers are 20th (.398) All this to say, yeah Yankees series was hella frustrating; but in the aggregate, the Cubs have terrific balance on offense, even with their weakness against elite velo. In light of this, this really affirms why Jed pushed the pedal down at TDL.

Just watched Zeferjahn's postgame interview with Cole and Cliff. Really dig his vibe - just wants the ball every day - "strikeouts are good, but quick innings are even better..." He'll fit in juuuuust fine.