Banks-Williams

Ramirez is batting far better than Swanson. Swanson has kept his teeter totter swing throughout the season, using his rear foot as a fulcrum. Bad habits die hard. The awkward head movement it creates denies him of any chance of batting over 250. Personally I’d keep Ramirez at second and Hoerner at short. Swanson can come as a pinch hitter or runner as needed or play short if the Cubs have a lead that needs to be preserved.

I have been watching nearly every single Cubs game since 2023. They have been a great enjoyment. Back in the late ‘60s and 70s I too was viewing as many games. In the years between I had been a fairly constant fan, but did not catch many games from 2000 to 2016. A lot had changed over the years. One change stands head and shoulders above the rest though: the way management handles pitching. Pitchers rarely throw complete games today. It used to be a regular occurance. Now it is as rare as a no-hitter. Justin Steele kept the ball from his July 5, 2024 complete game. Even though he entered the Major League in 2021, it was his first, and I don’t recall seeing one since, by him or any other Cub pitcher. Pitchers are expected to throw hard. Any why not? There is a direct correlation between pitch speed and getting batters out and thus winning games. But higher pitch speeds come at a cost. And I’m not talking about 6 to 7 innings of pitching versus a complete game. I’m talking about safety. To be frank, I personally like Daniel Palencia. He is a relatively short light-weight guy, like me. Ballplayers at 5’ 11” and 160 lbs are also a rarity these days. And one that can throw 100+ mph are even rarer. The throw to the head of Diamondbacks’ outfielder Jordan Lawlar on Wednesday August 25, 2026 raises questions that NOW must be addressed. Face it. The game has changed. Teams are demanding more speed from their pitchers. Yes, they’re getting more batters out. And who doesn’t want to win? We know batting averages are coming down. But the high speed and the desire to win are coming at a very high cost: it is placing the lives of hitters in jeopardy. There is no arguing such. Lawlar came not more than 2” and a split second from getting a 100 mph fastball to the forehead at his left eye. The pitch could have been fatal. Other than Lawlar, I don’t think there was a more shook up player at Chase Field than Palencia. Lawlar was done for the day, but so too was Palecia. He wasn’t himself after that pitch, and probably will never be the same. To be clear: I don’t think Palencia was trying to “buzz the tower” as they say. Throwing a pitch 100 mph by someone’s head to scare them into striking out on a subsequent pitch is not any way to play a game. And it is not buzzing the tower. Pilots are not risking people’s lives when they carry out that prank. It might startle the controller into spilling his coffee, but nobody is going to die. In the sense of baseball, however, buzzing the tower is putting someone’s life at risk just to win a game. That opportunity has to be eliminated. And it should be done ASAP. I’m not one for lots of rules, but I think a new one is needed. Some thing like this: Any pitcher who throws the baseball past a batter in the batter’s box at 95 mph or higher above the batter’s shoulders and on the inside portion of the plate or closer will be ejected from the game without contest. The batter will also be given first base, You may disagree with the type of rule change, but if any of the readers here disagree with the need for such a change, I suggest you first watch the video of Twins hitter Kyle Farmer taking a pitch to the face at Target Field in 2023. In any event, this blog isn’t particularly directed at Cub fans. It is directed at the owners of club franchises and at MLB executives. Do something to protect hitters before something terrible happens.

I realize that. But you don’t need a catcher to catch. Lots of players have that experience. What you need is a run to win, and someone to play catcher for a few pitches. Counsell didn’t want to risk a past ball I guess. Looks like he made the right choice.

Excellent article. I must say, I’ve always liked Thielbar. He has the experience and mound confidence to control things. He had an awesome season in 2025 and was doing quite well up until recently. Hitters have a tough time with his curve because they can’t hit it and it regularly ends up in the strike zone. He can throw it on the first pitch to get ahead of the batter, but he doesn’t do so very often — so the hitter has no idea what’s coming. And his glove slap makes all pitches look the same as the ball leaves his hand. I hope his last few outings were just a fluke attributable to the randomness of baseball. Id love to see him get more post-season work. And he’s just an all around upstanding guy.

PCA saved the game against the Blue Jays. Don’t know why Counsell didn’t put in a pinch runner for Kelly. Not to take anything away from Kelly — he’s a great catcher and hitter — but Kelly has got to be the slowest player on the team. Cubs could have lost if not for the error on the throw to third.

They can’t trade Ramírez with Shaw on the IL. Otherwise they have no one who can give the 5 and 4 infielders a rest. The still don’t even have a player to rest Busch or Swanson.

In 1969 Leo Durocher played his regulars nearly everyday. And why not? They were all exceptional players. Three of them even became Hall of Famers: Banks, Williams, and Santo. And let’s not forget the complete-game-pitcher Fergie Jenkins. And those that didn’t become HFers were the finest at their jobs. Durocher, who knew talent perhaps better than anyone of that time frame, said there was no better shortstop than Don Kessinger. And Glenn Beckett had an eagle’s eye. He regularly got more walks than strikeouts. Randy Hundley was the best defensive catcher you could find, particularly noted for his pitch calling and arm. On August 16, they had a 75–44 record and were up nine games over the second place Mets. You can still buy Cubs tickets to the ‘69 NLDS on eBay. But after the All Star break, bad signs began to show. Like cracks in the dam, there were more errors, missed opportunities, men left on base. You name it; everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Even a bad call call at the plate against the Mets that had Hundley in a fever, jumping and down so hard at the home plate umpire that both knees touched his collar bones while 3’ off the ground. With a great divisional lead, a bad call could be forgiven. But no, the Cubs had lost it. Too much sun. Too much work. Durocher didn’t play the other guys sitting in the dugout much. Last season we saw Counsell play his regulars nearly everyday too. It wasn’t until Willy Castro showed up late in the season that they got relief. By then the temperatures were already beginning to drop. But like the red hot Mets of ‘69, the Brewers team took advantage of the Cubs weakened performance. The Cubs got second place and had to play in the wild card round right after drinking and spraying all that champagne for their post season clinch. There was no time to nurse a hangover. And Counsell had to Rush his pitching decisions (which put the Cubs at 0-2). This season, they no longer have Castro to play in the infield and outfield to relieve tired players. They’ve got Justin Dean, Michael Conforto, and Kevin Alcantara to provide relief for the outfielders. Three guys are more than sufficient there. For the battery, Kelly and Amaya are rotating. But for the infield they just have Pedro Ramirez. His specialty is second base. He can handle 3rd base as well. He has a golden glove at Double A Knoxville. But he is not experienced at short or first base as far as I can tell. So, who is going to give Swanson and Busch a breather this summer? Playing these guys continuously is not an option. Swanson already struggled with hitting until he was given time off to examine his swing. Swanson came out of his rest like a tiger from his cage. He wasn’t doing the see-saw anymore, using his rear leg as the fulcrum. We all know the phenomenal results. But I watched the Twins games. He’s back at the old bad habit. Old habits? Yeah they’re hard to break. Michael Busch is young. He’s got stamina. But do you really want the Minnesota native playing in 90 degree weather with out a break? The Cubs need someone who can assist at short and first. Management needs to have the staff find that player. Since they did a miraculous job finding pitchers — they should be able to solve this problem as well. I submit it is a task that they can solve. Go Cubbies!

Very nice write up on the Cubs pitching situation. As readers here know, I expressed some harsh words at Jed Hoyer et al. for spending so much money on the cheater Bregman while doing nothing for the bullpen. This was not done in hindsight. It was done in foresight at the time they got Bregman. There was no need for Bregman when they had Shaw. It was a wasted $175M. They could have got a nice bullpen for that money along with keeping utility player Castro, who’s doing great things for the Rockies. I’m not writing now to say I told you so though. What I want to say is this: the organization has done a fantastic job bringing in pitching talent in a tough situation that seems to keep getting tougher. Desperate times call for hard work, not necessarily desperate measures. Whoever is responsible for finding all these pitchers and bringing them in, they deserve a major pat-on-the-back and pay raise. I’ve never seen anything like it in 57 years of baseball. Congrats to persons doing the digging and negotiating. It isn’t going unnoticed. And another thing: Counsell is doing a great job keeping players rested this season, while also moving the speed (PCA and Shaw) up front in the line-up. It looks like Hoerner may be getting hot again. With these 3, batting 1-2-3 — not necessarily in this order though — the Cubs can manufacture runs early in the game. They won’t have to rely on Suzuki, Happ, and Busch to put one over the fence. And their speed brings excitement to the fans who pay big bucks just to see one game a year. The Cubbies seem to getting well-positioned for another run at division leadership. Keep up the good work and give recognition to the persons on staff who are bringing in the pitching talent! Bregman too has been playing some awesome defense. It fact the whole team has been doing so. And Swanson is stealing bases — so as the batting rotation comes around again, you’ve got 4 speedsters. Double steal time guys!!

Willie Castro is surely showing Hoyer his mistake for letting him get away. For some unexplained reason, Hoyer spent a fortune on the cheater Bregman who doesnt hit as good, has no speed, isn’t anywhere near as versatile, and wasnt even needed with Shaw’s abilities at 3rd.

I’d like to see Shaw and PCA as number 1 and 2 hitters. Both are hot and both have speed to move around the bases when they get on base. When Hoerner gets hot again, you can throw him into the mix. Cubbies are a team that hits homers but can also manufacture runs. Put Busch, Happ, and Suzuki behind the hitters with speed and the runs will happen early in the game, giving the pitchers a nice buffer.

Swanson must change his swing. His stubborn insistence on using that leg kick has got him a batting average in the 180s. He’s paid millions of Federal Reserve Notes every year, but he hits like he’s from college or high school. Dansby — you can’t make good contact when you move your upper body so much. Do golfers do that? Okay, Aaron Judge is an exception. But he too has his share of strikeouts, and you’ll never have his power no matter how big a leg kick you strive for in the batters box.

Swanson is being paid big bucks, but he hits 189. Now he just struck out with bases loaded. His leg kick is ruining his hitting. Again, the upper body movement is creating another unnecessary variable. Why do such when you already have to deal with ball speed, break, and location.

They need to play Shaw more often. He’s an excellent fielder, has great speed, and was hitting very good in April and into May. He should be playing at least every other game. If Shaw did an Amaya/Ohtani swing without the leg kick he’d be hitting above 275. It is his upper body movement that is holding him back. It makes him have bad contact too often. It creates a whole ‘nother variable, which is completely unnecessary.

You want PCA or Hoerner or Shaw as lead off men. If they get on base, they can steal second, and advance to third on a single or a fly ball Or they may score on the single from one of the three next batters. The steal also eliminates the opportunity to get doubled up on a grounder. You can also put them in the #2 spot for that reason. But then they’re on first with one out already. You don’t want a slow player as lead or #2 since they can get doubled up. Use these three players as #1 and #2 while mixing it up to keep them rested.

Nice to see Counsel giving some players a rest and mixing up the line-up. Great move Craig! Rested players perform much better. Don’t want to do another ‘69 Durocher.