Bull

Ginger jetlag syndrome. aka gingervitis

Boyd pickoff again. Leading the league in pickoffs will help you outperform your peripherals.

Baz -Boyd. Baz-Boyd whatchu gonna do

That’s Theriot level.

I noted it in the game thread. You could see him tweak the shoulder. It was more than gassed. He had been pitching injured for awhile.

Announcers say the they don't know what he hurt. It looked pretty obvious he tore something in his shoulder there. He was pitching through pain before, and it just went.

He ded.

wow. 5-3 Nats

Whoever unlocked Keller's potential this year is a genius. Was that a pitch lab thing?

Turner?

The Cubs' record vs teams above .500 is 37-40. They are the only playoff bound team (as of 9/4) that has a losing record against teams above .500. Somehow they also seem to suck against really bad pitching, but that's another story for another thread. Their head to head vs. the brewers is pretty well known, but what about vs other playoff likely teams? I just don't see any hope right now of anything but a one and out in the playoff barring a hot streak. We saw early in the year that this team when on a good streak is unbeatable. So in this thread I'd like to explore reasons for optimism and pessimism for the postseason. I'll start. In the final round, the Cubs would play Dodgers, Phillies or Mets Cubs are 2-4 this year against the Phillies. The Cubs went 4-3 against the Dodgers, including the ill fated Tokyo trip. They were 1-2 vs the Mets. Most of this happened early in the year with your best version of the Cubs. First round looks like Padres, second round Brewers. Some of these matchups could change, but this looks to be the picture. I'd love some folks to give breakdowns of pitching matchups in some of these series. Maybe I'm looking too far ahead, but the playoff picture is shaping up, and I'm not sure it looks great for the April/May, let alone for the July/August Cubs.

Yeah, for sure. And that was the point of doing it: more teams involved = more potential for drama. This is the anomaly That’s what I was trying to communicate with “funny thing is”. I definitely wasn’t clear.

funny thing is, if there were fewer playoff spots available, there would be a lot more drama. At this point only drama is seeding, but knock it back to 2 wild card teams and we have some intrigue.

Of course it is. But is Brown becomes a pumpkin and Cade becomes a Cy Young winner are you going to complain that we didn't both of trade them? And while you're at it talk about Cam Smiths 86 OPS+ and Wesneskis 4.50 ERA. The cubs seem to be doing a slightly above average job of keeping the right prospects. I for one am glad we still have Jaxon and Cade. If that means Brown fading into oblivion and netting us nothing, I'm ok with that.

Sweep on the road without Boyd or Shota pitching. I just want to take a step back and appreciate that. Even if Taillon is out, a rotation of Boyd Shota Horton Rea Assad is dang good. I'd sure love to rest Boyd and Horton though. I fear that their workload is going to be a problem in the postseason. Maybe use the off day to give everyone extra rest, then throw wicks in there if you have to as a sixth man when there's no off day. Once Taillon is back piggyback Boyd/Horton and Wicks/Assad to limit innings. Fire Brown into the sun.

Hold the phone. This one ain't over yet. Ben Brown taking a 12 run cushion as a challenge.

now put in brown and rest cade.

Long live the king

Good night. what is it with Hoerner and happy trying to hurt themselves on defense in a 6-0 game?

Seiya should sue the umpires union for lost wages.

nice inning by Taillon.

Of course it would have. Any other park wouldn’t have wind blowing in knocking 10 feet off the distance.

Maybe he'd be better as a reliever. There's obviously a "next level" of stuff that he can call on for short spurts, but not over the long haul of a start. I'd love to see how his stuff profiles with runners on base vs bases empty.

higher. no 9th inning pitching for the Pirates the last two days.

especially since it was a strike.