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Chicago Cubs Thread - Playoff Push Pending

I'm kinda glad we're throwing Haren vs. Bumgarner and then Hammel vs. Kershaw. Maximize our chances in the other games
 
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Nearly had a cycle!

Nervy moments late, but great start to the trip. Arrieta such a hoss
 
Cubs win 8-5. Arrieta with an effective, quality 6+ innings for his 16th win. Schwarber hit a 3 run HR to get things going in the third.. Montero hit a two run shot in the fourth. Castro hits a single , double and HR in four AB's. Everyone in the line up contributes. Hunter and Clayton allow four runs in the eighth to give the Giants hope. Strop and Rondon squash that idea to finish up.
 
Man, Javy Baez is playing lights out in AAA right now - in his 11 games he has a .449 BA, .480 OBP, 5 XBH, 11 RBIs, 4 SB and has a K rate at 22%.

With Russell on the mend and Cogs needing to play OF right now, his bat would be awesome as part of the infield platoon right now with Castro & La Stella. Also, would assume we get Szczur and maybe Mendy or Olt plus some bullpen help with Beeler, Medina, Wada, Jokisch, Schlitter and Edwards all on the 40 man
 
Schwarber is the first Cubs player since 1900 to hit 12 home runs in their first 42 games.

He hit an absolute bomb last night.

Cubs are rolling. Sitting 7.5 clear of the Giants for the second wild card spot right now. Two back of the Pirates for home field advantage in the playoff.
 
The 2011 Cardinals were 10.5 back on August 24th, went 23-9 down the stretch to catch the Braves for the WC and went on the win the WS. The Giants scare me like that Cards team especially with the easy schedule they have in September - and, they are 34-17 when Underpants is in the lineup, and he comes back next week.

I am hoping someone can knock of the Cards a bit, they have 2 more against the Dbacks, and then 3 @Giants then home to 3 each against the Nats and Pirates before the Cubs go to Busch. Would love to see the Cubs enter that series within striking distance.
 
Are the Dodgers gonna pass us too though? I know they've got Kershaw and Greinke but they're basically a mess otherwise.

If we can even two out of the next five vs. the west coasters I don't think we're gonna get caught by them both
 
Good news. Hitting coach John Mallee has convinced Starlin Castro to move closer to the plate, close his stance slightly and return to using the entire field. It was obvious last night and the results were a single to right , a double to right center, a HR to left, and a long fly ball out to center on a nice running catch by Byrd. This was the approach Castro used his first 2 years in MLB when he was a .300+ hitter. I expect vast improvement offensively if he adheres to this approach.
 
Random thoughts.

Joe Maddon has this team focused on winning one game at a time and that everyone on the team has a part to play in accomplishing that goal every day.

September call ups will be more limited and selective than anticipated.

We (the fans) may be talking about the wild card, but I suspect the team goal is the Central Division Championship.
 
Dodgers are roughly 20% on fangraphs to win the WS - based predominantly I imagine on the fact that the Cardinals are going to end up playing the Cubs/Pirates (as of right now) in the NLDS. They should probably change it so that the best team in the league gets the worst team by record, regardless of wildcard/division winner. What difference does it make to wait until the one-game playoff to set the next round? Cardinals, Pirates, and Cubs all get screwed by being in the same division.
 
One site had the Mets as the best odds to win the NL the other day. No way that's the case if the playoffs are set up differently.

What happened to Castro?

Think all we can do is speculate at this point. My best guess is he can't cut it on a good team where the spotlight is on, but thrives in anonymity. Hopefully he'll prove me wrong down the stretch
 
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What happened to Castro?
Cubs brass emphasized learning to pull the ball in effort to increase power numbers and developing a patient approach at the plate to increase OBP. Castro's skill is the hand/eye coordination to see the ball and to go with the pitch to any field. Singles, doubles and occasional home runs. He modified his stance to very open in effort to enhance his power to pull and lost his coverage of the outside part of the plate and the inside-out swing to go opposite field. Attempting to be patient, he took the hittable first strike he previously lined for a hit. Behind in the count, he began to expand the zone and turn over on the outside pitch. By this season he was a dead pull hitter who consistently turned over on the outside pitch with weak grounders to the left side of the infield. Be who you are, not what others expect you to be. If he is hitting to all fields, he is capable of 200 hits a year and a .300+ average.
 
Cubs lose 4-2. Bryant with a two run single in the first inning accounts for all the Cubs scoring. Hendricks takes the loss. Losing feels odd. A testament to the quality of play of the past month.
 
They made us pay for our defensive gaffes, we didn't make them pay for theirs. And Peavy was better than Hendricks
 
So, the Cubs resigned Emilio Bonifacio, which i like - he played a good infield and had solid speed and a halfway decent bat - but it does make me wonder about the callups.

Also, I love this...

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