Chicago Cubs Thread - Playoff Push Pending

Probably as important as winning games this season TBH:

Nothing comes easy when the BP is involved. Schwarber delivered when it counted. If you didn't realize it would be essential you haven't been paying attention.

Chatwood was outstanding for six and gassed in the seventh. Good effort.

KB was scratched with a stomach bug, hes getting tested for COVID tomorrow morning.

Also, I hate everything about our bullpen. Everything. Even Jeffress scares the crap out of me, his velo is down from his best years.

Royals just had some reliever namer Staumont come in and blow away our 3-4-5 hitters. That dude throws gas and has a sick off speed pitch.

Josh Staumont was the culprit. Nasty.

Mills making Maddon prophetic. Seven innings of three hit shutout baseball is minimizing Quintana's absence.

Ross has found five relievers that have given him seven innings of shutout relief. Better than nothing.

Cubs starting staff with an ERA of 1.60. Last 4 starts with Darvish, Chatwood, Lester and Mills - 25 2/3 innings, 26 Ks, 7 BBs, 1 ER.

It's not going to last, but its a nice stretch and helps while the bats have been slow the last few games.

Schedule will get harder but doing a good job of beating the teams we should beat

wsc8521s said:

Schedule will get harder but doing a good job of beating the teams we should beat

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Pirates and Royal suck, but most projected had the Brewers and Reds as both over .500 and ahead of the Cubs. Those were good series wins.

We really don't have any "easy" series left except agains the Bucs the rest of the way. Maybe the Tigers too if they return to their suckitude. The rest is Cards, Brewers, Reds, Twins, Indians, White Sox - no slouches.

Damn it Kimbrel...

The best you can say about the ninth inning is "all's well that end's well." Kimbrel threw strikes with both pitches and Ross may have given him three batters to get the save. He didn't waste any time calling for Ryan, who apparently got the first opportunity for a save in his career and succeeded.

Top of the order is struggling. Kipnis producing. Ross might give his bat a run at DH when not at second.

Watching Kimbrel, his problem seems to be that he can't get his fastball to the top of the zone. The K to Cordero looked great because he got a couple called strikes on the knuckle curve, the sequence to Mondesi was good until he got caught on a fastball middle/middle on a 2-2 count. You could see Willy asking for it high or above the zone - same place he got Cordero, but he missed right over the heart of the plate.

Its frustrating, because you see the potential - but again, he had 0 swings on his knuckle curve - everyone is sitting and waiting on his fastball knowing he can't place it.

I like how Ross is addressing the problems Kimbrel is having. The interaction between them seemed positive, as if they have a planned approach to his usage and for progress. With the exception of the grove to Mondesi, he had better control and command. Problem for a closer, you can't have any exceptions.

Ross is a godsend to the pitching staff, especially the starters. They are pitching with greater confidence. He set the tone in game one with Hendricks and hasn't deviated. He's given all the relievers a couple of chances to impress and has narrowed his choices for close games to those who have succeeded. One of Wick, Ryan or Jeffress have a days rest to close. Keeping Kimbrel in the ninth but with a larger lead for leeway. Bats need an explosion to give the back end guys another opportunity to impress.

BlackjackMc said:

I like how Ross is addressing the problems Kimbrel is having. The interaction between them seemed positive, as if they have a planned approach to his usage and for progress. With the exception of the grove to Mondesi, he had better control and command. Problem for a closer, you can't have any exceptions.

Ross is a godsend to the pitching staff, especially the starters. They are pitching with greater confidence. He set the tone in game one with Hendricks and hasn't deviated. He's given all the relievers a couple of chances to impress and has narrowed his choices for close games to those who have succeeded. One of Wick, Ryan or Jeffress have a days rest to close. Keeping Kimbrel in the ninth but with a larger lead for leeway. Bats need an explosion to give the back end guys another opportunity to impress.

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Sadler looks like he could be a key piece in the pen this year. And when Q comes back, we get to add Chatwood or Mills to that pen, which should help dramatically.

DaDeacs said:

Sadler looks like he could be a key piece in the pen this year. And when Q comes back, we get to add Chatwood or Mills to that pen, which should help dramatically.

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Bullpen ERA is down to 7.63 right now. They have given up 10 HRs in 33 IPs. Averaging 9.3 Ks/9 and 6.3 BBs/9.

Outside of Wick, Jeffress and Sadler, no one has been any good at all. If you remove the numbers from those 3, the rest of the bullpen has an ERA of 11.75.

Good win tonight. The offense comes alive late with four "manager" runs. That was missing most of last year. Darvish with another gem by the starters. Jeffress continues to impress and Colin Rea pumps 15 strikes in 18 pitches to finish it off. Efforts like that earn another look sooner rather than later, especially with a four pitch arsenal and 95 on the gun. That followed an error to start the inning.

BlackjackMc said:

Good win tonight. The offense comes alive late with four "manager" runs. That was missing most of last year. Darvish with another gem by the starters. Jeffress continues to impress and Colin Rea pumps 15 strikes in 18 pitches to finish it off. Efforts like that earn another look sooner rather than later, especially with a four pitch arsenal and 95 on the gun. That followed an error to start the inning.

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Rea looked good - pitching out of the pen added 3-4 MPH on his fastball and his off speed stuff was hitting for strikes. He has never been a huge swing and miss guy, but this could be a good place for him if he can maintain this level. He is a few years past his tommy john now, and as a starter he will likely continue to be subpar, but he could be a well above average reliever.

Cubs batters looked outmatched for most of the game against the rookie and their relievers, but came through with 2 outs in the 8th and 9th to blow it open. Lucky error to get Bryant on in the 8th followed by 3 well placed singles. Happ leads off with a double in the 9th, looks to be stranded, but Caratini gets a lucky single to right and then he comes all the way around to score on a "double" by Bryant that was another well place bloop in the outfield. Really thought Caratini was meat, great slide by him.

I will say I was shocked Hoerner was left in for the 8th and 9th with a righty on the mound and Kip hitting well. I would love to see Ross give him a chance to work through mini-slumps like this, but in a shortened season, you might want to go with the hot hand for a bit in matchup situations. The defense drop from Hoerner to Kip is a thing, but not sure its that big if Kip can keep hitting well.

Agree completely on Rea. He made the roster cut. Fingers crossed.

I expected Caratini to stumble between third and home. He never expected the sign to keep running. It was a nice slide for a semi belly flop.

Hoerner and Bote need the bench for a couple of games. Recharge and reassert the drive for everyday status. Both have come back hitting after some pine time. Kipnis is a decent glove and has hit. He may have some magic in him as well.

Bote hasn't hit lately but his D has been great. He finds a way to contribute. He's become a top tier bench player.

If Mills continues to deliver I'd keep him in the rotation and use Quintana out of the bullpen. Mills might be emerging as a legit starter, a commodity the Cubs dearly need next year. Let him bloom. Q might be more valuable as a second LHP out of the pen and is in his final contract year. If Mills falters then make the switch.

Happ may have figured it out.

BlackjackMc said:

Agree completely on Rea. He made the roster cut. Fingers crossed.

I expected Caratini to stumble between third and home. He never expected the sign to keep running. It was a nice slide for a semi belly flop.

Hoerner and Bote need the bench for a couple of games. Recharge and reassert the drive for everyday status. Both have come back hitting after some pine time. Kipnis is a decent glove and has hit. He may have some magic in him as well.

Bote hasn't hit lately but his D has been great. He finds a way to contribute. He's become a top tier bench player.

If Mills continues to deliver I'd keep him in the rotation and use Quintana out of the bullpen. Mills might be emerging as a legit starter, a commodity the Cubs dearly need next year. Let him bloom. Q might be more valuable as a second LHP out of the pen and is in his final contract year. If Mills falters then make the switch.

Happ may have figured it out.

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I think we found the guy Q can replace.

If your choice is from tonight's game there are four legit candidates. How about a hint?

Cards series reportedly postponed.