Hittin' 'Em Where They Ain't | A Chicago Cubs Franchise Report (MLB 14 | PS4)

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Cubs and Phillies, Ships Passing in the Night




Game 23 Rapid Reax: CHC 5, PHI 4

The Cubs got off to a fast start against skipper Ryne Sandberg's ball club. Chris Coghlan led off with an infield single. Arismendy Alcantara was subsequently hit by pitch. Anthony Rizzo promptly hit a 3-run HR to get at rookie Aaron Nola real quick.

The Phillies got more bad news in the 1st inning as Ruben Amaro Jr.'s big offseason acquisiton Victor Martinez actually hurt himself on a swing and was removed for a familiar face, Ryan Howard. V-Mart is expected to miss 3 weeks with a strained hammy.

In some of their only good news in the loss, Philly capitalized on a throwing error and a bad effort from Welington Castillo on a passed ball to score. Howard, formerly Big Piece, but now Bench Piece, drove in a run with an RBI groundout. Finally, Ben Revere doubled OVER THE HEAD of Coghlan in LF to score Philly's final 2 runs. Problem is, the Cubs scored 1 more. And the Phils will lose every time that happens.





Game 24 Rapid Reax: PHI 4, CHC 3

The Phillies took an early 2-0 lead on some sketchy play. For starters, Cesar Hernandez reached on a poorly hit infield single fielded by the Cubs pitcher, whose animation momentum took him out of the play. Then, light-hitting SS Edgar Duran scalded a grounder back through the box to set up a bloop RBI single to very shallow left by Ben Revere, somehow batting 3rd in a depleted Philly lineup. Ryan Howard capped off the 1st with a sac fly.

Travis Wood settled down a bit and K'd some Phils before yielding another 2-run rally in the 5th inning, which he didn't finish. Through a handful of starts, no less than 3 pitchers at AAA Iowa are eyeing Wood's spot in the rotation.

Jesse Biddle was a pre-pubescent amongst toddlers out there today; he regularly hit the edges of the plate with all kinds of curveballs. Biddle displayed exquisite command en route to a very solid start. It was probably the best command of the zone the Cubs have faced so far this season.

It wasn't until the 7th inning when the Cubs broke through on a Javier Baez homer to left. The Cubs picked up the attack again in the 9th against closer Jonathan Papelbon. To lead off the 9th, Starlin Castro greeted Papelbon with a leadoff homer to right. Jorge Soler flared a single into shallow right and Jose Lobaton doubled to the gap in left-center to score Soler and cut the margin to 4-3 with the tying run on 2B and no outs.

Unfortunately, this time Baez proceeded to swing through 2 hittable pitches and pop up without advancing the runner. Welington Castillo then meekly grounded out to the right side one out too late to advance Lobaton to 3rd with 2 out. Chris Coghlan pinch hit and made Papelbon throw 8 pitches, but grounded out to SS to end the game. Lobaton made his first MLB appearance at 1B subbing for Rizzo, who had his first scheduled off day of the season.





Game 25 Rapid Reax: CHC 10, PHI 1

Chicago teed off on young David Buchanan in a kind of anti-Biddle start. After facing Jesse Biddle channeling his inner Tom Glavine, the Cubs couldn't have had better pitches to hit today if they had them set on a batting tee. Buchanan was charged with 10 meat pitches according to pitch trax, and even though the Cubs scored 10 runs, they sent another 5 or 6 deep flyballs out to die on the warning track so it could've been much more lopsided.

Javier Baez broke through for 4 hits plus another homer and is finally showing some life. Arismendy Alcantara added 3 hits, and Anthony Rizzo continues to carry a load with 3 hits of his own--a homer and a pair of doubles. The 10 runs are a high water mark for the Cubs offense in 2015.

Edwin Jackson made another solid start. E-Jax notched win # 4 and ranks among the NL leaders in wins.

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Cards Still Class of Central, Take Another Series from Cubs




Game 26 Rapid Reax: STL 4, CHC 2

And everyone thought vintage Pedro Martinez was a thing of 15 years ago...This Martinez wasn't half bad and if you squinted a little bit...

Young right-hander Carlos Martinez blew the Cubs away for the better part of 7 innings before Chicago could damage a tired C-Mart to an extent. Martinez hit 99 mph on the gun several times in the early innings and worked the zone like T-Pain works the auto tune. Martinez registered 72% strikes on 102 pitches and a massive 81% strike percentage with his slider. For a guy hitting his spots at 99 mph, that's sick--straight up influenza no vaccine.

Odd thing is, even though Max Scherzer was pretty subpar for a 2nd straight start, the Cubs nearly came all the way back. In fact, the Cubs notched 4 hits in the 8th inning against a flagging C-Mart, but, unfortunately, a Jorge Soler GIDP was sandwiched right in the middle of all that action and the Cubs were only able to deuce on the scoreboard when they really needed to double deuce all over the scoreboard.

With the Cubs threatening, Pat Neshek came on to punch out Anthony Rizzo and Trevor Rosenthal saved it in the 9th for the 1st place Redbirds.

Scherzer surrendered 10 batted balls counted as line drives and his command was off with 9 meat pitches or "deep strikes" according to pitch trax. The Cubs are gonna need more out of their $175MM man to keep pace in the Central.





Game 27 Rapid Reax: CHC 8, STL 5

After seeing Carlos Martinez pitching like a man on fire, then funky sidewinder Pat Neshek, and Trevor Rosenthal in the opener, somehow former NY Cy Young winner Adam Wainwright seemed like an easy assignment. In fact, the Cubs KO'd Waino in the 3rd inning. Wainwright threw 41 pitches in the 3rd inning and didn't even finish the inning. Wainwright's control was abysmal as he beaned Jorge Soler with the bases loaded and walked the very next batter, Luis Valbuena, to force in another run. The Cubs batted around and scored 6 runs in the 3rd and catcher Welington Castillo finished the Cards off early with a 2-out 2-RBI double in the inning.

The Cards did put up some runs with Fat... err Matt Adams acting as a one-man wrecking crew with 4 hits, 1 HR, and 4 RBI. But, Matt Adams is only 1 man...that just looks like 2.

Interestingly, Cubs reliever Justin Grimm singled for his first MLB hit and scored.

Jake Arrieta only induced 2 swing-and-misses the entire game by the pesky situational-hitting Cards. The top of the Cubs rotation has been pretty lackluster against STL, despite the win.





Game 28 Rapid Reax: STL 7, CHC 3

Kyle Hendricks had his 1st bad start of the season. It was bound to happen. And probably bound to happen against the birds on the bat. Hendricks had trouble locating much of anything early on and the Cardinals (with a little help from good ole Clyde Washington behind the plate) ate him alive.

Kolten Wong hit a pair of triples on some pretty lazy OF play by the Cubs. Matt Adams had another nice game and Oscar Taveras homered for the Cardinals.

The szczilver lining for the Cubs is that Matt Szczur 1st hit of season. Finally. It only took 21 ABs.

[WaitTilNextYear]

April 2015 In Review

The Cubs did about as expected in April and have been flirting with .500 for about 2 weeks. The pitching staff has kept the team competitive despite a mostly bottom-feeding offense. Edwin Jackson and Travis Wood are at opposite ends of the surprise spectrum. Jackson has been surprisingly good while Wood has been not good.

The Cubs hope that a recent 10-run outburst against the Phillies and an 8-run effort against the Cardinals are signs that the anemic offense is heating up. Starlin Castro, Javier Baez, and Jorge Soler have all been mildly-to-catastrophically disappointing so far. Everyone else is performing nearly as you'd expect. Rizzo could use some more help from his bros, bro.

Nothing to see here. Chris Davis is only on pace for about 80 homers and sits at 15 after a recent 3-homer game, which was not even his 1st such game in April. He's going for roid-era power. Hmmm...

Troy Tulowitzki hasn't quite been chopped liver himself, with a position player-leading 2.3 WAR and 12 homers. Robinson Cano continues to flip the bird at the Yankees from afar and leads the majors with 43 hits and comes in 2nd with a .398 batting average.

Brandon Crawford has been scorching hot for the Giants, though no one expects him to bat .400 all year. How valuable would that be, though? A GG-caliber SS batting .400? He might break WAR if he does that.

In other news, it's 'Cabreras Wild' this year. Miguel Cabrera in Detroit, Asdrubal Cabrera in Washington, and Everth Cabrera of the Padres are lurking around various categories on the MLB leaderboard.

Meanwhile, Clayton Kershaw leads the pack of pitchers and is on pace for a decent 15 WAR season. Kershaw leads the majors with 64 strikeouts in 44.2 IP and sports a reasonable 1.01 ERA to go with his MLB-leading 6 wins. Haven't had a 30-game winner in awhile...

Felix Hernandez has not exactly been a bum either with a 0.78 ERA. Patrick Corbin has flirted with a few no no's and has been sharp in his return from TJ. Jason Hammel has been a very solid, economical pickup for the post-Jeter Yankees, and Corey Kluber is doing some Corey Kluber things once again.

In honor of Bill Simmons, newly suspended by the Worldwide Leader in a decision fitting of NFL-level-hypocrisy, looking at the standings, one can only say:
yup, these are the Mets...

[WaitTilNextYear]

April 2015 Picture Review

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Cubs, Reds Duel to Draw, Shall Meet Again




Game 29 Rapid Reax: CIN 3, CHC 2

The GIDP Monster got to the Cubs in a low scoring tilt against Cincinnati. Chicago managed 4 hits through 8 innings and amazingly hit into 4 double plays to extricate Mike Leake out of many a jam. Leake only needed 77 pitches to get through 8.2 IP and got a helping hand from the GIDP Monster and the BABIP Monster as well. The Cubs were making solid contact, but everything was heading into outfielders' gloves and at double play depth infielders.

Travis Wood has had a rough start to 2015, but pitched a promising 2 innings before getting rocked in the face with a comebacker. Wood left with what cutting edge medical science calls a "shiner." The move was precautionary and Wood tested negative for concussion-like symptoms.

Down 3-0 in the 9th, the Chicago offense tried to make a move, but stranded the tying run at 2B when Jorge Soler tapped out weakly to the catcher to end the ball game.





Game 30 Rapid Reax: CIN 7, CHC 4

More of the same unfortunately for the Wrigley Faithful. Hard-hit balls right at Reds. The Cubs suited up what amounted to their JV team, which has resulted in sneaky wins in the past, but it was not to be. It was nice to see UTIL Michael Martinez triple and homer to climb nearer to the Mendoza line.

Meanwhile, the Cincinnati baseball Reds racked up seeing eye singles, manufactured 2-out RBI, and took advantage of a ridiculous outfield error that end up costing runs. Against all advice to the contrary, Todd Frazier was a menace to south central while drinking his juice in the hood. He missed the cycle by a double. Devin Mesoraco hit a homer on what would've been a ball 8 inches off the plate outside.

The Rule 5 Chris Withrow experiment has come to a close with another brutal outing. Withrow gave up 3 runs and failed to retire a Red to cause his ERA to balloon up to 8.67. Withrow was placed on waivers and will be returned to the Dodgers unless another team claims him.

On the positive side of things, catcher Welington Castillo caught 3 Reds trying to pilfer bases.





Game 31 Rapid Reax: CHC 7, CIN 6

In what looked to be the best pitching matchup of the day, Johnny Cueto vs Max Scherzer was anything but. Cueto and Scherzer were both absolutely bombed. Cueto had to be lifted in the 4th inning after walking 4 Cubs, striking out nobody, and yielding 6 earned runs. It was a clutch Logan Watkins bases-clearing 2B that KO'd Cueto.

Scherzer was not much better and couldn't escape the 5th inning. A 3-run pinch hit Devin Mesoraco bomb chased Scherzer after his worst start as a Cub.

The bullpens fared much better, and although Wesley Wright gave up his first run of the season on a massive 430-foot Joey Votto homer, closer Hector Rondon blew Votto away with a 95 mph cutter up and in to polish off save number 12.

Anthony Rizzo and Chris Coghlan both homered for Chicago and Jerry Hillsdale's strike zone was just what these hitters were hoping for. Anything on the corner was a ball.





Game 32 Rapid Reax: CHC 5, CIN 2

Logan Watkins continued basically salvaging the split by his bat alone. Watkins keyed the Cubs attack with a 2-run HR on J.J. Hoover's 1st pitch out of pen in 6th inning to push the lead to 5-1.

Chicago started fast with 2 runs in 1st inning. It started with an infield single off the hot bat of Chris Coghlan. Then Javier Baez clubbed an RBI double to the vines in right-center. After an Anthony Rizzo BB, Jorge Soler advanced Baez to third on a deep fly out. Luis Valbuena added a liner through right side for RBI single to go up 2-0 on the prominently-tatted Mat Latos.

Jay Bruce notched an RBI single in the 8th inning to tally the first damage to Neil Ramirez this season. But, Hector Rondon remained perfect on the season in picking up his 13th save and striking out a pair.

Jake Arrieta went 115 pitches. Arrieta got 17 swing-and-misses and 16 chases after only 2 swing-and-misses against STL his last time out, so his stuff was crisper.

The Cubs salvaged the split after dropping games 1 and 2, and oddly enough, the Reds swiped Chris Withrow off of waivers from the Cubs.

The Cubs will not miss Joey Votto, who went 6 for 13 and hit 2 homers in the series.

[lawflaw]

Subscribing. Some day I hope I'm as cool as you.

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Quote: Originally Posted by lawflaw

Subscribing. Some day I hope I'm as cool as you.

Thanks for the note. I'd suggest you aim higher, lol

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No Flex Zone Declared on Cubs in Baltimore




Game 33 Rapid Reax: BAL 8, CHC 2

How fitting for the Cubs to end the game on a GIDP? It was their 4th of the game and 15th of the last 5 games. Ouch. Needless to say that the Cubs offense is currently leading MLB in GIDPs.

After a bad start against the Cardinals, the O's torched Kyle Hendricks in the 7th inning of this one in what had been a 3-2 close game. A 3-2 pitch called a ball gave J.J. Hardy a free pass and Dariel Alvarez followed up with his 1st MLB HR to make it 5-2. After a pair of doubles, Nelson Cruz rocked Justin Grimm for another no doubt homer and the game was on ice at 8-2, Baltimore.

Bud Norris was really shaky early on, but since it was no a flex zone, balls that were stung all over Oriole Park ended up in gloves or in double plays.

The O's also stole 4 bases, and 3 off Hendricks/Welington Castillo in the 3rd. All of Castillo's throws were off the mark.

Jonathan Schoop saved 2 hits in the 4th inning, one of which he caught on a dead run with his back toward the play on a lined rocket from Javier Baez.





Game 34 Rapid Reax: BAL 15, CHC 1

The Cubs players that were responsible for this game have been sacked.

Llamas e'rywhere, y'all.

Those who were responsible for originally sacking the Cubs players have now themselves also been sacked.

This game was unwatchable for Cubs fans. Tsuyoshi Wada, who had just been called up to take Travis Wood's rotation spot and Chris Withrow's roster spot, was absolutely punished. The Orioles batted .467 (7 for 15) off of Wada, who could only manage 46% of his pitches for strikes.

After Wada was lifted, the O's started working over Stephen Kohlscheen, who gave up a 2-strike, 2-out Phil Gosselin Grand Slam to seal the game at 8-1 BAL. And it would only get worse for Chicago.

A breakdown of the O's 7-run 3rd inning:

• Adam Jones full count BB
• Nelson Cruz line drive single
• Chris Davis K
• Manny Machado single
• Steve Pearce 2 RBI single
• Matt Wieters RBI 2B
• J.J. Hardy full count BB
• Nick Markakis K
• Phil Gosselin GRAND SLAM
• Adam Jones HBP
• Nelson Cruz K

It was clearly a dominant inning for the Cubs pitching staff, who struck out the side.

If the scoring outburst in the 3rd wasn't enough, the Orioles added 2 more in the 4th with a double and a error, then 3 more in the 5th with a sac fly, a double, and finally a J.J. Hardy 2-run homer in the 7th.

Wei-Yin Chen went the distance for the orange birds with a 125-pitch CG. Aside from the result, it really was nothing special save for a couple of timely Ks on high fastballs and some lucky contact on batted balls. Shockingly, there were no GIDP for Chicago. Eric Summersgill's strike zone was slanted heavily to favor hitters so that does make Chen's start more impressive and really doomed Chicago's staff at the same time.

In a microcosm of this series in Baltimore, the Cubs defense essentially made 2 errors on the same play in the 2nd, when right after Steve Pearce's solo HR, Matt Wieters hit a grounder to 3rd, which Luis Valbuena booted. But, Chris Denorfia booted the same ball as it rolled into the outfield to allow Wieters to end up at 2nd.

Thank goodness it was only a 2 game series and if there was any positive takeaway for the Cubs, it was that the series is bookended with off days.