The Friendly Confines: The Official Chicago Cubs Thread

[Sportsforever]

Re: The Friendly Confines: The Official Chicago Cubs Thread

The latest thing I've done to feed my Baseball Reference addiction...here are some comparisons thru 111 games (as of the end of play tonight)...


2016 Cubs: 70-41
2015 Cubs: 63-48
2008 Cubs: 66-45
1984 Cubs: 66-45
1969 Cubs: 70-41
1945 Cubs: 72-39
1935 Cubs: 67-44
1932 Cubs: 61-50
1929 Cubs: 75-36
1918 Cubs: 72-39
1910 Cubs: 76-35
1909 Cubs: 75-36
1908 Cubs: 64-47
1907 Cubs: 80-31
1906 Cubs: 80-31


(1) The last Cubs team to go 70-41 thru 111 games was the....gulp....1969 team.

(2) This year's team's pace is actually ahead of the 1908 WS champ team.

(3) Some of those early 20th Century Cubs teams were UNREAL down the stretch. Some amazing winning streaks.

The 1977 Cubs belong on your list....started super strong and at one point had a nearly 10 game lead. At the 111 game point they were 65-46...they finished 16-35 to come in at .500.

[fugazi]

Re: The Friendly Confines: The Official Chicago Cubs Thread

What was Strop thinking?? He played himself.

[fugazi]

Re: The Friendly Confines: The Official Chicago Cubs Thread

Maybe I'm late on this, but what is the rationale behind optioning LaStella and his >800 OPS but to keep Coghlan and his...what???

**Since being reacquired from the A’s, Coghlan is 7-for-36 in 19 games with two doubles and a triple (.194/.356/.306) for a .661 OPS.


Chris Coghlan is out of minor league options and the Cubs did not want to lose him.**
From Cubsonline...

Just absolute BS. The kind of thinking that I thought the team avoided.

And, please...No Papelbon. No.

[Jr.]

Re: The Friendly Confines: The Official Chicago Cubs Thread

Maybe I'm late on this, but what is the rationale behind optioning LaStella and his >800 OPS but to keep Coghlan and his...what???

**Since being reacquired from the A’s, Coghlan is 7-for-36 in 19 games with two doubles and a triple (.194/.356/.306) for a .661 OPS.


Chris Coghlan is out of minor league options and the Cubs did not want to lose him.**
From Cubsonline...

Just absolute BS. The kind of thinking that I thought the team avoided.

And, please...No Papelbon. No.

Yeah I don't really understand it either. I don't get the appeal of Coghlan, and LaStella was playing very well. Cubs really screwed that situation up.

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: The Friendly Confines: The Official Chicago Cubs Thread

Maybe I'm late on this, but what is the rationale behind optioning LaStella and his >800 OPS but to keep Coghlan and his...what???

**Since being reacquired from the A’s, Coghlan is 7-for-36 in 19 games with two doubles and a triple (.194/.356/.306) for a .661 OPS.


Chris Coghlan is out of minor league options and the Cubs did not want to lose him.**
From Cubsonline...

Just absolute BS. The kind of thinking that I thought the team avoided.

And, please...No Papelbon. No.

Yeah I don't really understand it either. I don't get the appeal of Coghlan, and LaStella was playing very well. Cubs really screwed that situation up.

Coghlan plays the OF. La Stella does not. It's really that simple.

[Jr.]

Re: The Friendly Confines: The Official Chicago Cubs Thread

Coghlan plays the OF. La Stella does not. It's really that simple.

So does Bryant, Fowler, Heyward, and Zobrist. Not to mention Soler came back a week after Coghlan did. Is a 5th OF really that much more important than a LH bat that can actually hit?

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: The Friendly Confines: The Official Chicago Cubs Thread

So does Bryant, Fowler, Heyward, and Zobrist. Not to mention Soler came back a week after Coghlan did. Is a 5th OF really that much more important than a LH bat that can actually hit?

1. Heyward has been terrible. It's a wonder he's not getting benched for someone that, as you say, can actually hit. He's becoming our bizarro Alfonso Soriano.

2. Both Soler and Fowler have recently been on the DL with hamstring issues (Soler was still on the DL due to his glacially-slow healing powers at the time La Stella was optioned), which are notorious for recurring. If anything, you don't want to be short in the OF when guys are working their way back in.

3. It's true that both Bryant and Zobrist can play the OF, but Maddon obviously prefers them playing 2B and 3B the large majority of the time. I don't think you "move pieces around" to get a singles hitter like La Stella in the lineup anyway. Contreras can also play LF in a pinch, but again not an option that we want to see a lot of.

4. Coghlan is also a LH bat that can actually hit. He actually hasn't been all that bad for us. He was terrible for Oakland, but he's got a .385 OBP and has been putting up positive value for us. In addition to having 2 consecutive seasons for us (2014 and 2015) better than La Stella has ever done in his career.

La Stella is a good contact hitter, but so is Coghlan. Their career contact rates are about the same. But, La Stella doesn't really do anything else all that well. He's not very fast, he's got very little power, and he's below average on defense. Throw in that Coghlan can play OF/INF, that he was out of options and La Stella wasn't, and his versatility apparently got the nod.

I really, really, really don't get the "La Stella is a key piece and we need to be nice to him" BS. The guy is a bit player who would've resurfaced in September to take key pinch-hit ABs, but he chose to wig out and not report to AAA. It's baffling that he's not getting more crap than he already is. Good riddance to him.

[Jr.]

Re: The Friendly Confines: The Official Chicago Cubs Thread

I really, really, really don't get the "La Stella is a key piece and we need to be nice to him" BS. The guy is a bit player who would've resurfaced in September to take key pinch-hit ABs, but he chose to wig out and not report to AAA. It's baffling that he's not getting more crap than he already is. Good riddance to him.

I'll only disagree with the part where Coghlan is producing, as fugazi pointed out he's not doing all that much.

I don't think anyone is saying LaStella is the missing piece, but he's a solid LH bat off the bench who was having a very good year and regardless if he was optioned only because he had options left, I think it was a really dumb move that looks like it's going to bite the front office in the ***.

Regardless, it's the 25th man on the roster, so it shouldn't make that much of a difference. Coghlan is going to start once every 10 days, maybe.

[fugazi]

Re: The Friendly Confines: The Official Chicago Cubs Thread

So does Bryant, Fowler, Heyward, and Zobrist. Not to mention Soler came back a week after Coghlan did. Is a 5th OF really that much more important than a LH bat that can actually hit?

It's really that simple.

You could throw Baez in the OF and it's likely nothing god-awful would happen.

There's no defending this.

OPS over 800...good enough glove.

Coghlan is so awesome we didn't see him hardly at all after August of last year.

It's not about getting TLS starts...How is Coghlan's crap at the plate better than Heyward's? Heyward brings the gold glove, and as for LH production, they aren't far off from one another.

"Left Handed bat off the bench"

It's a thing...and in October when Maddon turns around, he'll get to choose from Heyward or Coghlan.

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: The Friendly Confines: The Official Chicago Cubs Thread

Mike Montgomery has had some decent outings after a slow start with the Cubs, especially the extra inning game against St. Louis, but Joe Smith is just a hot mess right now.

After today's appearance, he's come into 6 games with the Cubs and recorded 11 outs (3.2 IP). He's also given up 6 hits, 3 homers, 4 walks, and has struck out only 1 batter. Just brutal. We need Strop back before the postseason. I'd hate to see this guy pitching any meaningful innings.

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: The Friendly Confines: The Official Chicago Cubs Thread

I'll only disagree with the part where Coghlan is producing, as fugazi pointed out he's not doing all that much.

I don't think anyone is saying LaStella is the missing piece, but he's a solid LH bat off the bench who was having a very good year and regardless if he was optioned only because he had options left, I think it was a really dumb move that looks like it's going to bite the front office in the ***.

Regardless, it's the 25th man on the roster, so it shouldn't make that much of a difference. Coghlan is going to start once every 10 days, maybe.

Eh, Coghlan, La Stella. Not too much difference, imo. People are putting too much stock into La Stella's 122 PA's this season (and with a BABIP 60 points higher than his career average). He's a singles hitter that people who don't really dive into advanced statistics or burden themselves with sample size issues like at the moment because he has a nice looking batting average.

Agree on the 25th man thing. If we're mad about that, then our team is probably doing ok.

It's really that simple.

You could throw Baez in the OF and it's likely nothing god-awful would happen.

There's no defending this.

OPS over 800...good enough glove.

Coghlan is so awesome we didn't see him hardly at all after August of last year.

It's not about getting TLS starts...How is Coghlan's crap at the plate better than Heyward's? Heyward brings the gold glove, and as for LH production, they aren't far off from one another.

"Left Handed bat off the bench"

It's a thing...and in October when Maddon turns around, he'll get to choose from Heyward or Coghlan.

So how does picking Coghlan over La Stella right now mean that La Stella couldn't be a "left handed bat off the bench" in October? There's no correlation there at all. La Stella, had he not taken his ball and gone home like a spoiled child, could've simply been recalled in plenty of time to make the playoff roster. Now, he's got no chance of that. For all we know, the front office was banking on using his option (b/c Coghlan doesn't have any left), seeing where they were at injury-wise after Soler came back and Fowler didn't have a hamstring relapse, and then bringing him right back up.

It's basic roster 101. You have a bunch of not injured guys who play every day in the infield plus Baez, then you have 2 starting OF'ers (3 if you count Schwarber) injured or just barely returned from injury, so you keep an outfielder. Let's not play everyone out of their preferred position so we can have a bench guy get us a pinch hit single once every 5 days. You don't manage to accommodate the 25th man, sorry.

Also, TLS doesn't warrant this level of hand-wringing. At best he's a slight upgrade over Coghlan with the bat (they are basically the same hitter) and a slight downgrade in versatility. It's a total non-issue that you are blowing way out of proportion.

[fugazi]

Re: The Friendly Confines: The Official Chicago Cubs Thread

You're right on the last point, for sure lol

And I understand the hypothetical roster shuffling situation. But unless the FO puts on the diplomacy hat, i think you're going to have a hard time selling the idea to a guy that has, buy most measures, earned his spot.

One would have to hope they said, "hey, let the injury risks settle and you'll be back", but perhaps they delivered that clumsily.

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: The Friendly Confines: The Official Chicago Cubs Thread

You're right on the last point, for sure lol

And I understand the hypothetical roster shuffling situation. But unless the FO puts on the diplomacy hat, i think you're going to have a hard time selling the idea to a guy that has, buy most measures, earned his spot.

One would have to hope they said, "hey, let the injury risks settle and you'll be back", but perhaps they delivered that clumsily.

Well it's moot now anyway. It looks like Tommy is accepting his demotion to AAA like a real ballplayer. It will be nice to have the option of bringing him back as roster needs arise and perhaps in time to make the playoff roster. Glad he finally came to his senses. I'll bet his agent was pretty pissed, lol.

[BleacherBum2310]

Re: The Friendly Confines: The Official Chicago Cubs Thread

I don't get the appeal on Coghlan either. He's not hitting like last year yes he is still getting on base but I mean so is Montero. I'd also take right now Soler even vs a tough RHP over Coghlan. He's awful defensively and not to mention that awful twitch thing he does is so annoying. as bad as Heyward has been I'd rather take the defense.

in the postseason i think it's very possible that we see in some scenarios Baez to 3B Bryant to the OF and Heyward benched. Bryant/Fowler/Soler would be the OF. I don't think Coghlan even makes the postseason roster.

[Jr.]

Re: The Friendly Confines: The Official Chicago Cubs Thread

I don't get the appeal on Coghlan either. He's not hitting like last year yes he is still getting on base but I mean so is Montero. I'd also take right now Soler even vs a tough RHP over Coghlan. He's awful defensively and not to mention that awful twitch thing he does is so annoying. as bad as Heyward has been I'd rather take the defense.

in the postseason i think it's very possible that we see in some scenarios Baez to 3B Bryant to the OF and Heyward benched. Bryant/Fowler/Soler would be the OF. I don't think Coghlan even makes the postseason roster.

I could maybe see that lineup against LHPs, but I find it hard to see Maddon taking Heyward's glove off the field, even with his offensive struggles.

I guess it depends on how the rest of the lineup is hitting at the end of the season. If things are rolling, you can stand Heyward in the lineup because of what he gives you in the field, but if they need offense, maybe he is benched.