2018 Chicago Cubs

[BleacherBum2310]

Re: 2018 Chicago Cubs

One of the items I picked up recently was the DVD set of the 2016 World Series. Watching Game 7 right now...


Everything was just jumping off Kris Bryant's bat. He hasn't really hit for this kind of power since.

Addison Russell's Game 6 was one for the ages. At just 22 years old.

2016 Lester, Arrieta, and Hendricks are a real sight for sore eyes used to watching 2018 Cubs pitching. Why did we swap out Arrieta again? He came up so huge in big games.

Javier Baez was a total mess. I had a better chance to hit a breaking ball in this series. My favorite was when FOX did a montage of him striking out while he was at bat and he strikes out flailing right as the montage ends.

You could already tell that Jose Ramirez was the real deal.

Pat Hughes predicting Rizzo's insurance homer in Game 6 was very nice.

Willson Contreras has actually cut down on his incessant mound visits since then.

Maddon's handling of Chapman was lol-worthy. Keeping him in Game 6 up 7-1 and 7-2 and then 9-2. Not terribly surprising he couldn't finish out Game 7.


Glad I picked this up because it's amazing how many small details there are to forget about.

Yeah also looking back not in this game but it's hard to blame Maddon's usage of the bullpen in that postseason overall because he had 3 trusworthy relievers on that team. It's amazing.

[CBoller1331]

Re: 2018 Chicago Cubs

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/99775862-132.html#

I don't know what to make of this....seems rather sudden for just throwing 23 pitches today

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: 2018 Chicago Cubs

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports...5862-132.html#

I don't know what to make of this....seems rather sudden for just throwing 23 pitches today

Wishful thinking. I think it's starting to eat at him that his 1st year in Chicago has been an abject and complete failure.

No chance in hell that a fragile pitcher of his ilk, with a TJ surgery already on his resume and more than $100MM still owed, goes out of commission for 2.5 months, then STILL has some pain and discomfort and now all of a sudden getting activated just a week later with maybe one rehab start. Not a chance.

It was a weird scene and a wild explanation after his session today. Not sure if the language barrier or the interpreter was an issue, but basically the story as I understand it was...he made a few pitches and still had some discomfort. THEN, a Cubs trainer mimed out a different motion and said "remember, THIS is how you were doing it in Spring Training." Darvish altered his mechanics for the rest of the session and said he felt good. And now he wants to get activated soon? LOL. This whole situation (going way back to Darvish and Jim Hickey not seeing eye to eye on pitch selection) has been like watching for the next clown climbing out of the tiny car.

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: 2018 Chicago Cubs

Pretty good headline game from Jesse Rogers:

Tyler Chatwood takes walk to Cubs bullpen after Cole Hamels trade

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/24218563/chicago-cubs-send-tyler-chatwood-bullpen-acquiring-cole-hamels

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: 2018 Chicago Cubs

Interesting to see a rather weak rebuttal of A-Rod hammering Yu Darvish on last night's broadcast. Joe Maddon isn't exactly going all "rah rah" for Darvish here...

https://www.mlb.com/cubs/news/joe-maddon-responds-to-a-rods-darvish-remarks/c-288049618

[BleacherBum2310]

Re: 2018 Chicago Cubs

Kinda sound like he did.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/cubs-joe-maddon-alex-rodriguez-yu-darvish-comments-2018-fiery-rant/?utm_campaign=ChicagoSunTimes&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_content=1533063062

Almora and Rizzo also backed Darvish pretty hard.

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: 2018 Chicago Cubs

Kinda sound like he did.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/cubs-joe-maddon-alex-rodriguez-yu-darvish-comments-2018-fiery-rant/?utm_campaign=ChicagoSunTimes&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_content=1533063062

Almora and Rizzo also backed Darvish pretty hard.

Didn't see what Rizzo and Almora said, but those Maddon comments are extremely milquetoast and seem to completely dance around the issue. He doesn't contradict anything factually (about Darvish not fitting in, about him being a distraction or a source of antipathy, about him controlling his rehab and exasperating the training staff), and he's only offended by A-Rod's methods and that "an outsider" came in and messed with the clubhouse feng shui that he prides himself on.

Also telling is that, as far as I know, Theo and Jed have been completely absent from this discussion. Following up on Theo explaining Darvish's "severe pain" as "some discomfort" a week ago, it certainly seems conspicuous for a club's front office to not back its $126M man at all.

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: 2018 Chicago Cubs

Darvish, KB, Morrow, Smyly returns from injury all still listed as "????." It would be nice to have our best offensive player, 2nd most expensive starting pitcher, and closer available at some point again this season.

Duensing back to the DL also. Not that we'll miss him with how he's been pitching.

[Jr.]

Re: 2018 Chicago Cubs

Darvish, KB, Morrow, Smyly returns from injury all still listed as "????." It would be nice to have our best offensive player, 2nd most expensive starting pitcher, and closer available at some point again this season.

Duensing back to the DL also. Not that we'll miss him with how he's been pitching.

The Cubs had been pretty lucky the last few years when it came to injuries. We're really getting a good sense of the lack of pitcher development through the organization this season

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[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: 2018 Chicago Cubs

Albert Almora might need a stint at AAA if this keeps up. Pains me to say it 'cause he's my boy, but he's 1 for his last 27 and swinging at everything.

Besides, Bote could play CF, right?

[CBoller1331]

Re: 2018 Chicago Cubs

Albert Almora might need a stint at AAA if this keeps up. Pains me to say it 'cause he's my boy, but he's 1 for his last 27 and swinging at everything.

Besides, Bote could play CF, right?

Well whenever Bryant comes back someone's got to be the odd man out....

Also maybe this is a somewhat pointless question, but where does Bote rank among Cubs potential trade pieces at this point? I'm tempted to say he'd be more valuable than Addison Russell at this point.

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: 2018 Chicago Cubs

Bote is right up there with Trout in trade value. I firmly believe every team will be crawling over themselves to get him.

Spoiler

No, I think Russell is more valuable b/c he's a Gold Glove level SS who hits occasionally. Bote is more of a UTIL/26th man/mascot type.

[CBoller1331]

Re: 2018 Chicago Cubs

Bote is right up there with Trout in trade value. I firmly believe every team will be crawling over themselves to get him.

Spoiler

No, I think Russell is more valuable b/c he's a Gold Glove level SS who hits occasionally. Bote is more of a UTIL/26th man/mascot type.

Haha. I guess I've just got a really high prescription on my Cubs goggles. With the number of times he's been up this year I didn't realize he's only had 70 PA's. Thought it was closer to 150. Teams just haven't found a hole in his swing yet

[Jr.]

Re: 2018 Chicago Cubs

Albert Almora might need a stint at AAA if this keeps up. Pains me to say it 'cause he's my boy, but he's 1 for his last 27 and swinging at everything.

Besides, Bote could play CF, right?

He's probably the next Trout out there

Sent from my SM-G920V using Operation Sports mobile app

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: 2018 Chicago Cubs

This past offseason, Schwarber worked hard on his conditioning. Maybe this next offseason he'll work on cutting down his strikeouts. He must lead the league in getting rung up on pitches 1 inch off the plate.

Personally, I'd like to see the Cubs trade him although I don't know what for. His skill set is crying out to play in the AL and be a top DH for a number of years. But, I'm pretty sure Theo Epstein would sooner leave his wife, abandon his children, and live the remainder of his days in a gorilla suit rather than trade Schwarber.