2018 Chicago Cubs

[WaitTilNextYear]

I just noticed we didn't have one of these team threads yet. Wanted to post about the weird vibes among Yu Darvish, Jim Hickey, and Willson Contreras in this article. These guys are definitely not on the same page. lol

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/23288542/yu-darvish-seeking-answers-another-short-outing-definitely-my-problem

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: 2018 Chicago Cubs

One thing I noticed recently about Quintana and Darvish is both have been fly ball pitchers throughout their careers (41.1% GB rate for Darvish, 44.4% GB rate for Q). With homers being as prevalent in today's game as they are, I am beginning to wonder if Theo made the right call on acquiring these dudes in this context. To some extent you think things might neutralize upon coming from HR friendly parks in the AL like Arlington and Comiskey, but something to watch out for maybe.

[Jr.]

Re: 2018 Chicago Cubs

One thing I noticed recently about Quintana and Darvish is both have been fly ball pitchers throughout their careers (41.1% GB rate for Darvish, 44.4% GB rate for Q). With homers being as prevalent in today's game as they are, I am beginning to wonder if Theo made the right call on acquiring these dudes in this context. To some extent you think things might neutralize upon coming from HR friendly parks in the AL like Arlington and Comiskey, but something to watch out for maybe.

I wonder if that's why they both are seemingly so contact-averse in their pitching styles?

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: 2018 Chicago Cubs

Interesting article by Carrie Muskat: https://www.mlb.com/cubs/news/theo-e...18/c-275703816

It sure has felt like we suck with RISP, but how about .218 (14th in the NL)? Yikes.

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: 2018 Chicago Cubs

I'm gonna try one more time to get this thread going...and if it dies, it dies.

Maybe a resurgence in the Cubs' farm system? This Richard Gallardo kid sounds like he'll be a top prospect before long. Theo's regime has been wildly successful with position players, but still has yet to hit on an IFA pitching prospect, ahem Gerardo Concepcion.

https://www.mlb.com/cubs/news/5-cubs-international-prospects-to-watch/c-285464354

[CBoller1331]

Re: 2018 Chicago Cubs

Anthony Rizzo has as many career leadoff HR's as Juan Pierre in approximately 1000 less PA

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: 2018 Chicago Cubs

Was looking at the Cubs' top 30 prospect list on MLB dot com and there seem to be some quality guys on there despite it being a pretty thin system overall.

The prospects that look most promising? RHP Alex Lange (22 y/o having a nice year for A+ Myrtle Beach), SS Aramis Ademan (19 year old in high A ball), RHP Adbert Alzolay (23 y/o in his 1st go 'round at AAA Iowa), C Miguel Amaya (19 y/o catcher who is having a stellar year at A ball and selected for the Futures Game), RHP Michael Rucker (24 y/o having a breakout season at AA).

This time next year, I bet either Amaya or newly signed IFA Richard Gallaro is the #1 prospect in the system.

[CBoller1331]

Re: 2018 Chicago Cubs

I think Lange is going to be pretty good. Maybe only a #3 or #4, but that would still be welcome as the Cubs haven't really developed a pitcher that they drafted in a while

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: 2018 Chicago Cubs

Been hearing more and more about how awful the Cubs' starting rotation has been and some are starting to implicate Willson Contreras' pitch framing skills (or lack thereof) as a part of the reason why. I just checked BP's stats on him and Willy is 2nd best (behind only Tucker Barnhart) in terms of blocking, but 2nd worst (ahead of only Omar Narvaez) in terms of pitch framing.

Interesting, but I wonder how stable these stats are. Last year, Contreras was middle of the pack in both categories.

[CBoller1331]

Re: 2018 Chicago Cubs

I think it could have something to do with the Cubs pitching woes, but for me framing is almost as much on the pitcher to hit his spot as it is on the catcher to make it look good. It's not very often your going to get a borderline call when you miss across the plate (heck, sometimes we see pitches down the middle not get called cause the pitcher missed by a foot). Tyler Chatwood has been all over the place and when he misses he usually does so by a lot, often making it hard for Willson to even catch/block the pitch let alone frame it.

As for how consistent framing metrics are, I believe that while he was in Milwaukee Jonathan Lucroy was regarded as one of the game's best "receivers" (I believe that's the preferred term...lol) and after being traded he regressed back to the MLB average. I would guess that part of it is due to catching different pitchers and not getting used to their repertoire's. Framing seems like a skill that wouldn't regress with age, so I would guess that it's somewhat random from year to year.

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: 2018 Chicago Cubs

Ex-Cub Jake Arrieta has a higher WAR than any pitcher on the Cubs' roster this season. Sigh

It's July 21st and no Cubs pitcher has hit 1.0 WAR yet.

[Jr.]

Re: 2018 Chicago Cubs

Been hearing more and more about how awful the Cubs' starting rotation has been and some are starting to implicate Willson Contreras' pitch framing skills (or lack thereof) as a part of the reason why. I just checked BP's stats on him and Willy is 2nd best (behind only Tucker Barnhart) in terms of blocking, but 2nd worst (ahead of only Omar Narvaez) in terms of pitch framing.

Interesting, but I wonder how stable these stats are. Last year, Contreras was middle of the pack in both categories.

They fluctuate pretty drastically. Tyler Flowers had one of the best ever seasons by pitch framing tracking last year and while he's still good, he's outside of the top 10 this year. I wonder if umpires are told about this kind of thing, so they are more aware season to season about catchers trying to steal pitches by framing.

Yadi was always considered one of the best at this, too, and he's middle of the pack this year

[CBoller1331]

Re: 2018 Chicago Cubs

Anybody heard anything about Eddie Butler? I know he was placed on the 60-day DL in April but I haven't heard anything about him in awhile and thought of him while pondering about options to start tomorrow's (Monday) game vs Arizona

[Jr.]

Re: 2018 Chicago Cubs

Anybody heard anything about Eddie Butler? I know he was placed on the 60-day DL in April but I haven't heard anything about him in awhile and thought of him while pondering about options to start tomorrow's (Monday) game vs Arizona

Doesn't look like he's doing too well in AAA

https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/news/cubs-eddie-butler-rehabbing-at-triple-a/

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: 2018 Chicago Cubs

They fluctuate pretty drastically. Tyler Flowers had one of the best ever seasons by pitch framing tracking last year and while he's still good, he's outside of the top 10 this year. I wonder if umpires are told about this kind of thing, so they are more aware season to season about catchers trying to steal pitches by framing.

Yadi was always considered one of the best at this, too, and he's middle of the pack this year

I hadn't considered that. This would be pretty interesting if umpires were tied into that. It might be interesting to see how these numbers hold up over several years for a bunch of catchers. If they don't, then people are either measuring this wrong or what is being measured is much more than just catcher skill.

Doesn't look like he's doing too well in AAA

https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/ba...g-at-triple-a/

That heroic 7 inning stint in relief down in Miami really messed him up, huh?