Nothing like going into a season with no hope for not only this year, but the year after or the following year. I remember those days.
MLB: ***Official 2016 WORLD SERIES CHAMPION Chicago Cubs Season Thread***
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Nothing like going into a season with no hope for not only this year, but the year after or the following year. I remember those days.
I know Hendricks gets ripped on here from time to time but his spring training results are promising. He basically had 1 bad outing but everything else was pretty solid:
He is the least of my concerns with the rotation, Hammel by far is the one I worry about the most because even if he gets off to another good start he's blown up in the 2nd half the last 2 seasons so he will probably have a short leash if that trend continues again this year. Arrieta will likely come down to earth a bit this year but I still expect 15 to 18 wins with an ERA below 3.00. Lester hopefully will be in that same conversation if improves on his 11-12 and 3.34 ERA from last year else you have to wonder at age 32 if he's starting his downward trend. Lackey at age 37 I'll be glad if he comes close to his 13-11 and 2.77 from last year, but with this offense you'd hope he could push for 15 wins and an ERA somewhere in the low 3's which I'd be glad with getting that from a 37 year old #3 starter. We know that baring injury the 1-3 rotation spots are locked in and I think unless Hendricks has a string of really bad outings his spot is pretty safe as a 3rd year guy who is only 26 and is only being counted on as a #4 or #5 guy in the rotation which makes me think that Hammel has the most pressure to perform consistently in order to keep his spot.
He is the least of my concerns with the rotation, Hammel by far is the one I worry about the most because even if he gets off to another good start he's blown up in the 2nd half the last 2 seasons so he will probably have a short leash if that trend continues again this year. Arrieta will likely come down to earth a bit this year but I still expect 15 to 18 wins with an ERA below 3.00. Lester hopefully will be in that same conversation if improves on his 11-12 and 3.34 ERA from last year else you have to wonder at age 32 if he's starting his downward trend. Lackey at age 37 I'll be glad if he comes close to his 13-11 and 2.77 from last year, but with this offense you'd hope he could push for 15 wins and an ERA somewhere in the low 3's which I'd be glad with getting that from a 37 year old #3 starter. We know that baring injury the 1-3 rotation spots are locked in and I think unless Hendricks has a string of really bad outings his spot is pretty safe as a 3rd year guy who is only 26 and is only being counted on as a #4 or #5 guy in the rotation which makes me think that Hammel has the most pressure to perform consistently in order to keep his spot.
Kyle wasn't exactly pitching against murderer's row yesterday, but I feel you.
I absolutely hate the Lackey signing. Old and known to eat beer and chicken in the clubhouse. If anything derails this season it'll be the starting pitching. Could be good to great at times. Could also fall completely into the ditch
So did Lester. They made such a big deal about that I'm sure those days are over.
Why? Got a good, reliable starting pitcher on an affordable short term contract that can easily be eaten if Lackey falls off a cliff for some reason, which he has shown no signs of decline. Cubs had the third best ERA in baseball last year, now they've improved their rotation at the top and added a lot more depth to their rotation and bullpen. I have a hard time envisioning any scenario where there starting pitching is just terrible.
He was a knucklehead in Anaheim. He was a bigger knucklehead in Boston. Now he's old. This contract will be dead weight.
Never been a Lackey fan. He seems to bring a swirl of drama and now he's way past his prime.
Hope I'm wrong but I expect zero from him. I'll be happy if it's just zero....
He was the highest WAR pitcher on a 100 win team last year, it's a two year contract. Very limited possibility for it being dead weight.
I see symmetrical starzzz at the beginning and end of the title, and no misspellings. I think it's official.
I'm wondering if Alcantara will be in the Cubs organization (involved in a trade for a pitcher) by year's end.
#Cubs Opening Night lineup: Fowler CF, Heyward RF, Zobrist 2B, Rizzo 1B, Bryant 3B, Schwarber LF, Soler DH, Montero C, Russell SS
Lackey's deal is only 2 years, it won't be dead weight even if he sucks which I don't see happening this year at least. He keeps himself in pretty good shape and has been a workhorse over his career. I like it much better than overpaying for David Price on a 7 year deal that has a lot more potential to be dead weight at the end of it. If you really want to talk about dead weight contracts, Edwin Jackson is still on the payroll this year at $12.5 mill and the Cubs basically ate most of his contract last year too at $13 mil for just 31 innings. Actually you can say his entire 4 year $52 mil contract was a complete waste of money as the Cubs got 16-34 record with a 5.37 ERA in 2+ seasons out of him.
The good thing about this offseason is that the Cubs didn't trade any prospects of value away so if starting pitching is a concern midseason they still have Soler and Baez along with a pretty good stock of players in the farm system as trade chips to go out and get an impact arm. I think the Braves make for a logical trade partner, they have kicked the tires on Soler before and I think Julio Teheran who is just 25 and has some cheap years of team control left could be a possible target. Never know till the season gets going who might become sellers and possible trade targets
When you're 5-6-7 is KB, Schwarber, and Soler, pitchers are gonna be peeing their pants.
Things will change once we aren't playing AL teams but whoa
Anyone know why Schwarber isn't the DH and Soler isn't in the field? Is Schwarber a better defender than Soler? I thought they both weren't good, however at least Soler has the great arm.
They both are not good in the field, but Schwarber is going to be there everyday, so you might as well get him more reps.
Might not have to throw strikes to get outs against the bottom half of that lineup, but the margin on mistakes is pretty thin, and if Fowler, Heyward and Zobrist can get on base, potential is there for some crooked numbers.
Russell hitting 9th is crazy, I think he has a huge year and would be a middle of the order hitter for a lot of teams (at least by the end of the year).