MLB: ***Official 2018 Chicago Cubs Season Thread***
- Thread starter chuckd4735
- Start date
Lol. At this point, just forfeit tomorrow and get the day off or send the B squad
3B - La Stella
SS - Bote
1B - Caratini
C - Taylor Davis
CF - Gore
2B - Jaime Garcia
LF - Oscar De La Cruz
RF - Chili Davis
Who the **** cares? Run the bat boy out there and manufacture an off day.
3B - La Stella
SS - Bote
1B - Caratini
C - Taylor Davis
CF - Gore
2B - Jaime Garcia
LF - Oscar De La Cruz
RF - Chili Davis
Who the **** cares? Run the bat boy out there and manufacture an off day.
We may lack a "Lester," "deGrom" or "Kershaw" type of pitcher, but our starting staff is 11th in the entire MLB in ERA. I wouldn't call that "not very good." 17th or lower, yeah, but not when they are just outside the top third. BTW, I'm not here to argue that our starters are GREAT, just that they are generally able to do what is asked of them - keep the score close & then hand it over to, what has been, a pretty effective bullpen.
Anyway, these games against you guys have been very stress-inducing. Good luck to you the rest of the season (but not toooo much)
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It will be very telling to see how this team responds now. They've been punched in the mouth and the race is on. They seem to believe they can flip the switch whenever. We shall see. I'm not convinced there isn't a sense of entitlement that set in after a quick world series title with the young core.
They better "flip the switch" now instead of later and start stringing some wins together else they are going to find themselves in a 1 game wild card playoff against the Cardinals or possibly the Dodgers or Rockies. The way they are playing right now I'm not confident enough to think they'd win a 1 game playoff to stay alive. They already finish the season with a 3 game series against the Cards that is probably going to have implications not only on the division crown but the playoff fate of the Cardinals and if the Cubs don't get it together soon it could be their fate too.
The team just looks worn out and tired. Starting pitching hasn't even been all that bad. The team is dependent on power and it seems like they haven't even hit a home run in while. Has Bryant hit a home run since being back from the DL? Javy has been stuck on 100 RBI for almost two weeks. Who on the team is hitting well right now? Zobrist maybe?
In our 4 September loses to the Brewers, our starters have an ERA of 3.86 while our bullpen has an ERA of 8.36
If pitching is your concern, direct towards not having a single reliever who can pitch remotely well in a tight spot.
My solution: throw a game a week and let Chatwood start so Montgomery can come in and give us a chance 2-3 times a week when our starters go out and do their job and don’t have relievers piss any chance away. Makes more sense to me to let him throw 2 innings every few games than 4-5 innings every 5 game to have (insert reliever here) choke
My other concern?
We are averaging 2 runs a game our last 10 losses.
We are averaging 6.3 runs a game our last 10 wins.
We have to get a little consistency out of our offense
If pitching is your concern, direct towards not having a single reliever who can pitch remotely well in a tight spot.
My solution: throw a game a week and let Chatwood start so Montgomery can come in and give us a chance 2-3 times a week when our starters go out and do their job and don’t have relievers piss any chance away. Makes more sense to me to let him throw 2 innings every few games than 4-5 innings every 5 game to have (insert reliever here) choke
My other concern?
We are averaging 2 runs a game our last 10 losses.
We are averaging 6.3 runs a game our last 10 wins.
We have to get a little consistency out of our offense
I guess I don't get the "tired" excuse. Joe was just using it too. What does one off day get you? The Cubs are probably one of, if not the, deepest teams in baseball. Everyone but Rizzo and, to a lesser extent, Javy are being platooned, giving them fairly frequent days off.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
One day off does a lot for any athlete. This stretch is a pretty serious grind. Just one day away to clear their heads and rest would do a lot.
I am no expert but I once worked 16 days in a row making pizza in a kitchen for about $8 an hour for 4-5 hour shifts. I was worthless by the last few days but after my day off, was rejuvenated and felt great my next time back.
These guys are making more money but doing the same **** for 30 days in a row.
And while money does buy a lot, it does not buy rejuvenation.
Unless you buy cocaine but I am not encouraging that.
But with the Cubs depth most of these guys aren't playing every day anyway. Most of these guys are getting at least a day off per weeks, and guys other than Javy and Rizzo more than that.
I get that but they’re still getting up and going through the same routine every day.
Just because the player is not in the lineup doesn't really mean he has the day off. The players still have to show up and still might play as a late inning replacement.
But in baseball the day-to-day routine isn't that exhausting. Hell, most teams make BP elective this late in the year. On a day you're not playing what do you do--- show up, maybe take some grounders, maybe take 30-40 bp pitches.
I think the biggest issue is we just came off an 11-game road trip, and in two weeks time will travel from Chicago to Atlanta to Philly to Milwaukee to DC to Chicago to DC to Chicago.
However, 10 of our last 16 games are at Wrigley, 13 of our last 16 games are in Chicago, and the last 11 nights of the season, they will be able to sleep in their own beds. Hopefully that pays off!
Here is what that stretch has looked like:
Last off day - on the road so was likely actually a travel day between two cities. Air travel is so relaxing. Last home off day was a week before.
The 30 day stretch:
2 games on the road
travel home for 7 home games including 1 ppd and resumed next day in a DH
travel for 1 game
travel for 3 games
travel for 3 games
travel for 4 games 2 were ppd and 1 rescheduled and played in a DH
travel home for 3 home games
travel for 1 game
travel home for 3 homes games
travel for 3 games
30 days in a row with a game scheduled
22 out of 35 days in a hotel room
9 legs of travel in 30 days
And during those 30 days they had to prepare for a game 32 times, even though some ended up being postponed. I'm pretty sure it is very rare that an uninjured position player is totally unavailable. The manager may not start them and may not plan to play them, but they still need to prepare and be ready to play every day. You never know what day will go to extra innings and the team will need every bat and defender.
It is understandable that the team is physically and especially mentally fatigued. There have been a lot more errors lately - a sign of mental exhaustion.
I get it, but we are also talking about missing out on a day here and there of rest. Not weeks. And really everyone winds ups playing the same amount of games. So these are breaks we got earlier in the year on rain outs that we aren't getting now.
I just think it's too convenient of an excuse in a game where half your roster sits on the bench on any given game. Everyone gets rest under Joe.
I guess I don't remember any rain outs earlier in the year where they called the game before anybody had to come to the ballpark and start prepping.
Go to work 30 days in a row without a single day off and see how sharp you are by the end.