MLB: ***Official 2018 Chicago Cubs Season Thread***

[enisthemenace]

The 2 teams played each other a lot and played the same division teams the same number of times, but their schedules weren’t the same. They finished with the same record. I know I’m probably in the minority, but I agree with 163 here. The better team won today.

Just win tomorrow, and go at it again.

 

[Shawker]

Lol shut up.

My comment was tongue-in-cheek. Maybe you caught that and still want me to shut up though which I can respect lol

 

[clonedlion]

I am confused as to why the head to head match up wouldn't settle it. I don't care that Cubs lost today because you have to win one way or another to win the world series. Just doesn't make sense they wouldn't win the Central with a better head to head.

 

[Cyclone.TV]

I am confused as to why the head to head match up wouldn't settle it. I don't care that Cubs lost today because you have to win one way or another to win the world series. Just doesn't make sense they wouldn't win the Central with a better head to head.

A head to head match did settle it.

 

[Clonefan94]

I think another reason it makes sense to play a tie-breaker even if one team won the head-to-head is that half of the games are played before the trade deadline. The Brewers added a lot of key pieces that were not with the team for half of the games. Those games are still important to get you into October, but may not represent the current rosters.

OK, that does make sense in that respect. Thanks for the reply.

 

[CycloneErik]

I would tend to agree with the idea of the team who won the regular season match up being the one who wins the division tiebreaker (even though that would have meant that the Brewers would have to play the WC game this year). However, the Dodgers were the ones who got screwed by this rule, not the Rox (the Dodgers won regular season series 12-7).

I want to agree with it, but giving too much weight to our April domination seems skewed to me. Sure, the owning was a lot of fun, and I'd like to see us do it again in the NLDS, but your guys earned that chance for the division title.

 

[clonedlion]

A head to head match did settle it.

I mean Cubs won the season series 11-8. You would think that would be the tie breaker.

 

[Cyched]

I mean Cubs won the season series 11-8. You would think that would be the tie breaker.

But that wouldn't be a$ entertaining a$ a tiebreaker game.

 

[Clark]

I will be much more detailed in our offseason thread.

But for a team that just finished with the second best record in the NL, I believe a major rehaul needs to be done.

major rehaul is probably a stretch but they can't bring back these same offensive pieces and expect different results. Hopefully Contreras gets cured of whatever funk he's in because it's his bat that allows you to play a defense only guy like Almora.

I'd keep Happ around as a super sub now that Baez will be playing shortstop. It's time to find an AL team for Schwarber.

considering it's the juiced ball era, the Cubs power is pretty pathetic. That needs to be addressed this offseason, grab another good reliever and hope for better injury luck

 

[CycloneErik]

major rehaul is probably a stretch but they can't bring back these same offensive pieces and expect different results. Hopefully Contreras gets cured of whatever funk he's in because it's his bat that allows you to play a defense only guy like Almora.

I'd keep Happ around as a super sub now that Baez will be playing shortstop. It's time to find an AL team for Schwarber.

considering it's the juiced ball era, the Cubs power is pretty pathetic. That needs to be addressed this offseason, grab another good reliever and hope for better injury luck

See, I believe that the power is there but the approach is messed up. We've seen these guys hit for tons of power. That's what I would address.

 

[BoxsterCy]

Nah, I don’t agree with that. They play each other 18 times - the other 144 matter too. A lot can happen in a season and it shouldn’t just rest on if you had a healthy stretch, were hot, etc etc when you played the other team. They tied, they have a tiebreaker for that. Play it on the field at the end.

The record against each other is why the game was in Chicago. It's not like the Cubs got ****** like some here think. Not sure what the next tie breaker is for home field if they had split the series between each other.

 

[CyJack13]

See, I believe that the power is there but the approach is messed up. We've seen these guys hit for tons of power. That's what I would address.

A lack of power hitting was a big reason why Boston let Chili Davis go, it seemed to follow him to Chicago this year. Some of that was bad luck (Bryant) but Contreras had a huge decline in slugging, Happ and Russell didn't improve. Almora had a terrible second half at the plate. The Cubs are already sacrificing a lot of power if they play Heyward in right, they can't keep throwing out lineups with only 3 power hitters in today's game and expect to go deep into October.

 

[CycloneErik]

A lack of power hitting was a big reason why Boston let Chili Davis go, it seemed to follow him to Chicago this year. Some of that was bad luck (Bryant) but Contreras had a huge decline in slugging, Happ and Russell didn't improve. Almora had a terrible second half at the plate. The Cubs are already sacrificing a lot of power if they play Heyward in right, they can't keep throwing out lineups with only 3 power hitters in today's game and expect to go deep into October.

How long was Davis there in Boston? I don't spend much time looking at hitting coach records, so I don't know if these last 2 years are an aberration or not.

We definitely have enough power in the lineup to go deep. It's just a matter of getting them going.

 

[Clark]

See, I believe that the power is there but the approach is messed up. We've seen these guys hit for tons of power. That's what I would address.

unfortunately you can't really teach approach. You can't make javy or almora take a walk for instance.

A guy like Happ has a pretty good approach, he just swings through too many strikes.

schwarber isn't a bad player by any means, but while his obp is respectable it's hard for him to get to his power hitting .240

I think the Cubs can keep Happ or Schwarber in the lineup but not both. They can have almora or Russell in the lineup, but not both (no longer an issue).

Then what kind of offense are you getting from Heyward? I thought he had a pretty good year, then you look at his stats and they're pretty mediocre. So if you play Hayward in right and Almora in center, plus the pitcher spot that's already a third of the lineup that pitchers don't really have to fear hurting them.

 

[CYcoFan]

unfortunately you can't really teach approach. You can't make javy or almora take a walk for instance.

A guy like Happ has a pretty good approach, he just swings through too many strikes.

schwarber isn't a bad player by any means, but while his obp is respectable it's hard for him to get to his power hitting .240

I think the Cubs can keep Happ or Schwarber in the lineup but not both. They can have almora or Russell in the lineup, but not both (no longer an issue).

Then what kind of offense are you getting from Heyward? I thought he had a pretty good year, then you look at his stats and they're pretty mediocre. So if you play Hayward in right and Almora in center, plus the pitcher spot that's already a third of the lineup that pitchers don't really have to fear hurting them.

That statement couldn't be further from the truth. In fact approach is the most teachable trait of any MLB hitter. You cant teach quick hands, good eyes, good bat speed and a good lower half. You can fine tune mechanics to allow the hips to clear or slow down the hands/ upper body but you cant teach physical traits.

Approach is all about gathering information and constantly learning. Approach is taught at every level and the only trait/ characteristic that is consistently at every level.

Every kid that grows up in Puerto Rico is taught that, "you don't walk off the island". It is why most Puerto Rican kids learn approach later in their careers.

 

[cyfanatic13]

My biggest problem with MLB is the one game wild card. Playing 162 (or 163) to have it come down to 1 game is just plain dumb IMO. With the NLDS starting on a Thursday, I don’t know why you couldn’t do a 3 game series on Monday-Wednesday. I guess the biggest concern would be the wild card team being at a disadvantage but that’s just more of an incentive to win the division

 

[kentkel]

My biggest problem with MLB is the one game wild card. Playing 162 (or 163) to have it come down to 1 game is just plain dumb IMO. With the NLDS starting on a Thursday, I don’t know why you couldn’t do a 3 game series on Monday-Wednesday. I guess the biggest concern would be the wild card team being at a disadvantage but that’s just more of an incentive to win the division

For years, there were only four total teams who entered the post-season (2 in the AL and 2 from the NL). In 1992, the Brewers had the 5th best record in baseball, but missed out on the playoffs. Believe me, I would have loved for a 1 game WC for them to have had a chance to extend their season. I get what you are saying, but the season is already WAY TOO LONG. If they were to make the WC game a best of 3, then they would need to shorten the regular season. Chances of a shorter season happening??? Very $lim...$lim, $lim, $lim.

 

[Clark]

That statement couldn't be further from the truth. In fact approach is the most teachable trait of any MLB hitter. You cant teach quick hands, good eyes, good bat speed and a good lower half. You can fine tune mechanics to allow the hips to clear or slow down the hands/ upper body but you cant teach physical traits.

Approach is all about gathering information and constantly learning. Approach is taught at every level and the only trait/ characteristic that is consistently at every level.

Every kid that grows up in Puerto Rico is taught that, "you don't walk off the island". It is why most Puerto Rican kids learn approach later in their careers.

Lol, okay. You start naming all the players who started their careers never walking but started taking walks at a league average rate. I won't say it never happens but it's very, very rare. Javy Baez is a hell of a player, but he's never going to have a .380 obp.

 

[Rural]

Talking about "rebuild", how much money did they set on fire with Yu Darvish?

 

[HFCS]

The record against each other is why the game was in Chicago. It's not like the Cubs got ****** like some here think. Not sure what the next tie breaker is for home field if they had split the series between each other.

The Cubs or the Brewers were going to be in the rare, and kind of F'd up spot, of a one game wild card when they had the best record in the entire league.

There are years this two team play-in Wild Card makes sense and years it doesn't. Has a team that finished 162 with the best record in the NL or AL ever not had a playoff series? I'm guessing it's happened but only a handful of times.

To me you play 162 for a reason, I think it's a fine tie breaker if one team won head to head by 3 games. The Cubs/Brewers were lucky the west tied too or they'd have actually had a slight pitching staff disadvantage even having the best records in the NL.

All I know is if the Cubs don't move on the Brewers better stay this 10 wins in a row team with a star player who is an automatic hit machine and not revert back to their average form they had around midseason.