2015 season

johnnyvann840 · Post #201 » by **johnnyvann840** » Mon Aug 3, 2015 4:55 pm

ADDinChicago wrote:Rizzo homers and the Cubs win. I like where this is going.

Huge series starts tonight. Need to stay on this roll.

Howling Mad · Post #202 » by **Howling Mad** » Fri Aug 7, 2015 1:33 pm

As long as Rizzo keeps homering and Schwarber keeps the Jeter-esque clutch mystique going. We good.

karch34 · Post #203 » by **karch34** » Fri Aug 7, 2015 4:20 pm

Good to see the team getting some playoff atmosphere going already. Can only help moving forward.

hermes · Post #204 » by **hermes** » Sat Aug 8, 2015 5:20 am

wooo cubs

Kizz Fastfists · Post #205 » by **Kizz Fastfists** » Sun Aug 9, 2015 7:34 am

Took 3 from the Giants with one more to go, assuming the weather doesn't get in the way. The offense is on a roll right now. I'm firmly against Schwarber starting at catcher with both Montero and Ross healthy as his framing is terrible and defense is bad. Everyone says the Schwarber works hard and wants to master catching and I'm not going to discount him as a potentially solid catcher in the future. The Cubs are 6-6 when Schwarber starts at catcher and 4-0 when he starts in LF. Keep him in LF the rest of the year with minimal days catching as long as Montero is good.

With Ross and Montero both under contract next year Schwarber can work on his catching this off-season and catch a limited number, 35ish, games next year as the primary LF, assuming injuries don't push him into more action. Ross can catch Lester and Schwarber can catch Hendricks with Montero handling the rest of the staff. Then in 2017 hopefully Schwarber will be ready for a bigger role at catcher. By limiting the amount of catching Schwarber does at this point in his career it can prolong his ability to catch there later in his career. Especially since we expect him to be catching playoff games in the future in addition to his regular season duties. No reason to put the extra strain on his knees. Use him like Posey even if he does become a good catcher. Catching around 110 games and playing LF, granted Posey plays 1B, for another 40ish games.

hermes · Post #206 » by **hermes** » Sun Aug 9, 2015 1:45 pm

cubs are on a roll

sidenote: sounds like baez isn't going to be coming up soon, they'll probably wait until september. no place to put him anyway - might as well let him keep hitting down in aaa

johnnyvann840 · Post #207 » by **johnnyvann840** » Sun Aug 9, 2015 9:36 pm

They always make it exciting. What a job by Rondon to get out of that so nicely. Wrigley is a buzzin now.

Kizz Fastfists · Post #208 » by **Kizz Fastfists** » Sun Aug 9, 2015 9:46 pm

Great sweep of the Giants, although Rondon made that 9th inning a bit more interesting than I liked. Now they just need to beat up on the Brewers.

ChicagoStrong · Post #209 » by **ChicagoStrong** » Sun Aug 9, 2015 10:13 pm

Something seems different about these group of players.

karch34 · Post #210 » by **karch34** » Sun Aug 9, 2015 10:31 pm

Awesome Series. Awesome Game!

Yeah Rondon made it a little uncomfortable, but now there's almost no situation where Bosio, Montero, or whomever can't just say you've gotten out of worse jams.

hermes · Post #211 » by **hermes** » Tue Aug 11, 2015 12:07 am

now here comes the bad teams we're supposed to beat (at home especially), lets go cubs!

johnnyvann840 · Post #212 » by **johnnyvann840** » Thu Aug 13, 2015 3:04 am

12 out of 13... 3rd best record in the Majors.

Howling Mad · Post #213 » by **Howling Mad** » Thu Aug 13, 2015 3:40 am

Another night, another hero.

ADDinChicago · Post #214 » by **ADDinChicago** » Thu Aug 13, 2015 4:56 am

Montero'd. That was pretty fun and man, was Wrigley loud.

ADDinChicago · Post #215 » by **ADDinChicago** » Thu Aug 13, 2015 4:58 am

Howling Mad wrote:Another night, another hero.

Exactly. I think a lot of guys have bought into the "Maddon philosophy" of team ball and not individual ball.

We started to see it late last season too when they got rid of the vets and the kids were starting to be just free to play. They have the right attitude. Especially now you see a guy like Starlin Castro being humbled and just being happy (or at least presenting such on the field) to be on a competitive team.

karch34 · Post #216 » by **karch34** » Thu Aug 13, 2015 1:51 pm

This is getting to be really fun! Great win. Team really coming together. Nice to see Bryant get a HR.

hermes · Post #217 » by **hermes** » Thu Aug 13, 2015 10:19 pm

guess we haven't talked about the kind of major move recently but how do you guys feel about the castro benching and subsequent move to second base?

johnnyvann840 · Post #218 » by **johnnyvann840** » Fri Aug 14, 2015 3:00 am

ADDinChicago · Post #219 » by **ADDinChicago** » Fri Aug 14, 2015 4:00 am

hermes wrote:guess we haven't talked about the kind of major move recently but how do you guys feel about the castro benching and subsequent move to second base?

The first part, I was a bit surprised by, but glad they did it already.

The second part, of the move to 2B is just a formality as Coghlan can't do it every day and most likely won't be in there against LHPs.

Kudos for Castro, though, for at the least taking it like a man and going along with the program. I think a trade this winter (unless someone really wants him in August) is the best for all parties. He doesn't do anything exceptionally well. He's not a power bat, he's not a defensive player, etc. IF the Cubs do make the playoffs, I really don't think he has any value for them (or anyone else). He was a decent player and he either hasn't gotten any better or has regressed. The writing's on the wall and he will be gone from the North Side in some capacity. Likeable guy at times, but Theo & Jed have better options.

Kizz Fastfists · Post #220 » by **Kizz Fastfists** » Fri Aug 14, 2015 4:08 am

hermes wrote:guess we haven't talked about the kind of major move recently but how do you guys feel about the castro benching and subsequent move to second base?

We knew Castro wasn't long for SS when the Cubs added Addison Russell. They are going to use Castro as the short-side, vs LHP, platoon at 2B for now. That might just work. I didn't realize Castro had the splits he has. He is a .274/.311/.391 hitter vs RHP and .293/.344/.415 hitter vs LHP for his career. Even last year Castro had an OBP 30 points higher against LHP. I'm still looking for them to move Castro this off-season and put Baez at 2B next year. I'm still disappointed they didn't move Castro last off-season when his value should have been high. Castro is the same hitter today he was when he was a rookie. Pitchers are just throwing him differently and he refuses to adjust and will continue to get himself out on weak contact unless he learns to take pitches he can't do anything with.

The other recent move is Maddon pulling Hammel early. Hammel is on pace for the most starts and innings of his career and while he doesn't like getting pulled I like Maddon controlling his innings and trying to keep him fresh for a potential playoff run. Another fun stat is that the Cubs are .500 when Schwarber is the starting catcher and undefeated when he starts in LF. I'm going to jump to the conclusion that Schwarber's defense and framing at catcher negates his offense to a large extent while he is solid defensively in LF. That doesn't mean Schwarber won't become a good catcher in time, but we have all seen that he isn't there yet and the team is better, statistically, with Montero and Ross catching than Schwarber catching. I don't the records mean anything, but they are a fun stat for now to support what my eyes and the other numbers say.