9/1 2014 @ 1908

[tzill]

This Reynolds kid looks good.

 

[calsnowskier]

Has Reynolds given this team any reason not to have complete faith in him? He looked solid earlier in the year when he was up and he has look great all year in the minors.

IF this team makes the playoffs, you gotta think he makes the roster, right?

 

[1phlapdown]

Ok, big boys are up!!


edit---Jeebus.

 

[tzill]

and our only "hitter" K's.

Get 'em tomorrow.

 

[tzill]

Huh...that's what a reliever who throws strikes looks like.

Huh.

 

[calsnowskier]

OK, work HAS to be done to this bully. Not that this game as a whole was a bully melt-down (2 runs in 4 IP is not HORRIBLE), but you need to not have an inning where we have a turnstile of pitchers who can't throw a strike. And that sort of thing happens in more games than it doesn't.

Now THAT is #weaklink

 

[msgkings322]

Fellas, I gotta say...

This bully is the Achilles heal of this team and is what is going to ultimately break the streak. You can't have a hole that big on your squad and win a championship.

I think this is pretty accurate. Still too soon to say the season is over of course, but of the 3 main areas (hitting, starting, bullpen), the bullpen is definitely the worst of them. It's like the weakest link in the chain. Someone come up with a hashtag.

WS winners almost always have a strong pen. But we can still win the division (6 more games vs the Dogs) and then you never know maybe these guys remember how to pitch.

 

[Stokes1931]

I think this is pretty accurate. Still too soon to say the season is over of course, but of the 3 main areas (hitting, starting, bullpen), the bullpen is definitely the worst of them. It's like the weakest link in the chain. Someone come up with a hashtag.

WS winners almost always have a strong pen. But we can still win the division (6 more games vs the Dogs) and then you never know maybe these guys remember how to pitch.

Of course, getting the sum total of three hits in a nine inning game isn't exactly going to get it done, either.

I am not sure why Gearrin was in there, he has been awful lately. He was nails before the injury, and he has not been sharp since coming back. He needs to be in low leverage, not high leverage situations. Tonight was high leverage.

Dayum, the Chubs are a patient hitting team. They are solid all the way through the lineup. We are not. Which surprises me still, I thought the early success in April and May was a sign of things to come, not the appetizer before the kitchen said they were 86 on food.

 

[msgkings322]

Of course, getting the sum total of three hits in a nine inning game isn't exactly going to get it done, either.

I am not sure why Gearrin was in there, he has been awful lately. He was nails before the injury, and he has not been sharp since coming back. He needs to be in low leverage, not high leverage situations. Tonight was high leverage.

Dayum, the Chubs are a patient hitting team. They are solid all the way through the lineup. We are not. Which surprises me still, I thought the early success in April and May was a sign of things to come, not the appetizer before the kitchen said they were 86 on food.

Let's be honest, the Cubs are freaking awesome. That is a complete team, and young, and hungry, and well managed, the works. The only way they don't win the title is the randomness of baseball playoffs where short sample sizes kill even the best teams. I bet the team with the best record only wins 25% of the time in the WS.

I would be ecstatic if we take 2 of the next 3. I was hoping we could steal one tonight and we almost did.

And yes the hitting wasn't great today either.

 

[LHG]

Of course, getting the sum total of three hits in a nine inning game isn't exactly going to get it done, either.

I am not sure why Gearrin was in there, he has been awful lately. He was nails before the injury, and he has not been sharp since coming back. He needs to be in low leverage, not high leverage situations. Tonight was high leverage.

Dayum, the Chubs are a patient hitting team. They are solid all the way through the lineup. We are not. Which surprises me still, I thought the early success in April and May was a sign of things to come, not the appetizer before the kitchen said they were 86 on food.

Except Gearrin stunk in his last two appearances before getting injured. He allowed 4 hits, 2 home runs, 2 walks, 6 runs (5 earned) in just 1.7 innings pitched in those two games. Go back past the two clean appearances before those and he had another dud of an appearance, failing to get an out, giving up 3 runs on a hit and 2 walks. The wheels were falling off before he went down. Maybe he was pitching injured those last 5 games, the rehab appearances certainly indicated he was better. But he's looked like that same pitcher since coming back.

 

[calsnowskier]

Typically speaking, a team needs some pleasant surprises to win a championship.

In '10 we had Huff, Burrell, Ross, Posey and Bum. In '12 we had Scutaro, Cabrera, Crawford and Posey. In '14 we had Panik and Petit (this may be the exception to this rule). This year, we don't have a single player playing out of their shoes. Bum and Cueto are having nice years, but both were expected to be Ace-level pitchers. Craw is having a nice year, but really just on par with last year. Belt is struggling, Pence hardly plays, Panik has just recently showed up, Duffy was a no-show pre-trade, Posey has disappeared offensively, Cain and PV both face-planted, none of the expected young bully arms outside of Law have developed as hoped.

And given all of this, we are still in a strong position to make the playoffs...

 

[LHG]

Typically speaking, a team needs some pleasant surprises to win a championship.

In '10 we had Huff, Burrell, Ross, Posey and Bum. In '12 we had Scutaro, Cabrera, Crawford and Posey. In '14 we had Panik and Petit (this may be the exception to this rule). This year, we don't have a single player playing out of their shoes. Bum and Cueto are having nice years, but both were expected to be Ace-level pitchers. Craw is having a nice year, but really just on par with last year. Belt is struggling, Pence hardly plays, Panik has just recently showed up, Duffy was a no-show pre-trade, Posey has disappeared offensively, Cain and PV both face-planted, none of the expected young bully arms outside of Law have developed as hoped.

And given all of this, we are still in a strong position to make the playoffs...

One could argue that Derek Law fits in this category of pleasant surprises. Sure, he was a prospect, but his AA numbers last year were borderline bad. Of course, that doesn't matter right now because he's on the disabled list and may not be back this year.

 

[calsnowskier]

One could argue that Derek Law fits in this category of pleasant surprises. Sure, he was a prospect, but his AA numbers last year were borderline bad. Of course, that doesn't matter right now because he's on the disabled list and may not be back this year.

If you are relying on a 7th inning reliever performing well (but is he ELITE?) to be your "pleasant surprise" for the season, I stand behind my post.

 

[LHG]

If you are relying on a 7th inning reliever performing well (but is he ELITE?) to be your "pleasant surprise" for the season, I stand behind my post.

That's just it, all of them were surprises. 2010, 2012 and 2014 have the blessing of hindsight to easily pick out the surprises. Was Petit, a long reliever, really considered a pleasant surprise prior to the playoffs? Yeah, maybe in the Brandon Medders sort of way. Law has been good and deserves at least the 8th inning role. His season just kept getting better and better. I think he deserves consideration. But if he (or the team) doesn't make the playoffs, then the story changes. But if that is the case, does Cabrera count either?

 

[calsnowskier]

That's just it, all of them were surprises. 2010, 2012 and 2014 have the blessing of hindsight to easily pick out the surprises. Was Petit, a long reliever, really considered a pleasant surprise prior to the playoffs? Yeah, maybe in the Brandon Medders sort of way. Law has been good and deserves at least the 8th inning role. His season just kept getting better and better. I think he deserves consideration. But if he (or the team) doesn't make the playoffs, then the story changes. But if that is the case, does Cabrera count either?

I acknowledge that 2014 doesn't fit this narrative very well.

My point is that we don't have anyone having a career year. MAYBE Bum, but not by a large margin, and we were already relying on him to carry the team. But we DO have multiple players having BAD years (Posey, Pence, Panik, Duffy...).

 

[msgkings322]

I acknowledge that 2014 doesn't fit this narrative very well.

My point is that we don't have anyone having a career year. MAYBE Bum, but not by a large margin, and we were already relying on him to carry the team. But we DO have multiple players having BAD years (Posey, Pence, Panik, Duffy...).

This is correct, but hell at the end of May we had a lot of guys looking like they were going to have really GOOD years. It just fell apart at the break, harsh toke.

 

[calsnowskier]

This is correct, but hell at the end of May we had a lot of guys looking like they were going to have really GOOD years. It just fell apart at the break, harsh toke.

Skunk hash, dude. Skunk hash...

 

[tzill]

Isn't it possible that the Trevor Browns, Mark Reynolds, and Jarred Parkers could become those "pleasant surprises" moving forward? In addition to Law?

I think so.