Author Topic: Today's Game 2018  (Read 68250 times)

Dihard

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Re: Today's Game 2018
« Reply #2550 on: May 16, 2018, 09:31:08 pm »
No ninth-inning magic this time. Cubs lose


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brjones

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Re: Today's Game 2018
« Reply #2551 on: May 16, 2018, 09:45:27 pm »
They aren't going to the playoffs if they can't start scoring runs more consistently. The offense is the biggest problem. They have too many hitters who can crush bad pitching because they have huge raw talent, but also have no ability to hit competent pitching.
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Bennett

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Re: Today's Game 2018
« Reply #2552 on: May 17, 2018, 01:42:50 pm »
Atlanta Braves  @Braves   26m26 minutes ago

The #Braves have placed RHP Mike Soroka on the 10-day DL (retroactive to May 14) due to a right shoulder strain. LHP Max Fried has been recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett and will start tonight’s game against the Cubs.

Bennett

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Re: Today's Game 2018
« Reply #2553 on: May 17, 2018, 01:44:26 pm »
Mark Gonzales  @MDGonzales   14m14 minutes ago

Might not be many changes in Cubs' lineup since Braves scratched Soroka (DL) for LHP Max Fried. Minor league LH batters hitting .386 vs. Fried in '18, compared to RH's .256 mark. In 13 major league games in 17-18, righties batting .281, lefties .263 vs. Fried.

Bennett

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Re: Today's Game 2018
« Reply #2554 on: May 17, 2018, 02:38:56 pm »

craig

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Re: Today's Game 2018
« Reply #2555 on: May 17, 2018, 03:36:58 pm »
I wonder if we don't just over-rate the Cubs hitters and their talent somewhat.  Can try to be a top-10 offense, but this isn't a top-5 offense in terms of talent or production. 

Maybe bunching up production against bad pitchers but struggling against good-stuff relievers, good starters, and average-starters-when-fairly-sharp-on-a-given day is just the way the Cubs talent level demands. 

Other than Rizzo's April, is there anybody who's underachieving or clearly performing below what's reasonable for their talent level?  (I know we hoped for much more from Happ, but pitchers all know now that he can't hit fastballs middle or up, so I think the actual outcome is realistic.) 

Baez, Bryant, Almora, Zobrist, they've all kind of overachieved, if anything. 

Not sure it's fair to expect these players to hit much better than they do, against decent pitchers. 

CUBluejays

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Re: Today's Game 2018
« Reply #2556 on: May 17, 2018, 04:25:13 pm »
I wonder if we don't just over-rate the Cubs hitters and their talent somewhat.  Can try to be a top-10 offense, but this isn't a top-5 offense in terms of talent or production. 

The Cubs have 40 games so far.  There are six teams ahead of the Cubs in runs scored, except for the Yanks (40 g) every other team has played 2-5 games more than the Cubs.  They are second in fWAR behind the Braves.  I'm not sure where the Cubs aren't a top 5 offense is coming from

Maybe bunching up production against bad pitchers but struggling against good-stuff relievers, good starters, and average-starters-when-fairly-sharp-on-a-given day is just the way the Cubs talent level demands. 

Other than Rizzo's April, is there anybody who's underachieving or clearly performing below what's reasonable for their talent level?  (I know we hoped for much more from Happ, but pitchers all know now that he can't hit fastballs middle or up, so I think the actual outcome is realistic.) 

The 2017 Astros, the reigning World Series Champs, scored 896 runs in 2017.  They scored 600+ of those runs against sub .500 teams.  This isn't just a Cubs thing.  It is literally every team in baseball. 

Rizzo, Happ, Russell and Contreras all started cold.  Russell and Contreras are heating up though.



method

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Re: Today's Game 2018
« Reply #2557 on: May 17, 2018, 04:53:01 pm »
Cubs score lots of runs... in bunches in some games. they seem to go dead quite for a lot longer.

Someone else mentioned that good pitching shuts down too much of the line up... that is 100% correct.... and fixed by Machado... you are replacing with a 93 wrc player with a 181 wrc player. Most importantly, Machado can hit good pitching.

Chris27

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Re: Today's Game 2018
« Reply #2558 on: May 17, 2018, 05:26:29 pm »
Teams that have underachieved the most versus their Pythagorean record:

Astros: -6

Dodgers -5

Cubs -3

Reds -3

Orioles -3

White Sox -3


Houston should be on a 122-win pace.

CUBluejays

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Re: Today's Game 2018
« Reply #2559 on: May 17, 2018, 05:44:39 pm »
I doubt Machado continues to hit like 2017 Mike Trout, but even if he does it won’t make the Cubs offense more consistent against good pitching. I mean if you had a 1-8 of Mike Trout maybe it could.


brjones

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Re: Today's Game 2018
« Reply #2560 on: May 17, 2018, 07:24:58 pm »
The rain in Atlanta is weird tonight. I’m no more than 10 miles east of the ballpark right now, and it hasn’t rained at all. Apparently, it’s pouring at SunTrust Park.

davep

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Re: Today's Game 2018
« Reply #2561 on: May 17, 2018, 08:01:18 pm »
We’ve had this conversation 100 times, so I don’t feel like going into it again...but Almora hasn’t hit much as an everyday player since low-A ball. He did well last year when Maddon selectively used him, and the sample is too small this year to make any conclusions.

We have had this conversation 100 times, but you have failed to make much of a case  100 times.  In the minors, he had only one season where he had an OPS below 700, and that was 683.  The rest of the years in the minors, he was over 700 OPS, and in the majors he has been consistently been in the high 700s.  In 562 MLB plate appearances, he has an OPS of 778, which is hardly "not much" for a kid that just turned 24.  To assume he has peaked out seems a rather hasty judgement.

But even if he has peaked out, a 778 OPS career average is pretty darn good for a center fielder that plays defense as well as he does.  Not every player can be Mike Trout.

JeffH

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Re: Today's Game 2018
« Reply #2562 on: May 17, 2018, 09:02:23 pm »
Postponed.

brjones

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Re: Today's Game 2018
« Reply #2563 on: May 17, 2018, 09:17:35 pm »
Looking outside (now at home 15 miles east of the ballpark), we haven't had a drop of rain tonight. The rain just stopped over the ballpark and never moved.

craig

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Re: Today's Game 2018
« Reply #2564 on: May 17, 2018, 10:59:45 pm »
I'm not sure where the Cubs aren't a top 5 offense is coming from

http://www.espn.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/batting/sort/OPS/order/true

I got that from the link above: 

OPS:  7th
Slugging: 8th:
OBP:  4th
BA:  10th
HR:  18th (On a per-game rate basis, they'd be 17th or maybe 16th.)