CUBluejays, those are interesting stats on how much behind Dodgers our SPs were. Thanks for those stats. Clearly, we've got some SERIOUS starting pitcher issues! Good starting pitching can mask lots of team deficiencies...and the Cards (and other teams in our division) should have plus starting pitching next year!! We will seemingly need to land a #3 starter, at the least, to keep up, if we can! Other pitching moves will need to be made, too, one would think (e.g. Lester as swing man?? Wick with a more prominent role)
As for Schwarber and/or Castellanos, Nick CLEARLY fits the Cub - and EVERY other team's - lineup...yet with Boras as his agent, why should we think Cubs will outbid everyone else to land him (at a likely ridiculous price), particularly with our starting pitcher needs? I'd love to think Nick would give us a discount due to how he mashes at Wrigley etc., but that's just not what Boras' clients tend to do.
Maybe the future Kyle Schwarber will be the 2nd half guy? He's now had 1.600 or so ABs and many scouts talk about 1,200 as the magic number for a lot of MLB hitters to better handle MLB pitching and gain more consistent success.
Schwarber may or may not be close to Nick Castellanos as an offensive force next year or in future years; however, it's VERY clear that Kyle will be a LOT less expensive for at least the next couple of years and, as we look to add better starting pitching and other help, MONEY will be a requirement. At least next year, we will be blessed with some things (and another high payroll is one of them), but seemingly not MLB-ready starters at the AAA level!!
I'm not complaining (as what Theo et al have accomplished for Cub fans over the past 5 years has been unprecedented in our lifetimes), but improving Cub pitching in 2020 seems to me the #1 priority. I'll always believe what Joe Torre said as Yankee manager, "I used to think pitching was 70% of the game. Then, I became a manager and realized it's a whole helluva lot more important than that!"
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