Bleacher Bums Forum

I re-listened to parts of the press conference and wanted to add some observations.

Re Theo's assessment of the offense: he specifically noted that the Cubs had the lowest contact rate in baseball and as evidence of how easy it is "game plan" the Cubs the fact that they see the fewest fastballs in baseball. He expressed frustration that the Cubs have not adjusted to these issues. He also bemoaned having the most outs on the bases in baseball. Seems to me that these are clear areas he wants to focus on in player acquisition (and development) going forward.

He referred to the results from the leadoff position as "unacceptable numbers." He said the best solution would be to acquire a prototypical leadoff hitter, but said if they cannot do that the best solution is "to get as many players who specialize in getting on base as possible, and if they can be a great baserunner all the better." He referred to improving the performance from the leadoff position as "the lowest possible hanging fruit there is."  He said he places "a huge priority on getting on base" which would provide "lots of options."  He said "if you have as a goal leading the league in on base percentage you usually are not going to be wanting in the leadoff spot ... but the best outcome by far is to get someone who is comfortable in that spot, thrives in that spot, provides energy."

He pointed out that while the Cubs had the 5th most runs in the league, they had the 3rd best ERA in the league, saying that the pitching outperformed the offense in that regard (though he went on to point out the Cubs' very poor pitching in high leverage situations).

So I do not believe that making significant changes in the pitching staff alone would come near satisfying Theo.