Bleacher Bums Forum

Almora left today's game with a leg issue. He currently stands 4th in all of baseball at .332 behind only Altuve, Betts, and Segura.

I've had them in my knees a number of times, and I remember my wife once had one in her shoulder.  She seemed to be in more pain than I ever felt.

Midway point stats have some interesting items, including 46-35 record and on pace for 92 wins.
* as Deeg pointed out on Today's Game - we lead the NL in runs, RBI, TB, BA and OPS...and, also, OBP at .344. 
* on the downside, we lead MLB in total walks by a lot...and it's not just Chatwood, tho' he's the wild man of all MLB pitchers this year
* Baez' numbers are MVP level (with his D) .285 BA, .559 SLG, .880 OPS, 13 SB/ 1 CS, 41 XBHs in 288 ABs (anything better than 10:1 AB to XBH is very good)...16 HR, 59 RBI, 51 runs scored
Baez' awesome game the other night to propel us to victory over LA after 5 straight losses was HUGE...he's easily been Cubs' best player this season
* Hard to deny that Almora has played at an AS level...great D and now .332 BA, .369 OBP, .461 SLG, .830 OPS...21 XBHs in 241 ABs (that ratio is way up from last season...he seems to be growing into more power as evidenced by his 430' HR the other night off a 97mph FB from Buehler in LA...a very pleasant surprise this season
* Of course, another very pleasant surprise has been JHey...now at .291 BA, .349 OBP, .440 SLG and .789...and he now has 22 XBHs in 234 ABs thanks to his recent HOT streak...but he is hitting for SO much more authority than any other stretch during his time with the Cubs, it does seems as though he's found something
* Zobrist has been excellent...297 BA, .394 OBP, .439 SLG, .832 OPS
* Russell has come WAY up in recent weeks to .285 BA, .355 OBP, .407 SLB, .762 OPS...sure seems like his 2nd half should be a good one, if he stays healthy!
* It's great that all the above has happened and neither Bryant nor Rizzo has really gone off...of course, Bryant played hurt for a month and Rizzo got off to a terrible start and has done a very nice job in recent weeks...these guys should do their thing in the 2nd half as should Schwarber, who has 16 HR in only 234 ABs and his .372 OBP, .487 SLG and .859 OPS are very good!
* We hit 88 HRs in 1st half (and gave up 81)...anyone want to bet we won't hit more in the 2nd half than the 1st? 
We all know the 1st half HRs were down and we had problems with RISP, but the only reason we aren't ahead of the Brewers was...
...4 of our 5 starting pitchers were disappointing in the 1st half...
* Hendricks - 4.21 ERA, 16 HRs in 92 IP, .245 BA and he's certainly struggled over the past several weeks with mechanics!
* Quintana -  4.31 ERA, 12 HRs in 85.2 IP, .247 BA...40 BB in 85.2 IP...not Chadwood, but not good...Q has been up and down inconsistent and disappointing overall
* Chatwood - 4.54 ERA, only 5 HR and 62 hits in 73.1, BUT 66 BB in his 73.1 is almost unreal...he needs to find more strikes in the 2nd half, quite obviously
* Darvish    - 4.95 ERA, 7 HR and 21 BB in only 40 IP...his numbers (and performance) were very uncharacteristic even before he got hurt...let's hope he can turn it around
However,
* Lester has been fantastic...his best 1st half with Cubs by far!  10-2, 2.18 ERA, .208 BA, 1.08 WHIP...obvious All-Star
* Montgomery's numbers aren't eye-popping, but all of us who've followed the Cubs closely know he's been HUGE this 1st half...he has earned his rotation spot...enough said!
* Morrow and Chishek have outrageous numbers!  Morrow - 1.54 ERA, 17 of 18 saves, .214 BA, 1.16 WHIP, I HR in 23.1 IP
* Cishek's numbers are as good - 1.75 ERA, 1 HR in 36 IP, 21 hits in 36 IP, .168 BA, 1.06 WHIP!
* Strop has been very good, Edwards was mostly good...let's hope both are healthy and ready for the 2nd half...and that Wilson, Rosario can handle the LH relief (will we get a LH reliever at the deadline?)
On pace for 92 wins after tough injuries and underperforming (I hope) SP...I take it!  We should be in pretty solid position for the 2nd half, but who knows....it's MLB!

and that Wilson, Rosario can handle the LH relief (will we get a LH reliever at the deadline?)

I think a LH reliever is pretty close to guaranteed now that it looks Montgomery is staying in the rotation. Duensing has been terrible for about half the season to this point, you can't trust Wilson at all in critical situations, and Rosario has been pure smoke and mirrors after his first couple of outings (1 hit, 3 BB, and 5 K in 4 1/3 IP in his first two outings; 14 hits, 7 walks, and only 6 K in 15 2/3 IP since).

Brad Hand is too expensive and Zach Britton has struggled after his injury, so it'll probably be Zach Duke (who has been really good outside of today against the Cubs) or Jake Diekman (who fits right in as a high walk, high K reliever).

I'm not dismissing Wilson completely, I just don't see how they can trust him to be their top LH reliever. He's been a Cub for basically a full season now, and he's walked almost 8 batters per 9 IP. He's still walking more than 5 per 9 IP in the last two months when his results have been pretty good.

Of course, Diekman definitely doesn't solve that problem. And Duke probably doesn't either. The Cubs' extreme anti-strike-throwing tendencies are a huge problem for the entire team, so they can't fix that by just adding one LH reliever or another starter.

I had a cortisone shot in the shoulder a couple of months ago, and I don't recall much discomfort.

Shoulder have plenty of space for the fluid and for the needle to avoid the bone. The elbow has very little space for either.

Chicago Cubs  @Cubs   35m35 minutes ago

The #Cubs today placed LHP Brian Duensing on the 10-day DL with left shoulder fatigue and recalled RHP Dillon Maples from @IowaCubs.