Cole Hamels ————> Cubs

In Uncategorized by berselius279 Comments

The final details are still being worked out, but the Cubs are on the verge of acquiring Cole Hamels. The main asset trading hands seems to be salary relief for the Rangers, who were on the hook for $14m going forward on Hamel’s deal. Going the other way could be P Rollie Lacy (Myrtle Beach) and OF DJ Wilson (also Myrtle Beach). Or perhaps not, as there is no certainty in this world of treachery and deception.

Hamels has had a down year with the Rangers, posting a 4.72 ERA with a 5.20 FIP. His strikeout and walk rates both look pretty good and are in line with what they were in 2016, his last healthy season. He put up a 3.32 ERA and a 3.0 WAR that season. His ERA this year is hurt by an epically lousy Ranger defense, however, the Rangers defense can’t do much about his 20.7% HR/FB rate. His soft contact rate is down and his hard contact rate is up to a whopping 44.9%. Maybe Jon Lester can share whatever secret sauce he found this year with a fellow aging lefty/former ace.

The next question is where he fits into the rotation. Hopefully he gets Chatwood’s spot, and Chatwood ends up on the DL with cantpitchitis and spends the rest of the AAA season with Iowa trying to figure out his deal. My cynical self tells me it’s more likely that he takes over for Monty, and Monty takes over for Duensing in the pen. At least that would put out a smaller garbage fire on the Cubs pitching staff.

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  1. uncle dave

    I’m kinda bummed that they walked this off the way they did because we’ll forget how hard Daniel Descalso failed all afternoon.

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  2. Myles Handley

    If all they get is someone they can send to the mound to soak up 6 innings a start, this will be a success. He’s also leaving behind the worst defense in baseball and heading to the best. I’m cautiously optimistic.

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  8. Ryno

    Notable minor league performances include:

    Zach Short – 2-4, 2 2Bs, BB
    Paul Richan – 3 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 4 K, 0 BB

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  9. SK

    My not very large adult son just said I look like Jeff Garlin.

    The idea never crossed my mind but he’s probably right.

    Kill me now.

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  11. dmick89

    Regardless of how many lefties would end up in the rotation, Chatwood should be going to the bullpen after this move. Cole Hamels isn’t all that good at this point, but he’s definitely better than Chatwood. I have a feeling Joe will send Monty to the bullpen, which is just stupid.

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  12. Ryno

    Just to be clear on whenever Rangers Hamels trade is announced, return will be RHP Rollie Lacy, two other minor leaguers & some transfer of cash (expect Rangers to pay bulk of the $14 mm owed Hamels).

    — Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) July 27, 2018

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  14. Perkins

    dmick89,

    The only reason I could see for putting Monty back in the bullpen would be managing his innings, but I’d still keep him in the rotation and relegate Chatwood to mop-up duty.

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  44. BVS

    My MLB TV sure does freeze alot. Not sure if it’s the fire stick or spectrum, or the app.

    But missing Q walking folks is no big loss

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  47. Rizzo the Rat

    dmick89,

    The fact that all their pitchers have elevated walk rates is weird. I’m sure framing is part of the problem, but I don’t think it explains all of it.

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  58. EnricoPallazzo

    dmick89:
    Rizzo the Rat,

    Me too, but it’s the biggest change from previous seasons to this season. I don’t think it accounts for all of it or even half of it, but I’d be surprised if it wasn’t part of it.

    yeah but the bullpen has been great…maybe this is naive but i’m not sure that you can give hickey “credit” for the shitty rotation but then not give him credit for the good bullpen.

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  61. BVS

    I wish A-Rod was announcing for Fox Sports. Then all the announcers/commentators I detest the most would be on one network and easier to avoid.

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  70. andcounting

    Rizzo the Rat:
    Swing the bat. There’s one out and the defense isn’t giving you much of a chance.

    If they had just taken the opposite of this advice, the tying run would have just been walked in.

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  86. Ryno

    Longshot that cannot be dismissed until after deadline passes: #Cubs getting controllable SP. Could build deal around Happ or another young hitter. Obstacles: Scarcity in market. Many teams want elite prospects over MLB pieces. CHC too thin in young pitching to add to deal.

    — Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 30, 2018

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  88. dmick89

    Myles,

    No thanks. I don’t want the Cubs to make any additional trades. Actually, I’d like to go back to the end of 2016 and have all the trades they’ve made since then back. One pitcher isn’t going to make this rotation that much better. They’re going to have the pitching disadvantage in every postseason game they play. I’d rather not waste any more trades on a team like that.

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  92. dmick89

    Ryno,

    The Chapman trade was fine. They were the best team in baseball and had few weaknesses. The 2017 and 2018 teams have too many weaknesses (especially this one). The Cubs also had a stocked system prior to last season and now it’s a joke.

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  95. Ryno

    dmick89,

    I think I’d feel much better about the state of the team if they hadn’t traded for Quintana and Wilson last year and were making a run at deGrom right now.

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  97. Ryno

    dmick89,

    But I do appreciate the front office approach. Get busy livin’ or get busy dyin’. If you’re not trying to improve your team right now, try to improve it for tomorrow. I didn’t like the trades, but they’re sure trying to improve for right now.

    They’re likely nearing the end of their window of contention with this group, but there hasn’t ever really been a better time to be a Cubs fan than right now. And even if a rebuild/reload is coming in the next few seasons, I trust this group to do it.

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  99. Mucker

    Mucker,

    I don’t know how to feel about the Quintana trade. I was always intrigued by Quintana but thought the Cubs overpaid for him. His inconsistency isn’t helping things on my feelings that the trade was a huge mistake. And even though I wouldn’t trade Theo and Co. for any other front office, I feel like the last two years, the trades have been knee jerk or more “trade just to trade”. Obviously, they feel those trades would help the team but the fact that the returns so far have been questionable, it sort of puts a little dent in the armor. But that’s my unrealistic expectation that every move they make will make the Cubs the WS favorite. Basically that was a long explanation that I’ve been spoiled by this front office and I’m frustrated with the moves since the WS.

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  100. Author
    berselius

    dmick89,

    I loved the Q trade, and if it had worked out the way that it should have the Cubs wouldn’t be facing this issue right now.

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  102. Rizzo the Rat

    Mucker,

    Yeah, I thought the Quintana trade was fine. That and the Darvish signing should have addressed the current team’s only real weakness. That these moves haven’t worked out this year due to unforeseen circumstances isn’t Theo’s fault.

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  103. Mucker

    Rizzo the Rat,

    Yeah and I’m not blaming them. I know it’s not their fault. I hope Qunitana and Darvish can find their grooves and pitch well in the next couple of months.

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  104. Myles

    We don’t even really know if the Quintana signing was bad yet because he’s still under contract until 2021. Sure, he was horrible in the postseason, and he hasn’t been great this year, but a) it’s hard to fault the brain trust for his age-29 collapse (though of course you can fault them some) and b) I still expect Quintana to be playable in a playoff rotation for the next 3 years even if he’s not an “ace”.

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  105. dmick89

    Myles,

    I’m not faulting the front office. As Ryno said, the front office is going for it and I can respect that. I understand the moves, though the signing of Chatwood was stupid when it happened and somehow looks even worse now. I’d rather the Cubs have these trades back, including the Quintana one, but that doesn’t mean that I think it was a bad trade. It wasn’t.

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  106. Rizzo the Rat

    Anyway, I’d like Kirby Yates, but he’s probably too expensive right now, and his walk rate will probably skyrocket as soon as he puts on a Cubs uniform.

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  107. BVS

    Did anyone listen to the game yesterday? I noted how much I hated listening to ARod commentary as the game started, but then he started stirring the pot with the “clubhouse is bad right now bc Darvish is rehabbing there.” I thought he really was at Fox with Smith, Bayless and the other blowhards there. Thoughts?

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  109. andcounting

    BVS,

    Come on, A-Rod, it’s not like there’s some magic hormone that can just speed up the growth of human tissue.

    Arizona, you say? Are you sure there aren’t better rehab facilities in Florida?

    Yu shouldn’t use his own trainers, you say? He should stick strictly to the guidance of the team physician staff?

    What else can he do to maintain the respect of the clubhouse? What magic pill did you take to help that in New York?

    Oh, and what was it that kept you from ever missing too many games with the Yankees? Was it your cutting-edge recovery techniques that kept you in the lineup and out of court and the darling of your teammates?

    Does J-Lo keep you around to make sure she’s connected to the two biggest asses in the room?

    That’s all I got.

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  111. BVS

    andcounting:
    BVS,

    Come on, A-Rod, it’s not like there’s some magic hormone that can just speed up the growth of human tissue.

    Arizona, you say?Are you sure there aren’t better rehab facilities in Florida?

    Yu shouldn’t use his own trainers, you say? He should stick strictly to the guidance of the team physician staff?

    What else can he do to maintain the respect of the clubhouse? What magic pill did you take to help that in New York?

    Oh, and what was it that kept you from ever missing too many games with the Yankees? Was it your cutting-edge recovery techniques that kept you in the lineup and out of court and the darling of your teammates?

    Does J-Lo keep you around to make sure she’s connected to the two biggest asses in the room?

    That’s all I got.

    I’d have LOVED Jessica ___________ to have asked even one of those.

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  114. Ryno

    Notable minor league performances:

    I don’t know…I guess a couple of Iowa pitchers did OK?

    Underwood – 6IP, 5H, 1ER, 4K, 0BB
    Maples – 1IP, 1H, 0ER, 3K, 1BB

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  117. Myles

    I mean, of course Ozymandias is one of the greatest episodes of television in history. I just think Half Measures is the single best episode of television in history.

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  119. Perkins

    Ryno,

    I’m surprised that the only Rick and Morty episode on there was Total Rickall. Rixty Minutes and The Ricklantis Mixup are both superior.

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  121. dmick89

    I loved Breaking Bad when it aired, but it’s fallen down my personal rankings quite a bit since. Several shows have passed it and what I once had as a tie between it and The Wire is no longer even close. BB was a great show with great performances and some great episodes, but I kind of feel like it’s a show you had to watch when it aired to truly appreciate it. I tried rewatching it a year or so ago and couldn’t do it.

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  123. Ryno

    dmick89,

    I feel like The Wire will hold up much better than Breaking Bad. I think BB will be one of those shows that people in 20 years will say was amazing in its time or something. I’ve also soured on True Detective quite a bit.

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  126. Rizzo the Rat

    Seriously, though, If some prominent site made a list of best movies that didn’t have any foreign language films, they’d never hear the end of it from cinephiles.

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  128. Myles

    Ryno:
    Myles,

    “Best” and “favorite” or “most entertaining” are very different things, for me.

    That’s a good point. Half Measures is my favorite, but that doesn’t necessarily make it the best.

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  139. Myles

    Peyton Manning was on 2 teams but nearly exclusively Colts, so he gets NFL. Brees was on San Diego for a decent chunk of his career, so he gets New Orleans. Cool.

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  140. Ryno

    As pitchers from other teams go off board, hearing Jays pitching among Cubs 11th-hour focus before 3pm (CT) deadline. Toronto had multiple arms available.

    — Gordon Wittenmyer (@GDubCub) July 31, 2018

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  141. dmick89

    Ryno:
    dmick89,

    I feel like The Wire will hold up much better than Breaking Bad. I think BB will be one of those shows that people in 20 years will say was amazing in its time or something. I’ve also soured on True Detective quite a bit.

    I never watched the second season of True Detective. I still think the first season was quite good. I was never as high on it as a lot of people were, but it was really good tv. I heard the second season sucked so I never bothered.

    The Wire was timely when it came out and it’s just as timely today. I can’t imagine a time in my life that I’m not going to be having conversations with family or friends and I’ll tell them “you really need to watch The Wire.” I don’t think I’ve ever said that to anybody about Breaking Bad. I’ve said that several times about Rectify and The Leftovers, both of which I rank higher than Breaking Bad. Justified has remained just as enjoyable to watch and is probably now higher as well. The Americans was brilliant. There are probably a few others I’d rank higher than BB as well, but none of them can come close to The Wire.

    Depending on how Better Call Saul ends, it could easily end up higher on my list than BB.

    Rizzo the Rat:
    All the best TV shows are in English? How convenient!

    I barely have enough time for the shows I want to watch. I’ve seen very few foreign language tv shows and the one I most recently read about (Fauda) sounds disgusting. I’d rather never watch anything again than watch something like that.

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  147. Rizzo the Rat

    sources: brewers and cubs are among main teams in mix for matt Harvey. (not likely braves, I am told).

    — Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 31, 2018

    Please, please, please tell me the Cubs are just driving his price up.

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  155. Mucker

    Ryno,

    No Favre? That’s crap. I’d replace Bradshaw and Aikman with Favre and either Rodgers or Young. You can argue Aikman and Bradshaw aren’t even the best QBs in their team’s history let alone NFL history.

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  158. Mucker

    Ryno, have you looked into the Roquan Smith holdout? Any thoughts? From what I’ve read, it seems the Bears want to be able to withhold guarantees and/or void the 5th year if he gets suspended for any behavioral or on-field misconduct. That would include suspension for violating the league’s new lowering the helmet rule. From what I read, I think the Bears are being a little cheap here. I don’t blame Roquan for not wanting to lose money based on a ref’s interpretation of a rule that might lead to a suspension. Getting a little ugly. Any other Bears fans have any information?

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  159. Ryno

    Mucker,

    Romo and Staubach over Aikman and Rapelesberger over Bradshaw easy.

    And yeah, no Rodgers and Young is ridiculous. They’re, imo, maybe the two best to ever play the position.

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  189. andcounting

    “The Constant” was a good choice for best LOST episode.

    The bunt’s constant is not scoring runs. In the top of the 2nd, the thread of time holds unfrayed.

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  208. BVS

    Rizzo the Rat:
    BVS,

    I’d still trade what’s left of Heyward’s contract for what’s left of Harper’s.

    Of course. Then you’d be out from under a huge commitment in Nov and could spend elsewhere, like KB, etc.

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  211. Rizzo the Rat

    The Brewers decide not to trade for starting pitching and then Wade Miley holds the Dodgers to two hits through seven. Of course.

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  213. Ryno

    Notable minor league performances:

    Alex Lange gave up 5 runs in 3 innin– Oh, you wanted good notable?

    Miguel Amaya went 2/4 with a walk. That’s about it.

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  215. dmick89

    With only about 50+ games left, a lot could happen, but who wins this division? The Brewers will be much more rested the rest of the way since the Cubs have played 4 fewer games. Both rotations are pretty bad. I give the Brewers bullpen the edge. The Cubs offense is better and they have a better defense. The Cubs probably have a slight advantage, but not much. If I was was betting, I’d put money on the Brewers. This Cubs team has only played really good baseball for about three weeks. Other than that they’ve been mediocre the entire season.

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  216. Ryno

    dmick89,

    I’d also bet on MIL.

    But if I were an optimist, I’d point out that CHC has underperformed the majority of the year and is tied with MIL. If Hendricks, Quintana and Rizzo produce like they have and Darvish and Bryant return to their pre-injury form, the Cubs should pull away even if Lester and Baez come back to earth.

    That’s what I’d say if I were an optimist. But I’m not.

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  217. Perkins

    Rizzo has been looking better, and Hendricks’s peripherals have shown improvement. I have no idea what the hell is going on with Quintana. Both teams have a relatively weak schedule for the rest of the season, though the Cubs benefit from 8 games against CWS, DET, and KC.

    I’d give the edge to the Cubs, though it’s a lot closer than I’d expected it to be at this point in the season.

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  218. dmick89

    Ryno: If Hendricks, Quintana and Rizzo produce like they have and Darvish and Bryant return to their pre-injury form, the Cubs should pull

    Yeah, I think there’s little or no chance of this. I don’t see Darvish pitching this season and if it was me, I’d keep Bryant out the rest of the season too. Rizzo has been doing a lot better lately, but he’s still hasn’t been the hitter we’ve expected. I’ve given up on Hendricks and Quintana.

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  221. Myles

    We have them by 45 in runs differential. In fact, we have EVERYONE in the NL in run differential. We aren’t a great team, but the Brewers aren’t a great team either. Their big additions were a second baseman that can’t get on base and a third baseman who can’t get on base. They did firm up their bullpen, no doubt about that, but I’m absolutely not convinced that they even improved their team offensively, which is saying something considering Jonathan Villar was a horror-show at 2B. At least he could play defense.

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  222. andcounting

    My concern isn’t the rest of the season. The Cubs are too good offensively to slump for a huge amount of time. Where confidence escapes me is the postseason. They could slump against any pitcher having a good day, as any team can. That’s a problem when your starting rotation rarely has good days of their own.

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  223. Perkins

    andcounting:
    My concern isn’t the rest of the season. The Cubs are too good offensively to slump for a huge amount of time. Where confidence escapes me is the postseason. They could slump against any pitcher having a good day, as any team can. That’s a problem when your starting rotation rarely has good days of their own.

    That’s kind of where my head’s at. But the flipside is that I think the Cubs are as good as or better than any of the NL teams likely to make the postseason. I think there’s a real chance they win the NL, but whoever does is likely to get annihilated in the World Series anyway.

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  224. Myles

    If the Cubs make the playoffs, I’m relatively happy. The playoffs are a crapshoot, and even if you’re a 60/40 favorite at every step of the way, you only have a 1-in-5 chance or so to win the whole thing. If you’re on the other side of that, you’re still a 1-in-16 chance.

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  226. Perkins

    If the Cubs get in as a Wild Card this year, I have to think a bullpen game is their optimal strategy. I’m sure Joe would go with Lester, though.

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  227. Ryno

    Perkins,

    Or Hendricks and pull him after like one walk on that should have been a K.

    I’m still mad about that. I think if the ump correctly rings up Santana, it’s a relatively stress-free Game 7 win.

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  228. sharpchicity

    dmick89: and if it was me, I’d keep Bryant out the rest of the season too. .

    It sounds like you’re saying David Bote >> Kris Bryant?

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  232. Perkins

    Ryno,

    That was infuriating at the time and still is. I wasn’t a fan of Joe’s pulling of Hendricks, and the incorrect call was even worse.

    Come to think of it, the Cubs had a gauntlet of shitty umpires in the NLCS and WS that year. Angel Hernandez was in the NLCS, and I’m pretty sure Joe West was in the WS.

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  233. Ryno

    Perkins,

    And putting Lester in when he said he would only start him in a clean inning.

    And if we’re putting all our cards on the table here, I was a little annoyed when Edwards started the 10th because I was secretly hoping it would be Arrieta.

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  235. Ryno

    Ryno,

    And at one point during the summer, that team lost 15 of 20 games (including being outscored 28 to 8 in a three-game series with NYM).

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  237. Myles

    EnricoPallazzo: i’m not disagreeing but have we actually heard anything to indicate this?

    Last I heard, he switched to a different arm slot (an older one) to avoid pain, which screams out to me that there is a big, big problem in that arm.

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  238. Myles

    You know what’s crazy? Kyle Schwarber had a .971 OPS in that World Series in his FIRST MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL IN MONTHS. People forget that.

    What an incredible series.

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  239. dmick89

    sharpchicity: It sounds like you’re saying David Bote >> Kris Bryant?

    (dying laughing) no. I just want him 100% healed for next year. The version of Kris Bryant we’ve seen this year is still good, but not anything close to what we’ve come to expect. I imagine a big reason for his power outage has been that sore shoulder and I don’t see any reason to rush him back this year. Then again, I saw no urgency to make any trades for this team either so I’m probably in the minority and the Cubs will bring him back first chance they get.

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  240. dmick89

    Myles: Last I heard, he switched to a different arm slot (an older one) to avoid pain, which screams out to me that there is a big, big problem in that arm.

    Yeah, if that’s the case, just call it a season and perform some exploratory surgery to figure out what the hell is wrong. If they had done this a month or two ago, he may have been ready for spring training. They’ll probably bring him back, he’ll end up back on the DL and then miss all of next season.

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  241. Rizzo the Rat

    You know what? Let’s just call it quits for the year. Just rest everyone so they’re all fresh and healthy for the 2019 season.

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  242. Ryno

    Scott of Lincolnshire: So Baez…………he might finish in top 5 of MVP this year. I recall him taking forever to heat up at every level of promotion in the minors too. Sustainable? Probably not, but i can’t quit him. Ever

    Keith Law: Why would you quit him? He might be the most fun player to watch in the majors right now.

    Agree. Baez became my favorite Cub once Arrieta left, but he probably would’ve overtaken him this year even if he had returned.

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  244. Perkins

    Hypothetically, how many runs ahead or behind would the Cubs have to be for you to feel comfortable letting Tyler Chatwood pitch? I’d say seven.

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  245. dmick89

    Perkins,

    Depends on the inning and who is available. If any other pitcher is available, never. If he’s the only pitcher available, what’s the status on Caratini? If Chatwood is literally the only person available to pitch, that’s when I’d like to see him pitch, but I’ll probably just go watch something else.

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  249. Author
    berselius

    Perkins:
    Hypothetically, howmany runs ahead or behind would the Cubs have to be for you to feel comfortable letting Tyler Chatwood pitch? I’d say seventeen.

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  250. Perkins

    dmick89,

    I’m guessing it’ll continue for awhile, given that he’s been hitting well there and had been bad for most of the season before getting put there. Joe may want to consider batting the pitcher 7th to get him more RBI opportunities, though.

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  254. Rizzo the Rat

    Hamels should have had a strikeout, but Willson framed a couple of pitches poorly. Welcome to the Cubs, Cole.

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  266. Rizzo the Rat

    I was impressed by all the Hamels strikeouts, but then Kintzler got a strikeout, so maybe the Pirates just suck at hitting.

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  269. Author
    berselius

    (dying laughing), Kintzler was with the Brewers for six seasons and have zero memory of him ever pitching there.

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  272. Author
    berselius

    If the Cubs can put up some more runs in the top of the ninth, this game could get into Chatwood appearance territory.

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