OSS: There’s no such thing as an easy win, I guess.
Three up:
- Kris Bryant homered again, bringing his season total up to 33, and salted the rest of his performance with two walks. Going into the game he had tied last year’s 6.6 fWAR total, and there’s still a month and change to go.
- Addison Russell also had a huge day at the plate, hitting a ground rule double in the third and following it up with a homer in the fifth. Russell now has 19 HR and 82 RsBI on the season, absolutely phenomenal for a SS. And he’s only
a few days22 years old. And plays great defense. It feels kind of strange to see him worth ‘only’ 3.3 fWAR. - Jake Arrieta issued three more walks today, but managed to keep his pitch count under control and went eight shutout innings. It was great to see Willson behind the plate for Arrieta again, and based on the stat line it looks like he had an easier time today.
Three down:
- With Strop and Rondon out it’s tough to trust the non-Chapman members of the Cubs pen. Edwards’s lone blowup a week or so ago has rattled everyone’s cages by reminding them of his control problems in the minors, and Maddon saying with a straight face that Zastryzny is the setup man is not ideal. They still picked up the win though, and somehow I don’t see Felix Pena having a snowflake’s chance in Phoenix of making the postseason roster anyway.
- Rizzo and Heyward combined to go 1-10 in this game. Slow nights/weeks/months happen, I guess.
- No Clayton Richard so far in this series. The Padres need to give Cubs fans what they want to see!
Next up: Cubs ace Kyle Hendricks goes for the sweep against Paul Clemens at 2:40 PM CT
Comments
Based on the last five games, Addison Russell is on pace for 56 home runs.
SKQuote Reply
Richard won’t appear because he’s in the rotation. The Cubs missed his turn.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I can’t even remember which NL Central pitcher said the Cubs weren’t the best team in baseball.
SKQuote Reply
SK,
Probably Cole. Also some of the Cards said they’d get to within 5 games or something, but…
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Rice Cube,
Chris Coghlan knows better.
SKQuote Reply
SK,
Gerrit Cole.
dmick89Quote Reply
Rice Cube,
Did they really say that? (dying laughing)
dmick89Quote Reply
Bragging about getting to just 5 games back of another team is rather funny.
dmick89Quote Reply
Bryant is close to overtaking Trout for the lead in WAR among position players. Dang.
EdwinQuote Reply
To be fair, didn’t they get within six? I think the Cards were 12 games back before the head-to-head sweep that began the death spiral that the Cubs would never recover from because 2 is a lot worse than 11. Also, curses.
I can see some bravado and visualization that stems from the wishful thinking “law of attraction” as seen in derivative tripe like the Secret. Those six games came pretty easy. Then things got hard. ? And the Cubs’ lead suddenly ballooned to a number better than 11. ?Where it has stayed. ?
ceruleanQuote Reply
Random question: Is Rey Sanchez one of the greatest defensive IF of all time? Stats seem to say yes, for what that’s worth.
EdwinQuote Reply
cerulean,
I guess it depends on when they said it.
dmick89Quote Reply
Edwin,
Sanchez was probably the best Cubs fielder I’ve ever seen.
dmick89Quote Reply
Bryant is tied with Jose Altuve in fWAR. If you’d told me that a couple years ago I’d have been really bummed out. They’re both just 0.1 behind Trout.
dmick89Quote Reply
The Cubs have a 7 game lead over the Nationals who have the 2nd best record in baseball.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
I just looked the fWAR leaders up and holy shit is Corey Seager having a monster season. I thought Bryant had a huge lead in the NL.
MuckerQuote Reply
Kind of neat: Jake Arrieta has been worth 0.9 fWAR at the plate (or maybe it’s plate and defense combined).
Less neat: Joe Smith has been worth -0.4 fWAR in 3.2 innings. Woof.
PerkinsQuote Reply
wasn’t it even more ridiculous than that? i seem to recall the quote being something along the lines of “we’ll be 5 games back by the end of the month, at which point we’ll be exactly where we want to be.” because why want to be in first when you can be 5 games back instead.
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
the cubs finally catch a lucky break
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
By Grapthar’s Hammer, Altuve is out-slugging Bryant.
berseliusQuote Reply
Before Russell was born I was working on an NL MVP article and it is between the two of them.
Myles HandleyQuote Reply
Since Russell was born, Addison Russell has been the best player in baseball.
Should have induced earlier, I guess.
Myles HandleyQuote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
That sounds about right. Either way, it was amusing given how big of a lead the Cubs had at the time.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
I don’t think that enough attention is paid to how Bryant has been able to just casually wander out to the outfield and handle all three positions competently when needed. As far as I can tell, he never really played out there until he got to the majors. It’s pretty fun to watch the team actually improve defensively when Baez slots in somewhere in the infield and Bryant heads to left.
uncle daveQuote Reply
He’s a 55 fielder at 3B, and like a 65 fielder at LF. It’s pretty uncanny. I thought he had no chance to stick at 3B and he’s slightly above average there. Very good in left this year.
MylesQuote Reply
Myles Handley,
I’d like to read that. You still working on it?
MuckerQuote Reply
Rizzo gets the day off. I hope he uses the time to find his missing power.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
To-day’s base ball squadron
Fowler
Bryant (1b)
Zobrist
Soler
Russell
Heyward
Baez
Contreras
Hendricks
berseliusQuote Reply
Couldn’t Joe wait until they faced a lefty pitcher to rest Rizzo?
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
Didn’t they face a lefty yesterday? Why not just rest him yesterday? Confusing.
MuckerQuote Reply
Yeah, ill probably update it for numbers through today and throw it up tomorrow.
Myles HandleyQuote Reply
Could be Joe gave him a choice last night and Rizzo said he wanted to play then and take today off.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
Maybe Rizzo and/or Joe wanted him to see some PAs against lefties so he could work on facing them? Chances are he may have to see one or two in the postseason.
You and Rizzo Rat do yourself a favor. Go find the current standings. Pay special attention to this number: 13.5. Realize the implications of such a number. The confusion over why Rizzo would rest one day and not another may dissipate a little.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
Joe likes to use the off-day to give two days off in a row. I’m sure that was the reason for today versus yesterday.
JasonQuote Reply
Also, today’s unbeatable-without-Rizzo foe, Paul Clemens, has reverse splits.
And Christian Friedrich is more susceptible to LHBs than most LHP.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
Smokestack Lightning,
It’s the two days off in a row thing. Nothing more. Bryant will get Friday off.
dmick89Quote Reply
game thread up: http://obstructedview.net/cubs-padres-game-thread-8-24-16/
dmick89Quote Reply
False. It’s so much more. And could be even morer. Prove me wrong.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply