OSS: Tyler Chatwood’s bat is the difference maker, somehow.
Three up
- Tyler Chatwood came through in the late innings, first by getting out of a jam caused by Dillon Maples walking the bases loaded in the thirteenth inning, then hitting a double in the top of the fifteenth. Chatwood went on to score the go-ahead run. His combined WPA was .412 in this game.
- Ben Zobrist, despite asking to get benched for David Bote to start the game, was the other hero in this one. Zobrist notched a walk, single, and RBI double, all in extra innings since he didn’t even get a PA until the 12th. He was part of both of the bases loaded situations that the Cubs pissed away in the 12th and 14th, but I guess third time was the charm.
- Kris Bryant homered again today, his second home run of this series. It was especially nice to see that this was an oppo shot.
Three down
- The Cubs, and DBacks for that matter, had plenty of opportunities to put this game away but kept squandering them. Rizzo, Baez, and Bote combined to go 2-20 with roughly 37 left on base. I briefly considered sticking around for this game but decided to drive back to NM in the morning instead. Well done, self.
- Dillon Maples had another Dillon Maples-y outing, quickly getting his first two batters out then walking the bases loaded.
- Willson Contreras tried to catch the pitcher/catcher napping with a delayed steal of home at the end of the 13th. Not a bad idea if your name is Javy Baez, but maybe Willson trying this might be a *bit* too aggressive.
Next up: At least the Cubs have an off-day following that marathon. They head to Seattle for a two game series, starting on Tuesday.
Comments
Haven’t looked at standings in awhile. Nice to see Cubs in spitting distance of first place.
SKQuote Reply
SK,
Yeah only 2.5 games back. Stupid Cardinals keep winning though. Would be nice to win the series against them this weekend and possibly move into 1st.
WaLiQuote Reply
Was that outing from Chatwood possibly more impressive than his last start? He came in with the bases loaded and didn’t lose the game.
andcountingQuote Reply
In response to that shitty story about Russell/Cubs being floated around here:
https://twitter.com/espnchicubs/status/1122623184925106177?s=21
WaLiQuote Reply
Yeah, doesn’t seem legit. Journalistic standards have been kaput for a while now. Not too surprising. There are few to no consequences for getting a scoop wrong, for throwing anything out there no matter how poorly sourced.
What’s a little sad though is that at first glance it seemed like it could be legit. Cubs haven’t exactly been covering themselves in glory re: Russell.
Or in just about any other area of late.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
Smokestack Lightning,
Yeah, one terribly frustrating thing is the lingering feeling that there probably is some story at the root of this and the pure laziness shown by Baer. He opted for going after retweets and hits instead of trying to uncover whatever story might have produced the rumor. I’d actually like to know what happened, but this so-called reporter has made the telling of the story less likely.
andcountingQuote Reply
Raise your hand if your team drafted a punter in the fourth round.
RynoQuote Reply
Yes, it appears to me that Bill Baer just lacks any journalistic integrity.
It also doesn’t make sense from the Cubs’ standpoint. Any writer with any following would REPORT on the Cubs doing this to them if it happened.
MylesQuote Reply
Yeah, once I gave it a few minutes of thought I realized that this story seemed unlikely. Even by today’s standards, journalists probably wouldn’t allow themselves to be pushed around like that just so they can continue to have access. I do wonder if there’s a smaller story here and what it is, but this just seems unlikely.
dmick89Quote Reply
andcounting,
Agreed. The shitty non-story notwithstanding, the Cubs have been frustrating everywhere, haven’t been handling the Russell situation great, and I’m having a hard time understanding how they keep bungling this stuff. The org shouldn’t be this incompetent PR-wise. They come across as having no plan of how to deal with this, of making it up as they go along. It’s ridiculous.
I mean, I understand and am sympathetic with the notion of punting Russell into FA because of the abuse crap. It’s the cleanest, simplest way to deal with the situation. Wash your hands of it. If he turns into a star with another team, shrug your shoulders and stand by the decision. I also understand the idea of rehabilitation, even though there’s plenty of cynicism behind it, because it has a lot more to do with not giving away talent for nothing than it does turning the bad dude into a better dude. But if you’re going to go that route, do it full-throatedly, and decide you don’t give a shit how it looks or what people think. Tell people to go fuck themselves. You’re not the sort of organization that gives talent away for nothing.
Look at the Yankees with Chapman. They got him for nothing, turned him into Gleyber Torres, and then re-signed Chapman. As shrewd a set of moves as you’ll see, and all because when the Chapman thing blew up, they decided they didn’t give a shit about how it looked. They were going to get an elite player for nothing. They did, turned him into an elite prospect, and then doubled-down on the problematic player on a long-term deal. A deal which, so far, has turned out pretty well. The Yankees went about their business decisively (or at least, that’s how I remember it; it certainly looks that way in retrospect).
Look at the Dodgers with Chapman. They had a deal in place when the scandal hit. They decided he wasn’t worth the headache, walked away, and IIRC, they never revisited it again. They decided they were done with him. Again, decisiveness.
And then there’s the Cubs. Cubs opted not to pursue Chapman when he became available for zero. But then at the deadline decided to deal away elite talent to acquire him because need finally trumped whatever moral reservations they had, only to turn around and let him walk away at season’s end (and then trade another young talent for another closer on an expiring deal). From a talent-in talent-out long-term perspective, not a great series of moves. Also, when the Chapman deal went down, the Cubs did not do a great job of handling the controversy that reared up again. They got through it, they survived it, but it never felt like they controlled the situation.
And that’s what I’m seeing now. They seem to be hedging their bets with Russell, unsure of what to do, afraid to fully commit to one direction over the other. They don’t appear to be in control. They don’t project strength. And it’s not just in this area either. And for someone who was a
borderlinefanboy of this FO for a good portion of their administration, it’s difficult to wrap the brain around it.(Although I suppose it should be mentioned that of the three teams I reference, the Cubs were ones to actually win the World Series. (dying laughing))
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
Ryno,
No, but I did see Kenny Moore at Riley Children’s Hospital during the 4th round.
andcountingQuote Reply
Smokestack Lightning,
(dying laughing), yeah they do seem to try to keep a foot on the boat and the other on the pier.
andcountingQuote Reply
It’s important to highlight this, but probably more important to highlight that each of the other teams are in a better position to succeed long-term than the Cubs currently are.
dmick89Quote Reply
Smokestack Lightning,
This should have been a fanpost
WaLiQuote Reply
dmick89,
Yep. Although I would also argue that the Cubs team that won that WS was the product of a much more decisive, bold front office (up until the Chapman move anyway). Since then, not so much those things.
To paraphrase the great poet Bane, winning seems to have cost the Cubs their strength.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
Back to business…
Travis d’Arnaud has been DFA’d by the Mets. He’s not been very good, but I have to think he’d be a better option than Davis. He at least has the stink of being a former top prospect.
Also, Jay Jaffe thinks Chris Brian may be Chris Brian again.
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/kris-bryant-may-have-turned-the-corner/
I’d like to agree with him, but I’m not an optimistic person by nature. Also, the last time I posted a FG piece, it was about Jason Heyward being good again. He promptly went back to being bad again.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
Travis d’Arnaud is a great backup option because he’s super injury-prone which is irrelevant to your backup catcher who won’t play much and you don’t care if he’s injured because you’ll just release him anyway. I’m all for it.
MylesQuote Reply
RynoQuote Reply
Yeah, let’s talk about this in a few months, but a few games of good Bryant doesn’t exactly make me optimistic about him. I’m still going to be surprised if he hits more than 15 home runs this season.
dmick89Quote Reply
Well I wonder if the Fangraphs and Baseball Prospectus people who were the twsources for the twstory have offered anything more concrete since that all blew up. Jesse Rogers and that Sun-Times guy aren’t necessarily the last word here but fuck if i’m going to sort through all follow up tweeting.
SKQuote Reply
SK,
From what I’ve seen so far nothing more concrete than ‘people are saying’. I’m inclined to think poorly of the Cubs for how this has been handled but would need more than this.
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
I just read through the twitter thread that was shared earlier and it seems fairly clear to me that the story was likely wrong. Rogers and Kaplan have both ripped Russell and heard nothing from the Cubs. The editor of the Sun Times said thing. Obviously they could be covering, but that seems unlikely. Apparently Rogers even ripped Maddon on the radio or something like that. I think I’ll dismiss this article. There’s already enough to make the Cubs look bad without even factoring in what is likely a false story.
dmick89Quote Reply
Stupid Natinals.
PerkinsQuote Reply
He never forgets the extra “L”
GWQuote Reply
GW,
(dying laughing)
berseliusQuote Reply
Any takeaway from the Packers draft class, Ryno?
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
I haven’t watched nearly as much tape as I have in years past, but here’s a few things:
1. They’re clearly going all out in what they appear to think is the last three years of their window with Rodgers at QB. The FA signings signal that.
2. Rashan Gary is a fucking freak. It’s not right that a person that size can move the way he does. He’s still raw, but GB is really going to get after the QB with him and the Smiths they signed. I liked Burns and Sweat better, but Gary is a little more versatile.
3. A lot of people thought Darnell Savage was by far the best deep S in the draft. He should be an upgrade over HHCD.
4. I don’t know who the fuck Elgton Jenkins is. I hope he’s good, because AJ Brown would’ve been great for Rodgers in this spot.
5. Jace Sternberger was a good value and should step right into the flex TE role.
6. I guess GB is set at CB, because they passed on a few pretty good ones.
RynoQuote Reply
Ryno,
But they didn’t sign a punter in the 4th round so clearly an F grade.
WaLiQuote Reply
WaLi,
I’d say it’s more like an incomplete.
RynoQuote Reply
To-day’s base ball squadron
2B Descalso
LF Bryant
1B Rizzo
SS Baez
3B Bote
RF Heyward
C Contreras
DH War Bear
CF Almora
berseliusQuote Reply
Russell——->AAA (on Friday)
Apparently he’s likely to spend a few weeks there, with no official timeline for getting back to MLB.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Perkins,
I’m guessing they’re waiting until the Cubs are on the road again to bring him back.
berseliusQuote Reply
Hader coughing up runs again
berseliusQuote Reply
Descalso!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Daniel son!!!
andcountingQuote Reply
Descalso!
berseliusQuote Reply
Almora!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rough inning for Bote.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Gragh defense
berseliusQuote Reply
Rizzo!!!!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rizzomg!
berseliusQuote Reply
Fuck.
andcountingQuote Reply
Schwarber!!!!!
andcountingQuote Reply
That was a nice double play!
UrkQuote Reply
Great win I slept through. Nice to see Schwarber and Rizzo with HR’s.
Some gross SSS: Baez over last two games 0-11, 4 K, 1 BB. Heyward over last 7 games .208/.345/.333. Contreras last 7 games .185/.290/.370
WaLiQuote Reply
Congrats Ryno, I know you were worried about him holding out
WaLiQuote Reply
WaLi,
Way to deflect from the continuing Kaepernik story.
BVSQuote Reply
WaLi,
I guess this puts Myles, AC, dmick, and B on notice that they better go easy on Russell, else someone will break into their homes and put theirs knives and cast iron into the dishwasher.
BVSQuote Reply
I remember when the Bears signed Todd Sauerbrun in the 2nd round and Dave Wannstedt said he would be “a weapon,” though I don’t remember what his stated use for that weapon was supposed to be.
andcountingQuote Reply
BVS,
Feel free to tweet your suspicions of this abhorrent threat.
andcountingQuote Reply
BREAKING
https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1123592219770925056
SKQuote Reply
SK,
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
andcountingQuote Reply
andcounting,
I wish I knew how to save gifs from that site and post them in thread here.
SKQuote Reply
SK,
twitter converts them to movie files or something to stop folks from doing this, unfortunately
berseliusQuote Reply
BREAKING:
Schwarber’s HR from last night just landed, somewhere in Siberia
berseliusQuote Reply
Smokestack Lightning,
“young talent” (dying laughing)
I read this and just looked at Soler’s stats since joining the Royals. He has played ~ 150 games over 2+ seasons, has a 37% K rate, and has accumlated 0.1 WAR. Davis was a dominant closer for the 1 season we had him and we realistically had aspirations to compete for the WS. We needed a closer and Thoyer has shown 0 belief (right or wrong) in long term deals for relievers.
Re: not signing Chapman, his FB has declined 3mph since he signed with the Yankees, so while he’s gotten results, he’s not nearly the same dominant pitcher as he was before.
sharpchicityQuote Reply
berselius,
Putin’s fucking with America’s pastime. He’s gone too far this time.
dmick89Quote Reply
To-day’s base ball squadron
CF Almora
DH Bryant
1B Rizzo
SS Baez
C Contreras
LF Schwarber
3B Bote
RF Heyward
2B Zobrist
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
Glad that this game starts somewhat early tonight instead of the middle of the night. Sorry to see Bryant still in the DH slot. Hopefully it is just precautionary again. Also sucks that there is another fucking off day tomorrow. Looks like Morrow had yet another setback as well. Or maybe this is the same setback announced a few days ago?
Anyone know if there are any good relievers available?
WaLiQuote Reply
WaLi,
It seems to be the new normal to get by with a replacement level bullpen in the regular season and worry about amping things up at the last minute when you’re close to certain you’ll make the postseason. No sense investing in a FA closer until you’re ready to burn his arm out in the playoffs.
andcountingQuote Reply
WaLi,
Doesn’t signing Kimbrel also involve giving up a draft pick? I can’t keep track of the CBA anymore.
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
I think so, yes, but I’m not sure that’s necessarily a bad thing. Five years ago I’d have thought it would be, but the track record of Thoyer with top picks so far has been questionable at best. KB was pretty much automatic and outside of him, they’ve not done all that well. Schwarber still has a lot of potential, but the odds of him reaching it diminish every day. Almora isn’t very good. Happ is back at AAA.
If I was the Cubs, I’d sign Kimbrel, but the Cubs are broke so they can’t. (dying laughing)
dmick89Quote Reply
Báez!!!!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Heyward!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
berselius,
It goes away at some point. June, maybe?
Edit: after the draft
GWQuote Reply
Zobrist!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
This Mariners pitcher must be auditioning for a spot in the cubs bullpen
berseliusQuote Reply
Bryant!!
WaLiQuote Reply
Bryant!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Baez!!! Half-way to the cycle this inning alone.
WaLiQuote Reply
Javy!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Anyways, I don’t what you guys are talking about. BN tells me there’s an impending bullpen crunch when… (checks article) Tony Barnette finishes his rehab.
GWQuote Reply
GW,
Interesting, didn’t know that went away. So after June 5th he’ll most likely be signed by someone.
Cubs will probably be in first place by then so that someone won’t be the Cubs since management/owners will decide they don’t need him. Then the Cubs will have 40 games in a row and drop out of first place due to a poor bullpen.
WaLiQuote Reply
The I-Cubs scored 15 runs in an inning, I guess the big league squad doesn’t want to get shown up.
berseliusQuote Reply
Cubs stranded three runners. Not clutch.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I’m beginning to think last year’s hitting problems really were mostly Chili.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
Rizzo!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Cubs offense firing on just a few cylinders today
berseliusQuote Reply
Javy got screwed.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rizzo’s home run was only 92.7 mph.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Willson!!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Willson’s home run was 113.1 mph.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Heyward is showing up the umpires here.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Do your job, Natinals
berseliusQuote Reply
Someone ought to remind the Natinals that it’s okay to beat the Cardinals.
PerkinsQuote Reply
conan.jpg
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
Jay Jackson currently on the mound for MIL.
Yes, THAT Jay Jackson.
PerkinsQuote Reply
That’s unpossible.
MylesQuote Reply
Perkins,
haha no shit. apparently he had a few good seasons in japan.
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
http://www.obstructedview.net/cubs-11-mariners-0/
berseliusQuote Reply