OSS: Clayton Richard doing Clayton Richard things
Three up:
- Jake Arrieta was great again tonight, striking out eight in seven innings. Things fell apart for him in the seventh, where he walked the bases loaded with a wild pitch sprinkled in, but he struck out Justin Turner to work himself out of the jam. I wonder why Joe didn't go to the bullpen to bail him out ???
- Everyone on the offense had a negative WPA, so this kind of goes by default to Fowler, who had the two 'biggest' plays on offense. His leadoff walk in the first and single in the third accounted for half of the Cubs positive WPA plays. Yep.
- Kris Bryant played some shortstop at the end of the game. All he has left on his punch card is 2B, P, and C, and getting the first two wouldn't be out of the question with Joe running the show.
Three down:
- Man, Clayton Richard has been fucking terrible. If this is what it takes for a DFA, good riddance. Lefty relievers aren't that hard to find whether in the org or without, it's not like the choice is between keeping ClayDick or trading Contreras plus for Andrew Miller. Getting someone that's merely replacement level would be an improvement.
- As mentioned above, there were just four positive WPA plays by the Cubs offense in the whole game. The biggest blow of all the negative plays was Dex's TOOTBLAN in the third, erasing one of the few Cubs baserunners on the day.
- The Cubs went up against six innings of Scott Kazmir, who has a career walk rate of 9.4%, and drew just one walk. Bleh.
Next up: Can't win em all. Next up it's Mike Bolsinger's Curveball Extravaganza vs Jon Lester, 7:05 PM CT
Comments
/Doug E. Fresh’d.
SKQuote Reply
I don’t have high expectations for them, but Gerardo Concepcion and CJ Edwards are in Iowa. Rob Zastryzny may not be such a bad option either. He’s been just OK as a starter, but might pick up some velocity in a move to the bullpen.
dmick89Quote Reply
I think Grimm has pretty good splits vs LHB if they wanna just do that until they figure out which lefty to promote/sign/trade for.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Rice Cube,
Nice call. Grimm has had reverse splits in each year going back to 2014. I’d still expect he’s better vs righties in the long run, but I’m willing to give Grimm a shot at being used more frequently vs lefties. Anything to get rid of ClayDick.
dmick89Quote Reply
On reflection, it’s probably a good thing we can’t post images at the moment.
SKQuote Reply
Edwards is striking out 13 per 9 with a 1.03 WHIP. He had (and still has) good splits on lefties. Armando Rivero has over100 innings now at AAA and a sub-3.0 ERA. Felix Pena looks to have turned a corner since pitching in relief.
They’ve got options. If they absolutely HAVE to have two lefties in the pen, they need to make a trade.
JonKneeVQuote Reply
I quit listening after a homerun at some point. The Cubs came back to win right?
joshQuote Reply
I don’t think I trust Concepcion any farther than he can throw, btw.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Marlon Byrd ——–> likely career-ending PED suspension
berseliusQuote Reply
100% likely per Rosenthal.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
berselius,
This is his second one, no?
ceruleanQuote Reply
⚾️???☣??
ceruleanQuote Reply
??
ceruleanQuote Reply
Entire NL ASG infield will be Cubs if Chicago voters have their way.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
cerulean,
Oh, indeed
BerseliusQuote Reply
(dying laughing) I like that among NL outfielders that Fowler is 2nd, Heyward is 4th and Soler is 6th. Heyward and Soler obviously don’t belong, but that’s just funny that all 3 Cubs outfielders are in the top 6. Popularity contest.
dmick89Quote Reply
berselius,
D’oh! The second one is a bitch.
joshQuote Reply
Trade thought: Hendricks, Torres, and McKinney for Rich Hill, Sean Doolittle, and Dillon Overton.
Rich Hill looks like the real deal. He is also just a rental.
Doolittle did have labrum issues, but he seems to be back, missing bats and killing lefties this year, though he has pretty even splits over his career. His contract is favorable with two cheap team options/buy-outs to 2020, and should his injury problems be behind him, this may be a real steal.
Why not trade for three lefties? Dillon Overton might be pretty good even if his velocity hasn’t come all the way back after TJ.
Meanwhile, Kyle Hendricks is turning into a surgeon and would excel in Oakland. I think he has answered all of his critics and then some. This one would hurt. I am not in love with giving up somebody like Hendricks, but I find this to be compelling for winning this year.
I assume any trade with the A’s has to include their number one prospect that is also at SS. Hence, Torres.
McKinney’s power has disappeared so far this season, but he still exhibits elite walk rates.
Wha’d’y’all think?
ceruleanQuote Reply
I was surprised there were all that many critics of Hendricks this past offseason to begin with. There was this talk amongst the fans and reporters that there was some 5th starter battle. I don’t think there ever was. Hendricks had a fine year last season and was probably never in doubt of not making the rotation. Based on how Joe used the pitchers late in the season last year, I’d have said Hammel was more likely than Hendricks to not be in the rotation. That wasn’t going to happen either.
As for the trade idea, I’d rather not replace Hendricks with Rich Hill. As you say, Hill is a rental and the Cubs don’t have shit in the farm system that is going to be a legitimate starter in MLB at the moment.
If Reddick returns before long like he should, I wouldn’t mind an expanded deal like you mention. I have about as much faith in Jorge Soler being a good outfielder as I do in Javier Baez being a good starter at any position. They clearly have the talent, but both also have a tendency to suck a lot.
dmick89Quote Reply
To-day’s base ball squadron
Fowler
Heyward
Bryant (LF)
Rizzo
Zobrist
Russell
Baez
Ross
Lester
berseliusQuote Reply
dmick89,
That’s why I included Overton who may end up being a lefthanded Hendricks, but if his velocity comes back some more, watch out. The Cubs would be trading for higher risk (pitchers and injury history), and shorter term (9–10 years of control beyond this year to 16 going to the A’s), but I think that’s a good strategy when you have so much young talent controlled for the next 3 to 5 years and a real window to win and what is gained is the single deficiency of the upper farm system.
I am not sold on a Reddick deal with Soler, but I also don’t think it would necessarily be bad. On the one hand, the Cubs have a lot of outfield talent, on the other, I can see Soler having a lot of success there.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Baez hasn’t had an XBH since May 10th. If he’s supposedly trading power for contact, he should stop that.
EdwinQuote Reply
I think the problem with Hill is even if you buy his transformation, do you also buy him still being effective and healthy come this fall?
EdwinQuote Reply
I wouldn’t give up any depth for Hill with his history.
joshQuote Reply
Minor League Update will occur in approximately 90 minutes.
MylesQuote Reply
Myles,
YOU MONSTER
joshQuote Reply
No issues for Hammel on his throw day today
berseliusQuote Reply
New Shit
http://obstructedview.net/wp-admin/post.php?post=19166&action=edit
mylesQuote Reply
Edwin,
Shit happens, but yes.
ceruleanQuote Reply
myles,
FYI, I cannot edit your new shit.
ceruleanQuote Reply
http://obstructedview.net/cubs-minor-league-update-6-1-2016/
dmick89Quote Reply