Cubs @ Nationals Game Thread

In Game Threads by dmick89153 Comments

Time: 3:05 PM CT
TV: WGN
Series Preview
Gameday

LINEUPS

Cubs logo

Ben Zobrist, 2B
Jason Heyward, RF
Kris Bryant, LF
Anthony Rizzo, 1B
Miguel Montero, C
Albert Almora, CF
Javier Baez, 3B
Addison Russell, SS
Jason Hammel, P

washington-nationals

Ben Revere, CF
Jayson Werth, LF
Bryce Harper, RF
Daniel Murphy, 2B
Ryan Zimmerman, 1B
Wilson Ramos, C
Anthony Rendon, 3B
Danny Espinosa, SS
Stephen Strasburg, P

Will the Cubs win? No, but it could go either way.

538 Forecast: 46% chance of winning

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Comments

  1. cerulean

    At his current rate Almora would rack up 3.7 fWAR in 149 PA and still be rookie-eligible next year. And he’d save about 25 runs. (dying laughing)

    Think some teams will ask for him?

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  2. Author
    dmick89

    cerulean: Think some teams will ask for him?

    I think the question is, as it always seems to be for players like Almora, how much do teams value defense when making trades? I’m still not sure we have a good answer for that. I think some team out there will value Almora enough that the Cubs pull the trigger, but I also think that Cubs fans overvalue him.

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  3. JonKneeV

    Cubs have a better record against teams over .500 than they do against teams under .500.

    The Cubs have also been one of the unluckiest teams in terms of Pythagorean expected outcomes.

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  4. Author
    dmick89

    JonKneeV: The Cubs have also been one of the unluckiest teams in terms of Pythagorean expected outcomes.

    I wonder if that’s fairly common for teams that have won as frequently as the Cubs have. I know I saw a few teams when looking at the 3rd order winning percentage leaders that ended their season with many fewer wins than their Pythag would have suggested they should have won.

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  5. Edwin

    dmick89,

    I think Heyward was attempting a “steal” of third base. In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which he is not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner.

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  6. berselius

    dmick89:
    Edwin,

    I want the Cubs to win.

    I’m already looking ahead to the next two series (dying laughing). I want an excuse to bust out the “what is best in life” quote.

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  7. SK

    If you are coming to OVCON on Friday, dm me on twitter @suburbankid76 or stop by my seat in Aisle 424 row 5 seat 101

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  8. Author
    dmick89

    Edwin:
    dmick89,

    I think Heyward was attempting a “steal” of third base.In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which he is not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner.

    (dying laughing)

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  9. Millertime

    Why do people bring up Ichiro’s numbers in Japan when talking about records like Pete Rose’s hit record? Seems strange.

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  10. Author
    dmick89

    Millertime,

    Most professional hits. I have no problem saying that Ichiro will be the all-time hits leader. Pete Rose is still the all-time MLB hits leader and will be for at least the rest of my life. What seems strange is the same people talking about Ichiro breaking Rose’s record don’t also point out that Sadaharu Oh is the professional home run leader.

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  11. Author
    dmick89

    Millertime,

    yeah, you almost have to try to walk Baez and even if you do that, there’s no guarantee it would work. I’m guessing his walk rate on intentional walks would be about 80%. He’d surely work the pitcher back into the count frequently enough that he’d not end up walking.

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  12. Millertime

    iphone 6, fairly new. Maybe I’m just being paranoid, it just seems like Gameday and Youtube both drain the battery faster than I remember.

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  13. Author
    dmick89

    EnricoPallazzo,

    I’d be OK if you included minor leaguers in the professional leaderboards. As long as someone is clear in what they’re saying the player is leading, I’m fine with it. Pete Rose is still the MLB hit leader and Barry Bonds is still the MLB home run leader.

    There can be more than one leaderboard in my opinion.

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  14. Author
    dmick89

    Also, I think people are talking about Ichiro for two reasons. First, people have always loved talking about Ichiro getting base hits and second, there probably won’t be another player in at least 50 years (maybe forever) who has more than 4256 hits in professional baseball. That’s probably worth talking about at least a little bit.

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  15. Rizzo the Rat

    I don’t have a problem comparing professional hits to professional hits. But the claim that Ichiro is the all-time hits leader because he passed Rose’s MLB hits total is dishonest, IMO.

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  16. Rizzo the Rat

    That said. I don’t care much about records. Baseball has changed so much over the years, you can’t really compare like with like.

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  17. Author
    dmick89

    Rizzo the Rat: But the claim that Ichiro is the all-time hits leader because he passed Rose’s MLB hits total is dishonest, IMO.

    I’m not sure dishonest is the right word. Misleading, maybe. But only misleading because Americans have always had such a narrowly defined view of what a professional baseball player is. It’s only been in recent years that most fans have even recognized that professional baseball exists in forms other than Major League Baseball. They spent a long time ignoring the Negro Leagues too. In 100 years, everybody will be so aware that professional baseball exists outside of the US that you’ll have to clarify that someone is currently the batting leader in MLB and not all of professional baseball.

    As long as someone is clear in what they’re comparing, what’s it matter?

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  18. EnricoPallazzo

    dmick89,

    now that i’m thinking about this, it is a good point in that in 100 years, i bet no one gives a shit what league the records came from, so why not just start mixing and matching now and make that the norm? i’m totally fine with saying ichiro is the all-time hit leader and rose is the all-time mlb hit leader. if you don’t specify, you’re by default referring to all pro leagues.

    honestly think the only reason this whole all-time hits thing bothered me in the first place is that it’s just gonna give pete rose one more thing to be a whiny little bitch about.

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  19. cerulean

    Hitting a baseball is hard. Ichiro only played in at most 135 games in a given year in Japan (I assume the season is 136 games). He’s the fucking hits leader.

    And MLB should celebrate him for it, if nothing else just to make Rose roll in his grave.

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  20. EnricoPallazzo

    dmick89:
    Rose said they’re trying to make him the “hit queen”.

    haha if rose wants to self-apply a super shitty nickname, i will be happy to oblige him. what a jagoff.

    cerulean: And MLB should celebrate him for it, if nothing else just to make Rose roll in his grave.

    exactly. i never even really thought about this topic but am now fully behind it if it pisses off rose.

    and for the record, my dislike of rose doesn’t even come from what he did to get banned so much as the way he behaved like a total scumbag since his ban.

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  21. cerulean

    dmick89:
    If Rose wasn’t such a scumbag, he’s probably in the hall of fame by now.

    I am in favor of a Hall of Infamy wing for baseball for likes of Rose, Bonds, and Cap Anson.

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  22. Rizzo the Rat

    dmick89:

    As long as someone is clear in what they’re comparing, what’s it matter?

    In this case, it’s not clear. Which leagues are they including/excluding, and on what basis?

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  23. EnricoPallazzo

    Rizzo the Rat: In this case, it’s not clear. Which leagues are they including/excluding, and on what basis?

    i think that’s the point. if it’s unspecified, you can kind of just assume it’s all-inclusive for any pro ball. at least that’s not what i would mind seeing.

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  24. umbra

    How long do you think it would take you to notice that your query, which should return ~21,000 rows, has been executing for a few hours and will return 21,000*21,000 = ~400,000,000 rows?

    If you guessed ’12 minutes because you’re the last person in the office and the Cubs are on TV’, you win a prize.

    In other news: AWWWW YEAHHHH BABYYYYYYYYYYYY

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  25. Rizzo the Rat

    Pirates lose. Cardinals lose. Today wasn’t all bad. That game felt like a kick in the groin, though. I almost wish they lost more decisively.

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  26. Rizzo the Rat

    josh,

    The question is, which is more awful: the Reds’ bullpen or the Braves’ offense? It’s a paradox that may never be solved!

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  27. josh

    Rizzo the Rat,

    The reds will walk/wild pitch in the tying run until a braves batter swings at one out past the other batters box and the winning run will trip on the way home but there will be an error and after umpire review the umpires will flip off both teams and declare the game too stupid to rule on.

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  28. Rizzo the Rat

    Rizzo the Rat:
    josh,

    The question is, which is more awful: the Reds’ bullpen or the Braves’ offense? It’s a paradox that may never be solved!

    The Reds’ bullpen loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the 11th. The Braves’ offense failed to score. Amazing.

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  29. Rizzo the Rat

    Braves’ offense wins. Reds’ bullpen blows 2-run lead in 13th. NL central loses all five games.

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  30. EnricoPallazzo

    dmick89:
    Seems like the Cubs always lose before an off day. it makes the losses suck even more.

    i would have totally agreed with you but i just checked and they are 7-3. they were 5-0 prior to the may 9th off day and 2-3 since. i would have bet they were 2-8. i guess we are a lot more pessimistic now that they’re win% has plummeted to .6875.

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  31. Rice Cube

    I was reading the MLBTR trade candidate rankings and noted that Abad was listed. Would he be a more reasonable target for Cubs than Miller/Chapman/Betances?

    Also, if Almora has played his way to stay, I wonder which of Szczur/Soler becomes expendable.

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  32. Mucker

    I was at the game last night. Sat about 50 feet from where Zobrist and Rizzo hit their HRs. We left after Rizzo’s HR. I was knackered and needed to drive an hour and a half still. Good game though. The atmosphere at the game was pretty crazy. Lots of Cubs fans. It was a great game.

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  33. Author
    dmick89

    Rice Cube,

    I think it comes down to how much the Cubs are willing to give up. I can see scenarios where they go after someone like Fernando Rodney again and I can see scenarios where they go after Miller, Chapman. Abad, Jeffress and Vizcaino are others they could target.

    I don’t know about Almora taking over for Soler. It could happen, but I think it comes back to what the Cubs are willing to give up. Almora is their best trade piece (I’m assuming Contreras is untouchable) and if they take him off the table, it’s more likely they’re going after a Rodney-type reliever at the deadline.

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