Series Preview: Chicago Cubs (59-54) at Arizona Diamondbacks (64-50)

In Series Previews by berselius179 Comments

I had been planning to take a long weekend and catch this series in Phoenix. Instead, I ended up shelling out hundreds of dollars to repair rodent damage to my car, and will be watching from home. I feel like I should present the repair bill to the cat.

Team Leaders

Cubs

  • OBP: Kris Bryant (.390)
  • ISO: Anthony Rizzo (.246)
  • HR: Rizzo (26)
  • R+RBI: Rizzo (137)
  • wRC+: Bryant (134)
  • BSR: Javier Baez (1.7)
  • Defense: Willson Contreras (11.5)
  • SP K/9: Jose Quintana (9.58)
  • SP BB/9: Jon Lester (2.75)
  • SP FIP: Lester (3.80)
  • RP K/9: Carl Edwards Jr (12.81)
  • RP BB/9: Brian Duensing (1.89)
  • RP FIP: Duensing (2.99)
  • WAR: Bryant (3.4)

Dbacks

  • OBP: Paul Goldschmidt (.435)
  • ISO: Goldschmidt (.274)
  • HR: Goldschmidt (26)
  • R+RBI: Goldschmidt (177)
  • wRC+: Goldschmidt (159)
  • BSR: Goldschmidt (4.7)
  • Defense: Zack Grienke?! (6.5)
  • SP K/9: Robbie Ray (11.45)
  • SP BB/9: Grienke (1.87)
  • SP FIP: Zach Godley (3.18)
  • RP K/9: J. J. Hoover (12.86)
  • RP BB/9: Archie Bradley (1.74)
  • RP FIP: Bradley (2.32)
  • WAR: Goldschmidt (5.3)

I think this Paul Goldschmidt guy might be pretty good.

Injuries, transactions. vengeance pacts, etc.

The Dbacks are down several good pieces, but are still going strong. Robbie Ray is on the concussion DL after being hit in the head by a batted ball a week or so ago. Shelby Miller, object of a trade heist I recently enjoyed, got off to a solid start in his first few weeks before going under the knife for TJS. Shortstops Nick Ahmed and Chris Owings are on the 60-day DL with hand injuries, but replacement Ketel Marte is somehow slugging .500 in place of them anyway.

Theree's one injury in particular that matters for the Cubs, and that is Willson Contreras. There's no official news as I write this but it sounds like he will be out for about a month. At least it's not Victor Caratini getting everyday starts, I guess. Kris Bryant still seems to be bothered by the hand injury he suffered a few weeks ago, and Koji Uehara somehow ended up on the DL without my noticing. Russell is still on the shelf, and the rumblings seem to be that he will take longer than the minumum ten days to make it back.

Pitching matchups

Friday: John Lackey, RHP vs Taijuan Walker, RHP, 8:40 PM CT

Saturday: Jon Lester, LHP vs Patrick Corbin, LHP, 7:10 PM CT

Sunday: Jake Arrieta, RHP vs Zack Godley, RHP, 3:10 PM CT

After this the Cubs have something like three straight weeks against teams with losing records.

 

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  1. Author
    berselius

    On the plus side, the high temperatures at my house this week have been lower than the overnight lows in Phoenix over the same time period, so at least I get to avoid that shit.

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  2. Ryno

    So Mike Glennon’s thing is throwing way behind his receivers all the time?

    And what was up with that announcer blaming the receivers for “not separating” and “not boxing out”?

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  3. Berselius is too lazy to log in

    dmick89,

    It wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but still frustrating. The more annoying part was that I had found and cleared out a mouse nest up by the engine a few weeks previously and though that I had nipped it in the bud. It turned out that there was an even larger one in the undercarriage below the back seat.

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  4. Edwin

    Ryno,

    I think the problem with Glennon is that he just doesn’t have the football smarts to play QB, and he lacks the desire to win. He gets lazy at times, and spends too much time worrying about the name on the back of the jersey instead of the name on the fro-

    Oh wait I just saw his picture. Yeah, the problem is the recievers weren’t running good routes.

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  5. Author
    berselius

    To-day’s base ball squadron vs Taijuan Walker

    CF Jay
    3B Bryant
    1B Rizzo
    2B Zobrist
    LF Warm Beer
    C Avila
    RF Heyward
    SS Baez
    P Leoclos

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  6. uncle dave

    Ben Zobrist batting cleanup is some Dusty Baker shit. I’d rather see LaStella get the burn at this point.

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  7. Rizzo the Rat

    Nevermind. Lackey’s walking two batters ahead of Goldschmidt and them falling behind him 3-0 was a brilliant strategy.

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  8. Perkins

    Perkins:
    Brewers are getting blown out, but the Cardinals have a one run lead in the 6th.

    Brewers are no longer getting blown out. Get it together, Reds.

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  9. Perkins

    dmick89,

    Reds got a run back. I generally don’t ascribe much weight to narrative, but it would be pretty demoralizing for the Brewers to get that close and still lose.

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  10. cerulean

    I haven’t been paying much attention lately, but is Lackey good now—for five or six innings—or is he just lucky?

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  11. sharpchicity

    Rizzo the Rat,

    So he can give up another home run before he gets taken out!

    2 outs no one on and Lackey is only at 85 pitches, fine, maybe you leave him in. middle of the order 3rd time through, though?? maybe with Jake, not Lackey

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  12. Rizzo the Rat

    I don’t know why Baez got the stop sign there, honestly. You have to take that chance with two outs, in my opinion.

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  13. dmick89

    I now find myself rooting for a three way clusterfuck at the top of the NL Central by the end of the day. Maybe by the middle of the week those three teams will find a way to welcome the Pirates. What happens if four teams tie for first in the division?

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  14. Rizzo the Rat

    I know the playoffs are a crapshoot, but it’s getting difficult to imagine anyone but the Dodgers winning the pennant at this point.

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  15. Berselius is too lazy to login

    To-day’s base ball squadron

    CF Jay
    2B La Stella
    3B Bryant
    1B Rizzo
    C Caratini
    LF Warm Beer
    RF Heyward
    SS Baez
    P Arrieta

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  16. cerulean

    Dear Cubs,

    You are doing a piss-poor job of helping me be distracted from the coming nuclear holocaust and subsequent white-supremacist take over.

    Sincerely,
    Cerulean

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  17. Berselius is too lazy to login

    Almora pinch hitting for Schwarber, just like we drew it up in the offseason.

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  18. Rizzo the Rat

    I’m honestly starting to wonder if Joe should take Davis out of the closing role until he remembers how to throw a strike.

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  19. cerulean

    Rizzo the Rat:
    I’m honestly starting to wonder if Joe should take Davis out of the closing role until he remembers how to throw a strike.

    It’s not a game if he can’t lose it.

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  20. dmick89

    Rizzo the Rat:
    I’m honestly starting to wonder if Joe should take Davis out of the closing role until he remembers how to throw a strike.

    Who do you give the closer’s job to? Edwards, when he’s on, is the best pitcher in the bullpen, but he can go long stretches looking like he’s never even heard of what a strike zone is. Strop is probably the guy with the best command that you’d want in that role, but he can lose the zone too. I’m more concerned about all the home runs that Davis is giving up.

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  21. Rizzo the Rat

    dmick89: I’m more concerned about all the home runs that Davis is giving up.

    I’m far more concerned about his control. His home run rate is still better than average, but his walk rate is terrible.

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  22. Berselius is too lazy to log in

    No time for a full Reds series preview, but here is a short one:

    The Reds are bad.
    The Cubs probably lose 3 out of 4 anyway.

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  23. Rizzo the Rat

    Leadoff man reaches once again. It’s extra frustrating because this one only came in as an injury replacement.

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  24. Rizzo the Rat

    Jay just needs a home run for the cycle.

    *Looks at Jay’s home run rate*

    Never mind. Nothing to see here.

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  25. dmick89

    Rizzo the Rat,

    I remember Dunston swinging at some truly awful pitches, but he’d at least make an effort to swing as close to the location of the pitch as possible. Baez doesn’t. He’s swinging middle in regardless of which pitch is thrown or where it’s thrown. He should be the worst hitter who ever put on an MLB uniform, but for slime reason pitchers throw pitches in the zone to him.

    Bryant!

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