I’m too lazy to write a postgame and a new preview so just riff on the Dodgers series some more here before getting to the new series (dying laughing). The last time the Cubs won a regular season series in LA was 2014. Edwin Jackson picked up the win. I saw a lot of sweeps as I worked my way back through b-ref to look this up. Of course, the Cubs did beat the Dodgers in the 2016 NLCS (people forget that), but even then, they only took 1 of 3 games played at Chavez Ravine. Aside from the series win/near sweep the next best thing is that we are spared the awful Dodgers sound board guy from their stadium for the rest of the year.
Patrick Wisdom’s hot streak continued through the Dodgers series, and he now has five HRs and a 142 wRC+ and has 0.5 WAR already. The other big story of the season so far has been the Cubs starting pitching, which had a 3.24 ERA going into Sunday’s game, good for second in the NL and fourth in the bigs. The bullpen meanwhile, is died with the Astros for the best strikeout rate in all of baseball.
The A’s, meanwhile have posted by far the worst starting pitching performance in the majors, by both ERA (9.71) and FIP (7.34). Their bullpen is merely the fourth worst by ERA but remains the worst by FIP (5.96) though the back of that ignominious pack is a lot more clustered. While the Cubs offense has been squarely in the middle of the pack so far, Oakland’s 25th ranked offense is merely the ‘best’ among the other rebuilding teams around baseball.
(Projected) Team leaders
Numbers taken from Zips projections – based on past performance there’s a 30% chance that I’ll put someone who is no longer in the team on these lists on any given week (dying laughing).
Possum Land
- OBP: Tony Kemp (.330) (ouch)
- ISO: Seth Brown (.224)
- HR: Brown (26)
- R+RBI: Brown (138)
- wRC+: Brown (117)
- BSR: Esteury Ruiz (2.7)
- Defense: Nick ALlen (13.6)
- SP K/9: Ken Waldichuk (9.91)
- SP BB/9: Paul Blackburn (2.64)
- SP FIP: Kyle Muller (3.79)
- RP K/9: Zach Jackson (11.56)
- RP BB/9: Domingo Acevedo (2.34)
- RP FIP: Richard Lovelady (3.42)
- WAR: Ramon Laureano (2.9)
Cubs
- OBP: Suzuki (.352)
- ISO: Wisdom (.230)
- HR: Wisdom / Swanson (24)
- R+RBI: Swanson (171)
- wRC+: Suzuki (135)
- BSR: Hoerner (1.4)
- Defense: Swanson (16.2)
- SP K/9: Steele (8.94)
- SP BB/9: Taillon (2.16)
- SP FIP: Stroman (3.69)
- RP K/9: Hughes (10.62)
- RP BB/9: Alzolay (2.89)
- RP FIP: Fulmer (3.78)
- WAR: Swanson (5.2)
Who isn’t available?
Cyle is still rehabbing his shoulder injury, and probably won’t be back until May. He threw a 30-pitch bullpen session on Saturday and is probably still a few weeks out. Lefty reliever Brandon Hughes just reterned from the IL with a knee issue. And lest we forget, RP Codi Heuer had Tommy John last year, and could be back at midseason. He’s graduated to throwing live BP.
For the A’s, OF Seth Brown suffered an oblique strain last week and is out for a month or two. Former Cubs farmhand Paul Blackburn is rehabbing in the minors after suffering a fingernail injury in Spring Training.
Pitching Matchups, game times
2023 Projected K/9, BB/9, ERA listed for all starters
Monday: Hayden Wesneski, RHP (7.58, 3.30, 4.97) vs Kyle Muller (9.14, 3.84, 4.03), 8:40 PM CT
Tuesday: Marcus Stroman, RHP (7.90, 2.60, 3.55) vs Ken Waldichuk, LHP (9.63, 3.90, 4.37), 8:40 PM CT
He’s no Herman Menderchuk, that’s all I gotta say. Though at least he Made It.
Wednesday: Justin Steele, LHP (9.08, 3.73, 3.76) vs James Kaprielian, RHP (7.70, 3.73, 4.72), 2:37 PM CT
Comments
I actually really like the Cubs’ alternate blue jerseys, though as with B, that’s partly due to the Zambrano association (also remember Kerry Wood wearing it when he shut down the Braves in the 2003 NLDS). I actually kinda miss the red bill road caps as well.
The Dodgers are one of those teams like the Yankees and Tigers whose home whites and road greys are just so clean, so elegant, and so flawless that it feels wrong for them to follow a trend. I think the Cubs have great unis too, but would put them in the next tier down with teams like the Red Sox and Cardinals.
PerkinsQuote Reply
I know baseball is chaos but I might be disappointed if the Cubs don’t sweep this time
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Holding the Dodgers to two runs a game is a decent sign.
andcountingQuote Reply
Me too, though Zambrano just made it better, because I liked it before.
Dodgers had dumb city connect jerseys, iirc. No effort.
BVSQuote Reply
Doesn’t his friend play for the Tigers now?
BVSQuote Reply
BVS,
I sort of like the Wrigleyville colors
Rice CubeQuote Reply
(dying laughing)
berseliusQuote Reply
I wonder how many times Spencer Torkelson has showed up late to the stadium, not having eaten.
berseliusQuote Reply
I was just made aware of this completely BANANAS series from ~2000
https://twitter.com/mattsutaaki/status/1647089910841753601
imdb synopsis
“An exotic dancer, cryogenically frozen in the year 2001, is accidentally thawed out in 2525 by two female warriors who are fighting against evil robots which have taken over the world. The three join forces and try to escape the underground caverns to which humanity has been banished, meeting up with all sorts of strange creatures along the way.”
How Gina Torres was ever cast for Firefly just months later is beyond me. Or ever wanted to do science fiction again, for that matter (dying laughing).
berseliusQuote Reply
The Bruce Campbell show earlier in that thread is also something else, though at least it seems self-aware (dying laughing).
berseliusQuote Reply
So I guess everyone wants Mervis to get the call up huh
Rice CubeQuote Reply
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
I can’t argue with you today
Rice CubeQuote Reply
(dying laughing) the three most impactful missed calls were in the bottom of the 9th (dying laughing)
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Wow. And two were to Heyward. (dying laughing)
Poor guy.
andcountingQuote Reply
I meant the Dodgers had lame city connect.
I like Wrigleyville too, especially the hat.
BVSQuote Reply
BVS,
In fact, I’ve got a 30 yr old Cubs snapback that I’ve fixed the snaps with electrical tape a couple times which I might replace w a Wrigleyville hat if they ever go on sale.
BVSQuote Reply
A friend of mine finished Boston today in 2:46.xx. I figured out how to rename a column in R in about the same time.
BVSQuote Reply
BVS,
Doing 26 miles in under 3 hours is something I will never do unless it’s on a bicycle
Rice CubeQuote Reply
https://awfulannouncing.com/mlb/rob-manfred-revenues-per-subscriber-fee-quiet-part.html
Very glad I cut the cord a while back, kind of bummed about the whole thing with blackouts still persisting so I haven’t been as motivated to pay for MLB.tv or other streaming services, not to mention Marquee isn’t even available as a standalone streaming service yet. But I think the model is going to have to change because a lot of us probably don’t want a lot of those random channels that come “standard” with the package.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Rice Cube,
I’m not convinced I could do that on a bicycle either (dying laughing).
berseliusQuote Reply
Rice Cube,
Are/were the RSNs actually included in most packages? Aside from a few years in WI where I got Fox Sports Wisconsin alongside espn, it’s always been an add-on bundle that you opted into everywhere that I have lived. Probably just anecdata on my part. And FSW actually had a lot of programming besides Brewers games – Badger athletics and in particular men’s and women’s hockey. Maybe BTN cut into that though, I have no idea if it was still standard with Bally.
berseliusQuote Reply
Re – my stats about the A’s pitching staff, fangraphs followed the trail I wisely blazed and did a deeper look into the A’s pitching. It’s bad folks.
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-as-pitching-staff-has-had-a-terrible-start-to-the-season/
berseliusQuote Reply
Looks like Bob Minocqua is going to miss ~3 months for the Beers, that’s a huge blow to their rotation.
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
I thought you basically needed a cable package to get Comcast Sports Net back in the day when the Cubs were still on it, but I personally haven’t had a real cable package in nearly 20 years, we were rabbit ears only in Chicago and I didn’t bother to get anything upon our move back to CA so I really don’t know how it works anymore
Rice CubeQuote Reply
I don’t get the Bob Minoqua ref, but I know it’s Woodruff.
For me, 26mi under 3 hr in a car, if traffic isn’t bad.
Our cable package includes Bally SE or whatever has the Braves. Also ACC network. It’s basic cable plus one tier, because that is what the HOA provides. Also includes internet at a decent speed. About $50/mo. It’s the one thing I like about living somewhere where every neighborhood has an HOA.
BVSQuote Reply
BVS,
As long as said HOA doesn’t fine you if your grass dares to grow above two inches or whatever
Rice CubeQuote Reply
You can’t get the RSN standalone but streaming services (YouTube tv, Hulu with livetv, Fubo, sling, etc.) typically have them as add-ons too.
And if you’re curious, I would recommend trying Fubo to see if the Marquee availability they now supposedly offer nationwide includes blackout restrictions where you live. They have free trial for 7 days, I believe.
andcountingQuote Reply
Rice Cube,
(dying laughing). I tore bushes out of my front yard about a year ago. Grass still hasn’t grown in all the way because I don’t irrigate or sod.
So they aren’t super militant
BVSQuote Reply
This whole situation was goofy, if they don’t want rosin from the dugout they should just get rid of that rosin source and make sure they’re only using the bag on the mound
Rice CubeQuote Reply
This is the first time I’ve ever heard anyone say something complimentary about a HOA. The lack of a HOA was one of the positives of the house I’m in the middle of buying (dying laughing).
berseliusQuote Reply
andcounting,
This could work, thanks!
Tonight’s lineup –> https://twitter.com/Cubs/status/1648089070315110404?t=nJI8jsMblL9Pwm1BJvpzkA&s=19
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Will attempt to watch tonight’s game but I’m fairly sure I’ll be blacked out so it’s probably GameDay or SiriusXM audio for me
Rice CubeQuote Reply
In the meantime the Diamondbacks @ STL game is free on MLB.tv and two batters in I am very much enjoying myself
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Who was saying that batters should try to vary when they take their timeouts? This was another one taken with two strikes
Rice CubeQuote Reply
New heel or not, Willson Contreras looks weird in red
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Rice Cube,
Here’s a tip: find the game now and record it. Even if it’s blacked out live, you may be able to watch it through your saved recordings if you start from the beginning on a few seconds/ minutes delay. I was able to do that with a couple of Bears games when I was traveling and out of the broadcast area for the game.
andcountingQuote Reply
Poor Willson just broke himself with a foul ball but he’s toughing it out
Rice CubeQuote Reply
It’s really too bad they couldn’t Voltron Willson into Gomes/Barnhart, that was a pretty damn good AB to get that RBI double in the end
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Guess Willson called two bad pitches, back to back XBH including the go-ahead bomb that I didn’t think would actually get out
Rice CubeQuote Reply
In other news, Jacob deGrom is hurt again 😔
Rice CubeQuote Reply
(dying laughing) STL
Rice CubeQuote Reply
berselius,
I’m trying to increase the positivity in my life. Sometimes I have to dig. The cable package is a huge savings though.
BVSQuote Reply
Hoernsby did this per GameDay, wonder if it’s by design but it didn’t work out for them this time
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Big fan of this version of Patrick Wisdom
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Wis. Dom.
Man, Pat Hughes sounds like he’s dying.
andcountingQuote Reply
If P-Wizzy keeps up this HR pace, I may be persuaded to revise my dismissive evaluation of his place on this roster from the preseason (dying laughing)
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
But that’s his problem, right? He’s good for a few hot stretches like this every year, but can he stay relatively consistent?
andcountingQuote Reply
Go Dbacks
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Lots of contact against Wesneski so I’m glad the A’s are horrible this year
Rice CubeQuote Reply
I have the Cubs city connect hat and love it. Absolutely stellar design.
PerkinsQuote Reply
I have questions
1. Did someone send Madrigal into that TOOTBLAN or was that his own stupidity
2. What was the Cubs video guy looking at
Rice CubeQuote Reply
The guy in the batter’s box. (dying laughing)
andcountingQuote Reply
Familia Madrigal is an all-time great Disney matchup.
andcountingQuote Reply
andcounting,
Ah, the old video review mulligan
Rice CubeQuote Reply
I believe the GameDay audio is about two pitches behind GameDay tracking so I’m probably like 90 seconds behind live
Rice CubeQuote Reply
I hope Pat’s ok. He just sounded like he had a bad cold that was getting progressively worse. Now it seems Zach has taken over the PBP for good. It’s officially bedtime.
andcountingQuote Reply
I really want to go to Wednesday’s game but it’s the Coliseum and BART/Bay Area traffic sucks but also the place is gonna be empty so I’ll be able to go pretty much anywhere in the park (dying laughing)
Rice CubeQuote Reply
If the Brewers are without Burnes and Woodruff for a while that’s gonna be rough for them
Rice CubeQuote Reply
A good Belli could answer one of AC’s myriad preseason questions
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Rice Cube,
Watch out for the possums.
(If you aren’t listening to Sut and Boog, then you’re out of the loop.)
BVSQuote Reply
BVS,
I saw it when the Mets guys were talking about it (dying laughing)
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Pat is back just in time for a second Wizdong
Rice CubeQuote Reply
berseliusQuote Reply
I normally don’t like listening to Sutcliffe, but his analysis of Wesnezeseski has been pretty good tonight.
BVSQuote Reply
Sutcliffe has been shockingly good this whole road trip.
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
I didn’t give him a chance the other nights against LA. As soon as I heard his voice, I flipped to radio. My daughter likes the radio broadcast much better too.
BVSQuote Reply
Rice Cube,
Burnes is hurt now too?
berseliusQuote Reply
No need to fasten your seat belts, so sayeth Pat Hughes
Rice CubeQuote Reply
berselius,
He left with what some suggest is a pectoral injury as he was grabbing at the chest area
Rice CubeQuote Reply
I missed these stress free wins
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Dang. sucks for the Beers
berseliusQuote Reply
M —-> inverted
berseliusQuote Reply
Cubs win in 2:47
Rice CubeQuote Reply
New shit
http://www.obstructedview.net/cubs-10-as-1/
berseliusQuote Reply