OSS: Cubs finish off the sweep with a bit of late drama to close it out.
Three up:
- Jon Lester hit his second career homer to get the Cubs eight run rally started in the second inning. He almost batted again in the inning, and a second homer in that spot would have been pretty much perfect for how crazy the conditions were today. He gave up nine hits and three walks in five innings, with two runs, but that feels like a rousing success given how the ball was jumping.
- Ian Happ had the other Cubs homer on the day, and he reached base in all five of his PAs.
- Unlike yesterday’s singles party, the Cubs were hitting for extra bases today. Rizzo and Schwarber had RBI doubles, Baez hit two, and Contreras added a triple for good measure.
Three down:
- Addison Russell left the game with a hand injury after a great catch/collision in the sixth and is day to day, as are we all.
- Dillon Maples shat the bed with two outs in the eighth and almost gave the game all the way back.
- Judging from the comments Willson had a lousy game behind the plate, but it’s tough to blame the guy for flagging a bit after catching two games in these conditions.
Next up:
The Cubs have an off day, then host another AL Central punching bag in the Tigers for a two game set. Kyle Hendricks takes on Michael Fulmer in another day game for some reason on Tuesday.
Comments
works for me
SKQuote Reply
according to bref, kevin mitchell is known by the following nicknames:
– World
– Mitchell Monster
– Boogie Bear
– Tatonka
let me know if you guys have any other questions
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
If he played in this era his only nickname would be K-Mit. Babe Ruth’s nickname would be Ruthy.
dmick89Quote Reply
Here’s hoping no free agent ever signs with St. Louis again.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
Would agree
Rice in limboQuote Reply
Anyway, I finally filled out an All-Star ballot today. I was pleasantly surprised that I picked two Cubs. Unfortunately, I also wound up picking two Brewers.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
The options for AL catcher (and, to a lesser extent, first base) were kind of sad.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Who had the best CERA? This is an easy one.
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
You don’t even need to know the player’s diggity to figure that one out.
dmick89Quote Reply
Grossman!!!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Brewers down 5-1 in the 5th.
dmick89Quote Reply
The Twins sure hate having leads.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Edwards, Jr. walked a couple and allowed two runs in 0.2 innings.
dmick89Quote Reply
Stupid Fernando Rodney.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Oy vey.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I don’t love anything as much as the Twins love blowing leads.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Welp.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Stupid Twins.
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
https://youtu.be/qileP4bAzek
Rice in limboQuote Reply
Rice in limbo,
Should have gone with the red snapper.
berseliusQuote Reply
To-day’s base ball squadron
Almora
Heyward
Zobrist
Rizzo
Baez
Schwarber
Contreras
Russell
Hendricks
berseliusQuote Reply
Bryant is eligible to come off the DL today but looks like no roster move so far. The Cubs might wait until Friday and give him a few more days off.
berseliusQuote Reply
BN says tomorrow
EDIT: i am an idiot, BN says tomorrow or maybe friday
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
I think I’d bank on Cubs sweeping Detroit and bring him back Friday. And even if no sweep I like the safe play.
Rice in limboQuote Reply
All right, Kyle. Let’s get through the first without allowing any dingers.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I’m not fond of singles, either.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Hendricks kinda sucks.
dmick89Quote Reply
Or doubles. Really, just stop giving up hits.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Great play by Heyward.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Embarrassing (and costly) at-bat by Hendricks.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Jesus, Jason.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Ugh.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
ARSE
SKQuote Reply
I don’t know what other team turns that double play.
andcountingQuote Reply
I’m not anti-bunting in general, but bunting there was a terrible idea.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I’m tired of watching Rizzo ground out to right field.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
Listening to it on the radio isn’t much better, FYI.
andcountingQuote Reply
La Stella! Almora!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Heyward can redeem himself here.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Heyward! (Why couldn’t he do that with the bases loaded?)
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Zobrist can redeem himself here.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rizzo!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Nobody really cares about it because it’s not dingers, but in 30 years, I feel like you could look at the mid-10s Cubs as perhaps the best defensive team of all time (or perhaps the team that ushers in uber-athletic defenses).
MylesQuote Reply
Terrible slide.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Myles,
you were saying
SKQuote Reply
I was saying that the Cubs have a completely nondescript defense
MylesQuote Reply
Almora’s plate discipline is almost as bad as Javy’s.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
The Cubs are so good at going first-to-third.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Come on, Riz.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Wow, Rizzo legged out a double play!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Myles,
Uber-athletic, uber-versatile, and uber-unorthodox. There are things they’ve done on defense other teams don’t even attempt.
andcountingQuote Reply
Kyle.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
SchwarBOOM!
andcountingQuote Reply
That was a Schwarbomb I presently enjoyed
SKQuote Reply
What was Willson thinking there?
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
CONTRER . . . as.
andcountingQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
Same thing a dog thinks when he chases a car.
andcountingQuote Reply
I guess Strop is the closer today? He might be as good as Morrow in any case.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Why no Morrow? Especially given the off day yesterday.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Perkins,
He got four outs on Sunday and he’s coming off an injury.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
Oh yeah, the pants back spasm thing. (dying laughing)
PerkinsQuote Reply
IMPORTANT: I switched my All-Star vote today from Yelich to Zobrist just because.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Ugh. At least there’s another off-day Thursday.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
I take that to mean he’s going to miss at least a few more days. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them hold off until after the break at this point.
dmick89Quote Reply
The Twins somehow only struck out twice against Hader in three innnings, but still didn’t get any hits.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
The highest fWAR for a reliever since 2010 is Kenley Jensen’s 3.6 last year. Hader is probably going to sail past that. Eric Gagne had 4.7 in 2003. Hader won’t catch that, but he’s having a ridiculously awesome season.
dmick89Quote Reply
Since 1980, he’s probably going to end up around where Mariano Rivera (1996) and Rob Dibble (1990) ended their seasons (4.3 fWAR). Mark Eichorn has the highest fWAR among relievers since 1980. He had 4.9 fWAR and threw 157 innings (all in relief).
dmick89Quote Reply
Having Mariano pitch over 100 innings in relief was a terrible idea. It completely ruined his arm and shortened his career.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I bet they didn’t even think about how it would affect his postseason performance.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Caratini—————>Up
Giminez————–>DFA
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Today’s lineup——————>awful
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Happy 4th of July to the best discredited Cubs blog out there. And welcome back Caratini. Go Cubs.
North Side PatQuote Reply
I just realized I misspelled “Gimenez” earlier and there’s nothing I can do about it.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Not good baserunning so far.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Bote!!!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Bote crushed that shit.
andcountingQuote Reply
In the spirit of true independence, all scoring will be solo homers.
andcountingQuote Reply
Javy!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Javy!!!!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I thought he was out. Wow.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
(I agree with JD that that was probably a bad idea with no outs, but it sure was fun.)
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I also have no idea why Russell didn’t take second on the play.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Javy’s gotta have the highest tag/being tagged ratio of anyone in history.
andcountingQuote Reply
PICKLE!!!
andcountingQuote Reply
I’m sure Quintana practices bunting and hitting, but he always looks like someone who’s never held a bat in his hands before.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
This is why I disagree with the criticism the play was too risky. You have a chance to score and advance the trailing runner to second. Addison is a poor baserunner, but if he had used his head and run to second, that play looks a lot smarter and the gamble much more worth it.
andcountingQuote Reply
I wouldn’t say he’s a poor baserunner. I think he’s a poor base stealer. Maybe. I honestly don’t know, but he’s above average in his career in BsR and he’s having his best season so far. He ranks 16th in MLB this year with 3.4 BsR.
dmick89Quote Reply
Almora!!!
dmick89Quote Reply
Len: What an escape job by Anthony Bass.
You mean how he gave up a rocket single that somehow turned into an out at home? I’m sure he meant to do that.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Oh god, not Luke Farrell.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Willson!!!!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
It’s almost like Joe doesn’t know where the Cubs are in the standings.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
(dying laughing), ok, I’ve seen him do a few stupid things on the bases and judged him on those.
andcountingQuote Reply
Jim Adduci, another young player the Cubs let get away my frents smh.
berseliusQuote Reply
M————> inverted
berseliusQuote Reply
Now if only the Twins would stop being useless today.
Rice in limboQuote Reply
Rice in limbo,
To be fair, they were pretty useful over the weekend.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Perkins,
They need to be useful now!
Rice in limboQuote Reply
Twins have tied it and they haven’t pulled Berrios yet. I’m cautiously optimistic.
North Side PatQuote Reply
Twins suck.
North Side PatQuote Reply
Well, their win expectancy at the time was around 58%. If Javy scores and Russell goes to second it increases to 63%, but if Javy is out, it falls to about 50%. In other words, win expectancy falls more if he gets caught at home than it rises if both runners are safe. Maybe he had a very high chance of making it, but I doubt it since it was a close play and he had to take evasive action to reach home safely. Personally, I think it would have made more sense to wait for one or two outs, where there would be a greater incentive to take a risk. (And, two batters later, Ian Happ did hit a fly ball deep enough to drive Javy in). That said, I’m not complaining about the play because it was exciting to watch, even if I don’t think it was wise.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Heh, just checked to Fangraphs game log to see how the actual play affected win expectancy. Before the steal of home, it had the Cubs at 59.5%. After the steal of home (with Russell staying at first for some reason) it was 60.3%. All that excitement over a play that barely increased their chances of winning at all!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Off days during winning streaks suck.
dmick89Quote Reply
Not surprisingly, the optimistic return date for Yu Darvish is late July. I’m still betting that he doesn’t return before the final couple weeks of the season, if that. Why even bother at that point unless you are certain he’s 100% healthy.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
At least this finally put the last nail in the coffin for the Giminez DFA
berseliusQuote Reply
http://www.bleachernation.com/2018/07/05/the-most-exciting-player-in-baseball-cubs-keep-coming-back-cardinals-complaints-and-other-bullets/
I’m not sure why BN is giving so much column space to Alcides Escobar.
berseliusQuote Reply
I’m certain that this is Pat Hughes’ favorite year in baseball history because Eugenio Suarez is so good that he gets to say his name nearly every day.
MylesQuote Reply
As for all the Fowler talk lately, I think Joe said it best.
I don’t watch enough cardinals games to have an opinion about what was said about Dexter’s play this season. Dexter is an adult and he can defend his effort this year. I don’t really care what it’s been. I’ll always have fond memories of him when he was with the Cubs.
dmick89Quote Reply
Lukewarm New Shit coming at ya
http://www.obstructedview.net/addison-russell-maybe-fixed-it/
mylesQuote Reply