OSS: Cubs were three outs away from back-to-back shutouts in a single day.
Three to six up:
- After struggling in the PCL for the past month during his rehab, Cahill had no trouble handling the Brewers lineup. As Josh pointed out, the average PCL lineup might be better (dying laughing). Given that his longest start at Iowa was four innings, I’m sure the Cubs were pleased as punch that he was able to get through five in this game. It sounds like Lackey’s fine, but it’s good to know Cahill is sort of stretched out in case his shoulder thing ends up being a bigger deal. Cahill came up as the 26th man so the roster shuffling tomorrow might be interesting. Cahill also drove in a run on a safety squeeze. I love bunts when Garza is the one who has to field them. If Garza and Lester faced each other there would be a nontrivial chance of Buntageddon.
- Dexter Fowler was the WPA leader on the position player side in the first game thanks to a hit and two walks in his first three plate appearances, as well as getting some credit for scoring the Cubs second run on a wild pitch.
- It looks like Second Half Jason Hammel isn’t a thing anymore. It must be the beard. Cynics pointing out his peripherals are still holding out for Final Fourth Jason Hammel or something, but he’s had his best two months of the year in July and August by xFIP.
- Rizzo made an amazing catch up on the wall down the first base line that topped his tarp catch from last year. And it even counted this time!
- Javy Baez hit a 6000 foot home run to give the Cubs some much needed insurance.
- The Brewers pen threw 12+ innings today, which should make the rest of this series more fun.
Three to six down:
- At least the Cubs did not really give up anything for Joe Smith.
- Rondon got through a scoreless inning but it does not look like he can be counted on just yet.
- The Cubs had the bases clogged against Garza with Bryzzo coming to the plate and came away with no runs.
- The umps spent about five hours reviewing a play at home involving Matt Szczur and somehow still got the call wrong. The fuck?
Next up: Lester takes on knockoff Superman sidekick Jimmy Nelson at 7:05 PM CT.
Comments
False. They gave up wins.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
Don’t tell me what to do
SKQuote Reply
It counted the other times but because he left field of play, baserunners were allowed to advance on bases. One of those quirky rules.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
You mean Jimmy Olsen? Jimmy Nelson isn’t a thing.
umbraQuote Reply
This Nelson character leads the league in two categories the Cubs could help him with. Accumulate that black ink, you budding Hall-of-Famer.
ceruleanQuote Reply
umbra,
SK confused Nelson with Olsen last time the Cubs faced him so we just rolled with it.
dmick89Quote Reply
Rondon’s control is off, but the velocity has been there. Hopefully it’s just some rust since he went a couple weeks without pitching.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
Velocity is only part of it. Movement reflects spin rate. I bet that he isn’t getting as much spin, leaving him exposed to fly balls despite the velocity, but I can’t seem to find the statcast info out easily enough to test a passing guess.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Still more faithful to the DC Universe than Superman V. Batman. Or Suicide Squad.
umbraQuote Reply
So, I’m hearing La Stella is going to report to AA?
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
How dare that man not do what Management told him.
edit: Down with the capitalist tyranny of parents!
umbraQuote Reply
This was all a big misunderstanding. La Stella just hates Iowa. I think Iowa must’ve killed his dog.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Joe Smith ————-> DL
hamstring strain.
how unfortunate
SKQuote Reply
There’s a difference between being confused and just being reminded of something.
SKQuote Reply
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a30B6jbtew
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
SK,
So, he got injured just as the Cubs needed to make a roster move?
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I guess that means they don’t think Lackey will need much time off, which is good news.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I’m not sure the extent to which other organizations do it, but the Cubs certainly seem to abuse the hell out of the DL when there are roster or performance issues. Not that it bothers me a bit.
PerkinsQuote Reply
I don’t know. If Joe Smith’s injury is fake, why not keep him since he can physically pitch whereas Cahill can’t for 4 or 5 days. Are no innings better than bad innings? Maybe. But in that case, why fake an injury. Why not just DFA?
If “Joe Smith”‘s injury is real, when the hell did it happen? On the way to the park today?
SKQuote Reply
Smith went to the DL with left hamstring strain in June as well. Maybe it’s a recurring issue? Or a convenient excuse?
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Anyway, I thought the two most likely responses to the roster crunch would be a Smith DFA or a Lackey DL appearance. Looks like I was half-right in both cases.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
umbra,
I haven’t seen Suicide Squad yet, but I kind of liked Batman V Superman. I thought it was as good as most comic book movies anyway, which doesn’t exactly set the bar high.
dmick89Quote Reply
this is the question we need to be asking
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
SK,
Sorry. I was confused.
dmick89Quote Reply
i don’t really get why movies not being faithful to the original comic books is inherently bad.
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
I think most people want adaptations that are at least faithful to the spirit of the original. e.g., a Superman movie doesn’t have to follow the comics stories exactly, but the presentation ought to appeal to fans of the character.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
dmick89,
The DC movies just seem like gray, joyless, building smashing affairs, all built around the same dark theme that being a superhero means letting your adopted father die in a tornado.
EdwinQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
I just want a movie that’s done well.
EdwinQuote Reply
Edwin,
Snyder has certainly taken a different approach to the extended universe, but I’m not sure it’s necessarily a bad thing.
Captain America movies are about the only ones that are actually good movies in my opinion. The rest of them are worthy of watching on a rainy weekend when there is literally nothing else to do.
dmick89Quote Reply
Edwin,
I want a movie that is at least somewhat original. Stupid movies can be made well. Superhero movies are just the same movie over and over and most are done well. Few are original and good.
dmick89Quote Reply
Coghlan ———–> DL
Patton ————-> WF
SKQuote Reply
I was surprised Coghlan stayed in yesterday.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I’m sure it’s just a coincidence, but we’re now at the point where a trip to the 15-day DL will extend to August 31. That’s the day where playoff eligibility is determined — it’s everyone on the active roster and the DL. So you can choose between Coghlan and LaStella, Smith and Patton, and so on. Wouldn’t really surprise me to see Lackey take a quick move to the DL so they could get someone like Matusz into the pool. The schedule is still a bit of a doss for the next week, so you’re only looking at Lackey missing one start against a tougher team.
uncle daveQuote Reply
I might be a johnny-come-lately on the series, but I have recently enjoyed the sprawling works of one Patrick Rothfuss—The Kingkiller Chronicles—after discovering him on the podcast Unattended Consequences with Max Temkin of Cards Against Humanity. (It’s fun to think of The Kingkiller Chronicles as a superhero/antihero memoir after he may or may not have lost his powers.) In a few of the podcast episodes, he talks about movie rights for his series—how afraid he is that Hollywood would sacrifice all its character and beauty for action sequences. The upshot of their discussions on the matter is this: Making good movies from any source is really, really hard, license to deviate or not.
Also, I look forward to the rumored sequel to the best superhero movie ever—The Incredibles. Yes, the best, no contest. Prove me wrong.
ceruleanQuote Reply
I hope LaStella is up at that point. For the playoffs, I’d love to see Joe go with only 6 relievers, one of whom is Jason Hammel. No need to have 6th inning guys there at that point, and positional roster depth/flexibility would be highly valuable.
PerkinsQuote Reply
In other news, the Nats and Giants both already lost, which is nice to see in the hunt for top seed.
PerkinsQuote Reply
I think if he playoffs started today, Lackey would be in the pen. Hard to argue otherwise in my opinion. Hammel has put together a pretty good season, even if he’s been a bit lucky.
dmick89Quote Reply
game thread up: http://obstructedview.net/brewers-cubs-game-thread-8-17-16/
dmick89Quote Reply