Cubs 4, Mets 1

In Postgame by berselius149 Comments

OSS: The spirit of Ron Santo moves through Vic Caratini.

Three up:

  1. The Mets saved the best starter for last in this series, only to see him get crushed by (checks notes) Vic Caratini? Caratini went deep twice against the reigning NL CYA winner. It’s not like deGrom has fallen off this year either – he’s right there with Scherzer in both bWAR and fWAR as the top pitcher in the NL again. Seeing the Cubs beat him on the road was just the cherry on top of this bizarre road trip.
  2. Lester scuffled a bit early, but got the nominal quality start by allowing just a solo shot in six innings. Oddly enough, until the sixth inning all of his baserunners only got on base after there were two outs.
  3. Ron Santo’s ghost, or at least the ghost of his singed toupee, has worked its magic in NY for the Cubs. As was pointed out by BVS, the Cubs are 19-11 at Citi Field in the regular season since Ronnie passed away, including three sweeps. Let’s pretend the 2015 NLCS didn’t happen though.

Three down:

  1. I somehow find myself wishing that Ben Zobrist would hurry back, since Joe seems to really love replacement level utility guy Tony Kemp for some unknown reason. He started in LF today.
  2. The non-Caratini part of the offense didn’t do much today, but hard to complain about it when deGrom was the guy on the mound.
  3. No Rizzo again today, but I don’t think the Cubs are complaining about the performance of the fill-in starter today.

Next up: The (hopefully) fading Beers head down to Wrigley South for a three game set. Q takes on Chase Anderson in the opener at 1:20 PM CT.

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Comments

  1. andcounting

    I really hope Cardinals fans spend the next week or so complaining how useless the Brewers are.

    Also, I can’t figure out how Caratini hit that second home run. The pitch looked like it should have broken his bat. It really was a great swing by Victor.

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  2. BVS

    By the way, the postgame interview with Vic was great. He answered in Spanish without waiting for the questions to be translated. His accent is Boricua all the way, including filling the space between words with a buzz.

    I’m sure with most folks, his English would be just fine. But in today’s Twitter world, lots of a-holes would have something stupid to say about it.

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  3. Ryno

    Theo Epstein: (disguising voice) Hello, Chicago media? Yeah, this is…a rival executive. We’re goi– I hear the Cubs are going to listen to offers for Kris Bryant this offseason. G’bye.
    Epstein exhales and wipes sweat from forehead. He dials Scott Boras.
    Epstein: Hi, Scott. You wanna discuss a contract for Kris or nah?

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  4. andcounting

    Really interesting weekend in the wild card race. The 2nd and 4th spots play each other while the 3rd and 6th spots face off. The Cubs could effectively end Milwaukee’s season, and the Phillies could do the same to the Mets.

    Sweeping the Mets was a really good strategy by the Cubs.

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  5. andcounting

    To-day’s base ball . . . um, WTF?

    Happ CF
    Castellanos RF
    Caratini 1B
    Baez SS
    Schwarber LF
    Russell 2B
    Lucroy C
    Bote 3B
    Q P

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  6. BVS

    andcounting,

    This really is bad. Anderson is pretty good against lefties .175 baa vs .296 for righties. KB has the best numbers against Anderson while Schwarber, Rizzo, and Baez are bad against him.

    So many better lineup options based on numbers. Hope there’s a good but not worrisome personnel reason for this.

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  7. dmick89

    BVS,

    17 AB isn’t a very large sample so I’m sure Baez is fine against Anderson or at least I’m far from convinced he isn’t. KB should be in the lineup though, but Joe does this shit. It’s frustrating, but he does it. I’m surprised he hasn’t done it during the playoffs to be honest.

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  8. BVS

    dmick89,

    Sure. The numbers say KB should play instead of someone else in the lineup. Schwarber is 1/15 and Anderson is much better against lefties. He really should be the odd man out, but if it’s a rest day then Joe is resting his regular with the best production against Anderson. Baez has been hitting well the last few days, KB less so. That’s a good reason to sit KB even if the numbers contradict it.

    This line up in Maddoning, but I can imagine good reasons for it, just no statistical justification.

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  9. andcounting

    dmick89,

    Now that the Cubs are leading by a lot, I’ll go ahead and disagree with this. (dying laughing)

    I do think the upcoming 18-game stretch without a scheduled off day warrants some extra rest for key players, especially if they have any nagging issues we don’t know about. I’m guessing we should expect more weird lineups through the weekend.

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  10. Wenningtons Gorilla Cock

    SK:
    Pat: [whatever]

    Ron Coomer: Oh, there’s no doubt about it

    I once played “take a shot whenever Coomer says ‘no doubt’” and I was blacked out by the 4th inning.

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  11. andcounting

    Over 99% of people following any MLB game know exactly where every pitch crosses the place, but the people in charge of this sport think the 1% who have to guess should make the calls.

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  12. andcounting

    Rizzo the Rat,

    On one hand, it balances out the previous missed strike call in the at bat or maybe the missed strike call that allowed Grandal to walk to first earlier in the game. On the other hand, it was literally the pitch furthest from the strike zone after a 3-2 count.

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  13. andcounting

    David Bote got sent down to Iowa on the eve of roster expansion. I don’t know of a more insulting way to get demoted.

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  14. dmick89

    andcounting,

    Sending him down makes no sense whatsoever. You’ve got to wait 10 days to recall him unless someone gets injured, but you usually don’t use the IL during September because of the extra space. I’ll bet almost anything the Cubs didn’t realize what the date was when they made the move.

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  15. Rizzo the Rat

    dmick89: I’ll bet almost anything the Cubs didn’t realize what the date was when they made the move.

    Of course they did. The Cubs are far more calculating with their toaster moves than you give them credit for. According to BN, they had to have Zobrist on the roster in order to be eligible for the playoffs. https://www.bleachernation.com/2019/08/31/cubs-roster-moves-zobrist-officially-reinstated-bote-optioned-zagunis-dfad/

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  16. andcounting

    Gonzales has thrown 34 pitches. 20 have been called balls. Only 2 have been called strikes. Yet for some reason only two Cubs have let the count reach two strikes. The only two players to

    Great approach, dumbfucks.

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  17. andcounting

    Kimbrel has not been at any point this season a good pitcher. He just isn’t where he needs to be, which is fine because the Cubs don’t really need to worry about their postseason bullpen.

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  18. dmick89

    So the Cubs are 4 out now and the first place team has decided on a late season strategy of never losing. The outlook does not look particularly good for the Cubs.

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  19. Smokestack Lightning

    dmick89:
    So the Cubs are 4 out now and the first place team has decided on a late season strategy of never losing. The outlook does not look particularly good for the Cubs.

    I wouldn’t go that far. It’s possible the Cubs could still lose the play-in game.

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  20. Rizzo the Rat

    I’m also really tired of pseudoscientific explanations about how closers need “adrenaline” to pitch their best.

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  21. andcounting

    Rizzo the Rat,

    I mean, I am sick of it too and I get what you’re saying. Kimbrel hasn’t just been bad in non-save situations, and using him in the 9th, if you believe he’s your best reliever, was the right move. But if HE thinks he needs save-situation adrenaline, that’s gonna hurt.

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  22. dmick89

    Smokestack Lightning: I wouldn’t go that far. It’s possible the Cubs could still lose the play-in game.

    Yeah, but that’s regular season regardless of what nonsense MLB tries to sell us. The Cubs are not going to the real playoffs for the second year in a row, which is pretty fucking pathetic.

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  23. Smokestack Lightning

    dmick89: Yeah, but that’s regular season regardless of what nonsense MLB tries to sell us. The Cubs are not going to the real playoffs for the second year in a row, which is pretty fucking pathetic.

    I wouldn’t be too torn up if the Cubs decide to relieve us of the burden of watching them play an extra regular season game.

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  24. Perkins

    Those games against the Cardinals are going to be super important. I still don’t get how the Cubs are soon to be four games behind them, but here we are.

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  25. andcounting

    The Cubs elimination number is down to 23 with 25 games left. Realistically, if they lose so much as a series, they won’t win the division.

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  26. andcounting

    What’s the point of having this odd lead? If it’s not an even lead, you’re just a solo shot or grand slam away from disaster.

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  27. Author
    berselius

    I am listening to the Giants radio broadcast, and they have the most obvious promotion that somehow every team does not have. Some local security company gets a shout out every time the Giants catch someone stealing (dying laughing).

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  28. Author
    berselius

    andcounting

    I’m excited to see how the Packers offense looks now that McCarthy is finally gone. The fact that he finally got fired last season is huge. Too bad the Bears defense is their first test though (dying laughing). I’m feeling good about the packers defense too. I’m guessing a slog of a game that ends something like 13-10.

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  29. Ryno

    berselius,

    GB’s offense should be much improved just by having an innovative mind leading it. And I really like what they’ve done on defense. I think they’re the favorite in a tough division.

    As far as the Bears go, I like everything about that team but the QB and kicking situation.

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  30. andcounting

    berselius,

    Yeah, the new offense should be interesting to watch. I’m not super confident the Bears defense can be as tough as they typically would, given this is essentially their first preseason game (I’d argue this is the case for most teams most seasons; nobody plays a true full-strength full game until the regular season begins). If you’re going to have to play the Bears, week one is probably the best timing.

    I usually say the advantage goes to the offense when everything is new (especially when the QB is good). But I love being wrong.

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  31. Ryno

    Guest: Klaw, Thanks for the chats. Appreciate your time and insights. any thoughts on Brailyn Marquez?

    Keith Law: Saw him pitch on Sunday (as those of you who follow my mostly non-baseball Instagram account @mrkeithlaw know) and he was 96-100 for six innings with a plus slider and below-average changeup. It’s not a great delivery for a starter, and every scout I’ve asked about him has said they wrote him up as a high-leverage reliever. I think I’d feel better saying he could end up a Hader/Aroldis type out of the pen than saying he could be a mid-rotation stater.

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  32. Author
    berselius

    Ryno,

    Who do you have winning tonight, Ryno?

    I still think the biggest surprise of the offseason is that no dumb GM hired McCarthy to be their HC. He seemed like a shoe-in for the Browns.

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  33. dmick89

    andcounting,

    Unless the Cardinals just fall apart, they’re winning this division. The Cubs have too many road games coming up so it would take the Cubs performing better than expected on the road and probably going 5-2 against the Cardinals to somehow win the division. That’s not happening. Only question is whether they lose the wild card game at home or on the road.

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  34. andcounting

    With Javy in the lineup I thought it was the best the Cubs had all year. It’s still good, but 1-8 it looked great.

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  35. Rizzo the Rat

    I’ve been a little frustrated at how Rizzo’s been hitting nothing but grounders lately, but I’ll take it.

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  36. andcounting

    dmick89,

    I pretty much agree. The Cubs have to pretty much win all their remaining series, and I mean no splits. 3 of 4 from the Brewers, 3 of 4 from the Padres, 3 of 4 and 2 of 3 from the Cardinals. It won’t happen, but it’s something to watch unravel for a bit.

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