OSS: Cubs split with the Pirates with frustrating loss in Game 1 and semi-frustrating win in Game 2
Game 1
Three Up
1. Trevor Cahill has been great since coming to the Cubs on a minor-league deal. Since being released by the Braves, he's had a 2.79 FIP in his 4 Cubs appearances. He might get the start in the pen game coming up, and he helped his cause with 2 shutout, 1 hit, no walk innings.
2. Tommy La Stella pinch hit a double that scored Montero, bringing to 4-2. He knocked Cole out of the game, which brought in Joakim "Wild Pitch!" Soria. Great plate appearance by Streetcar there.
3. Man, Dexter Fowler is valuable. Another 1-3, BB day, getting the Cubs on board first.
One Eh
1. Miguel Montero went 2-4 and scored a run, but he (along with Castro) had a throwing error in the 8th which set up the winning sacrifice fly. Not good.
Three Four Down
1. Jason Hammel looked awful in this game. The first inning has really been his bugaboo, and this game was absolutely no different.
2. Castro had an ugly end to this game, with a bad attempt at nailing Florimon stealing 2nd (allowing the ball to roll into center), and then an ugly AB against Melancon in the top of the 9th. not a great game by Starlin here.
3. Kyle Schwarber was ice cold this game, going 0-4 with 2 strikeouts.
4. Kris Bryant was ice colder, going 0-4 with 3 strikeouts and looking absolutely lost out there.
Game 2
Three Up
1. Jon Lester was worth $156 million dollars with his performance yesterday. He was 11 pitches away from the Maddux, and besides a shaky 7th inning he put together the best pitching performance not in a no-hitter thrown by the Cubs this year. The Dodgers match up against the Cubs well from a 1-2 standpoint; after that, I'll take Arrieta/Lester over DeGrom/Harvey, Cole/Burnett, and Wacha/Martinez.
2. Javier Baez had the sick defensive plays both games, and he also went 2-4 in this game with a double.
3. David Ross went 2-4 with a double and a run scored; more importantly, he was the field manager in the 7th inning and helped get Lester out of his mess. He is clearly going to have opportunities as a future manager when he retires.
Three Two Down
1. Addison Russell had a slick glove in this game, so his 0-4, 3 K performance is a little easier to swallow. He had some horrific plate appearances, though.
2. Kris Bryant again looked not very good. He managed to draw a walk, but he went 0-3 with 2 more strikeouts. I'm not overly worried, but it's something to note.
Eh, you know what?
Two One Down
Play of Game 1
Play of Game 2
Comments
If I had only casually watched these games, I’d have assumed Bryant struckout 10 times yesterday. He looked horrible at the plate.
dmick89Quote Reply
1) Hammel hasn’t adjusted in 2 months. Everyone knows he’s going to pound the strike zone and they jump on him. We talk a lot about rookies needing to adjust to the league, we should do the same with Hammel.
2) Baez is looking closer and closer to being an everyday starter. Huge improvements on defense and he’s consistently putting the ball in play, especially against non 95+ mph fastballers.
3) We’re almost guaranteed to make the playoffs, but boy do I not feel good about having to throw out Hendricks/Hammel in a playoff game. I’d argue Hendricks has passed Hammel in the rotation.
JonKneeVQuote Reply
JonKneeV,
I’d start Hendricks in game 3 just because he’s seemed to have been more consistent, though I’m not entirely sure that’s accurate. I’d still start Hendricks in game 3. I have no faith in Hammel right now.
dmick89Quote Reply
I might even put Travis Wood in number 4, but not sure if four starters are needed in the DS.
Suburbank IdQuote Reply
If the Cubs get past the Pirates, Arrieta would be the game 4 starter for what it’s worth. Lester, Hendricks, Hammel (Wood/Cahill not a bad idea to get through 6 either) and then Arrieta. Since we’re dreaming about future series, let’s just beat the Pirates, win the LDS in 3 and Arrieta can start Game 1 in the LCS. Problem solved.
dmick89Quote Reply
Au contraire, I do believe Arrieta would be the game 3 starter in the LDS.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/13432459/2015-mlb-playoff-schedule
Suburbank IdQuote Reply
For some reason I was thinking the NLDS started on the 8th.
dmick89Quote Reply
I wonder if Soler is back anytime soon.
Has Maddon even used Berry or Szczur since rosters expanded?
Guys who might not make 25-man roster could also include Cahill (is he even eligible)?
I wonder if they reduce the pitching staff for playoffs to make sure they can keep Baez, Soler, and a pinch runner along with Herrera and Denorfia, who I assume will make the playoff bench.
Suburbank IdQuote Reply
Cahill is eligible. Maddon has basically confirmed that Baez would be on the playoff roster because of his defense alone. I think that leaves Herrera out. Soler probably leaves Denorfia out unless they go with an extra position player.
dmick89Quote Reply
Soler should be back pretty soon. Next series, I think.
dmick89Quote Reply
Suburbank Id,
The playoff roster can change for each series, correct?
WaLiQuote Reply
Yeah, they can change it each series. Do they set a playoff roster for the 1-game series?
dmick89Quote Reply
I was wondering this myself. That would be an interesting roster because you can leave off 4 starters and keep extra bullpen & bench guys.
aisle424Quote Reply
You’d probably keep a couple of those starters just so you could potentially use them. For example, if Arrieta gets into trouble in the 6th and you’ve got Pedro Alvarez coming up, you might go with Jon Lester to get out of the jam. I’d definitely want to have that option available.
dmick89Quote Reply
But yeah, you could definitely go with fewer pitchers and more position players. I need to look into this.
dmick89Quote Reply
I’m pretty sure you get a roster just for the WC ’round’, so they’ll have a ton of extra players
berseliusQuote Reply
Lester doesn’t really seem like a guy who would be good coming out of the pen.
berseliusQuote Reply
Neither was Matt Clement.
Dusty BakerQuote Reply
Nice new look, kiddos. The worst blog every just got a little every-er.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
It is what it is.
Also, while I hate change so I won’t say “nice site jabronis”, one thing I do like about this iteration is that the pages load real fast.
Suburbank IdQuote Reply
I like how they don’t redirect me to Words with Friends on my phone.
mylesQuote Reply
This. The stupid redirects were annoying.
dmick89Quote Reply
Thanks. It’s a very similar look to what we had before, but a little more bare bones. Should be much faster and far better on mobile devices.
dmick89Quote Reply
JonKneeV:1) Hammel hasn’t adjusted in 2 months. Everyone knows he’s going to pound the strike zone and they jump on him. We talk a lot about rookies needing to adjust to the league, we should do the same with Hammel.
I don’t think it is just throwing strikes or not throwing strikes.
Good pitchers (and when Hammel is on track he is a very good pitcher) are able to throw quality strikes. Pitches that paint the edges and corners of the zone. Right now Hammel doesn’t have that type of control. I do not know f his mechanics have degraded as the season has wore on or if his hamstring is still bother him causing him to alter his delivery, but he is clearly missing his spots and does not have the control he had earlier in the year. A lot of the strikes he throws are directly over theheart of the plate.
JimLQuote Reply
dmick89,
I read an article about this the other day so I am going by memory.
I believe it is standard to use 14, 15, or 16 bench players in a WC game. You do not activate 3 of your 4 extra starters because they are not needed. If Arrieta is starting you probably keep Lester active but not to bring into a game in the 6th inning. Hopefully you win without Lester so hat he can start the next game. The reason Lester would be active is so that Madon can be aggressive with his bench and bullpen when he needs to be. Then if the game goes long and the bullpen is empty, you can bring in Lester and let him pitch until the game ends.
You need that second starter so you can be aggressive with the bullpen and still be safe if the game goes long
JimLQuote Reply
Also, I suspect that in a WC game that Maddon is going to overload the bench more than he will the bullpen. I fully expect Arrieta to throw 130+ pitches if he has to in a WC game. However with the offense being boom/bust schizophrenic comprised of lots of young players with a propensity to strikeout, I think Maddon is going to play the matchup game really hard with his bench hoping to eek out whatever offensive advantage he can.
JimLQuote Reply
I like the new site. The look, the feel. Everything.
However, am I the only one who is having a problem when I type in the comment box? It seems that a keypunch gets skipped every other word or so. You can blame it on user error (and I wouldn’t really argue) but it does not happen this badly on other websites I comment on.
JimLQuote Reply
(dying laughing)
JonKneeVQuote Reply
Nope, still broken. No dinner for you, dmick.
JonKneeVQuote Reply
Just read a comment on BN that said if the Pirates and Cardinals tie for the division, they have to play a one game tiebreaker to determine who gets the Bye. That’s the best case scenario in my mind. You’d think both teams would use their top pitcher.
JonKneeVQuote Reply
I don’t know if that is true. I thought head-to-head record is determined if both teams qualify for the playoffs either way. Maybe that’s if there’s a tie to determine who is the home team for the WC game. Maybe both?
aisle424Quote Reply
Yeah that’s what one of the beat writers was saying. Head to head record for WC tie but pre-playoff for division champ tie.
Suburbank IdQuote Reply
To day’s base ball squadron
Fowler
Schwarber
Coghlan
Rizzo
Bryant
Montero
Castro
Baez
Carrieta
berseliusQuote Reply
JonKneeV,
Except not drawing Cole means drawing Liriano if the Pirates drop that game, and that doesn’t really improve our fortunes, imo. Probably the best case scenario is the Cards drop the division game, and the Cubs hope the ups and downs of the Cardinal rotation the last few weeks goes down one more time.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
Great points about the WC game prior to this comment. Thank you. As for the text box thing, do me a favor, go to the previous thread and try it out. It’s possible the embedded videos are causing some issue on your browser. I can’t thing of any other reason why that would happen for you other than that. Please let me know if it happens on the previous thread. If it does, what OS and browser are you using and do you notice it with other browsers? Thanks.
dmick89Quote Reply
It’s on my short list of things to look into. I have the old plugin ready and waiting to move over to this site, but I haven’t checked to make sure it’s been updated. If not, I’ll have to find another or go without it.
dmick89Quote Reply
I’d much rather face Liriano, but I think the Cubs are going to have a small advantage in an Arrieta/Cole game even if it’s in Pittsburgh. I’m less hopeful than I was a week ago, but still holding out a little hope that the Cubs can pass the Pirates and play that game at Wrigley. Cubs would be big favorites in that game if it’s at Wrigley.
dmick89Quote Reply
I don’t think there is a great chance that the Cubs pass up the Pirates. I think the only thing left to do this season is to figure out who in the bullpen can be trusted in the playoffs. That list begins and ends with Rondon right now.
mylesQuote Reply
dmick89,
Of course I rather have the Cubs win the division, but I’m almost hoping Pirates catch up to Cardinals and we play the Cardinals in a 1-game playoff.
WaLiQuote Reply
myles,
Obviously Maddon is stretching out Lester and Arrieta so that the Cubs don’t have to rely on the pen.
WaLiQuote Reply
Is there really enough time left in the season to do that? I’m not even certain an entire season is long enough to know that.
dmick89Quote Reply
I’m fascinated by Maddon’s latest experiment in having the pitcher hit ninth. I can’t wait to see how that turns out.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Of course, if it works, other teams will copy it, cancelling out the advantage. Oh well.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I feel like Arrieta could shut down an all star team right now.
dmick89Quote Reply
Those were some impressive at-bats after the lead off double.
dmick89Quote Reply
I don’t understand why there is a debate. Arrieta deserves the CY Young
WaLiQuote Reply
God fucking damnit, knock someone in already.
uncle daveQuote Reply
uncle dave,
Well said.
mylesQuote Reply
They’re trying to see if Arrieta can win without a run.
dmick89Quote Reply
If anyone can do it, it’s Jay.
uncle daveQuote Reply
Take that, #neverbunt!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Cubs pitchers are going to do a lot of throws to first next Spring Training.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Maybe they should have done it this past spring?
dmick89Quote Reply
It’s hard to believe how bad they are at throwing to first base.
dmick89Quote Reply
PItching is such a specialist skill that pitchers tend to be pretty terrible at every other aspect of the game, especially when they’re wearing Cubs unifroms.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Terrible is one thing. The near inability to throw to first base is something else. It’s kind of an important base.
dmick89Quote Reply
Aramis probably should have moved to first a long time ago.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I might have been inclined to pinch hit and try to add on here, but then again I guess I’m not used to having a guy like Arrieta on the team.
uncle daveQuote Reply
Maddon still thinks he’s managing in the American League.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
What a play by Baez!
dmick89Quote Reply
Jake’s ERA fell to 1.96, but he’s not a winner, at least not today.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Now I know what it’s like to watch a game in the dead-ball era. Home runs? What are those?
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
If someone hits the ball over the outfield fence in this series, everyone will have to check the rulebook to see what happens next.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Great start by Arrieta. Great outing by Rondon. Offense needs to wake the hell up.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Hey guys, that was a good game. I am not a robot.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
That was a fun game.
dmick89Quote Reply
Does that not a robot thing show up if you’ve registered for an account? It might be set to show up until someone has a couple comments or something. Thanks.
dmick89Quote Reply
I’m not getting the robot thing.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
OTOH, the edit button doesn’t seem to work.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Does it take you to an edit page? I’m not even sure editing comments is possible for non-admins. Worth looking into though.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
No, it just reloads the page I’m on.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I am pretty sure it is the embedded video causing some issues on my browser. The longer I have an OV webpage open, the less it happens.
JimLQuote Reply
JimL,
I will put less videos in my posts from now on.
mylesQuote Reply
I’ve noticed the mlb.com videos kind of do that. Other embeds don’t seem to have the same kind of problems. I haven’t noticed any with this page for what it’s worth.
dmick89Quote Reply
testing a couple things
dmick 891Quote Reply
Users can post images in the comments now. I know uncle dave asked about that so I’ve edited the code necessary to allow for that.
[img src=”http://www.domain.com/imageurl.png”]
Replace the brackets with < and >
dmick89Quote Reply
That edit comment link will be removed for people who don’t have access to the back end. I’ll look into a solution for others, but I’m going to put this off until the weekend.
dmick89Quote Reply
Props for the new web site in its ability to quickly load comments. Bloguin took forever.
JonKneeVQuote Reply
Also the Jared Weaver-Kyle Seager exchange from last night. As pointless as hitting players on purpose normally is, I’m cool with that one. Kyle Seager was really turning up the douche factor. Hitting someone because they went hard on you? Not cool. Hitting someone who is obnoxiously being douche-y, approved.
JonKneeVQuote Reply
Got a few things to work out yet, but we’re pretty happy with it so far. Thanks.
dmick89Quote Reply
Nice new place. It almost reminds me of LOHO back in the day.
MillertimeQuote Reply
I suddenly feel the need to curse at Jason Marquis.
berseliusQuote Reply
Always a good time for that.
mylesQuote Reply
Soler ————–> Cubs
berseliusQuote Reply
Bases ——–> Clogged
berseliusQuote Reply
Oh jeez, that does not look good for Kang
berseliusQuote Reply
Can’t wait until they extend the catcher collision rules to 2b
berseliusQuote Reply
Guessing that's a blown ACL for Kang. But I'm no injury expert.
berseliusQuote Reply
That didn’t look too good for Kang.
dmick89Quote Reply
(dying laughing)
dmick89Quote Reply
Pirates announcers talking about whether there should be a collision rule at 2nd. One of them said “it seems there are more injuries at 2nd.”
Maybe because more runner attempt to reach 2nd base than home? Idiots.
dmick89Quote Reply
Pirates announcers give an update for Kang: left knee injury.
I knew there was a reason I hated listening to these clowns.
dmick89Quote Reply
(dying laughing)
Also, clown pirates would be pretty terrifying if they tried to board my OV yacht.
berseliusQuote Reply
Bruce Miles @BruceMiles2112 10m10 minutes ago
@sahadevsharma Morton: “When it rains, it pours.”
berseliusQuote Reply
btw, mb, I’ve been watching more Shameless lately. I’m in the middle of S3, Fiona just found out Frank was the one who called DCS. Can’t wait to see how many new assholes she rips open.
berseliusQuote Reply
Also, “I feel like I’m fucking Casper!” (dying laughing)
berseliusQuote Reply
dmick89,
Was looking forward to a post about posts, but this’ll do.
Nitpicky bullshit thing: can’t find an option to add an avatar in the control panel. Am I just dumb? Or am I dumb and is there no way to do that?
uncle daveQuote Reply
I didn’t think that ball was hit that far. Wow.
dmick89Quote Reply
Damn, that was a shot
berseliusQuote Reply
They’re through gravatar
berseliusQuote Reply
Check gravatar or WordPress.com. It’s not a local avatar. The ones I’ve seen that add that functionality are old. I’ll look some more though, but adding one at gravatar will do.
dmick89Quote Reply
Man, another potential crazy run-down TOOTBLAN-RBI
berseliusQuote Reply
Jesus
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
I look better as a silhouette anyway.
uncle daveQuote Reply
Damn
berseliusQuote Reply
I thought that HR was going to land in Philadelphia.
berseliusQuote Reply
It’s nice to finally see some home runs, but I was hoping some would be hit by the Cubs.
dmick89Quote Reply
At least the Cubs have a lineup now where a 1-run lead doesn’t feel like a 10-run lead.
berseliusQuote Reply
Thanks for all of the time and effort you put into this site. It may be a rank cesspool sitting in the smelly backwaters of the internet, but it is a rank cesspool that I find entertaining, educational, and thought provoking.
JimLQuote Reply
berseliusQuote Reply
That’s the second time a Pirate pitcher threw behind a batter in the last two days.
dmick89Quote Reply
Rizzo!!!
dmick89Quote Reply
RIZZO!
berseliusQuote Reply
Stuck at work and not watching. Was the Coghlan slide dirty?
uncle daveQuote Reply
(dying laughing)rates defense!
berseliusQuote Reply
uncle dave,
It was no Cobra Kai Holliday slide, if that’s what you’re asking.
berseliusQuote Reply
Crazy series.
dmick89Quote Reply
Catcher defense has not been on display this series.
dmick89Quote Reply
Dave, even the Bucs announcer said Coghlan’s slide was clean. Just a freak injury.
dmick89Quote Reply
Wow, sloppy play this whole series by PIT.
berseliusQuote Reply
Nice to finally see Blanton pitch to his talent level.
dmick89Quote Reply
berselius,
GET HIM A BODY BAG
uncle daveQuote Reply
He doesn’t get to face Clayton Richard that often, yeah.
berseliusQuote Reply
dmick89,
He looks like he’s lost weight, though.
uncle daveQuote Reply
(dying laughing)
berseliusQuote Reply
Bobby LaFromboise is now my favorite baseball name.
uncle daveQuote Reply
How about this baseball match.
Suburbank IdQuote Reply
Oh man, I love that Milo call of Aaron’s 715th
berseliusQuote Reply
Too bad we didn’t turn that line out double play to SS last night.
dmick89Quote Reply
When was the last time Grimm was any good? Seems like it’s been awhile.
dmick89Quote Reply
I thought they worked him a bit too much after he came back from his injury
berseliusQuote Reply
Inverted M
berseliusQuote Reply
testing (dying laughing)
word filter added
dmick89Quote Reply
uncle daveQuote Reply
133 comments. I’m no mathematician, but that’s a lot around here. Myles, we need a new post about posts and fanshots.
JonKneeVQuote Reply
Cubs 2 games back of the Pirates for the honor of coin flipping at home, and the Pirates get Grienke and Kershaw up next.
berseliusQuote Reply
mylesQuote Reply
Office whiteboard art:
uncle daveQuote Reply
We used to get a ton of comments, but shit happened. Hoping we get some more with the new setup. Also planning to do some more writing as soon as we get this site up and running how we want. Need to do a few things yet with it.
dmick89Quote Reply
I’ve found an edit comments plugin that is supported by the creator with regular updates. It’s not going to be added today. I’ve got to make a few edits to get rid of the current link that doesn’t work for non-admins first. I also need to make a few styling changes though it’s doubtful it’s anyone other than me will notice, but they’re bothering me (dying laughing)
dmick89Quote Reply
Like the 2010-2014 Cubs?
uncle daveQuote Reply
I’ve missed the thumbs up feature, but I cannot find a decent addon to enable that. WordPress.com blogs have that feature now and have for about a year so it’s possible it will come to self-hosted blogs in the future, but as of now, there’s nothing available that can be added without security concerns.
Getting back to baseball, that was a great series. A lot of fun.
dmick89Quote Reply
(dying laughing)
Suburbank IdQuote Reply
How come it’s SuburbanK Id? Just trying to mix it up?
dmick89Quote Reply
Your wish –> My Command
New Shit
http://obstructedview.net/uncategorized/cubs-9-pirates-6-91715/
mylesQuote Reply