OSS: The final score is what it is, but it would be great if the path wasn't always so difficult to get there.
Three up:
- Despite not starting the game, Willson Contreras was the Cubs WPA leader by far in this game thanks to a go-ahead two run double in the sixth, followed by some ballsy baserunning that WPA doesn't account for to extend the lead.
- Jason Heyward follows him up in WPA thanks to an RBI single earlier in that inning. Heyward also came around to score on a walk earlier this game, and had more hard hit contact on his outs as well. Thank DeRosa this seems to be working out so far.
- The bullpen was okay, I guess. Rondon gave up a run, but for the past week or so they've been pretty lights out. Especially compared to some of the results from the starters.
Three down:
- *extremely Jerry Seinfeld voice* What's the deal with all these first inning runs? It has gotten to the point where it's so predictable that it is kind of funny. The final score doesn't really care when you score your runs, but it makes things a little more frustrating to watch, for sure.
- Addison Russell was the only Cubs starting position player without a hit, and naturally was also the WPA trailer in this game.
- I only had the game on radio on and off until the end, but it sounded like another rough night for Zobrist in RF. I love me some JavyTag but they might want to limit these starts going forward.
Next up: Cubs go for the series win tomorrow at 1:20 pm CT. Lackey takes on Zach Eflin, then the Yankees come to town.
Comments
Zach Eflin was great in, eh, let’s say 17 Again.
JoshQuote Reply
Josh,
(dying laughing)
Berselius is too lazy to loginQuote Reply
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/i-guess-now-trevor-cahill-is-good/
Another young one the Cubs let get away, smdh.
PerkinsQuote Reply
berselius, next time you want to try out emojis, try entering the emoji code in the html section of the editor and save/publish directly from that screen. I don’t know if that will work, but it might. If it doesn’t, let me know and I’ll look into it some more.
dmick89Quote Reply
Star Wars is a tragic space opera story about the misfortunes of two droids. Happy May 4th.
EdwinQuote Reply
Edwin,
All those innocent contractors hired to do a job were killed- casualties of a war they had nothing to do with. All right, look-you’re a roofer, and some juicy government contract comes your way; you got the wife and kids and the two-story in suburbia-this is a government contract, which means all sorts of benefits. All of a sudden these left-wing militants blast you with lasers and wipe out everyone within a three-mile radius. You didn’t ask for that. You have no personal politics. You’re just trying to scrape out a living.
berseliusQuote Reply
berselius,
Thanks for reminding me that I have to watch Clerks again. Good god, it’s been over 20 years!
Rice in limboQuote Reply
i am surprised to see that the cubs are exactly league average in terms of Runs Against. i would have thought they were towards the bottom. i guess when you give up all of your runs in the first inning, it seems like you’re giving up a lot more runs than you actually are.
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
Rice in limbo,
The alternate ending to Clerks is crazy.
EdwinQuote Reply
berselius,
One of my favorite things about VII was that Finn had worked in sanitation, finally settling the question of whether a Stormtrooper knows how to install a toilet main.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Perkins,
Did it really settle the question though? I mean, this could just mean that he cleans bathrooms, not that he knows how to fix them.
Berselius is too lazy to loginQuote Reply
To-day’s base ball squadron
Jay (LF)
Bryant
Rizzo
Russell
Montero
Almora
Baez
Lackey
Szczur
Berselius is too lazy to loginQuote Reply
Fair, though every army has a bunch of POGs/support personnel who aren’t primarily trigger-pullers (I was one). The US Army has construction engineers, plumbers, carpenters, etc even beyond the intelligence and logistics folks you’d think of first.
I’d assume that the Imperial Army and the First Order operate similarly. An army needs a lot to sustain itself when it’s forward deployed. However, a project the scale of a Death Star would likely take more of that labor than the Imperial Army possessed. Support jobs are largely to sustain the troops whose job is to close with and destroy the enemy; they’re not the raison d’etre of an army. You don’t staff any more POGs than you absolutely need.
What I take issue with is that the Empire would have hired independent contractors. I think their MO would more likely have been to enslave a (non-human) species to do most of the construction, and then likely to kill off all of them after construction was complete. The Empire already saw non-humans as inferior to humans, and there’s no need to allow a bunch of those sub-humans to live after they might have some idea how to build another superweapon (and you’re a Dark Side theocracy with relatively absolute power and a shitload of Star Destroyers and troops).
PerkinsQuote Reply
Szczur? Woof.
PerkinsQuote Reply
You hope Szczur has a big game, like Javy had a few games ago, allowing for clubs to see that he is a valuable fourth outfielder worth at least a fringe prospect—especially on a contending team lacking depth.
ceruleanQuote Reply
false
uncle daveQuote Reply
He was bad enough that I might consider starting him at third and putting Bryant in the OF when Javy is in the lineup. Or maybe putting Javy at third, Zobrist at second, and Bryant in the outfield. Or something.
uncle daveQuote Reply
uncle dave,
Yes, this
Berselius is too lazy to loginQuote Reply
3 runs, 27 pitches for the phillies in the first is my prediction.
dmick89Quote Reply
I don’t remember zobrist looking bad in the outfield last year.
dmick89Quote Reply
Lackey looked pretty good for about two batters.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Perkins,
He must have looked up and seen the scoreboard after the second out
Berselius is too lazy to loginQuote Reply
holy shit! i had no idea that existed. i am very glad that it got cut.
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
I’m always amazed at how well Bryant can run.
dmick89Quote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
Pretty crazy, right? Quite the tonal shift.
EdwinQuote Reply
I think it would have worked, but it also would have been really abrupt. Looking at Clerks as a movie about general aimlessness and the extent to which people have control over their actions and situations, the original ending would have been really good inasmuch as Dante wasn’t even supposed to work that day.
That said, I have a soft spot in my heart for the sequel, so I’m glad Keven Smith didn’t go with the original ending.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Perkins,
Clerks is my favorite KS movie, but I think Zack and Miri is the best one
Berselius is too lazy to loginQuote Reply
I’ll be damned; Duensing didn’t give up a run (though that line drive DP was damn lucky).
PerkinsQuote Reply
Javy tag!
PerkinsQuote Reply
Grimm sucks.
dmick89Quote Reply
Going with the theme of May 4th, I have a bad feeling about this.
EDIT: Strop!
PerkinsQuote Reply
Montero!
PerkinsQuote Reply
dmick89,
Didn’t know this was a split squad game tbh
uncle daveQuote Reply
Walk it off, boys.
uncle daveQuote Reply
Sure, I’ll intentionally walk Jon Jay to get to Kris Bryant. (Watch it work, of course.)
uncle daveQuote Reply
Zobrist TOOTBLAN
PerkinsQuote Reply
Jeebus.
uncle daveQuote Reply
Even listening on the radio, I was worried about the pickoff. Ugh.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
uncle dave,
It pisses me off that they got away with that. What were they thinking?
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Jesus. Cubs lose.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
why don’t pitchers just give javy that pitch every fucking time? i’ve never seen him not swing at it.
KenricoPallazzoQuote Reply
KenricoPallazzo,
I’ve been wondering that since he made his major league debut. I’m assuming that’s the pitch the pitcher is trying to execute every single time (even with the count full, bases loaded in a walk-off situation), but occasionally they miss it and Baez makes them pay.
dmick89Quote Reply
Enough with the goddamn infield hits already.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Sometimes I almost wonder why anyone bothers to hit the ball hard.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Base hit, please.
dmick89Quote Reply
Someone should tell Anthony to stop grounding out weakly.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
Don’t tell me what to do
SomebodyQuote Reply
Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Fuck
dmick89Quote Reply
God. Fucking. Damnit.
PerkinsQuote Reply
mother fucking fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck
uncle daveQuote Reply
So the only relievers the Cubs have left are Rondon and Uehara on their second day in a row. That should end well.
PerkinsQuote Reply
RISP are Cubs kryptonite.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Should have brought David Ross out of retirement smh
Berselius is too lazy to loginQuote Reply
I wonder who’s going to go on the DL to make room for a reliever call-up tomorrow.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
It’s unbelievable that you can almost burn through an 8-man bullpen when it’s only 4-4 in the 13th inning.
dmick89Quote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
Hopefully Duensing lands on the DL and never comes off of it.
dmick89Quote Reply
Almora!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Ugh.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I’ll take it!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Wow.
dmick89Quote Reply
Ugly, but I’ll take it.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Szczur was already well past first when the throw arrived.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I tuned in just in time.
Heh.
ceruleanQuote Reply
False.
Wenningtons Gorilla CockQuote Reply
Wenningtons Gorilla Cock,
I didn’t count on the Phillies playing even stupider than the Cubs.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Seems like this was a Cubs game I recently enjoyed missing.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Odd thing I noticed watching the video of the final play: when Szczur saw the throw getting away, he made a turn as if to try for second base. WTF?
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
These lackluster Cubs have the third-best record in the NL and sixth-best in the Majors.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Instinct, methinks.
ceruleanQuote Reply
I also should have complained more about Maddon’s intentional walk call in the top of the 11th. First base wasn’t even open! It’s not like the bottom of an inning where one run wins the game!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
What we’re missing is a few more catchers on the active roster.
Wenningtons Gorilla CockQuote Reply
So this Chris Brian guy might be pretty good.
ceruleanQuote Reply
The Cardinals just lost Piscotty and Fowler to injury. Ouch.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
Wow, that really sucks.
PerkinsQuote Reply
http://obstructedview.net/series-preview-new-york-yankees-17-9-chicago-cubs-16-12/
berseliusQuote Reply