Cubs 6, DBacks 5 (15 innings)

In Postgame by berselius90 Comments

OSS: Tyler Chatwood’s bat is the difference maker, somehow.

Three up

  1. Tyler Chatwood came through in the late innings, first by getting out of a jam caused by Dillon Maples walking the bases loaded in the thirteenth inning, then hitting a double in the top of the fifteenth. Chatwood went on to score the go-ahead run. His combined WPA was .412 in this game.
  2. Ben Zobrist, despite asking to get benched for David Bote to start the game, was the other hero in this one. Zobrist notched a walk, single, and RBI double, all in extra innings since he didn’t even get a PA until the 12th. He was part of both of the bases loaded situations that the Cubs pissed away in the 12th and 14th, but I guess third time was the charm.
  3. Kris Bryant homered again today, his second home run of this series. It was especially nice to see that this was an oppo shot.

Three down

  1. The Cubs, and DBacks for that matter, had plenty of opportunities to put this game away but kept squandering them. Rizzo, Baez, and Bote combined to go 2-20 with roughly 37 left on base. I briefly considered sticking around for this game but decided to drive back to NM in the morning instead. Well done, self.
  2. Dillon Maples had another Dillon Maples-y outing, quickly getting his first two batters out then walking the bases loaded.
  3. Willson Contreras tried to catch the pitcher/catcher napping with a delayed steal of home at the end of the 13th. Not a bad idea if your name is Javy Baez, but maybe Willson trying this might be a *bit* too aggressive.

Next up: At least the Cubs have an off-day following that marathon. They head to Seattle for a two game series, starting on Tuesday.

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  1. WaLi

    SK,

    Yeah only 2.5 games back. Stupid Cardinals keep winning though. Would be nice to win the series against them this weekend and possibly move into 1st.

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  2. andcounting

    Was that outing from Chatwood possibly more impressive than his last start? He came in with the bases loaded and didn’t lose the game.

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  3. Smokestack Lightning

    WaLi:
    In response to that shitty story about Russell/Cubs being floated around here:

    https://twitter.com/espnchicubs/status/1122623184925106177?s=21

    Yeah, doesn’t seem legit. Journalistic standards have been kaput for a while now. Not too surprising. There are few to no consequences for getting a scoop wrong, for throwing anything out there no matter how poorly sourced.

    What’s a little sad though is that at first glance it seemed like it could be legit. Cubs haven’t exactly been covering themselves in glory re: Russell.

    Or in just about any other area of late.

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  4. andcounting

    Smokestack Lightning,

    Yeah, one terribly frustrating thing is the lingering feeling that there probably is some story at the root of this and the pure laziness shown by Baer. He opted for going after retweets and hits instead of trying to uncover whatever story might have produced the rumor. I’d actually like to know what happened, but this so-called reporter has made the telling of the story less likely.

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  5. Myles

    Yes, it appears to me that Bill Baer just lacks any journalistic integrity.

    It also doesn’t make sense from the Cubs’ standpoint. Any writer with any following would REPORT on the Cubs doing this to them if it happened.

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  6. dmick89

    Myles: It also doesn’t make sense from the Cubs’ standpoint. Any writer with any following would REPORT on the Cubs doing this to them if it happened.

    Yeah, once I gave it a few minutes of thought I realized that this story seemed unlikely. Even by today’s standards, journalists probably wouldn’t allow themselves to be pushed around like that just so they can continue to have access. I do wonder if there’s a smaller story here and what it is, but this just seems unlikely.

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  7. Smokestack Lightning

    andcounting,

    Agreed. The shitty non-story notwithstanding, the Cubs have been frustrating everywhere, haven’t been handling the Russell situation great, and I’m having a hard time understanding how they keep bungling this stuff. The org shouldn’t be this incompetent PR-wise. They come across as having no plan of how to deal with this, of making it up as they go along. It’s ridiculous.

    I mean, I understand and am sympathetic with the notion of punting Russell into FA because of the abuse crap. It’s the cleanest, simplest way to deal with the situation. Wash your hands of it. If he turns into a star with another team, shrug your shoulders and stand by the decision. I also understand the idea of rehabilitation, even though there’s plenty of cynicism behind it, because it has a lot more to do with not giving away talent for nothing than it does turning the bad dude into a better dude. But if you’re going to go that route, do it full-throatedly, and decide you don’t give a shit how it looks or what people think. Tell people to go fuck themselves. You’re not the sort of organization that gives talent away for nothing.

    Look at the Yankees with Chapman. They got him for nothing, turned him into Gleyber Torres, and then re-signed Chapman. As shrewd a set of moves as you’ll see, and all because when the Chapman thing blew up, they decided they didn’t give a shit about how it looked. They were going to get an elite player for nothing. They did, turned him into an elite prospect, and then doubled-down on the problematic player on a long-term deal. A deal which, so far, has turned out pretty well. The Yankees went about their business decisively (or at least, that’s how I remember it; it certainly looks that way in retrospect).

    Look at the Dodgers with Chapman. They had a deal in place when the scandal hit. They decided he wasn’t worth the headache, walked away, and IIRC, they never revisited it again. They decided they were done with him. Again, decisiveness.

    And then there’s the Cubs. Cubs opted not to pursue Chapman when he became available for zero. But then at the deadline decided to deal away elite talent to acquire him because need finally trumped whatever moral reservations they had, only to turn around and let him walk away at season’s end (and then trade another young talent for another closer on an expiring deal). From a talent-in talent-out long-term perspective, not a great series of moves. Also, when the Chapman deal went down, the Cubs did not do a great job of handling the controversy that reared up again. They got through it, they survived it, but it never felt like they controlled the situation.

    And that’s what I’m seeing now. They seem to be hedging their bets with Russell, unsure of what to do, afraid to fully commit to one direction over the other. They don’t appear to be in control. They don’t project strength. And it’s not just in this area either. And for someone who was a borderline fanboy of this FO for a good portion of their administration, it’s difficult to wrap the brain around it.

    (Although I suppose it should be mentioned that of the three teams I reference, the Cubs were ones to actually win the World Series. (dying laughing))

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  8. dmick89

    Smokestack Lightning: (Although I suppose it should be mentioned that of the three teams I reference, the Cubs were ones to actually win the World Series. (dying laughing))

    It’s important to highlight this, but probably more important to highlight that each of the other teams are in a better position to succeed long-term than the Cubs currently are.

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  9. Smokestack Lightning

    dmick89,

    Yep. Although I would also argue that the Cubs team that won that WS was the product of a much more decisive, bold front office (up until the Chapman move anyway). Since then, not so much those things.

    To paraphrase the great poet Bane, winning seems to have cost the Cubs their strength.

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  10. Smokestack Lightning

    Back to business…

    Travis d’Arnaud has been DFA’d by the Mets. He’s not been very good, but I have to think he’d be a better option than Davis. He at least has the stink of being a former top prospect.

    Also, Jay Jaffe thinks Chris Brian may be Chris Brian again.

    https://blogs.fangraphs.com/kris-bryant-may-have-turned-the-corner/

    I’d like to agree with him, but I’m not an optimistic person by nature. Also, the last time I posted a FG piece, it was about Jason Heyward being good again. He promptly went back to being bad again.

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  11. Myles

    Travis d’Arnaud is a great backup option because he’s super injury-prone which is irrelevant to your backup catcher who won’t play much and you don’t care if he’s injured because you’ll just release him anyway. I’m all for it.

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  12. dmick89

    Smokestack Lightning: I’d like to agree with him, but I’m not an optimistic person by nature. Also, the last time I posted a FG piece, it was about Jason Heyward being good again. He promptly went back to being bad again.

    Yeah, let’s talk about this in a few months, but a few games of good Bryant doesn’t exactly make me optimistic about him. I’m still going to be surprised if he hits more than 15 home runs this season.

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  13. SK

    Well I wonder if the Fangraphs and Baseball Prospectus people who were the twsources for the twstory have offered anything more concrete since that all blew up. Jesse Rogers and that Sun-Times guy aren’t necessarily the last word here but fuck if i’m going to sort through all follow up tweeting.

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  14. Author
    berselius

    SK,

    From what I’ve seen so far nothing more concrete than ‘people are saying’. I’m inclined to think poorly of the Cubs for how this has been handled but would need more than this.

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  15. dmick89

    berselius,

    I just read through the twitter thread that was shared earlier and it seems fairly clear to me that the story was likely wrong. Rogers and Kaplan have both ripped Russell and heard nothing from the Cubs. The editor of the Sun Times said thing. Obviously they could be covering, but that seems unlikely. Apparently Rogers even ripped Maddon on the radio or something like that. I think I’ll dismiss this article. There’s already enough to make the Cubs look bad without even factoring in what is likely a false story.

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  16. GW

    A tough day for Taylor Davis, who went 0-4, but his main value is spelling Willson anyway.

    He never forgets the extra “L”

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  17. Ryno

    berselius,

    I haven’t watched nearly as much tape as I have in years past, but here’s a few things:

    1. They’re clearly going all out in what they appear to think is the last three years of their window with Rodgers at QB. The FA signings signal that.
    2. Rashan Gary is a fucking freak. It’s not right that a person that size can move the way he does. He’s still raw, but GB is really going to get after the QB with him and the Smiths they signed. I liked Burns and Sweat better, but Gary is a little more versatile.
    3. A lot of people thought Darnell Savage was by far the best deep S in the draft. He should be an upgrade over HHCD.
    4. I don’t know who the fuck Elgton Jenkins is. I hope he’s good, because AJ Brown would’ve been great for Rodgers in this spot.
    5. Jace Sternberger was a good value and should step right into the flex TE role.
    6. I guess GB is set at CB, because they passed on a few pretty good ones.

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  18. Author
    berselius

    To-day’s base ball squadron

    2B Descalso
    LF Bryant
    1B Rizzo
    SS Baez
    3B Bote
    RF Heyward
    C Contreras
    DH War Bear
    CF Almora

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  19. Perkins

    Russell——->AAA (on Friday)

    Apparently he’s likely to spend a few weeks there, with no official timeline for getting back to MLB.

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  20. WaLi

    Great win I slept through. Nice to see Schwarber and Rizzo with HR’s.

    Some gross SSS: Baez over last two games 0-11, 4 K, 1 BB. Heyward over last 7 games .208/.345/.333. Contreras last 7 games .185/.290/.370

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  21. BVS

    WaLi,

    I guess this puts Myles, AC, dmick, and B on notice that they better go easy on Russell, else someone will break into their homes and put theirs knives and cast iron into the dishwasher.

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  22. andcounting

    I remember when the Bears signed Todd Sauerbrun in the 2nd round and Dave Wannstedt said he would be “a weapon,” though I don’t remember what his stated use for that weapon was supposed to be.

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  23. sharpchicity

    Smokestack Lightning,

    (and then trade another young talent for another closer on an expiring deal). From a talent-in talent-out long-term perspective, not a great series of moves.

    “young talent” (dying laughing)
    I read this and just looked at Soler’s stats since joining the Royals. He has played ~ 150 games over 2+ seasons, has a 37% K rate, and has accumlated 0.1 WAR. Davis was a dominant closer for the 1 season we had him and we realistically had aspirations to compete for the WS. We needed a closer and Thoyer has shown 0 belief (right or wrong) in long term deals for relievers.

    Re: not signing Chapman, his FB has declined 3mph since he signed with the Yankees, so while he’s gotten results, he’s not nearly the same dominant pitcher as he was before.

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  24. Author
    berselius

    To-day’s base ball squadron

    CF Almora
    DH Bryant
    1B Rizzo
    SS Baez
    C Contreras
    LF Schwarber
    3B Bote
    RF Heyward
    2B Zobrist

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  25. WaLi

    berselius,

    Glad that this game starts somewhat early tonight instead of the middle of the night. Sorry to see Bryant still in the DH slot. Hopefully it is just precautionary again. Also sucks that there is another fucking off day tomorrow. Looks like Morrow had yet another setback as well. Or maybe this is the same setback announced a few days ago?

    Morrow had injection of synthetic lubricant in balky elbow Monday. Shut down for two weeks before he’ll be allowed to resume throwing program. Pushes best-case-scenario return near All-Star break.

    Anyone know if there are any good relievers available?

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  26. andcounting

    WaLi,

    It seems to be the new normal to get by with a replacement level bullpen in the regular season and worry about amping things up at the last minute when you’re close to certain you’ll make the postseason. No sense investing in a FA closer until you’re ready to burn his arm out in the playoffs.

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  27. Author
    berselius

    WaLi,

    Doesn’t signing Kimbrel also involve giving up a draft pick? I can’t keep track of the CBA anymore.

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  28. dmick89

    berselius,

    I think so, yes, but I’m not sure that’s necessarily a bad thing. Five years ago I’d have thought it would be, but the track record of Thoyer with top picks so far has been questionable at best. KB was pretty much automatic and outside of him, they’ve not done all that well. Schwarber still has a lot of potential, but the odds of him reaching it diminish every day. Almora isn’t very good. Happ is back at AAA.

    If I was the Cubs, I’d sign Kimbrel, but the Cubs are broke so they can’t. (dying laughing)

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  29. GW

    Anyways, I don’t what you guys are talking about. BN tells me there’s an impending bullpen crunch when… (checks article) Tony Barnette finishes his rehab.

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  30. WaLi

    GW,

    Interesting, didn’t know that went away. So after June 5th he’ll most likely be signed by someone.

    Cubs will probably be in first place by then so that someone won’t be the Cubs since management/owners will decide they don’t need him. Then the Cubs will have 40 games in a row and drop out of first place due to a poor bullpen.

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  31. Author
    berselius

    The I-Cubs scored 15 runs in an inning, I guess the big league squad doesn’t want to get shown up.

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  32. Smokestack Lightning

    I’m beginning to think last year’s hitting problems really were mostly Chili.

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