Cubs 7, Dodgers 6

In Postgame by berselius49 Comments

OSS: The Cubs hit a few speed bumps but keep on rolling

Three up:

  1. Javier Baez had the biggest hit of the day with a three run blast that was gone as soon as it hit the bat. The two out shot tied the game at 3 in the sixth inning and chased Dodgers starter Walker Buehler.
  2. Jason Heyward followed it up later in the inning with a three run blast of his own to left center. Heyward’s hot streak has gone on for nearly a month now, causing even those of us with the faintest of hopes to start to wonder if this is actually for real. Baez and Heyward combined for a WPA of .623 in this game.
  3. Kris Bryant got on base three times and didn’t strike out. He’s still got a ways to go to get out of his slump but he can build on this I guess.

Three down:

  1. Hamels was not as sharp as his previous two starts, walking six batters in 5.1 innings and getting chased by a long HR from red hot Cody Bellinger.
  2. Steve Cishek was knocked around for the second straight day, and you can’t really blame the BABIP dragon this time around. He’s still a solid pitcher but not really the good luck charm that Joe had last year.
  3. Albert Almora slid into first base for the umpteenth time in his career.

Next up: The Cubs go for the sweep against the Dodgers at 1:20 CT, which is not a sentence I expected to write two weeks ago. Jon Lester returns from the DL to face Ross Stripling.

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Comments

  1. BVS

    Hey Berselius, thanks for the post despite being on work travel!

    I promise I won’t comment on the irony of you being at a high performance computing meeting while operating a low performance Cubs blog.

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  2. Author
    berselius

    To-day’s base ball squadron

    RF Zobrist
    3B Bryant
    1B Rizzo
    SS Baez
    2B Descalso
    C Contreras
    CF Heyward
    LF Schwarber
    P Lester

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  3. JonKneeV

    Kris Bryant is on pace to hit 7 HRs this year. He hit 39 in 2016. I wouldn’t mind him bulking up and moving to 1B/LF if he finishes the year with under 20 HRs.

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  4. dmick89

    JonKneeV,

    He’s hit 6 home runs over his last 393 plate appearances. I don’t think we know for sure that his power is gone, but I think his 40 home run potential is probably gone. I think he’ll finish the season with 10-15 home runs.

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  5. Ryno

    So there’s this three-day football event beginning today…

    And I’m as ill-prepared for it as I’ve ever been.

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  6. andcounting

    I realize now why some people want to ban the shift. It’s no other reason than that it really pisses you off when what feels like a hit becomes an easy out or double play.

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  7. dmick89

    If you would have told me 7 years ago that 2 of the best players on the team at the end of the decade would be players drafted or signed as amateur free agents by Jim Hendry I’d have assumed that the Cubs would suck and that Thoyer would be long gone.

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  8. WaLi

    I still can’t believe the Cardinals told the world they were drafting Kyler while having a 1st round QB from last year still on the team, then drafted Kyler while still having a 1st round QB on the team. Rosen’s trade value has to be nothing right now.

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  9. Ryno

    WaLi,

    Yeah, and they wondered why no one wanted to give up a first-round pick for Rosen.

    They apparently also tried to get the Niners to trade up to 1 by saying yesterday that they were going to pick Bosa.

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  10. Ryno

    WaLi,

    Thinking about what ARI did a bit deeper and I don’t think it’s all that bad. Teams spend multiple picks on one QB all the time. ARI spent multiple picks on two QBs and can pick one and trade the other away for assets or keep both (RG3/Cousins) and see what happens.

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  11. andcounting

    Ryno,

    Watching NFL teams guess at which quarterbacks are good and what draft picks are worth is maybe more fun than watching the games.

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  12. Ryno

    andcounting,

    The draft pick worth has gone overboard, but picking QBs is REALLY difficult. Traits transfer. Athleticism transfers. But the margin between successful and unsuccessful QBs is so thin (if it even exists). You really have to guess who will “figure it out.”

    Unless you’re Dave Gettleman. Then you pick someone just in case you die in a car crash sometime this week.

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  13. Author
    berselius

    Ryno,

    *empties savings account, spends it all on building a new Blockbuster store*

    Who knows, I could be hit by a bus tomorrow.

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  14. Author
    berselius

    Ryno:
    WaLi,

    Thinking about what ARI did a bit deeper and I don’t think it’s all that bad. Teams spend multiple picks on one QB all the time. ARI spent multiple picks on two QBs and can pick one and trade the other away for assets or keep both (RG3/Cousins) and see what happens.

    This didn’t sink in with Gettleman, who is kicking himself now for not drafting a RB at 6

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