Time: 8:00 PM CT
TV: TBS
Series Preview
Gameday
LINEUPS
 (104-58, 2-0)
Chris Taylor, SS |
 (92-70, 0-2)
Ben Zobrist, 2B |
Will the Cubs win? No, but it could go either way.
538 Forecast: 51% chance of winning
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Comments
Well, I guess I’d look at flyball/groundball tendencies in the opposing pitcher. Which, as I mentioned, favor Jay tonight. So, I guess the Cubs know what they’re doing!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
On the plus side, it’s October 17th and the Cubs are one of two NL teams still playing baseball. That’s a good feeling.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Perkins,
They’re supposed to be playing baseball, but I’ve not seen much evidence that they actually are.
dmick89Quote Reply
Did you hear the one about the agnostic dyslexic imsomniac? He spent the whole night awake pondering the existence of a dog.
EdwinQuote Reply
dmick89,
They have looked pretty flaccid. Let’s hope the bats wake the hell up. Maybe they should sacrifice a chicken or something.
PerkinsQuote Reply
This is why they shouldn’t have traded Szczur. Cubs hitters need to borrow his bats more than ever.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Cubs: Hey Matt, we’d like to know what it would take to get your bat back in the lineup.
Szczur: You mean you want me back on the team?
Cubs: Not exactly…
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
BVS:
berselius,
LaStella at 2b, Happ in CF.
Glad Javy is sitting. It’ll wake him up. He’ll be better off the bench or tomorrow. That’s his routine.
BVSQuote Reply
There’s no way I’d have La Stella start an important game. He’s nice to have on the bench, though.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I won’t be watching this game, regrettably. Maybe when the Cubs reel off four in a row en route a loss to the Yankees, I’ll come back to read every word.
I suppose it’s for the best: You know your work-life balance is all fucked up when your escape from both does most of the work of sapping the life out of you. (dying laughing)
ceruleanQuote Reply
Chicago Cubs baseball is on the air!
berseliusQuote Reply
I think my parents will be asleep by the fourth inning. Crazy that the start time is even later despite playing two time zones east of LA.
berseliusQuote Reply
I’ll take an order of the Houston 6th with a side of the Yankee 8th for the Cubs tonight. The Dodgers can have the 1st.
BVSQuote Reply
Yay, wind!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Phew
berseliusQuote Reply
Double phew
berseliusQuote Reply
Kyle’s velo looks good (for him).
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I wouldn’t mind some offense.
dmick89Quote Reply
WAR BEAR
berseliusQuote Reply
Schwarber!!!!!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
WAR BEAR!!!!!
PerkinsQuote Reply
Kyle Schwarber agrees.
PerkinsQuote Reply
I wouldn’t mind a shutout.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Has Rizzo struck out in his first at-bat every game this post-season?
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Terrible at-bat by Jay.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Ugh.
PerkinsQuote Reply
My pennance for being away for the next 3 weeks is that the Cubs aren’t on TV until 10 pm. Because This Is Us is on instead.
BVSQuote Reply
I really wish the Cubs had scored more in the first.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
If I were the manager, I’d be tempted to bench Jay out of spite for taking an 0-2 fastball down the middle with two on (I’d be a lousy manager.)
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
At least Hendricks swung at his 2 strike fastball down the middle
BVSQuote Reply
😐
berseliusQuote Reply
These Coors Field-type games sure suck.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Holy shit was that grooved.
JKVQuote Reply
Although I think that last one would have gone out anywhere any day.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
PerkinsQuote Reply
Current mood:
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I miss the days when Rizzo could hit.
North Side PatQuote Reply
Well, it was a good half season.
dmick89Quote Reply
North Side Pat,
He angered the baseball gods with his “respect me” boasting.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
What was that about? That looked weird.
dmick89Quote Reply
Yu Darvish is no Matt Garza
BVSQuote Reply
Remember when the Cubs would work counts and tire out starters?
BVSQuote Reply
BVS,
I’m not eager to get to the Dodgers’ bullpen.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Does joe know he can pinch hit in the 4th?
dmick89Quote Reply
Who could’ve ever predicted that the pitcher would strike out with two men on base and two outs?
North Side PatQuote Reply
dmick89,
BVSQuote Reply
North Side Pat,
To be fair, Kyle isn’t your typical pitcher at the plate. (He’s worse.)
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
I think you are underselling the 2 doubles he’s hit in his career.
BVSQuote Reply
BVS,
One of them was just this year!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
Progress. Just like Lester
BVSQuote Reply
If Zobrist doesn’t get a hit here, I’m calling for LaStella
BVSQuote Reply
Ugh @ that hop
berseliusQuote Reply
This season sucked. They shit the bed for more than half the season and allowed mediocre teams a shot at winning the division. Their offense has been horrible in the postseason.
dmick89Quote Reply
Some great production value there
berseliusQuote Reply
You don’t walk Barnes to get double play op to option from Pederson and force Darvish out with pinch hitter?
EDIT. Well that’s one way
BVSQuote Reply
Wow, Darvish is hitting?
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I’m surprised Puig didn’t go once Heyward wasn’t able to get behind the ball.
dmick89Quote Reply
Roberts is probably telling Darvish not to swing at anything.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
Apparently Roberts can make dumb decisions too.
dmick89Quote Reply
THROW A GODDAMN STRIKE.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
This is pathetic. He’s not even going to swing.
dmick89Quote Reply
He’s not even worth having on the roster at this point.
dmick89Quote Reply
Thanks for letting me back. Just in time for the final implosion.
BVSQuote Reply
Interesting that multiple identical posts of for fuck’s sake will crash the site (dying laughing).
Berselius is too lazy to log inQuote Reply
Joe’s going to need to get himself ejected again.
Berselius is too lazy to log inQuote Reply
Closer of the future coming in!
BVSQuote Reply
BVSQuote Reply
This will be an unfortunate but predictable end to a lackluster season. This game is magnifying all the ways the 2017 Cubs are different from the 2016 Cubs, particularly the defense and relief pitching.
I hope this is a kick in the ass to the players to get back to focusing on fundamentals in the offseason and ST, because they’ve looked sloppy all year.
PerkinsQuote Reply
So when they are down by 5 runs tomorrow, I hope they put Lackey in for a swansong.
BVSQuote Reply
Perkins,
And situational hitting
BVSQuote Reply
Nice outing by Rondon (who probably should have been used more this post-season).
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
BVS,
Certainly wouldn’t want the last pitch of his career to be that walk-off HR to Turner.
PerkinsQuote Reply
@ berselius oh is that what caused it? I assumed that, after contreras’s bunt attempt, we all simultaneously decided to disband and go our separate ways.
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
I’d call any season with a division win and an advance to the LCS at least a moderate success, but this feels like a big wet fart.
PerkinsQuote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
Yeah, what the hell was he bunting for?
dmick89Quote Reply
I just assumed it was a DDOS attack from Dodgers_In_5 and his minions.
North Side PatQuote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
(dying laughing)
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
dmick89,
Maybe he was trying to Zobrist the offense back to life like last year’s NLCS.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
Perkins,
Success is relative. The Cubs should have run away with the division, but they nearly gave it away by playing so poorly the first three and a half months. We really only got two months of good baseball from this team and then once the postseason starts, almost everything about those last two months was gone. Their starting pitching was decent, but their defense was horrible. Their relief pitching was even worse than that. The offense was almost as bad.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
I think their post season offense has been downright atrocious
BVSQuote Reply
dmick89,
To make things even worse, the Cubs are going to have a hard time improving the overall talent level of the team in the offseason. The Cubs have two more years of Zobrist and way too many years left for Heyward. There’s still a decent chance Lester bounces back, but if not, that contact sucks too. It’s a good thing the Cubs have all these young players because they could be drowning in significantly overpaid veterans.
dmick89Quote Reply
BVS,
I really have no idea how they got past the Nationals.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
The offense is less baffling to me given the quality of opposition, though I’d still expect better. The bullpen and defense have been complete dumpster fires, though. The defense has been visibly poor for the whole season.
I agree that the season was a disappointment relative to preseason expectations. I’m remembering a comment Theo made about needing new blood every year during a window of contention. I wonder how much of that is due to cumulative fatigue after a team has made multiple consecutive deep runs into the postseason.
PerkinsQuote Reply
(dying laughing)
dmick89Quote Reply
Huh, that’s a big break if they can avoid that Almora TOOTBLAN.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Plan against Jansen: everyone get HBP.
PerkinsQuote Reply
All part of Joe’s master plan to wear out the Dodgers bullpen over the course of the series. Genius.
berseliusQuote Reply
Step into it, Addy.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Russell should be fined $1 million every time he throws a bat into the stands.
dmick89Quote Reply
Apparently good things happen when you connect with that eye-level pitch. Like magical, super-amazing things that more than offset the 6000 times you swing and miss.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
See. Told you LaStella would do as well as Zo
BVSQuote Reply
If the Cubs lose tomorrow then I can have an early Anniversary dinner with my wife Thurs since I’ll be in PR on our actual anniversary.
Guess that’s a plus.
BVSQuote Reply
It would have been nice to at least see the Cubs make this a competitive series, but it’s probably going to be the second time in three years the Cubs get swept in the LCS.
dmick89Quote Reply
I blame the bullpen dancing. What a dumb fucking idea that was.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
Since when is there an “L” flag? Thought it was W or nothing.
BVSQuote Reply
What kind of contract is it going to take to sign Darvish?
dmick89Quote Reply
BVS,
I don’t know. I thought it was still just W or nothing.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
My guess is 7 yr
BVSQuote Reply
dmick89,
The kind that will compound the team’s woes considerably in 2-3 years.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
I assume one of Schwarber, Baez, or Russell is gone next year in a trade for a cost-controlled starter.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Smokestack Lightning,
That may be, but I think the next two, three or maybe four years is what this team has to play for. Bryant will be gone in a few years and it’s not like the Cubs have much in the farm system. The Cubs are all in with this core and I think you worry about financial issues when that core isn’t as strong as it is. Just my two cents, but those are both pretty pennies so it’s worth more than someone else’s two cents.
dmick89Quote Reply
Perkins,
Probably, but they’ll need at least two starters. Two good starters plus a really good swing man would be nice. Schwarber for Archer? Not enough?
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
I don’t know. His stock is down from this time last year, but his ceiling is still probably pretty high. I don’t think TB makes that deal.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Perkins,
Schwarber would also move to DH, which lowers his value.
dmick89Quote Reply
http://obstructedview.net/nlcs-game-three-dodgers-6-cubs-1/
berseliusQuote Reply