OSS: The Cubs go deep 3 times and played screw the closer in the 8th.
Three Four up:
- Javier Baez was only 1-4, but his 2-out home run in the 7th with 1 man on was the play of the night. Javy hit it way out and broke the 1-1 tie in Cubs favor. He’s got a 113 wRC+ on the season now and is slugging .474. His home run was off a righty, but he’s struggled a bit against them. If he could figure righties out (kind of important if you want to play every day), the Cubs wouldn’t be looking for an outfielder to pick up.
- Kris Bryant‘s home run an inning earlier tied the game at 1. It also broke up a no-hitter by a AAA pitcher so there’s that. It was Bryant’s first home run since before the all star break.
- Baez was the WPA winner in this one, but Jason Hammel wasn’t far behind. He threw 7 very good innings. He gave up just 5 hits and a run, walked 2 and struckout 7.
- Aroldis Chapman made his first appearance in a Cubs uniform and to the surprise of no one, was very good. He made easy work of the White Sox in the 9th though it wasn’t a save situation.
Three down
- You kind of have to look around for the poor outings tonight. Miguel Montero was the worst in WPA (-0.08). He was 0-3, but got on base 40% of the time by taking two walks. It definitely was not a bad night for him. In the first inning he grounded out to end the inning with runners on 2nd and 3rd.
- Dexter Fowler hasn’t looked very good since his first game back. He was 0-4 tonight with 2 strikeouts and a walk.
- We didn’t do a game recap yesterday so I’m going to add this here. Clayton Richard was on this team for weeks or even months longer than he should have been. This spot on the Three Down belongs to Theo Epstein for not releasing Richard sooner. Sorry, there aren’t any excuses for keeping Richard around.
Next up: Chris Sale vs. John Lackey @ 7:05 pm
Comments
Theo finally found the negatives and burned them.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Chapman is special. The fans confirmed what I thought. There was no controversy acquiring him. Ticket sales would not drop. His teammates all seem pretty fucking happy to have him. I support him 100% boycotting local media who want to keep asking him questions that he says he won’t talk about anymore.
BubblesdachimpQuote Reply
What does Addison Russell have to do to get in a Top Four? He hits his first career Grand Slam!
I went from “Cubs winning 87 this year” to “Cubs winning 97 this year” pretty quickly in this one.
MylesQuote Reply
The grand slam was fun. The game was practically over by that point, though.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Yeah, I just can’t cheer for Chapman. I can tolerate him on the team, and I can be happy when the Cubs win, but he’s terrible, and I didn’t enjoy watching him last night.
EdwinQuote Reply
this is the only thing that makes sense!!!! good for theo for finally ransacking richard’s apartment.
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
I pretended it was Tracy Chapman throwing 102 MPH fastballs last night, and I rooted for her to do well. That made it easier.
mikeakaleroyQuote Reply
He should have hired Veronica Mars to find them. Richard would have been gone a long time ago.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
Or Sallie Mae.
mikeakaleroyQuote Reply
Probably the most pleasing thing about last night was seeing the Cubs find a way to not wreck what might have been one of Hammel’s last good starts.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
Remember in 2005 when Derek Lee got hurt and Neifi Perez replaced him in the every day lineup? Times have changed. We’re now replacing the likes of Clayton Richard with Aroldis Chapman.
dmick89Quote Reply
At least they gave you one reason to stay here.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
dmick89,
Wasn’t that 2006? Lee’s 2005 was MVP caliber.
MuckerQuote Reply
To be serious, in 2009 when Aramis Ramirez went down, the season pretty much went to hell. Now guys like Schwarber and Fowler and Soler can go down and it’s like the Cubs only hit a minor speedbump.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Mucker,
You are correct.
dmick89Quote Reply
Rice Cube,
It’s crazy to think about how good this organization has gotten. It’s been fun. I really hope there’s something to the Cubs rumors about them going after one of the outfielders available (Reddick, Bruce, Gonzalez).
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
If the Cubs do make a play for a LF, I hope it’s Reddick. He doesn’t hit for as much power, but I think his contact skills and better BB rate are what this lineup needs more than another high K high power guy.
MuckerQuote Reply
Mucker,
Yeah, my preference would be Reddick. The Cubs would have their number 2 hitter and every day left fielder. I just wondering how much it would cost and whether the Cubs have the pieces to get it done.
dmick89Quote Reply
Having the pieces is no question. Having pieces we’d be okay with Beane getting (and Beane would want)… maybe/probably/almost certainly not.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
Smokestack Lightning,
What do you think Beane would want?
dmick89Quote Reply
When Theo talked after the Chapman trade he said “if not now, when?” Well, the Cubs need a left fielder. I’m assuming the rotation will work itself out so I don’t see a need there. This offense has been hit or miss the last 2+ months. I see it as the biggest weakness of this team and LF is the best spot to add. It was the best spot to add before closer.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
Maybe he’d like Coghlan back again
mikeakaleroyQuote Reply
I’ll admit to some mixed emotions as well, and some shame once that first fastball hit the glove and I realized how thrilled I was Chapman was throwing pitches for the Cubs. This is the closest we’ll ever get to Mariano Rivera on the bump in the ninth, even though we’re pretty far away from the caliber of person Rivera was/is.
It’s like having the Barry Bonds of closers. Even without the overblown BS PED stuff, Bonds was not exactly a model citizen. And yet, if the Cubs had had Bonds at any point in the early aughts, I’d probably have been doing backflips.
So, maybe look at this way: part of Chapman’s penance is to help the sorriest franchise in the history of sports win the WS. The rest is up to his girlfriend.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
Reddick would be super nice. Him and Javy would be a super platoon. Both kill opposite handed pitching. Although I think we might see Javy just take zobrists job. Still not sure at all where Soler fits on this team realistically when he comes back. (I guess they could dump Szczur)
Also who is the last man in the bullpen now? I would guess if someone were to get sent out it would be Edwards due to having options and then just bring him back up in a month. Joe seemed to rank the bullion tiers in post game last night as
Chapman
Rondon
Strop/wood
The rest.
Grimm has been really good recently.
BubblesdachimpQuote Reply
He’s almost impossible to predict. Market will dictate.
That said, I forgot about Cargo and Bruce being out there. Seems most teams would rank Reddick third in terms of desirability (though Reddick is probably the most complete player of the three), which may mean Beane may have to take something short of an outright fleecing.
The safe assumption is whatever it is will hurt. But if we’re in “If not now, when?” mode, better brace for it.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
Yeah, that was my thought, but I’m not certain it’s going to cost as much as you think. It will almost certainly cost the Cubs Soler, which is fine with me. I’m perfectly fine with Soler and Almora, but I don’t think Almora is going to be all that great. The Cubs apparently do so I don’t know.
dmick89Quote Reply
Isn’t Reddick a free agent after this year? If so, that means Jimenez, Almora, Candeliaro and Grimm should get the job done according to Theo. (dying laughing)
MuckerQuote Reply
I don’t want to trade Happ or from the current MLB roster. Other than that, I’m probably OK with it.
dmick89Quote Reply
Mucker,
I would guess that Jimenez and Happ are untouchable. At least they probably would be if I was running things.
dmick89Quote Reply
If dealing Soler and/or Almora, would rather see Theo take a stab at one of them there Rays’ starters the Cubs are rumored to be interested in over Josh Reddick.
Almora I could give two shits about. Soler I’m still carrying the torch for.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
Smokestack Lightning,
I think my issue is that I feel like in some way by cheering Chapman and trying to keep his off-field behaviour separate, that I’m essentially contributing to a reason for him not to change or take ownership over his actions. That I’m saying “I don’t care what you might have done, and what it means you might do in the future, as long as you don’t get caught and are able to help my team do well”.
EdwinQuote Reply
If I could get back solid young pitching for them, I’d trade them in a heartbeat.
EdwinQuote Reply
I’m OK with it. I realized the last few days that there’s not a single player on this team that I’d miss if they were gone. I’d miss their talent, but I couldn’t care less about Kris Bryant the person. Same goes for Anthony Rizzo. Carlos Zambrano was the last player on the Cubs that I actually liked. That turned out poorly and it’s not worth getting invested in them as people. Not for me anyway. When Chapman came on, all I was thinking was “The Cubs better win this one.”
dmick89Quote Reply
I don’t think it says that, but perhaps that is just my justification for doing so.
dmick89Quote Reply
Edwin,
I don’t think you’re going to get any young, cost controlled pitching. And definitely not for Soler and Almora.
dmick89Quote Reply
how many shitty prospect equal one good prospect? can we trade 20 pierce johnsons for a good left fielder?
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
Again, for me it ends with the apparent reconciliation with his girlfriend, which I will take as legit because I have no reason to otherwise other than emotion, bias, and what I think I know about DV and whether or not I trust other people who think they know so much about DV who tell me I should hate Chapman for all time.
There’s been a lot of projection going on with this situation, where people are homogenizing the Chapman Incident to where it must be like every other DV incident, which apparently have all been the same and the people involved in them all the same. Maybe that’s the safe way to lean, because DV is serious enough of a thing that it’s better to err on the side of possibly being unfair to Chapman rather than being too lenient and too easily forgiving. But again, something in me rears up thinking that because I just have a hard time reconciling much of this as any of my business in the first place. Besides, I’ve got my own problems, things I’m ashamed of. Hell, the other week I was in a nasty mood and nearly took a bat to my malfunctioning HP printer. If I had had a few beers in me and someone handed me a gun, I might very well have shot the shit out the fucking thing. So, when people (I think largely my Northern Liberal brothers and sisters) start clutching their pearls over Chapman going bonkers in the garage with a gun, as much as I’d like to, I can’t quite get up the same fear and outrage because my first thought is that printer (and other times, especially in my younger, harder drinking years, where I lost my temper and broke shit), with the next one being, there for the grace of God, go I. Same with personal relationships.
I’ve also had experience in my own family of seeing past DV not become future DV and the person who did the DV get his life cleaned up and his head on straight. I’ve had the experience of being pretty fucking mean to this person for a number of years, well after the family member he abused had reconciled with him and forgiven him and it was obvious he’d changed. I now regret my behavior and have apologized to this person. I’m still wary of them, and perhaps always will be, but I can’t deny the change that’s taken place thus far, and it is my hope that Chapman has had a similar look-in-the-mirror moment and decided to get back on the straight and narrow.
My default setting is that given the right set of circumstances, we’re all capable of anything, self included. Which is why I’m actually rooting for Chapman to get himself straightened out and be a good person going forward and not just so I can feel more comfortable cheering him on the field either. I want to believe people can come back from just about anything, and honestly, I have to. Otherwise I just end up hating people and myself.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
There’s good and bad news. The good news is the Cubs have well over 20 Pierce Johnsons. They could trade them and they’d still have 20. The bad news is that no team is going to 20 for a good left fielder. Plus, the Cubs wouldn’t have any rotations in the minor leagues if they traded them all away.
dmick89Quote Reply
This actually might not be much worse than having the rotations they do have.
mikeakaleroyQuote Reply
mikeakaleroy,
That’s true, though it’s possible we’d see a 0 K/9 starter, which is what the organization is aiming for.
dmick89Quote Reply
Smokestack Lightning,
– Yeah, much agreed. I have to hold out hope and belief that people can change, or I’m fucked. Not because I have domestic violence in my history, but there’s plenty else on my docket, and much of it involves terribly stupid and wrong reactions to stressful situations. What I have to balance that against is: do I just want to believe that he’s changed because he throws 105 MPH fastballs for the Cubs? And the answer there is yes, of course. But: I don’t know that he hasn’t changed. So, I can root for him at least until he fucks up again. But I probably need to be more generous with people who’ve shown themselves to act like assholes who don’t throw 105 MPH fastballs for the Cubs.
URKQuote Reply
To night’s base ball squadron:
Fowler
Bryant
Rizzo
Zobrist (RF)
Contreras
Baez
Szczur (LF)
Lackey
PerkinsQuote Reply
This x1000.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
At this point last year, the Cubs were at their lowest point in the season. The had allowed fewer runs than they allowed and were 2.5 games behind the Giants for the second Wild Card spot (in addition to being 11.5 games behind the Cadinals). http://www.baseball-reference.com/games/standings.cgi?year=2015&month=7&day=28&submit=Submit+Date
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
This season just seems fundamentally different from last year. The 2015 team was fun and promising, but unproven. They did better than anyone predicted, and that was nice. This year, it feels as if the division belongs to them and they have to do everything they can to hold on to the title. I felt that way before they traded for Chapman, but it seems even more true now. Victory at any cost.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
New shit: http://obstructedview.net/white-sox-cubs-game-thread-7-28-16/
dmick89Quote Reply