IST: Cubs @ Cardinals

chibears55

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Just wanna see a little life in this team...
They have a 10 games home stand coming up now against 3 teams they should easily beat..
Like to see the rotation put together some QS and these slumping hitters snap out of it..
I expect or hope for no worse then 7 and 3 here..

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Ari Bear

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I don't disagree. But if you look at each player Ian fits the mold easier. So he doesn't have to approach his AB's diffrent. Kyle is a production hitter forced into a OBA spot. Dropping him down to #8 in front of the pitcher IMO is what they should do. Let him get his swing back at a lesser impact spot in the line up. They did this with Heyward to lessen the impact of his struggles also.
Hayward they changed his swing and stance to where he has a more level swing and which it upped his bat speed 3 or 4 mph more than last years. Thats why he improved. You can drop Kyle down the order I'm totally fine with that not to 8th though I like him at 4th when hitting better but for now short term I would put him 6th.

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CSF77

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Hayward they changed his swing and stance to where he has a more level swing and which it upped his bat speed 3 or 4 mph more than last years. Thats why he improved. You can drop Kyle down the order I'm totally fine with that not to 8th though I like him at 4th when hitting better but for now short term I would put him 6th.

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I would prefer Zobrist leading off and Happ hitting 4. That gives a SH in between Rizzo and Russell. Heyward 6, Contreras then Schwarber
 

Ari Bear

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I thought in the beginning of the season that they were gonna leadoff with Zoe, sort of surprising they didnt. But Maddon is full of surprises.

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CSF77

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I thought in the beginning of the season that they were gonna leadoff with Zoe, sort of surprising they didnt. But Maddon is full of surprises.

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Joe is obsessed with Kyle leading off with his plate discipline that he showed in the minors. He does like a SH batting #4 so he may change up when Bryant is back. Happ has looked like he belongs and I would be happy with either Zo 1 or 4 and Ian filling the other void. SH hitting 1 and 4 worked with this line up last year.
 

TC in Mississippi

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I think you're all getting ahead of yourselves on Happ. I think he goes down on Tuesday when Heyward comes off the DL and stays there for awhile.
 

CSF77

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I think you're all getting ahead of yourselves on Happ. I think he goes down on Tuesday when Heyward comes off the DL and stays there for awhile.

Candy is most likely.

IF: LaStella 2B, 3B.
Baez 3B, SS, 2B

Bryant can cover 1B and any OF spot.
Ian can cover any OF with 2B. Has played 3B also in Iowa.

With Heyward back it comes down to if they want to start Almora every day or do they want to get Happ AB's in the OF. Heyward can man CF also.

I'm pretty sure it will come down to Candy hitting .063 that he gets demoted.
 

TC in Mississippi

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Candy is most likely.

IF: LaStella 2B, 3B.
Baez 3B, SS, 2B

Bryant can cover 1B and any OF spot.
Ian can cover any OF with 2B. Has played 3B also in Iowa.

With Heyward back it comes down to if they want to start Almora every day or do they want to get Happ AB's in the OF. Heyward can man CF also.

I'm pretty sure it will come down to Candy hitting .063 that he gets demoted.

I think they both go down and another pitcher comes up. After today they don't have an off day for a couple of weeks. Joe likes to carry 13 pitchers in those stretches. Plus who is he going to take playing time from? Bryant, Zobrist and Jay will all be healthy soon. It's way more important for him to play every day than to stay in MLB right now.
 

beckdawg

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People need to get a grip. This has been a .500 team with half their starters not hitting well, numerous injuries to starters and pitchers not playing to their ability. This is figuratively the slump before the all-star break last season. Cubs have played a tough schedule(4th hardest in baseball) as well. People need to stop living and dying a game at a time. If they are still having these issues in July then sure start to panic. But all it takes is for them to go on a tear and win something like 20 of 30 games and they are in a commanding lead. And we've seen these players do that 2 straight years. They were basically unbeatable in the second half of 2015. Last year other than the bad month before the all-star break they were basically unbeatable.

As I've been saying people are looking at this the wrong way. Most of the questions coming into the season were about the bullpen and CF both of which have been quite good. There were also questions about Montero who's been fantastic. There were also giant questions on Heyward and while he's not played in awhile he looked closer to 2015 Heyward than 2016 Heyward. There were no questions on whether or not Rizzo could hit. There were no questions on Contreras and Russell. There were perhaps a few on Baez repeating but the thought was his defense would always be there. There were few questions on Schwarber's ability to hit. Most of the questions on him were defense related and while he's not been willie mays out there he's made several really good plays. Metrics say he's still been some what bad but that's mostly down to range. DRS has him at -5 but UZR/150 has him at 6.2 which is better than average with the biggest knock being range as mentioned.

In other words, basically every worry we've had coming into the season hasn't really been an issue. Sure other issues popped up but they are things we assumed were given such as Rizzo. So, why panic over Rizzo not playing well? Do we really think he's going to be crap all year? Do people really think Schwarber is going to be crap all year? If this is the cubs "floor" then I'll take that every year for the next decade. And that's before we even talk about impact additions via trade.
 

CSF77

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I think they both go down and another pitcher comes up. After today they don't have an off day for a couple of weeks. Joe likes to carry 13 pitchers in those stretches. Plus who is he going to take playing time from? Bryant, Zobrist and Jay will all be healthy soon. It's way more important for him to play every day than to stay in MLB right now.

Not sure on Jay. Jay would push him down if he struggles. But if Happ continues to hit I really doubt they will demote him. They will create playing time. Candy has flat struggled. Doesn't look like the same guy who was wrecking AAA. Happ didn't miss a beat. So you could say he belongs until it is proven he does not belong.
 

CSF77

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People need to get a grip. This has been a .500 team with half their starters not hitting well, numerous injuries to starters and pitchers not playing to their ability. This is figuratively the slump before the all-star break last season. Cubs have played a tough schedule(4th hardest in baseball) as well. People need to stop living and dying a game at a time. If they are still having these issues in July then sure start to panic. But all it takes is for them to go on a tear and win something like 20 of 30 games and they are in a commanding lead. And we've seen these players do that 2 straight years. They were basically unbeatable in the second half of 2015. Last year other than the bad month before the all-star break they were basically unbeatable.

As I've been saying people are looking at this the wrong way. Most of the questions coming into the season were about the bullpen and CF both of which have been quite good. There were also questions about Montero who's been fantastic. There were also giant questions on Heyward and while he's not played in awhile he looked closer to 2015 Heyward than 2016 Heyward. There were no questions on whether or not Rizzo could hit. There were no questions on Contreras and Russell. There were perhaps a few on Baez repeating but the thought was his defense would always be there. There were few questions on Schwarber's ability to hit. Most of the questions on him were defense related and while he's not been willie mays out there he's made several really good plays. Metrics say he's still been some what bad but that's mostly down to range. DRS has him at -5 but UZR/150 has him at 6.2 which is better than average with the biggest knock being range as mentioned.

In other words, basically every worry we've had coming into the season hasn't really been an issue. Sure other issues popped up but they are things we assumed were given such as Rizzo. So, why panic over Rizzo not playing well? Do we really think he's going to be crap all year? Do people really think Schwarber is going to be crap all year? If this is the cubs "floor" then I'll take that every year for the next decade. And that's before we even talk about impact additions via trade.

Not really a panic. More like stating: Schwarber is hitting .150 and Joe keeps making excuses for him. I would like him to be dropped to #8 where he can figure it out.

The injuries are part of the game. Last year they were lucky there. This year the team as a whole has looked flat. Baez helped fill the void created with Fowler going down. This year he has really not done much. Add to it he has been error prone.

The staff is not stable. That and D were the stable factor. The O would go up and down. This year both the D and the pitching has been leaky and the O has been flat more than on.

Over all in 25% of the games they look the part of a pretender. Getting players healthy factors less than getting them to play at a higher level. If anything in jury has created opportunity for Butler and Happ to get on the team.

All year this team has looked flat.
 

chibears55

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I think you're all getting ahead of yourselves on Happ. I think he goes down on Tuesday when Heyward comes off the DL and stays there for awhile.
Candelerio will go down, he hasn't done anything..

Gotta ride the hot bat in Happ now

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chibears55

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I think they both go down and another pitcher comes up. After today they don't have an off day for a couple of weeks. Joe likes to carry 13 pitchers in those stretches. Plus who is he going to take playing time from? Bryant, Zobrist and Jay will all be healthy soon. It's way more important for him to play every day than to stay in MLB right now.
You ask me id send Schwarber down..?
But .......

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beckdawg

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I wonder when Joe's gonna do something crazy like bringing in zoo animals or a magician. Haven't really heard any of those stories this year.
 

chibears55

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People need to get a grip. This has been a .500 team with half their starters not hitting well, numerous injuries to starters and pitchers not playing to their ability. This is figuratively the slump before the all-star break last season. Cubs have played a tough schedule(4th hardest in baseball) as well. People need to stop living and dying a game at a time. If they are still having these issues in July then sure start to panic. But all it takes is for them to go on a tear and win something like 20 of 30 games and they are in a commanding lead. And we've seen these players do that 2 straight years. They were basically unbeatable in the second half of 2015. Last year other than the bad month before the all-star break they were basically unbeatable.

As I've been saying people are looking at this the wrong way. Most of the questions coming into the season were about the bullpen and CF both of which have been quite good. There were also questions about Montero who's been fantastic. There were also giant questions on Heyward and while he's not played in awhile he looked closer to 2015 Heyward than 2016 Heyward. There were no questions on whether or not Rizzo could hit. There were no questions on Contreras and Russell. There were perhaps a few on Baez repeating but the thought was his defense would always be there. There were few questions on Schwarber's ability to hit. Most of the questions on him were defense related and while he's not been willie mays out there he's made several really good plays. Metrics say he's still been some what bad but that's mostly down to range. DRS has him at -5 but UZR/150 has him at 6.2 which is better than average with the biggest knock being range as mentioned.

In other words, basically every worry we've had coming into the season hasn't really been an issue. Sure other issues popped up but they are things we assumed were given such as Rizzo. So, why panic over Rizzo not playing well? Do we really think he's going to be crap all year? Do people really think Schwarber is going to be crap all year? If this is the cubs "floor" then I'll take that every year for the next decade. And that's before we even talk about impact additions via trade.
Not a panic, it waiting to see if this team has a pulse and when will they figure it out..
Hoping it not going to be a season long funk for all or some of these guys..

Need Arrieta and Hendricks to get going or did we just see them have career years and now their just back to being just another starter..

Lackey been below average, and probably won't be any better then what were seeing now.

they still have uncertainty in the 5th spot..

Schwarber... we have ZERO idea of what their going to get from him..he not the guy who shocked the world in the WS.. he the guy that struggled at the end of 2015 season and so far he crap this year..

Rizzo in a funk.. my opinion, I think the guy worn out from all the outside baseball activity he has done and still doing..

Zobrist.. as I said in off season, he a year older and it looks as though it caught up to him.. he a bench player now, not the ultra role player he once was..

Contreras Russell Baez
Like Schwarber but a little more seasoned.. young guys we have no idea what their going to do or if their going to figure it out and readjust to major league pitching..

Those are 6 everyday hitters hitting between. 179 and .236..

2 top starters with ERA over 4 and 5

7 - 9 at home with -11 RD

6 - 11 in last 17 games

Right now they look like a team that partied and celebrated all off season and have yet to answer the bell for this season..

I don't expect all these struggling players to just click at the same time , but I hope to see some life in them to start happening sooner rather then later..

10 game home stand starting up now against divisional teams and a struggling giant team..
Be nice to see them rise now and get some momentum going ..

They end up .500 or worse here, then we might start getting nervous about them.




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CSF77

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I wonder when Joe's gonna do something crazy like bringing in zoo animals or a magician. Haven't really heard any of those stories this year.

He can pull a try not to suck tee out of his ball cap if he is hard up.
 

TL1961

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I thought in the beginning of the season that they were gonna leadoff with Zoe, sort of surprising they didnt. But Maddon is full of surprises.

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Zoe?
 

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