IST: Cubs vs Mets

Diehardfan said:

Last I heard, they play 9 innings....

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Lol..

Like you weren't discouraged by that start...

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chibears55 said:

Lol..

Like you weren't discouraged by that start...

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Against this pitching staff? You are kidding, right?

Tonight is the 12 game out of 58 the cubs have scored more than 10 runs in the 2nd half. That's pretty nuts. That's one out of every 5 games.

Not sure if it'll count because Rivera has Hrs with Mets but Cubs now have 9 players with 10 or more homers with Heyward shot..

Rivera has 9 and Almora 7

The record is 11 by the 2004 Tigers

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beckdawg said:

Tonight is the 12 game out of 58 the cubs have scored more than 10 runs in the 2nd half. That's pretty nuts. That's one out of every 5 games.

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I'd be plenty happy seeing # 13, 14 and 15 this weekend!!

Tough pitching coming up - play SOLID D, get good pitching. Would be HUGE to win the first tomorrow with their #1 vs our #4.

Lackey can do it. Go get 'em, John!

Diehardfan said:

Against this pitching staff? You are kidding, right?

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Can't assume anything with 2017 cubs.

Could of said same thing about the Cubs relievers giving up more runs...





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CHICAGO -- If Jen-Ho Tseng looked nervous in his first Major League start, it's because he was.

"He's 22," Cubs rookie catcher Taylor Davis said. "If he wasn't nervous, there'd be something wrong with him."
Full Game Coverage
Tseng arrived in Chicago on Wednesday, thinking he was going to be honored pregame on Friday as the Cubs' Minor League Pitcher of the Year. He'd been throwing at the team's complex in Arizona, but didn't know he'd be making his debut until he met with manager Joe Maddon on Wednesday.

"I was thinking I was just here [in Chicago] to receive the award," said Tseng, the Cubs' No. 13 prospect. "When [Maddon] told me I was going to pitch, I was kind of nervous."

The Taiwanese right-hander went three innings on Thursday night against the Mets, who scored five runs off him. The Cubs rallied to win, 14-6, completing a sweep of the series.

"I like the kid a lot, I really do," Maddon said. "Obviously, a little nervous. [He and Davis] had that 'never let them see you sweat' moment, and they did. Jen-Ho showed me great carry on his fastball and I loved his changeup. It was good."

Tseng's first pitch to Mets leadoff batter Jose Reyes was a called strike, and he got Reyes swinging at the next pitch. But Tseng then threw four straight balls, and the last one went behind Reyes' back.

"I was a little bit nervous on the first pitch, and then I felt more comfortable," Tseng said. "After 3-2 [to Reyes], I threw a cutter that went behind the batter, and after that I became more nervous."

"It was an awkward first night for him," Maddon said. "Moving forward, I like him. I've seen very successful pitchers throw like him."

However, Tseng most likely won't get another start the rest of the season. Jake Arrieta, who has been nursing a sore right hamstring, will likely return to the rotation. Maddon said nothing had been determined yet.

"I really believe that the next time out, you'll see more pinpoint command out of him," Maddon said of Tseng. "I can see this guy putting the ball where he wants to."

First baseman Anthony Rizzo did his best to calm Tseng's nerves.

"Just breathe. Have fun," Rizzo said of his message to the young pitcher. "Until you go out there and do it, that's when you hit the biggest learning curve. I thought he did a really good job controlling his emotions. He had a few hiccups there, but he threw strikes and punched guys out and looked pretty good."

There were some hiccups in the first. After Reyes walked, Brandon Nimmo reached on an error by Tseng, who couldn't get his glove on a throw from Rizzo and fell at first base. Asdrubal Cabrera hit a sacrifice fly and Tseng then hit Dominic Smith with a pitch. But the pitcher, the first from Taiwan to play for the Cubs, struck out the next two batters to end the inning.

"I really don't think he pitched that bad," said Davis, who caught all but one of Tseng's starts at Triple-A Iowa. "He struck out six guys over three innings."

Tseng has some wicked stuff, whatever that knuckle curve slide job pitch he has was looked unhittable. Just sliding and changing levels.

I dont know about the rest of you but why the hell were Rizzo and Bryant left in the game until the ninth? 1:00 start time against a PLAYOFF series against the cardinals really made me worry we were going to see another spring training lineup like he used when they could have put a knife thru the heart of the brewers.

chibears55 said:

Lol..

Like you weren't discouraged by that start...

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I wasn't actually. I had very little doubt they were going to win that game, and absolutely none as soon as Joe brought in Avila and Montgomery.

Lost in the fact that the poor kid was nervous as fuck and that Taylor Davis did him no favors, I really liked what I saw out of Tseng. He has a good array of pitches and it wouldn't surprise me to see him be a solid 4/5 type for a long time.

TC in Mississippi said:

I wasn't actually. I had very little doubt they were going to win that game, and absolutely none as soon as Joe brought in Avila and Montgomery.

Lost in the fact that the poor kid was nervous as fuck and that Taylor Davis did him no favors, I really liked what I saw out of Tseng. He has a good array of pitches and it wouldn't surprise me to see him be a solid 4/5 type for a long time.

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I'm pretty sure he will walk out of S/T holding a rotation spot. He has this under his belt now so the next time he wont be fighting the moment.

chibears55 said:

Can't assume anything with 2017 cubs.

Could of said same thing about the Cubs relievers giving up more runs...





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Oh, really? Then why were you "assuming" a loss?

If the Cubs pump out 10 runs the odds are pretty good.

TC in Mississippi said:

I wasn't actually. I had very little doubt they were going to win that game, and absolutely none as soon as Joe brought in Avila and Montgomery.

Lost in the fact that the poor kid was nervous as fuck and that Taylor Davis did him no favors, I really liked what I saw out of Tseng. He has a good array of pitches and it wouldn't surprise me to see him be a solid 4/5 type for a long time.

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Yeah, it was as bad a case of the yips as I've seen. He has a lot of work to do with command....a lot like Hendricks had to do. He's got a lot of movement on his pitches but he really needs work in spotting them better. A better catcher than he had wouldn't hurt either.

Diehardfan said:

Oh, really? Then why were you "assuming" a loss?

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Who assumed a loss?

I just said i didnt care for Davis catching and questioned why Davis didn't go on Jay ground ball..

I admit being a bit nervous about a game I felt they needed to win after they went down 3 zip and 5 -3...

Cause like I said , at that point we had no idea how the bats were gonna respond and then there was the bullpen that a bit beat up..

Obviously it all worked out

Maybe I'm wrong but your post was questioning posters post of what they wrote early in game when it wasn't looking good..
Nobody really said anything once cubs caught them and took control of game..

Like TC, i felt better once I saw Monty in game with Avila and MY GUY Jay[emoji6] tied it up..


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chibears55 said:

Who assumed a loss?

I just said i didnt care for Davis catching and questioned why Davis didn't go on Jay ground ball..

I admit being a bit nervous about a game I felt they needed to win after they went down 3 zip and 5 -3...

Cause like I said , at that point we had no idea how the bats were gonna respond and then there was the bullpen that a bit beat up..

Obviously it all worked out

Maybe I'm wrong but your post was questioning posters post of what they wrote early in game when it wasn't looking good..
Nobody really said anything once cubs caught them and took control of game..

Like TC, i felt better once I saw Monty in game with Avila and MY GUY Jay[emoji6] tied it up..


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You always assume a loss....opposition scores in the first inning, you're bitching. No runs for Cubs after 3 innings, you're bitching. You're ALWAYS bitching. You are the biggest Debbie Downer on this board. Let's see how long it takes today.....your guy is pitching.

Diehardfan said:

Yeah, it was as bad a case of the yips as I've seen. He has a lot of work to do with command....a lot like Hendricks had to do. He's got a lot of movement on his pitches but he really needs work in spotting them better. A better catcher than he had wouldn't hurt either.

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They put Davis in due to those 2 working together in AAA. He is known for command. This was a case of the jitters

Diehardfan said:

You always assume a loss....opposition scores in the first inning, you're bitching. No runs for Cubs after 3 innings, you're bitching. You're ALWAYS bitching. You are the biggest Debbie Downer on this board. Let's see how long it takes today.....your guy is pitching.

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Wow..
That your comeback response
??????????

?????[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

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TC in Mississippi said:

I wasn't actually. I had very little doubt they were going to win that game, and absolutely none as soon as Joe brought in Avila and Montgomery.

Lost in the fact that the poor kid was nervous as fuck and that Taylor Davis did him no favors, I really liked what I saw out of Tseng. He has a good array of pitches and it wouldn't surprise me to see him be a solid 4/5 type for a long time.

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His future relies in his curveball. I don't disagree that he can't have a good career but to me, he needs to be able to locate and throw that pitch in any count at any time to keep hitters off his fastball. His fastball is incredibly flat and lifeless for a righty so when guys can sit on it in certain counts or just guess it's coming, he's going to get hit too much to ever be successful. But if he has the option of throwing that curve in any situation, he can keep hitters off balance enough to be solid.

It's similar to what Rich Hill has to do but Tseng has a better 3rd/4th pitch with that slider that he doesn't have to be that exact with his curve but he needs to be able to throw and locate it any time. I mean, you can see the potential. 9 swinging strikes in three innings shows you the ability to miss bats at a high level. Montgomery for example has one start with more and he had to go 6.2 innings to get 10 swinging strikes.

Tseng can be successful with his fastball as long as he treats it as a secondary pitch and he is locating it.

The thing is his pitches have movement. That is the only pitch that is rated sub par for him. Even then it sits at 93 and when it dropped down to Hendrick's mph he fell out of the top 30. This year it went back to his 2014 mph and his stock went back to where it was.

It factors for sure. To say he should avoid it is not based off the fact that his value was determined off the velocity of that pitch.

That said he should never go over 30% use of it. Typically a starter will go fastball/breaking pitch to rightes. Fastball/change to lefties. He has that combo going but he also has a plus cutter where he can work a cutter in a fastball count.

So honestly his success will be based off command. Pure and simple. If he can use a offspeed in a fastball count (normally behind or first pitch to get ahead) it will put the hitters off balance where they do not know what to expect. That is when he can use a fastball and catch them sleeping on it.