I'm also not sure of Maddon's exact plan last night - he's getting too LOOGYish with Ryan for my tastes, but it's not his fault everyone he brought in just wasn't sharp enough. OTOH, letting Brach hit for himself to lead off the 10th but PH for Schwarber with Contreras confuses me; it's one thing if he really wanted to give Contreras the whole night off (or at least off from catching), but then to change his mind mid inning?

1942 2,000 hits: Billy Herman
1948 Reds take early 8-1 lead on Cubs, but blow it: 13-11
1949 Rick Reuschel born
1994 Sammy Sosa's last SH: 7,706 remaining PA in his career
1994 last game: Willie Wilson
1996 Sammy Sosa homers 2x in an inning
2000 Chad Kreuter hat night at Wrigley, jackass fan takes it and LAD players go into the stands
2001 400 homers: Sammy Sosa

Do you mean wasting Ryan (in the 8th)?

Jordan Bastian @MLBastian 13m13 minutes ago

Tonight’s Cubs 9...

1. Schwarber LF
2. Bryant 3B
3. Descalso 2B
4. Baez SS
5. Contreras C
6. Caratini 1B
7. Heyward RF
8. Almora CF
9. Quintana SP

This universe seems broken if he's going to SLG .388 and be a potential gold glover.

Michael Cerami @Michael_Cerami 7m7 minutes ago

Here are some FACTS.

Yu Darvish has the ...

- 18th best strikeout rate in MLB (28.7%)
- 4th lowest (best) hard-hit rate in MLB (26.7%)
- 22nd best GB% in MLB (49.5%)

If he can keep the command under control, he'll IMMEDIATELY become one of the better pitchers in baseball.

I like seeing Almora out there just about every day now, if only for his defense. Doesn't help he's also hitting better than a number of other guys.

For his season at AAA, Happ is hitting .228/.358/.368 with 4HRs and a 37/26 K/BB ratio in 165PAs ... [and] [h]e's been pretty terrible this month.

When the Cubs are at their best, they’re doing exactly what Maddon said: going to the opposite field. It’s a thing of beauty to watch and after Sunday’s 6-5 win over the Nationals, they led all of baseball with a .702 slugging percentage to the opposite field. The gap between the Cubs and the second team, the Tampa Bay Rays at .599, is the same between the Rays and the 15th team on this list. In Sunday’s 8-5 victory over the Nationals, they delivered four extra-base hits, two to the opposite field.

But when the Cubs don’t stick to their approach with runners in scoring position, the offense wanes. Since May 6, the beginning of the Marlins series, the Cubs are 29th in baseball with runners in scoring position in wRC+ (39) and batting average (.159). They also don’t strike out much in those situations, just 16.2 percent of the time, which is 28th. So they’re putting the ball in play, but their .162 BABIP (28th during that stretch) is resulting in missed opportunities. And while that number is lower than it should be if they had even average luck, it’s not totally unearned. During that span, they’re 28th in hard contact (26.4 percent) and fifth in groundball rate (55.2 percent).

And, to prove Maddon’s point, they’re pulling the ball 51.4 percent of the time in those situations, which is tops in baseball.

Sports Info Solutions @SportsInfo_SIS

Highest Hard-Hit Rate - Minimum 90 at-bats
Hunter Pence 43%
Christian Yelich 43%
Anthony Rendon 43%
Cody Bellinger 43%
Justin Turner 42%
Carlos Santana 42%
Tommy La Stella 42%
Yadier Molina 41%

Our hard hit rate is: number of hard-hit balls/at-bats

A more recent CT scan revealed a hairline fracture for Nico Hoerner in his wrist. He'll be in a splint for three weeks and out at least a month.

Strop threw 25 pitches in a side today and will have another in a couple days. Morrow threw from 45-60 feet flat ground today and came out of it fine.

Morrow threw from 45-60 feet flat ground today and came out of it fine.

Schwarber
Bryant
Rizzo
Caratini
Heyward
Almora
Descalso
Russell
Darvish

Oh, boy.

Sean Doolittle on Maddon and Saturday's kerfuffle ...

"It was kinda tired. Sometimes he has to remind people how smart he is."

(that's especially annoying since the Cubs had that Angels game end on Schwarber's check swing that was more checked than that one instead of it being the game tying walk)

Bruce Levine @MLBBruceLevine 6m6 minutes ago

Maddon still not sure where Baez is physically . He hopes to start him Wednesday

“Right on schedule,” Cubs president of business operations Crane Kenney said Monday during a wide-ranging interview about the team’s vision for Marquee. “We’ll be ready for February.”

Not only that, but Kenney said the Cubs’ payroll should immediately see a boost. After this season, there should be money for Theo Epstein and his staff to sign free agents or their own players to big-money extensions. That’s good news for the baseball operations department, which dealt with a well-publicized budget crunch this past winter.

“Those additional resources are available immediately next year,” Kenney said. “The team has a rights fee significantly higher than what they’re receiving today, so that’s from the start. Then there’s the question on the network side of what profits are enjoyed, if any, (so) they could also be used for investment in the team or other assets around the ballpark or other interests of the (Ricketts) family. That’s probably a little further down the road. But from the team’s perspective, the rights agreement that they’ve got in place with (Marquee) will give them more resources next year than they had today.”

After this season, there should be money for Theo Epstein and his staff to sign free agents or their own players to big-money extensions.

“Those additional resources are available immediately next year,” Kenney said. “The team has a rights fee significantly higher than what they’re receiving today, so that’s from the start. Then there’s the question on the network side of what profits are enjoyed, if any, (so) they could also be used for investment in the team or other assets around the ballpark or other interests of the (Ricketts) family. That’s probably a little further down the road. But from the team’s perspective, the rights agreement that they’ve got in place with (Marquee) will give them more resources next year than they had today.”

Sahadev Sharma @sahadevsharma 26m26 minutes ago

Xavier Cedeño to IL with left wrist inflammation. Rowan Wick coming up from Iowa. Wick has a 2.84 ERA, 31.7% K rate and 6.3% walk rate in 19 IP at Triple-A this year

Overall, the bullpen has a solid enough 3.97 ERA, 11th in baseball. But they’re only striking out 23.4 percent of batters (20th) and they’re walking an MLB-worst 13.4 percent. Like the struggles with runners in scoring position, that walk rate has been a consistent issue for Cubs relievers for years now and must be corrected. They’ve had strong ERAs over the years, but the free passes will inevitably catch up to them.

On Tuesday, Carl Edwards Jr. came in to hold a 1-0 lead in the seventh and exited with runners on second and third and two outs. Brandon Kintzler relieved Edwards and promptly gave up a groundball single up the middle to give the Phillies a 2-1 lead. Kintzler got the blown save – the Cubs’ ninth of the year, tied for second-most in baseball – but it’s Edwards whose role remains a huge question.

And while the Cubs are surely monitoring the trade market and keeping eyes on potential targets, their pro scouts likely won’t be sitting on specific players for another few weeks. The bigger names won’t be moved just yet. Sure, Craig Kimbrel could be had after the amateur draft for nothing but the price of his contract, but who knows how long it takes him to be ready for game action and just how effective he’ll be after a long layoff. And would the Cubs even be willing to meet his price? Despite the tight offseason budget, the Cubs set aside a healthy amount for additions mid-season. Either way, they’ll need to hold it down with what they have for at least a few more weeks.

Michael Cerami @Michael_Cerami 7m7 minutes ago

Since April 25th, Kyle Schwarber is slashing a fantastic .257/.402/.459 - the 19.6 BB% looks great in front of Bryzzo and Baezeras ...

BUT DUDE CHECK THIS OUT:

11.5% soft-hit rate
40.4% hard-hit rate
41.2% fly-ball rate
33.3% ground ball rate

Those are all REALLY good signs.

Was it me, or did Javy look really slow defensively last night? Or maybe is was just the Cubs overshifted against righties more than usual and a bunch of ground balls got through the SS side of 2b that normally Javy would at least make a play on (instead of just kinda wave at it as it rolls into CF).

Jordan Bastian @MLBastian 12m12 minutes ago

Cubs add a fresh arm to bullpen after two heavy bullpen games in a row. RHP James Norwood recalled from AAA, and RHP Rowan Wick optioned to same affiliate.

LHP Tim Collins and RHP Dillon Maples recalled, OF Mark Zaginis and RHP James Norwood optioned. The bullpen carousel continues.

The #Cubs today selected the contract of INF/OF Jim Adduci from @IowaCubs. LHP Tim Collins was optioned to Triple-A following yesterday’s game.

Sahadev Sharma @sahadevsharma 3m3 minutes ago

KB signing some autographs for kids. He's been hitting in the cage, throwing, and taking some grounders. Still not ready to start and unlikely to be available off the bench tonight. Back in the lineup Wednesday is a possibility.

Anyway, his OPS+ is down to 52 now, how much longer can Joe trot him out there?

I still can't bring myself to root for him. But Russell had an OPS+ of 117 entering today and he has a HR and a walk today. I would guess that we're looking at Russell as the full-time 2B going forward here.

The answer is pretty damn obvious here, isn't it? Why are you going to have the MVP candidate move around so a part time player can start at their preferred position?

I'm not convinced he's a better SS glove than Javy

Of course, I'd still rather he weren't on the team.

What sort of leave is Zobrist on anyway? B-R doesn't list him on the 40-man or on the 60-day. Can you move players off the 40 for personal reasons without exposing them to waivers or putting them on the 60-day IL?

670 The Score @670TheScore

#Cubs don't want to "yo-yo" Ian Happ up and down from big leagues to Triple-A, Jed Hoyer says, which is why they called Jim Adduci up recently over Happ. The team is keeping the big picture in mind for Happ.

"He keeps making progress," Hoyer says. "He's had a great attitude."

MLB Stats @MLBStats 12h12 hours ago

.@kylehendricks28 is the first pitcher since @ClaytonKersh22 (May, 2016) with four starts of 8+ IP and 1 ER or less in a month.

I wouldn't be surprised if Russell is at 2B at least partially due to public relations.

If they plant him back at SS, some people will yell "you gave the abuser his job back like nothing happened!"

Moses Taylor, aka Hambone Fakenameington Posted: September 10, 2018 at 12:09 PM (#5741575)
What's the consensus on Russell? The emergence of Baez has sort of taken the spotlight off Russell having another rough season. 2016 seemed like he was set to bust out, but it's been really nothing but disappointment from him since.

There doesn't seem to be one, but it's getting harder and harder to see how his bat develops into a true plus. He is still only 24, so it's likely there still is development in there. His BB% rate is up a little this year (but not as high as 2016) and his K% is down (career low), which are good things. Like a number of other people, his power completely cratered. His BsR numbers are also a career best, but some of his defensive metrics are also down. The biggest other thing I see is that he's not pulling the ball like he used to (only 29% when he's always been above 40%), so I don't know if that means there's an approach reason for some of these changes and if they're related.

He's been banged up a lot - last year too - so maybe even the optimistic view that it's just injuries might imply he's an injury prone guy.

I think there's a chance the Cubs could try to move him this offseason, but I think Javy being able to play multiple spots is a good thing so you'd have to really be blown away by an offer, and considering he's at a low point in his value I'm not sure why a team would be that aggressive to target him. I'm fine approaching this offseason with him on the bench and being a defensive replacement (he is better than Javy at SS, and Murhpy is bad at 2b). Long term, I dunno.

Daren Willman @darenw 4h4 hours ago

Kyle Hendricks threw 2 pitches 90 MPH+ yesterday vs the Astros.... He hasn't done that since 10/22/2016 vs the Dodgers in the playoffs.

Max's Sporting Studio @MaxSportsStudio 6h6 hours ago

Most valuable hitters in the month of May (WAR totals as according to @fangraphs; min 50 PAs):

1. Nolan Arenado, COL (1.9)
1. Josh Bell, PIT (1.9)
3. Kris Bryant, CHC (1.8)

Least:

283. Maikel Franco, PHI (-0.7)
284. Daniel Descalso, CHC (-0.8)
285. Yonder Alonso, CHW (-0.9)

284. Daniel Descalso, CHC (-0.8)

Maddon is spot on when he talks about the spin rate; it’s true for all of Maples pitches. For pitchers who have thrown at least 50 pitches all season, Maples is tops in spin rate for his four-seamer and curveball and seventh with his slider. There isn’t public data available that suggests spin rate for a slider is a great thing, but some inside baseball suggest that having a fastball and slider with similar spin rates is effective. Maples has a difference of 112 RPMs between the two pitches, a relatively small gap.

Maples said he’s been throwing his curveball since he was 13 years old. But the slider is something he really started going to in 2017. That, along with the curve, have made him an untraditional pitcher as far as someone who has found success by using his fastball less than 50 percent of the time. Perhaps in today’s game it’s not as rare, but it’s still hard to break with baseball’s norms at times.

---

Maples’ slider has 12.8 inches of horizontal movement. That’s 9.7 inches – or 314 (!) percent – more break than similar MLB sliders at his velocity. His 89.9 mph slider is the seventh-hardest in baseball. The nasty slider became something coaches and catchers felt he should lean on almost exclusively. But that’s not how Maples is completely comfortable and in his mind, it’s not the path to success. What he did Monday when mixing in eight four-seamers and six curveballs to go along with his 15 sliders, however, is. That mix resulted in 1 1/3 scoreless innings with three strikeouts, one hit and, most importantly, no walks.

“When I got back to the big leagues, they said, ‘This guy has good slider command, we’re just going to roll with that,’” Maples said. “But in actuality, I still need to throw the fastball and curveball. I was able to do that (Monday). That’s when I’m most comfortable.”

With those breaking pitches and a four-seamer averaging 96.9 mph, Maples has the ingredients of a star reliever. Now he just needs a real opportunity to try and prove that he can be consistent with his arsenal.

“When I got back to the big leagues, they said, ‘This guy has good slider command, we’re just going to roll with that,’” Maples said. “But in actuality, I still need to throw the fastball and curveball. I was able to do that (Monday). That’s when I’m most comfortable.”

The last three starts for Cubs prospect Adbert Alzolay: 17 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 23 K, 2 BB (1 IBB), 1.06 ERA, .103 AVG, .254 OPS, 68% strikes, 56% grounders, 18% swinging strikes, 8 baserunners in 60 batters faced.

Translation: Good and stuff.

Starting with last Sunday’s 10-2 drubbing at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds and throughout the ensuing six-game road trip, the Cubs went 4-for-41 with runners in scoring position. Remarkably, of those four hits, only one scored a run. On the road trip, the Cubs lost three games by one run and another two by three each. A few more timely hits and there’s a good chance this team is at least talking about a split instead of licking their wounds.

So the Cubs took Ryan Jensen out of Fresno State with their first pick. The consensus is this was a bit of a reach but that seems to be a pattern with the Cubs.

He has a mid-90s fastball but he is undersized, has control issues, and no solid secondary pitches. So he seems destined for the bullpen.

Bruce Levine @MLBBruceLevine 2m2 minutes ago

Joe Maddon just confirmed @670TheScore that Pedro Strop will be activated off IL today .Dillion Maples Sent to Triple A.

“How about the play by Carlos in right field?” Maddon said. “That’s the game-changer. We brought the guy in because of his bat primarily, but he’s been a great defender too, and he showed it there.”

Maddon even indicated that he just liked merely seeing González’s name in the lineup.

“You could just see the presence in the lineup, how that lengthens the lineup out,” Maddon said. “It just does. CarGo making a really great first impression.”

González has two consecutive seasons below a 100 wRC+ and in 117 plate appearances in Cleveland, he struggled mightily with a 49 wRC+. But the Cubs don’t need him to be an offensive savior. It’s more important that their current stars turn things around at the plate.

“You could just see the presence in the lineup, how that lengthens the lineup out,” Maddon said. “It just does.

Why push it because of who he was?