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Gonfalon Cubs — Cubs Baseball for Thinking Fans Monday, May 06, 2019That was funThe first road trip of the season feels so long ago now, doesn’t it? Coming into the season I was on the more optimistic side of people around here; I still overreacted a little to that piss poor start. As plenty of people have said, teams are never as bad as they look at their worst or as good as they do at their best. However, I see no reason to think the Cubs aren’t much more likely really this good - well, not .800 win percentage good, but 95 wins good. The Cubs have the best run differential (and best on a per game basis by a nice margin); they’re just 0.01 r/g behind TEX for the ML lead (5.9 r/g), and are all the way back up to 3rd in the NL in ra/g (4.26, but it’s 2.77 since that 9 game opening trip). There obviously is plenty of offensive regression coming - Contreras, Heyward, and Bote are the obvious candidates, not to mention the utter unpredictability of the entire bullpen. Javy is a different story, and I’m not going to even begin to try and predict what’s gong to happen with him; he has clearly made improvements yet again from last year (going the other way a ton more), but he’s basically a baseball wizard so he can just do whatever he wants I guess. Rizzo has rebounded nicely (.340/.438/.774 last 14 games), Bryant’s also rebounding - though more quietly (.277/.444/.596 last 14), and even Schwarber looks better if you cherry pick enough (.320/.419/.560 last 9). On the pitching side, only Lester appears to be significantly out-pitching his FIP, but as I mentioned in a comment in the last thread his peripherals are much closer to his good 2016 than his luckier 2018. Hamels and Quintana appear to be back to the solid, reliable selves and good for Pops giving Hendricks his vote of absolute confidence right before Kyle threw his Maddux. Darvish continues to be absolutely maddening (is it me, or is he going really out of his way to try and completely avoid all contact?), but the stuff appears to be there - unlike last year, where it seemed like he never had it. IOW, I think it might be mental with him, and I think the Cubs absolutely should be doing everything they can to try and straighten him out, as he has an upside none of the other SP options can touch. I saw some conversation in the game chatter yesterday about either a 6 man rotation (wouldn’t be the worst idea, though no one has said anything about it yet) or either Chatwood or Montgomery taking his spot. First off, I think the Chatwood suggestion is ludicrous; he’s closer to being just released than given a rotation spot again IMO (I’m not completely opposed to a spot start against the right opponent). Montgomery is just a guy, and I’d only put him in over Darvish if Yu was hurt or completely worthless (and he’s not close to that yet; again, a spot start or 2 is fine). I’ll be happy to change my mind if Davish doesn’t show any signs over improvement over the next 4-6 weeks. The bullpen has once again been a surprising strength. Almost everyone has had a blowup or two, but everyone’s overall numbers look pretty good which means that they’ve been really good outside of the obvious hiccups. Kyle Ryan is really flying under the radar, but he looks like he’s solidified a spot in the pen for the rest of the year to me; he’s not just a LOOGY either. Strop is basically a metronome at this point, one that is consistently underappreciated. Brach is another version of Cishek, and both have been solid. Kintzler has bounced back nicely, and I’m inclined to believe what he’s doing is “real” as his bad stretch last year is really the outlier. I’ll continue to dream on Maples, while also accepting it’s probably a long shot if we ever see Morrow in a Cubs uniform again. This team is the 2016 team, and isn’t approaching that level of domination. But today, you can make a strong argument that the Cubs are in the discussion for the best team in baseball. That’s about all you can really ask for, and so I’m going to enjoy this ride while it lasts. Moses Taylor loves a good maim
Posted: May 06, 2019 at 10:11 AM | 488 comment(s)
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Heyward is 4 for his last 49; quite a bit of that has come since he was moved to leadoff (which I actually suggested before it happened).
Heyward is 4 for his last 49; quite a bit of that has come since he was moved to leadoff (which I actually suggested before it happened).
He took one for the team and volunteered to be a substitute host for whatever parasite Kris Bryant had to start the year.
I think the first mistake was not double switching in Montgomery, because he should have gone more than just 2/3 of an inning. I'm not sure why he wanted/needed Brach to go a 2nd inning. I know the bench was short with Rizzo unavailable, but he still never used Zagunis, so that was mistake number 2 (or again, he could have planned ahead to double switch in when he brought Brach in). Maybe there were more pitchers unavailable than I realize (which would make the Monty move worse in retrospect), but I would guess all of Cedeno, Cishek, and Chatwood were available if needed based on recent usage.
Something tells me Joe didn't have that one ready before this series started.
This universe seems broken if he's going to SLG .388 and be a potential gold glover.
I don't know about his conclusion, and that's a big IF. He did look much better the other night (against another bad offense), but the 0 walks is the real takeaway. He still throws way too many pitches and tries to strike everyone out all the time.
Kyle's hitting for neither power nor average. OTOH, Rfield loves him. He's at +7 on the year.
He's had a few Schwarerrors recently, but a lot fewer assists (does he have any?). I thought a lot of his dWAR last year was due to those outs on the basepaths.
---
Last night was just bad offense. I mean, the Reds pitching was outstanding, seriously. Quintana wasn't bad, and had one bad inning again, but the Cubs were pretty lucky to get even those 2 runs (literally, that bounce off 3b was crazy).
Schwarber
Bryant
Rizzo
Baez
Contreras
Descalso
Heyward
Almora
Hamels
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.
I also like seeing Almora playing regularly and starting to hit reasonably well.
Meanwhile, isn't it getting to be about time to bring Ian Happ back up? Neither Schwarber nor Heyward are hitting all that well and, frankly, one of them should probably always be sitting against a lefty starter. Mark Zagunis has become the forgotten man - and it's hard to blame Maddon for not playing him; he's not really a major-league caliber corner outfielder. I know Joe's done some Bote-Baez-Russell with Bryant in the OF - and having to cover for Rizzo at 1B obviously shortened the bench a lot. But the Cubs kind of feel like they're an outfielder short right now.
*Nope, I'm wrong. He's been pretty terrible this month. He's been slightly better against LHP than RHP (which is the opposite of what he's been so far in his big league career). So everything about his year in Iowa looks weird and not good so far.
Phillip Evans, who had a nice spring, might be the guy who's bat might be worth a look: .282/.434/.496. He's 26, not really a prospect, but he's not on the 40 man so there'd have to be a corresponding move to get him up. Him, or Dixon Machado, who's in a similar boat as Evans. Of course, neither are OFs. Donnie Dewes and Johnny Field are only ok so far, but they're OFers. Considering the offensive surge in AAA and the facts the IA Cubs are in the PCL, it's actually kinda disappointing to not see anyone on that team having that good of a season hitting so far.
As I'm glancing at that page, I happened to see Duensing's numbers, and oh boy. I commend him for sticking it out, but kinda hard to not think he's just complete toast.
tl; dr, it's probably more likely the Cubs look outside the org than bring up anyone currently in AAA.
Fair enough. It was more an observation that the Cubs feel like they're an outfielder short with Zobrist on the restricted list and Zagunis nailed to the bench (as he probably should be). I don't know what the deal is there, but yeah, that line certainly doesn't scream "promote me!"
Team save ratios can be misleading. If the pen loses the lead in the 7th or 8th inning, it's a "blown save" but if they hold the lead, it's a "hold". Given current pen strategies, the pen is liable for a blown save in the 7th, 8th and 9th innings but only eligible for a successful save in the 9th. Alternatively, if you're up 1 after 6, it takes 3 scoreless innings (or scoring some runs but not too many) to record a team save.
And whaddya know, b-r tracks "save situations" The Cubs have 35 save situations with 17 holds and 8 saves ... which is probably not great but probably not bad. Note, for reasons I don't understand, it's 35 save situations with 17 holds, 8 saves and 7 blown saves which adds up to just 32 ... ahh, you don't get a hold if you don't retire a batter so those are Ryan's and Cishek's failed LOOGy/ROOGy outings.
For comparison, Houston's pen has the most WAA so far. They have 33 save situations with 18 holds, 12 saves and 3 BS ... which is nuts, that would be a good save %age for a 1-inning closer. Also if have LOOGy'd/ROOGy'd, they've at least gotten an out.
Don't touch the hair! Probably one of those Dorian Gray things where the uglier the hair gets, the better the bat gets.
"It was kinda tired. Sometimes he has to remind people how smart he is."
---
Sucks both Lester and Hendricks got semi-shelled. Neither are really a surprise considering how they really so much on control and deception. It was obvious Lester didn't have it from the start; Hendricks looked amazing first time through so his struggles appeared to come out of nowhere.
---
Fun with cherry picking:
Bryant's last 23 games: .318/.454/.753
Rizzo's last 23 games: .307/.415/.670
Contreras's last 23 games: .309/.389/.543
Baez's last 23 games: .323/.365/.552
Man, that's been a fun run.
Bote's last 23 games: .218/.303/.372
Heyward's last 23 games: .169/.237/.292
Descalso's last 23 games: .127/.197/.200
Yuck.
Almora's last 23 games: .320/.338/.573. That's fewer PAs that most everyone else, and not a lot of patience and probably lots of luck (he doesn't hit the ball in the air a ton). Regardless, he is the one OF that should be in the lineup every damn day at this point.
Schwarber's last 23 games: .254/.404/.423. I mean, that's basically a leadoff hitter.
good stuff
This TLS thing will never make sense to me.
---
I haven't seen anything about how Javy is feeling today, but he's not in the lineup:
Schwarber
Bryant
Rizzo
Caratini
Heyward
Almora
Descalso
Russell
Darvish
Oh, boy.
No chance of seeing him this year now, methinks.
Except for a mild case of dropsy and acute hammer toes.
Yikes! When Victor Caratini is your cleanup hitter - and Victor Caratini is probably your best choice for cleanup hitter - that's not ideal. Although Caratini is batting .471/.571/.824 this season so, maybe?
I had no idea that Elroy was actually Sean Doolittle!
---
Also a shame for Darvish, since once again he was pitching so well. Unlike the last start, he was pretty efficient with his pitches for quite a while and it looked like he was going to go pretty deep. The offense couldn't push across more runs after multiple chances, and he unraveled a little at the end (again though, some of that was bad luck - but his control was really starting to go at the end).
I agree that check swing call last night was egregious, and Schwarber's was bad as well, but it would not have tied the game. The Cubs had runners on second and third at the time.
---
Uh, what? Let's recap this timeline again:
-Sunday: fine, removed to be safe, he can play Monday.
-Monday: just getting a day off, can PH, should be back tomorrow.
-Tuesday: Who knows, hopefully back tomorrow.
I'm surely overreacting, but I'm also having flashbacks to last year and Bryant's "concussion" and shoulder.
That's quite the statement on the payroll. Too bad the FA class doesn't exactly line up that nicely; at least not as nicely as this past season. I'd love to see Bryant/Baez/Contreras extensions regardless.
I'm not sure about that.
It's not an "and."
It's just interesting to hear the business side say flat out the payroll will go up, especially after everything they said this offseason.
Is there any chance they can start spending some of that money a little early and go get Craig Kimbrel?
Bryant
Rizzo
Contreras
Heyward
Almora
Descalso
Russell
Quintana
It just looks *wrong* without Baez again.
Hamels $20,000,000
Zobrist $14,000,000
Morrow $10,500,000
Cishek $6,500,000
Strop $6,250,000
Kintzler $5,000,000
That's $62,250,000 which is a lot of scratch. The notable Arb guys will be:
Bryant $12.9 and heading into Arb 3
Baez $5.2 and heading into Arb 2
Russell $3.4 and heading into Arb 3
Schwarber $3.4 and heading into Arb 2
Montgomery $2.5 and heading into Arb 2
Edwards $1.5 and heading into Arb 2
Contreras heading into Arb 1
Almora heading into Arb 1
Hendricks will get about a $5.0 raise due to his contract and Bote will get about a $2.5 raise but these are basically offset by Lester's $7.5 salary drop. There are a few other pay changes here and there or one or two million. There also will be some buyouts on guys like Morrow.
I haven't really looked into the option situations for guys like Quintana and Rizzo so I don't know what their pay will be next year. But the payroll situation looks better than I would have guessed before I took a peek.
Rizzo has $14.5mil option for the next 2 years, then FA after 2021. That's a $3mil raise for Rizzo.
Chatwood is also a FA after 2020, and Lester has a $25mil mutual option (or $10mil buyout).
Obviously the Cubs gotta hope they don't have to keep paying retail for SP, but they're still probably going to be spending most of the FA money on pitching the next few years. Getting one or two (honestly, I hope for all 3*) of the big guns signed to extension would really help clarify the available money.
*I've now come around on thinking Javy should be the priority; KB is going to cost the most/least likely to sign an extension and Contreras is far enough away and at such an age I'm not sure there's a real rush to lock him up to big money.
-Monday: just getting a day off, can PH, should be back tomorrow.
-Tuesday: Who knows, hopefully back tomorrow.
The "available to PH" part seems to have worked out well today, at least.
Cedeno hasn't been good at all yet, and was hurt all ST, so I guess this isn't surprising.
The pen has really looked bad lately:
hmmm:
Schwarber
Bryant RF
Rizzo
Baez
Contreras
Almora
Russell
Bote 3b
Hamels
He seems to have real value as an old-time long reliever - someone who can come in and keep the game close for 3-4 innings on days when the starter leaves early. I like it, it's not a role you see much of any more, but the Cubs have some starters who are prone to racking up big pitch counts in 4-5 innings. I could see Chatwood getting 100-120+ innings on the season just in picking up the group once each time through the rotation.
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).
Almora is on quite the hot streak right now - .337/.360/.602 his last 24 games. He's an every day CF at this point; oddly enough, he has an extreme reverse platoon right now (.827OPS vs RHP and .590 vs LHP; which is not how the previous years of his career have gone).
Javy took his 11th walk last night (he also has 2 IBB) - his career high is 21. He might get there by the AS break. He hit 3 bWAR yesterday (though Bryant has now passed him in OPS+; Bryant also passed Contreras in bWAR).
Schwarber
Baez
Rizzo
Contreras
Heyward
Almora
Descalso
Lester
Bote
Cubs needs at least one of Heyward/Descalso/Bote to stop being a complete zero offensively. I'm glad this Schwarber as leadoff guy appears to be working this time.
I thought so - I don't think he got to a ball all last night that wasn't hit right at him. But it would be weird if his heel wasn't still bothering him at least a little - he said after the game Tuesday night that it still hurt.
Bryant
Rizzo
Baez
Heyward ?!?!
Caratini
Descalso
Almora
Hendricks
Heyward did have 4 walks yesterday (should have been 5, save that AWFUL strike 1 call in the 9th), but he's not hitting still. He's going to come up with guys on, and they're not going to score.
Wick got what, one appearance? Had some bad luck in it too.
One good turn for Norwood. The bulloen is ragged and bad at the moment. Cishek had been so good too, probably just completely overused.
Adduci is hitting 5th today and playing RF. Both Bryant and heyward are out after yesterday's collision (which was Bryant's fault). Javy at DH today.
Astros lineup also looks weird with a bunch of their guys hurt too.
Rizzo is on quite the run - .375/.460/.792 his last 24 games (11HRs). I don't know what's gotten into Almora, but again, I think he should be playing every damn day at this point.
This is going to be like his non-concussion or shoulder thing from last year, isn't it? They ran into each other good, but it didn't really look like Bryant hit his head that hard. Maybe he's got weak bones or something.
Upon finding out this is the same Jim Adducci who was mainly in his mid 20s and could play CF in the Cubs system like 15 years ago.... my second thought is that my brain is filled with far too many worthless things to remember.
The dance has begun.
Bote is doing fine again but Descalso just needs to be put into the Jonathan Herrera Memorial one start a month role. 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.
Well, I'm certainly not rooting against him and it's nice to see him performing well. It makes me wonder why he is not the SS (with Baez at 2B)? I guess it probably doesn't matter and they both project to be +gloves at either position, but the numbers suggest Russell has been pretty damn valuable as a defensive SS during his run. If Russell is going to OPS+ 117 going forward (a big if, of course) then it makes sense to me to plant him at SS and let Baez take 2B and bounce over to 3B or SS about 35% of the time.
It still hurts, considering Altuve, Springer, and Correa are all out. The Cubs have 8 home runs in the 2 games, but only 11 runs. Considering they have such a high team OBP, that's almost just plain unlucky they haven't scored more. Also, Javy has 8Ks in the 2 games - maybe he just can't mentally deal with being a DH.
It makes me wonder why he is not the SS (with Baez at 2B)? I guess it probably doesn't matter and they both project to be +gloves at either position, but the numbers suggest Russell has been pretty damn valuable as a defensive SS during his run. If Russell is going to OPS+ 117 going forward (a big if, of course) then it makes sense to me to plant him at SS and let Baez take 2B and bounce over to 3B or SS about 35% of the time.
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 don't mean that in a Jeter/ARod situation, especially since Bryant won his MVP bouncing all over the place. Also, while Russell still is only 25 and had a good pedigree coming in, he's been a fulltime player for 4 years so I'm not even considering moving Baez off SS for Russell fulltime anytime soon no matter how well he's temporarily hitting. I'm not convinced he's a better SS glove than Javy, and with Bote likely a plus at 2b&3b; and Russell just fine at 2b&SS;, I'm fine with the current allotment of PT. Russell probably should play more over Descalso, but I'm not changing anything more drastic for him based on on-field results just yet.
Of course, I'd still rather he weren't on the team.
Schwarber
Bryant DH (good)
Rizzo
Baez 3b
Contreras
Almora
Heyward
Russell SS
Bote 2b
Miley is a LHP, and Schwarber is still leadoff. I approve (I think he's now started at leadoff against the last 2 LHP SP the Cubs have faced).
Yes, it's obvious he lost his starting shortstop job because of the off-field stuff. It's possible the Cubs would have made a swap in a world where that didn't happen, but it's pretty unlikely. And when the heck did Russell get categorized as a "part-time player" in your eyes and why? (rhetorical question, I know why). He's been a regular since the day he was called up, and the regular shortstop since August 2015.
Let's imagine a couple hypothetical scenarios, both of which suppose the off-field stuff never happened and decisions are being made solely for 'trying to win baseball games' reasons. Scenario A supposes that Russell doesn't get suspended and plays out last year and starts the 2019 season normally. Scenario B imagines that instead of being suspended, Russell suffered an injury or multiple injuries that led him to miss the final eight games last year and the first 32 this year.
In scenario A, we certainly might have seen Russell temporarily lose his 'everyday SS' role, because he was hitting very poorly, the Cubs had acquired Daniel Murphy, etc. In the final weeks of the regular season and during the playoffs, Russell likely would not have started every game because of the way his bat was playing. However, when he did start, I submit, it would have been at SS, with Baez sliding back to 2B. And in this scenario, I believe Russell would have been the starting SS on opening day 2019.
In scenario B, we might be looking at something similar to what we are seeing today, but once Russell proved he was healthy again (and was hitting at or near career norms), I think he would have been be back at SS rather quickly.
I'm not necessarily convinced of this either, because Javy is an elite defender, too, but you are really underselling Russell's demonstrated defensive value. Russell was second among all MLB shortstops in Defensive Runs Saved per fangraphs in 2016, 2017 AND 2018. He is an elite defensive shortstop and has accumulated more "value" in the field than Baez during their respective careers.
Thanks for the reminder. I had forgotten where you stood.
One thing that surprised me looking at it this postseason was that, even before this year, Javy had more starts away from 2B than at 2B and only 27 fewer at SS than 2B. He now has more career starts at SS than 2B. Between regular rest, maybe his bat and of course his injuries/suspension, Russell has missed a lot of time the last few years.
Almora has now started 18 of the last 20, that's as full-time as Joe gets -- 265/306/544 with 5 HR in that span so he's given Joe no reason to sit him especially given the other performances. He should be pretty secure at least until/unless Zobrist comes back and goes on a tear (or Happ starts tearing up AAA -- 236/354/416 so we've got a while to wait).
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?
I think the term they used was that Zobrist is on the "restricted list". I read something today that this meant he wasn't getting paid, although I have no idea if that's true, but I'm not sure I'd ever heard of the "restricted list" before Zobrist was placed on it.
Players on the restricted list do not count against the active or reserve roster.
If they plant him back at SS, some people will yell "you gave the abuser his job back like nothing happened!"
Not so sure that holds up...
Those hypotheticals don't really interest me because you don't have to go there to still call him a part time player. No, he's a part time player right now because he's playing part time. He's a part time player because the Cubs kept him in AAA after his suspension ended, and only called him up because Zobrist left. He's a part time player because he has a career OPS+ of 88. He's a part time player because the Cubs acquired Daniel Murphy last August before the off-field stuff happened (I guess there's a chance the Cubs knew something was coming before everything went public) and Russell was a part time player/defensive replacement then. He lost his job before that #### happened.
He plays, and can be worth playing, because of his glove; that's also the main reason he was given lots of chances as his offense continued to tank. But when there's a guy who might be his equal with the glove that is actually hitting, that guy gets to stay ahead of him. Then you add in the off field #### on top, and here we are.
Now, the fact that Zobrist is gone and Descalso can't hit obviously complicates things right now. Bote is just as streaky, and far from a guarantee that he's better than Russell offensively.
Yes, I will admit I'm more outspoken on Russell because of the off-field stuff, but I have been down on him since before that:
My opinion on their relative merits at SS has changed some - I think some of that is seeing Javy play at SS every day for an extended period. I've also always wondered about the defensive metrics with Javy and him not ever staying in one position, I've consistently felt they undersold his value (I've talked multiple times about him being able to be a worthy gold glove winner at any of SS, 2b or 3b if he ever got to play a full season at one - so another selfish reason for me to prefer Javy there is to see him get a shot at that GG this year).
*2yr guaranteed contract. I could see them dumping him in the offseason if he stays this terrible, might be harder for them to do in season unless Zobrist comes back.
An aside, just curious.... I haven't actually seen anything on exactly what Zo's personal matter is. Not to be gossipy - I mainly just know he's got several kids and seems like one of those "good guys" and hope it's nothing like a gravely ill child or some such. I respect his privacy and all - and it's not like we talk regularly and I'm worried I owe him a "let me know if you need anything, buddy" call or anything, but I'm just wondering what I (probably) missed.
Also.... is it inappropriate to make an Aaron Miles v2.0 joke? Probably.... but I'll still make it.
It's a divorce:
Zobrist and his wife, singer Julianna Zobrist, filed divorce papers in separate states — Ben in Tennessee, Julianna in Illinois. He reportedly alleged she “has been guilty of inappropriate marital conduct, which rendered further cohabitation impossible.” She cited “irreconcilable differences.”
And according to this he may not return at all this season.
Not to be crass about it, but I will anyway -- my memory indicates that I'm only one who will be sad to see the end of "I feel alive" walkup music. Christian pop ain't my thing, but a catchy tune is a catchy tune and I still like it. Less now, but still.
Control, control, control.
But hey, he pitched 1 1/3 good innings!
The whole point of putting guys in the best spot to succeed surely involves making sure they're comfortable or at least agree with the approach. I don't think anyone has ever hinted anything about him not being coachable or anything either. So I'm not really sure what you're seeing here.
In fact, I'd go so far to say that it makes sense to me that he'd be more effective with a better variety of pitches instead of leaning more heavily on either the FB or slider - unless he ever really does get to that point where his slider control is good enough where he can consistently get guys to chase when he wants them to and throw it for strikes when they're not chasing. If the hitter knows the slider is coming, they'll just take it and assume it misses the zone (which at least has been the case way more often than not in the bigs).
*I'd also argue with anyone who says he has good slider control. If he really did, he'd already be their full time "closer".
I suppose if CarGo hits, he could take some of Zo's OF time but is mostly here for injury insurance. Or at least I hope so since Zo's OF time was going to be mostly at the expense of Almora. If we're going to take a flyer on a vet OF, a RHB makes a lot more sense. Maybe when the Yanks get Judge and Stanton back, we can grab Maybin. (Or Happ ...)
On Descalso, it is guaranteed but just 2/$5 so easy enough to walk away from. But at the moment, no need to walk away necessarily, just (as much as possible) keep him out of the lineup. Not that I ever understood the signing -- maybe the Cubs data/scouts show different but he's not been rated as good defensively and he can't hit, so why he got two yars and was ever brought in as more than Russell cover is beyond me.
Hard to say it's a fault yet but Chatwood/Morrow last year and Descalso (a much smaller concern) this year are both cases where Theo jumped early in what became a very slow market. The Reds have ended up with Jose Iglesias for 1/$2.5 and we've got Descalso for 2/$5. That's cherry-picking a bit -- there weren't too many of these guys around this offseason -- but DD is down to nearly -1 WAR.
....
Sounds like CarGo is up today, Adduci DFA. I really wouldn't expect anything from him, and I'm going to be annoyed if he gets too much PT.
It's also worth mentioning that the Cubs might actually be in on Kimbrel. Zobrist on the restricted list frees up some more money, and the Cubs already were saving money for the deadline. Robothal mentioned them as a possible suitor yesterday.
EDIT: He's in the lineup and hitting 5th. Oof. He should only play to give guys a day off.
*
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.
As crazy as it sounds there is a non-remote chance he pitches in MLB this year provided he signs right away (Fresno's season is over). Obviously, for this to happen the Cubs are going to need confidence in something besides his fastball and that improvement is not a given.
*The interweb tells me he's already thrown 100 IP this year, which is more than he's ever thrown in college. So the Cubs may elect to do none of these things and keep him out of competitive baseball entirely for the remainder of 2019.
Maples needs to get a real chance to stick. I don't think Ryan has any options, so I guess that's why he's still around. The Cubs want another lefty, but lefties are hitting him better than righties so far.
Well, they've drafted RPs in rounds 3 and 4 so far.
Bryant
Rizzo
Baez
CarGo
Caratini
Heyward
Russell
Hendricks
Russell seems to be solidifying the 2b job. I think Maddon already has fallen in love with CarGo:
Almora has a .874 OPS the last month, plus the plus defense. I'm not a a fan of this likely development.
*Based on that 10 year interval, was Hamels '18 in that same group?
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