Official 2018 Chicago Cubs Thread!

This just in. Counsell is either an absolute genious or he is sitting on the luckiest horseshoe in years. You just don't keep turning postseason games into bullpen starts and continually get away with it. Woodruff takes Kershaw deep and Brewers eventually end up winning by one run? Come on!

How much longer can he rely on a rotation of Chacin, Miley, bullpen start? Anderson and Davies haven't pitched in two, even three weeks. This is getting surreal. The last time they lost a baseball game was the afternoon of the Iowa Wisconsin football game. That was three weeks ago to the day.
 
No Jeffrey Maier 2.0 in Houston tonight. Fan interference ruled on Jose Altuve's home run. Joe West tries to get in position as the right field umpire, comes up about 100 feet short but makes the correct call. He only makes it to medium deep right field and basically guesses and guesses right because there was no way he could have been in proper position to see of the fans leaned over the wall onto the field of play.

In other news, Counsell has fried his bullpen. He finally put Zach Davies in who should have been starting somewhere along the line. Miley, on three days rest, pulled after five pitches on the heels of a thirteen inning marathon. Stay tuned.
 
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Lester. Darvish. Quintana. Hendricks and Hamels are all Cubbies! They also retained Strop. Smyly to the Rangers. Hayward is also staying a Cub.
 
I never have been a fan of the launch angle. I'm not a fan of all these strike outs. Put the dam ball in play!!!! I'm also not a fan of hundreds of millions of dollars being paid to a single player. Ridiculous.
 
judzeehawk said:
I never have been a fan of the launch angle. I'm not a fan of all these strike outs. Put the dam ball in play!!!! I'm also not a fan of hundreds of millions of dollars being paid to a single player. Ridiculous.
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It isn't launch angle necessarily, it is that ever freaking pitcher is throwing 95+ now also. Plus they have advanced spring rates, video, tunneling etc. that is making pitchers more effective. I'm actually for them lowering the mound slightly so more balls can be put in play. I would also be for them being more strict on foreign substances (grip enhancers) when it comes to pitchers. It is a proven fact they get way better spin rates on their breaking balls with the sticky stuff. Which makes it tougher to hit the ball and them less likely to hang one.
 
bogeyman said:
It isn't launch angle necessarily, it is that ever freaking pitcher is throwing 95+ now also. Plus they have advanced spring rates, video, tunneling etc. that is making pitchers more effective. I'm actually for them lowering the mound slightly so more balls can be put in play. I would also be for them being more strict on foreign substances (grip enhancers) when it comes to pitchers. It is a proven fact they get way better spin rates on their breaking balls with the sticky stuff. Which makes it tougher to hit the ball and them less likely to hang one.
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Seems like one year all about the HR. All the balls are being launched. The bitching ensured. So now the pitchers have retaliated with illegal substance to keep from getting hit out of the park. Wish we could hit a nice in between. This strike out stuff is maddening. The pitchers have really been doing something because some of those balls are crazy the way they are moving.
 
judzeehawk said:
I never have been a fan of the launch angle. I'm not a fan of all these strike outs. Put the dam ball in play!!!! I'm also not a fan of hundreds of millions of dollars being paid to a single player. Ridiculous.
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It is ridiculous. But so are the prices fans are willing to pay to support those salaries. If theres a market for Rush Limbaugh or Jim Rome to make $30-40 million a year, that's what they will make. And musicians, movie stars, TV personalities, etc. If the market is not there, salaries will go down.
 
Northside Hawk said:
It is ridiculous. But so are the prices fans are willing to pay to support those salaries. If theres a market for Rush Limbaugh or Jim Rome to make $30-40 million a year, that's what they will make. And musicians, movie stars, TV personalities, etc. If the market is not there, salaries will go down.
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There has to be a ceiling somewhere you'd think. When are people going to say enough. College is already feeling it and I think the pros will be in the near future. Wouldn't it be weird to play a game with nobody there but all the fans are watching on tv.
 
I wish they would either extend Maddon or fire him. Because who on that team is going to listen to him or his coaches, knowing that they will be gone after 2019.

I admire Theo's nutsack. There are managers out who can take a team to a championship. Then there are others, Phil Jackson and Pat Riley for example, who can keep a championship team motivated and hungry for more. Is Joe in the former category?

I remember Riley famously winning a title, spending his two weeks in the Bahamas or the Riviera Maya or the Caribbean, then coming back ready to crack the whip again. That may be who Theo wants, or possibly he wants a young, cheap metrics guy. But he clearly doesn't want Maddon and it could turn next year into a gigantic soap opera. What the reaction going to be the first time the team loses five out seven?
 
I see that the Cubs traded La Stella to the Angels for cash or player to be named later. They decided they didn't want to pay him 1.2 mill. La Stella trended downward as the season progressed, but for most of the year, he was one of the best pinch hitters in baseball. Seems like a paltry sum considering. I guess acquiring Torreyes from the Yankees made Tommy expendable. Hope it works out.
 
judzeehawk said:
I see they are bringing Russell back. Wish they would trade him.
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I bet a good chunk of change he won’t be on the roster come opening day. They just didn’t want to let him go and get nothing in return. They will find a taker even if they only get pennies on the dollar in return.
 
Stanzi said:
I bet a good chunk of change he won’t be on the roster come opening day. They just didn’t want to let him go and get nothing in return. They will find a taker even if they only get pennies on the dollar in return.
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Hope you are right.
 
Stanzi said:
I bet a good chunk of change he won’t be on the roster come opening day. They just didn’t want to let him go and get nothing in return. They will find a taker even if they only get pennies on the dollar in return.
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They have had an expendable position player for two years. Russell's off the field issues may have made him the expendable one. Does anyone remember that Ian Happ was drafted as a second baseman. Could he not still play it?
 
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