MLB 2018 Season

[wadesworld]

You sir need to buy me a new bottle.

I'll have to check with the Cubs weather man first to make sure it's not going to downpour on me on my trip to the liquor store.

[MU82]

Cubs have struck out 58 times - most EVER by an NL team through 5 games. They also are 2-3 against 2 of the worst teams in baseball. And while they've gotten some good pitching, neither of their 2 aces made it out of the 5th inning.

It's early. It doesn't really matter yet. They're still the best team in their division. But yikes!

[Vander Blue Man Group]

I'll have to check with the Cubs weather man first to make sure it's not going to downpour on me on my trip to the liquor store.

Keep it going - you're hilarious!

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Cubs have struck out 58 times - most EVER by an NL team through 5 games. They also are 2-3 against 2 of the worst teams in baseball. And while they've gotten some good pitching, neither of their 2 aces made it out of the 5th inning.

It's early. It doesn't really matter yet. They're still the best team in their division. But yikes!

Yeah, they've looked bad.  To be fair, that includes a 17 inning game - there are 6 teams that have a worse strikeout rate so far.

They also have the 7th most hard contact so far, so part of the struggles seem fluky.  Their continued inability to drive runners in from 3rd with less than two out has been maddening, however.   

Personally, I consider Hendricks the de-facto ace at this point. 

[MU82]

Yeah, they've looked bad.  To be fair, that includes a 17 inning game - there are 6 teams that have a worse strikeout rate so far.

They also have the 7th most hard contact so far, so part of the struggles seem fluky.  Their continued inability to drive runners in from 3rd with less than two out has been maddening, however.   

Personally, I consider Hendricks the de-facto ace at this point.

I guess the ace shouldn't be decided by the $$$ but by the performance. So sure, Hendricks it is.

Pitchers like Lester tend to blindside teams by getting old quickly. Not saying that's what has happened, but it's a possibility. Last season: 4.33 ERA, 1.323 WHIP, 3.0 K/W, 8.9 H/9, 26 HR, 1.3 HR/9 - all either his worst since becoming a full-time MLB starter or almost his worst. 180 IP lowest for him.

He turns 34 this summer and has $85M guaranteed coming to him over next 4 years (with $15M possible in 2021 if he's not bought out for $10M that year).

Not that money matters to the Cubbies anymore!

[Vander Blue Man Group]

I guess the ace shouldn't be decided by the $$$ but by the performance. So sure, Hendricks it is.

Pitchers like Lester tend to blindside teams by getting old quickly. Not saying that's what has happened, but it's a possibility. Last season: 4.33 ERA, 1.323 WHIP, 3.0 K/W, 8.9 H/9, 26 HR, 1.3 HR/9 - all either his worst since becoming a full-time MLB starter or almost his worst. 180 IP lowest for him.

He turns 34 this summer and has $85M guaranteed coming to him over next 4 years (with $15M possible in 2021 if he's not bought out for $10M that year).

Not that money matters to the Cubbies anymore!

Yeah, one of the reasons they signed Lester is because they felt he'd age well.  It will be interesting to see his performance this season to see if he bounces back at all.  The Cubs don't win the World Series without him so the contract is already worth it, IMO. 

[MU82]

The Cubs don't win the World Series without him so the contract is already worth it, IMO.

100%. I wasn't questioning the signing one iota.

If his arm falls off tonight and he never throws another pitch for the Cubs, it will have been worth it.

The idea for any team is to win a championship. That goes quadruple for a team with the Cubs' history.

That's why Reinsdorf and Krause's decision to throw away future Bulls championships was tragic.

[🏀]

Lester usually goes through a dead arm period in Spring Training, seems like he's now carrying that into 2018 as he did in 2017. Ultimately, he's going to regress into a 4-5 starter at the end of the contract, I'm fine with that. I think that's how these pitchers should be treated under the current CBA.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

100%. I wasn't questioning the signing one iota.

If his arm falls off tonight and he never throws another pitch for the Cubs, it will have been worth it.

The idea for any team is to win a championship. That goes quadruple for a team with the Cubs' history.

That's why Reinsdorf and Krause's decision to throw away future Bulls championships was tragic.

Agreed. 

Then they blew up the Bulls I hated it but it didn't register immediately just how awful of a decision that was. 

[wadesworld]

Dope

[Jockey]

Fun stat from Brewers - Cards game:

1st time in MLB history that a game started AND ended on back-to-back jacks.

[GB Warrior]

Baseball has a way of evening out over the course of a season, so I won't put too much stock in the late game heroics (close games involve a lot of luck that will wane), but this team is going to be fun

[jsglow]

One of the things I think the Crew CAN count on is the minimal strikeouts we'll see out of #1 and #2.  Cain and Yelich are going to be on base so much more than the Brewers have been used to out of those two batting positions.  Also, this appears to be a very good defensive team with those two plus Orlando and Manny right at the tops in the league for their positions.  They really appear to be a very fundamentally sound team.  But of course pitching is always the key.

[GB Warrior]

One of the things I think the Crew CAN count on is the minimal strikeouts we'll see out of #1 and #2.  Cain and Yelich are going to be on base so much more than the Brewers have been used to out of those two batting positions.  Also, this appears to be a very good defensive team with those two plus Orlando and Manny right at the tops in the league for their positions.  They really appear to be a very fundamentally sound team.  But of course pitching is always the key.

Agree with all of this. Cain's 3 strikeouts last night notwithstanding (why aren't we booing him like the Yankees booed Stanton?), Cain's and Yelich's plate discipline is refreshing to watch. Yelich especially just acts with such intention and is content to dump the ball where the pitch will let him. As exciting as the likes of Gomez were, we're not going to see the same streakiness out of the top of this lineup.

[MUBurrow]

Agree with all of this. Cain's 3 strikeouts last night notwithstanding (why aren't we booing him like the Yankees booed Stanton?), Cain's and Yelich's plate discipline is refreshing to watch. Yelich especially just acts with such intention and is content to dump the ball where the pitch will let him. As exciting as the likes of Gomez were, we're not going to see the same streakiness out of the top of this lineup.

Its a fun contrarian play from Stearns, too.  At a time when most of the league is going full-on three true outcomes and obsessed with launch angle up and down the lineup, the Brewers spent big in money and prospect capital to pair really good, traditional table setters at the top of their lineup.

[Jockey]

Its a fun contrarian play from Stearns, too.  At a time when most of the league is going full-on three true outcomes and obsessed with launch angle up and down the lineup, the Brewers spent big in money and prospect capital to pair really good, traditional table setters at the top of their lineup.

Very smart move.

We will all see how the launch angle con will work once the ball is no longer juiced. Lots and lots of deep fly outs.

[muwarrior69]

Agree with all of this. Cain's 3 strikeouts last night notwithstanding (why aren't we booing him like the Yankees booed Stanton?), Cain's and Yelich's plate discipline is refreshing to watch. Yelich especially just acts with such intention and is content to dump the ball where the pitch will let him. As exciting as the likes of Gomez were, we're not going to see the same streakiness out of the top of this lineup.

...because he did not sign for 325 million.

[jsglow]

Its a fun contrarian play from Stearns, too.  At a time when most of the league is going full-on three true outcomes and obsessed with launch angle up and down the lineup, the Brewers spent big in money and prospect capital to pair really good, traditional table setters at the top of their lineup.

I'm a casual baseball fan.  Is the focus these days on HRs completely? That's the message I get when we talk launch angles.

[cheebs09]

Has anyone sat behind the expanded netting? I went to a game but was in the second level. However, I totally forgot it was expanded and could barely tell.

Wondering if anyone who sat in those seats had their views obstructed since there was a lot of handwringing when the change was announced.

[MU82]

It's amazing that Ruth, Gehrig, Williams, Musial, Mantle, Aaron, Mays, Jackson, Schmidt, Griffey, Bonds and Thome could ever hit more than pop-ups or weak grounders without being able to study launch angles.

I wonder what the exit velocity was when they hit the ball out ... actually, I don't.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

It's amazing that Ruth, Gehrig, Williams, Musial, Mantle, Aaron, Mays, Jackson, Schmidt, Griffey, Bonds and Thome could ever hit more than pop-ups or weak grounders without being able to study launch angles.

I wonder what the exit velocity was when they hit the ball out ... actually, I don't.

Some folks are naturals, i.e., their swings are already built around optimized angles.  They didn't need to study it, but I'm sue they worked hard to maintain or improve.  Not everyone is like that, though, just like some guys keep their bats in the proper plane longer and have higher BA's.  Studying (and coaching) can help.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Should be a fun, interesting series at Wrigley North this weekend.  I'll be up there on Saturday. 

[wadesworld]

Should be a fun, interesting series at Wrigley North this weekend.  I'll be up there on Saturday.

Wouldn't have pegged you as anything other than a Saturday night Cubs fan heading up to "Wrigley North."

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Wouldn't have pegged you as anything other than a Saturday night Cubs fan heading up to "Wrigley North."

Dumb, even for you.

[wadesworld]

Dumb, even for you.

Exhibit A.