Just admit you know damn well he'll finish above .500 ..like he has every year since he's left that dogshit organization and joined an elite one.

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I admit that you can fuck off. I could not care less how many games Q wins or loses.

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That's a lie

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Nope.

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Theo needs to call out Tom....even though its Theo's fault that Tom won't give him any money. Idk what they can do to fix this with a signing though. I wouldn't be surprised if Kimbrel's arm is hanging on by a few threads. I guess what he needs to do is stop holding on to Schwarber, Russell and Happ and fucking trade one or all of them to make this team better. They have no problem scoring no matter who is in the lineup so maybe trade some expendable pieces and get some god damn pitching.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

What can be done? Epstein fucked himself.

Hamels
Hendricks
Lester
Chatwood
Darvish
Quintana


That's what Joe has to work with.. not much can change

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The rotation is fine. The bullpen is a fucking joke. He has 3 guys he can count on, none are closers and one is nursing a bad hammy that he has had for the last 8 months.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

Yeah the pen is the huge issue here. They should easily be 3-0 right now. The starters have been fine and the offense has showed up. But the pen is awful.

Definitely don't want to overreact over the first 3 games of the year....but it is hard to see how the pen gets much better.

With 3 in ATL and 3 in Milwaukee this could be a really bad start...

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Darvish was "fine"?

No doubt Darvish was bad...but he still only gave up what 3 runs?

As a whole the starters have been fine....the pen is the problem.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Darvish gave up three runs in less than three innings - good for a 10+ era...jeez the bar is low.

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“Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.”- JD Vance
“My god, what an !diot.”- JD Vance tweet on Trump
“I’m a ‘Never Trump’ guy”- JD Vance

To be fair, he wasn't even available to have a 10 ERA last year.

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I have family members who are 40+ year Cub fans already insisting that if the Cubs are at about 12-18 after 30 games that Joe has to be fired at that point.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

Less runs than Hamels gave up. Joe should’ve kept Darvish in for at least 100 pitches. Let him figure it out.

I want to blame Joe for creating a culture where there is zero accountability but what the hell is he going to do with that pen? It's atrocious, there is no one to call up and he is pretty much fucked. I hope he does more stuff like he did with Q yesterday. Use what you have got regardless of role.

What happened to Webster? He was great in ST, he has some experience and IIRC he was the main guy in the nixed Dempster to LA trade back in the day. The only way to fix this is to start cutting bait and giving the ball to someone else.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

Cubs' quality starts by year:
2015: 81 (15th, amazingly the White Sox were 3rd with 98)
2016: 100 (T-1st)
2017: 77 (9th)
2018: 82 (T-16th)

It is imperative that the Cubs get 2 quality starts in every series against a team projected to end up below .500. Get the starter through 6 and save the bullpen.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

Webster signed on a NRI and was assigned to AAA. He both is out of options and isn't on the 40-man. So if they had him start the season in Chicago, they would have had to try to outright somebody like Rosario (no chance, Baltimore would have grabbed him within 45 seconds). And then if he stunk up the joint, they'd have to expose him to waivers as well to send him back, or else just DFA him.

As a result, they're waiting for somebody to get injured or traded.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

Sox won 76 games that year

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I would DFA Chatwood tomorrow morning just to send a message. He has been awful for over a year and no one will trade for him. Maybe he figures it out somewhere else, but I think that sends a lightening bolt of a message to the rest of the pen to figure it out or piss off. I would also send Edwards down to AAA and bring up Dakota.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

Hamels gave up 5 in 5 IP.. 2 of 3 games this year the starters sucked

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That's why I was amazed - there were at least 22 starts where the starter's effort was wasted by either a lack of offense or a bullpen failure. I knew the White Sox would have a high number because of Sale, but I didn't think it would be 98.

The Cubs were last among 2018 playoff teams last year. Six of the top seven teams in the stat made the playoffs, the exception being Tampa which was in a horrible division.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

I believe that was the year the Sox tried everybody at closer and they kept choking. Probably could have had the best record in Mlb through april- may if they had an average closer.

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According to Mark Gonzalez of the Trib, Rosario was unavailable today because “he warmed up too much on Saturday.” Never heard that one before.

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It isn't an uncommon reason.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

3 games is 3 games. Easy to overreact. Arlington is a weird place to play.

I have 2 concerns.

1. There were legitimate questions about it in the off-season, the bullpen is trash. Call some guys up from AAA.

2. Darvish. Command was an issue Saturday. Also, he looked pissed at times with Contreras. Still, a number of his pitches were good pitches. He pitched much better than Volquez.

I agree that Darvish may be salvageable but that pen.... There is not much in AAA that is going to help. I would at least try though. I would have Dakota and Webster up ASAP and keep close tabs on Maples' control.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

Their bullpen sucks balls, but didn't it seem like Hamels was getting squeezed big time by the homeplate ump right before the grand slam? He had the third out but the ump missed a high strike. The Cubs should have been out of that inning up 4-1.

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this pitchin' staff is a train wreck.

I think they were fooled By Hamels success last year. The reality is, he has been trending down for a LONG-ass time now, and even finished last year terribly. Today's outing was not a surprise. Expect to see more of this.

Also, how the hell is Kyle Hendrick's ur fourth starter? And Darvish ur #2? That shoulda been switched. Hendricks has been your best pitcher the last 3 years other than Lester.

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If the Cubs are 12+ games out by the first week of May, one of two things has happened. Either the Brewers/Cardinals have 25-26 wins, or the Cubs have 25-26 losses.

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Chet meant a 12-18 record after 30 games.