Maybe the key with Schlitter is to never bring him in when you're protecting a lead?

#wearegoodoneoutof5gameswhenarrietapitches

Bad

You can do better

Interesting that you have scads of time for sharing your delightful lack of sports wisdom but not remotely enough time to spend three minutes a few times a week to make a coc attack.

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

"Big lead, big jump" then out by a mile. OK, Len.

That was funny.

I dated a girl named Liz once only because I love Liz Phair and she kinda looked like Liz Phair (plus was named Liz).

CHC 4 @ PIT 5 :: W: Liz(1-1, 3.86) L: Schlitter(0-2, 9.53) S: Melancon(3) :: F/9

idk what's more surprising.... L: Schlitter or S: Melancon

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That one is on maddon ... Jackson is only good for mop up duty..not in a close game...Hendricks should a pitched out of it..he earned it . Ramirez can't get back soon enough.

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Frustrating but this team still isn't any good. They've upgraded from bad to mediocre. The offense is improved but the defense and pitching are still utter shit. If either were just average this would of been a 4 game sweep. At least the games are fun to watch now.

The 2014 White Sox, as I said.

this is stupid maddon's fault.
1. keeps pulling starters too early
2. keeps trotting out stupid schlitter
3. keeps letting ross anywhere near the field

Cubs are on pace for 86 wins.

No where close to that dead ass team.

The White Sox flirted with .500 until July before the lack of starting pitching, a bullpen and defense proved too much for the offense to make up for. Then they collapsed. Its just not a sustainable way to win, you need at least one (more likely two) of those.

Yes it's early, but something needs to be done about this bullpen otherwise it's going to cost us BIG time this year. You can't rely on Grimm and Ramirez both coming back from injuries and being dominant. I don't know what the answer is, but I know this collection aint it.

Schlitter : AAAA guy.
Jackson : Shouldn't be on the roster.
Coke : The league sniffed him out two years ago.
Motte : Reclamation project. Trying to catch lightning in a bottle.
Rosscup : Has been ok. I'll take him over James Russell.
Germen : Unproven.

At this point, the only time I feel confident is when Strop or Rondon enter the game and let's hope Rondon is the real deal because Strop can't close.

Also 8-7 projects to 86 wins the same way a 3-3 start in the NBA projects to a 7 seed.

Hendricks was having a solid game and earned the right to work himself out of it. If you have a good bullpen then I understand but to yank Hendricks to put in Jackson and Shitter is baffling.

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Kenny Williams fell for the banana in the tailpipe

The starting pitching is mostly fine

Other than that correct. But one or two good bullpen guys can change things drastically

Arrieta has been good, Wood has been okay.

Lester, Hammel, and Hendricks haven't been fine. Overall, the rotation has been average at best. Certainly not mostly fine. And middle relief has been extremely dicey, which has caused the starting pitching lines to be even worse than they should be.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Once we trade for Braun the defense and pitching won't matter anymore.

They're a coin toss team. I feel .500 is possible, but not much above that. There are still too many holes and a lot of maturing that has to happen with the young folks. The great news is that Arrieta, Rizzo, and Castro have been solid.

The team is very exciting because they have shown that they can come from behind and blow leads all in the same game.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Way too early to give up on the bullpen. They have a lot of talent there and Wada & Ramirez on the mend.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

H. Rondon
P. Strop
J. Motte
P. Coke
E. Jackson
B. Schlitter
Z. Rosscup
G. Germen

That is not a lot of talent, that's barely any talent at all.

Add Ram & Wada and subtract the bottom performing two (whomever they may be.)
Bullpens are full of guys that can't handle starting and are not to be trusted closers. Outside of KC last season,I think it's rare to find a great BP all-around.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Jackson should be waived. I agree about Hendricks and you are also right about Neil Ramirez. His loss has been really unfortunate. He might have helped the Cubs to 2-3 more wins already this season. Schlitter has pitched like he looks too often this season....like a bum.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Besides Rondon and Strop that is a heaping helping of bad. I wouldn't even be sure about Rondon anymore.

And I dont know what you're expecting Wada to be but I can assure you its probably not going to be all that great. Neil Ramirez has shoulder issues and shoulder issues turn people into John Danks.

Ramirez was babied last season. This produced the expected results. He was not going to equal them this year anyway.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Hendricks has absolutely been fine. Two solid starts and one in Colarado. Hammel is what he always is-inconsistent. Basically Arrietta Hendricks and Hammel have been normal and Wood and Lester switched.


Bullpen has been bad

You gotta give me more than 4.1 IP and 5.1 IP. The 6 IP QS against the Padres was good, the other two were bad,

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.