Lester has "faced", and "beaten" Jacob deGrom, Lance Lynn, and Gerritt Cole

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

How is this not unlucky?

Christopher D. Long ‏@octonion Jul 18 Toronto, Ontario
Cubs have scored an average of 2.83 runs/game when Lester starts, 4.09 runs/game when Lester doesn't start.

If he didn't hand pick that bum Ross , maybe he'd get more run support.

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Okay, so he's a Cub's era Jason Bere.

Arrieta, Hammel and Hendricks are responsible for the Cubs scoring 1.26 additional runs per game. They know how to handle the wood.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

True.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Since the beginning of June, Miguel Montero was hitting under .200 with an OPS in the low .600's.

In that time frame, David Ross is also hitting under .200 with an OPS in the mid .500's.

The catcher position has not been a positive contributor to this offense in two months.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

It is all about the framing of the pitches

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I'm going to bounce from the spot for awhile but I will be back at some point to argue with you about this hoops stuff again. Playoffs have been great this season. See ya up the road.

I'm out.

He doesnt face the opposing pitcher. He faces the opposing offense.

He's not been great overall but he's been pretty solid lately

He has been pretty solid overall, and great recently.

1.97 ERA over his last 7.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

He's been about the 20th best pitcher in the league.

I need him to be top 10ish

Lester is the 6th SP by WAR over the last 30 days.

Cubs have one of the best 1-2 combinations in baseball since beginning of May, and these Cubs fans are still bitching.

So Lester had a 2.72 ERA since May 1st, right?

Arrieta, who we all agree is amazing, has a 2.65 ERA in that same stretch.

Let's ask JORR what those 0.07 runs per 9 innings mean.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

So, taking away the games he was bad, he has been good

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

If you are saying you didn't bring him here to win games, you are lying.

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

the current top 5 rotations based upon FIP

Cubs
Nationals
StLouis
Pirates
Dodgers

He had a bad April. It was unfortunate. It is far in the rear view mirror.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

The Cubs have a winning record with Jon Lester on the mound, and he has outdueled Cole, Wainwright and deGrom.

He was brought here to improve the pitching rotation, and the pitching rotation is improved.

The signing of Jon Lester has been a great success.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

You sound like a used car salesman trying to sale this.

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2018
#ExtendLafleur
10 More Wins

more like a communist propaganda minister

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

If you believe this to be true then you should be holding management to a higher standard in acquiring something at the trade deadline.

I am of the opinion they have enough to win in the NL this year

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

Yup.

A Jew hating used care salesman.

Oh, the horror!

The statistics don't lie. We all knew Lester did not start his Cubs career off well. But after that first month (so, far the large majority of the season) he has matched Arrieta, someone we all agree is pitching very well. Lester's ERA is below his career average, and continuing to drop after each start. The ERA difference between NL and AL starters is approximately .35, so even when you factor that in, over the course of the full 2015 season, he has been who he has always been. And by the time the season ends, he will probably have had his second best season (next to 2014).

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Believe it to be true? It is a statement of fact.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

I meant if you believe this stat to accurately reflect reality.

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

ERA obviously more accurately measures actual performance over a period of time. But I like FIP for predicting near future results.

A pitcher usually remains pretty steady with strikeout rates and homeruns over the course of their career, until the end where they lose velocity and stuff. Batting average of balls in play can fluctuate a lot from one set of 10 starts to the other set of 10 starts though. It normalizes over a long period of time, but a pitcher that is "good" can have a stretch of bad luck. I think BABIP is good at showing recent luck.

FIP stresses the importance of things a pitcher can control.

edit: beginnings of a long explanation of FIP removed because I don't have the time and it won't change anyone else's mind. You either like FIP or you don't.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

I am not making a statement about the quality of FIP or any other pitcher metric.

What I am saying is that if you think the Cubs have the best pitching staff in the NL, this whole talk about "a year early" or "not ready to win it all" is garbage. Win now. Maybe win tomorrow as well but win now.

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

Hard to pick a best. But they are clearly in the conversation.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Anyway ya polished that turd..its still a turd.

Ross blows, he always n ain't getn better at 38. It was a mistake to let Lester bring this scrub with him . He's hitting a . 184 you can't justify that garbage with any stat.

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He wasn't brought in to hit. A catcher's defense is supremely important.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.