Yep whole lineup sucks. Rizzo Bryant and all the rest should be sent to Iowa or traded. Plan is a bust. Fire Theo.

1984 Tigers vibe from this team.

Small sample size so far but best team in MLB.

This Cubs team looks pretty bulletproof to me.

Cof is like a not as smart Cub version of CH.

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

Back end of the rotation is a little dodgy but whose isn't? It's a loaded roster.

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Strop and Rondon gave up no runs tonight but their breaking balls were horrible.They both have good heat and Rondon can spot his better than Strop can, but when your breaking balls are missing and sometimes flat, players start to sit on the fastball. Luckily the Cardinals missed a few hangers and then chased the bad ones.

It was more bad Cardinals hitting at the end than good Cubs pitching.

Still, W.

Hasnt he been hitting the ball real hard the last two days? Feels like he might be about to turn a corner

Yea, I said to a guy at work yesterday "Ya know what nobody is talkin about?.....Rondon. He was real good last year. He probably will be decent to good again but everyone kinda just assumes he'll be good. There was little talk about the bullpen in the off season"



Anyway, its nice that the pitching and defense is carrying the Cubs for now.

I worry a little about strop in STL and him getting too amped up. He had a few rough outings last year and thought it might be in his head.

Rondon I'm not concerned with. He hadn't pitched in 8 days and was probably too strong and lacking touch. His earlier outs where down right filthy.

Collectively they have worked 10.1 innings, given up 1 run, 16 k's, 1 bb and 3 hits. I'll take that from my back inning guys. The cubs just need to play more competitive games to get them work.

They don't win 2-1 without his throw home last night . Contributing regardless .

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

keep the cards as far back as possible. even this early, it's nice to see these kinds of wins.

Yes.

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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.

you will be sitting in the N word yelling section ....right?

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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.

Rondon had not pitched in 8 days, so the fact that his breaking ball wasn't especially sharp is easy to understand. He ended the game with a nice slider though. With the starters all going 6 innings or more in each of the 14 starts to date, the bullpen has not gotten as much use as usual and some of the relief pitchers are not as sharp as they might be with more regular work. In many games, they have no need of the closer or set up man, as they have had big leads and just used middle relief guys instead.

Great job by Jason Hammel last night all around. He deserves much more praise than he gets, with a 1.00 ERA in 3 starts this season. If he can avoid another post break nosedive, he will be looking at a big payday from someone in the offseason. If he does begin to decline, a deadline deal will probably be made and he can be traded or relegated to long relief. but right now, he's a very reliable, high quality starter again.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Right size, wrong shape.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Okay..... so it's Hendricks VS Martinez in the finale of the series, with the Cubs looking to sweep. A sweep is a rare and beautiful thing. especially against a quality opponent. But I like the Cubs chances. I would rather the Cubs face a right handed pitcher with all the left handed hitters they have and Soler actually having better career numbers VS right handed pitchers as well. I look for Heyward to snap out of it with the bat in this game, as well as Rizzo. A win could send the Cardinals into last place (with a Brewers win VS the Twins-they would be tied for last), which would be lovely.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Carlos Martinez is probably the key to the Cardinal season. As he goes, they shall go.

He was pretty fucking great last year

I'm sure our collective recollection of the 84 Tigers is that they were a wrecking ball ...



... but while they were good, there's nothing extraordinarily special about them. Compare to the 84 Coob:



Compare also to the 2015 version:



So, as usual, Matches' point is completely fair ... the only failing being that it might be underestimating the 2016 Coob. Time of course will tell for certain.

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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

Those images are blocked for me so pardon if its addressed but I think MM was referring to the hot start (35-5 I think?) and never stop (Win WS) results of the 84 Tigers more than the comparison of its parts

Not sure the Cubs have the equivalent of Willie Hernandez that 84 season, on the roster. Rondon is 3/3 so far, but Willie was perfect for the season in save attempts converted.

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Go Cubs!!!!

I think Hendricks is going to get lit up. IIRC the Cardinals boxed him around pretty good last year. Doesn't have the fastball to keep them honest so he has to locate perfectly and when he misses they hit him pretty hard. I'll take the 2 wins and hope for the best but this isn't a good matchup for a sweep.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

Not that you're necessarily wrong, but that's reading way more into his brief sentence than I did.

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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

Cubs hit Martinez last year and Hendricks has an ERA almost a run better than Martinez. So I see their chances as pretty solid. But I agree about being happy with winning the series already and being able to walk away happy with 2 wins, if that's how it ends. But every game is huge, as I want the Cubs to win their division, to avoid a wild card game this season. So winning every Cardinals and Pirates match-up as possible, is vital.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Bryant in LF today. Please no gappers.

Bryant is still a better LF than Soler or Schwarber. And I'll take Bryant's bat over Szczur, though I'm happy with Szczur as a backup OF.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

stadium playing classical music during Cubs BP

StL reaching into the trick bag

I'll settle for 5 IP and 3 R from Hendricks today. Bullpen is fresh, and the Cubs would have a solid chance of winning 5-4.

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