Who's going to be your guy this year?

Almora? .320+ average and incredible defense. Should be in the lineup daily.

Baez? Ton of RBIs and also incredible defense. Hitting above .280.

Lester? Has been lights out the last 7-8 starts. If he continues this way he will be a 20 win candidate. Might also be up for the Cy Young.

Russell? He seems to really be coming on now. Defense is solid and hitting above .280.

Hell, maybe Heyward?

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Zobrist has been the most consistent hitter.

Right now,I'll go with Baez.

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

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Oh yeah, completely forgot about Zobrist. He's had a pretty good first half, but I'm not sure he's at the level he was at in 2016. That just could be because he isn't seeing as much playing time as he did.

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Walnuts

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Has to be Javy with his defensive skills and versatility, power + speed combo on offense.

If he could bump his BB rate to something like 8-10%, you’ve got an MVP candidate.

Right now Baez

Lester

To this point, it's Mike Montgomery. There can be no other answer.

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Baez, with honorable mentions to Almora, Lester and Montgomery.

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Go Cubs!!!!

all of them

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

Heyward

That typifies Almora's defense.

That ball isn't going to be a home run if he doesn't catch the ball. Instead, it is going to be a pedestrian drive that could be caught with a stretched arm and no jump. Almora catches the ball then moves his glove up and over the fence to make it look like he robbed the batter of a home run. Jim Edmunds level fake theatrics from that guy on the regular.

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

A pedestrian 410-foot drive at the top of the fence.

I imagine what we aren't seeing is his casual stroll under the ball as he made his way from CF to the fence in left-center prior to this overly dramatic catch.

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You know me like that.

Don't argue facts not in evidence. You clearly see him move his glove up and over the fence after the catch contrary to the momentum of the ball.

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

dan bernstein's NASA guy will explain why you're wrong.

wait, doesn't dr. ken have a NASA guy? he could explain why you're wrong, too

Almora is an exceptional defensive player, but I have to say that I have seen a number of catches he has made where he slides or dives to make a catch that could have been made without the slide or dive. He has a little Jim Edmonds in him, but Edmonds won multiple gold gloves, so that's okay. But you might want to at least spell the guy's last name correctly GD.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Go dolphin Go!

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

There is a little bit of Edmonds in that Almora does play shallow and takes some strange route to balls.

The gif jbills posted is a pretty nice play, but IMO it's not that spectacular of a catch. I doubt its in the top 10 of catches that the Cubs have made this season.

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I agree, overall he made that look pretty routine. Also the fence is 9 feet tall, some jump required.

Another angle of it. More impressed seeing the full run and him never looking back after getting on the warning track.

Awesome.

Full run? He is already taking half steps 10 feet before the warning track. Pedestrian play that he Edmunds so the Wrigley bros can enjoy the delusion

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

That's a good point. Screw those half-steps. He should have gone for it.

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You know me like that.

no warning track there

but he didn't have to "go for it" nor did he "go for it", he just tried to make it look like he did but the camera didn't lie

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

Almora has the highest Rtot/yr of any CF that has at least 300 IP or more in CF this season. Only a couple of players even come close.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

well that settles it

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

yas queen

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

I love some Rtots with cheese. Crumble up some crispy bacon on them. Maybe some ranch on the side.

Good stuff.

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You know me like that.

As a kid,my buddies and I were more then happy to catch a glimpse of some Rtots at the local theater. We had to wait until 18 to see Xtots.

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