True.

I used to bemoan that about the 07-08 Cubs but I think that is pretty much every team. Very few times rolling out 4-5 guys who hit elite pitching well.

You replace one of the best LH your team has seen since 1876. I would not want any scenario where Gore gets an AB in any single elimination game.

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

Yea, he was trying to have his cake and eat it too because Happ is kinda fast and could score on a double. Should have used Gore there.

There might be some truth here. Bad #3 starters, #4 starters, and #5 starters get owned by this Cubs offense, but any pitcher with 2 good pitches, a decent 3rd offering, and a plan carves these guys up.

In fairness though, the guys that have 3 good pitches are the Verlanders, Scherzers, and Klubers of the world who carve MANY up.

The Cubs lineup just wasn't constructed to manufacture a run in October.

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I believe I heard Bernstein mention during transition that the Cubs score 1 run (I don't know if it was just 1 and 0 runs) in a quarter of their games this season.

A quarter.

Yikes.

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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

Tied with the Orioles I believe.

Counting #163, the Cubs scored 0 or 1 run in 39 games. The Orioles lead MLB in that stat with 40 such games.

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Agreed Frank, those guys are elite, but even second tier guys who pitch with a plan: Rich Hill, Freeland, etc. have carved up the Cubs in big games recently.

They sure have.

All of this hand wringing over coaches, managers, batting avg, etc...I have not heard this one thing even mentioned. Outside of Rizzo & Bryant, maybe its possible that the Contrerases, Schwarbers, Russells, Almoras, etc of the Cubs are just not great hitters and this is what you will get out of them. Maybe 2016-17 were their career years and they simply won't get any better? You would hate to think that way, but with the way some of the guys have- or haven't- developed since then, that has to be thought about for some of them. It certainly wouldn't be something new to this city as we have seen guys like Pie, Patterson, & Beckham arrive to the show, flash some skills, then flame out real quick.

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I keep Contreras and Almora.

Contreras, while not as good as previous years is still a good offensive catcher. Schwarber is about what's expected.

I dont know if this is a Chili davis effect or not, but here are the HR totals from 2017 and 18

Rizzo- 32-25
Bryant 29-13
Schwarber 30-26
Contreras 21-10
Heyward 13-8
Zobrist 12-9

At the same time, Rizzo, Schwarber, Heyward, Baez and Zobrist all had better batting averages in 2018


As crazy as it sounds, the problem is they stopped trying to hit bombs and worked too much on contact. It was a good move for Baez but really no one else.

And I cant even blame them for the idea since it seems like October baseball requires guys to make contact. But man that shit backfired big time.

Contreras was not good offensively. He had 3 HRs and 10 RBIs against the White Sox in May. 7 HR, 44 RBI over 135 games is not good. A .339 OBP for a catcher isn't bad.

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Of the 30ish full time catchers in MLB, he ranks 12th or 13th in OPS. Not bad at all.

.200avg and a .585 OPS since the AS Break for Willllllson.

Bad.

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I didnt realize we were only discussing the 2nd half.


Yes, if you take out his all star caliber first half, it was definitely bad.

He hit under .200 since July 9th. He sucked.

How bout the .818 OPS in the first half?

I mean, of course he sucked in the 2nd half. No one denies that. Overall season just not as bad as some are making it out to be.

I just wanna state that yesterday/today's outcome was called...



#HawaiiYouWasRightAgain #CuriousToupee #GiveTheManHisProps #WhyUs? #WeAreGoodUnlessWeAreShit #JoeMaddonFanClub #FeastOrFamine #ChampionshipStandard #ChicksDigTheLongball #DidIMentionHawaiiYouWasRightAgain?!?! #WalksClogTheBases #BaseHitsAreForCrackheads #GoCubsGo #ClapClap #GoCubsGo #ClapClap #HeyChicagoWhaddyaSay? #TheCubsAreOnVacationToday #HawaiiYouPsychicHotline @ 1-900-BAD-CUBS

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Wasn't he supposed to be a "sexy" choice for NL MVP? relative to that i'd say his season was as bad as some are making it out to be! There was a general expectation for him to step up and carpe diem but he went backwards and ended up going from a potential third lineup cornerstone to, essentially, Jason heyward territory.

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That was ridiculous to start with and based on people who believe that every player under 30 improves every single year.

Ha!

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40 including last night. How many of those were in the second half?

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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.