Schwarber Better Faster Stronger: Chicago Cubs 2017

bats looked pretty good last night (esp schwarber) but cubs pitching makes me nervous

https://twitter.com/MLBNetwork/status/849450171477917696

Bullpen could be shaky and one injury to the rotation could be bad. The lineup is deep as any team has been in a good long time.

i'm just observing the bottom of the 11th via gameday, but with 1 out and the bases loaded, maddon just switched rizzo and schwarber - rizzo to LF, schwarber to 1B. i guess in the sac fly situation they want a better arm out in left? or maybe more range? you'd think schwarber would have the better arm as a catcher. anyway, maybe they do this frequently but it's the first i've noticed.

according to b-ref, rizzo has played all but one out of his career at 1B. that out was at 2B

bizarre. maybe it's just a matheny diss track?

if matheny had schwarber he'd play him in CF

so the bullpens down the line are gone from Wrigley? sacrilege.

@BNightengale
John Lackey gives up leadoff HR to Andrew Toles after #Cubs ring ceremony, and then yells at home-plate umpire Greg Gibson

yeah that was weird. ump made a bad call on the first pitch but it's not like that led to the home run on the third pitch

not really weird, john lackey is an enormous asshole

you'll miss him when he's gone!

well, probably not actually

bryant's first HR of the season finally. he's been struggling a bit so far.

http://ak-hdl.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/webdr03/2013/8/17/1/anigif_enhanced-buzz-3260-1376716493-12.gif

Unable to untangle his complex financial holdings to the satisfaction of the Office of Government Ethics, Cubs board member Todd Ricketts, tapped by President Donald Trump to be the Deputy Commerce Secretary, on Wednesday withdrew his nomination, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.

bats looked pretty good last night (esp schwarber) but cubs pitching makes me nervous

― na (NA), Monday, April 3, 2017 9:13 AM (two weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/whats-going-on-with-the-cubs/

tldr: every cubs starting pitcher is pitching softer

Really enjoying tonight's game. (sorry mookie)

Is Heyward hitting a legit 290 or does it seem like SSS

he worked on his swings and the cubs had a whole PR thing about it. a cubs fan could be more precise about it of course, but to me it seems legit.

15 walks in this game, hope you're happy WmC

I just remember scoreboard numbers spinning like a slot machine and then Roy Hobbs knocked the lights out and then I woke up and it was time for Better Call Saul.

I think it's still too early to tell about Heyward. He started off a little slow but has been hot the past week or so.

https://twitter.com/Cubs/status/859259805785088001

note that that's all three cubs catchers in the game at the same time

urgh
https://twitter.com/Cubs/status/859259805785088001

cubs would be doing a lot better if the starting pitchers stopped giving up 4-5 runs in the first inning of every single game

every time i look at a cubs box score it's the 5th inning and they're down 5-2, then they win 6-5 or 7-5. every time.

but imagine if they didn't have to score 6-7 runs to win

seems like it must be demoralizing to constantly have to dig your way out of a hole, even if you are able to do it

they finally had to dfa matt szczur, which sucks. he was a solid back-up last year

are they really pitching to bryant?

rizzo might have just fractured his ulna

Warren pretty much pitched around Schwarber to face Bryant or at least it looked that way.

maddon just wasted a challenge on an obviously disallowed takeout slide by happ

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/jake-arrieta-has-not-been-good/

schwarb just made a very nice diving catch

another player might have been camped out underneath it, but still

no outs
two runs already in
men on first and second
guy on the mound (making his first major league appearance) has just allowed four straight hits
your pitcher is up next
javier baez pops up a bunt attempt

I'm guessing that was Baez's decision, not Maddon's. It was a dumb move but it was really cold and rainy today so maybe he thought it would be easier to bunt for a hit? He can be so slick but sometimes he tries to be too slick.

i'm sure it was baez's choice, but perhaps maddon should tell certain players not to bunt without his permission

beat the giants in 2 hrs 5 minutes

jon lester complete game in 99 pitches

panic?

http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2017/6/1/15724724/chicago-cubs-panic-standings-panic

keep panicking cubs, because i'm going to your stadium today.

the only Cubs players that i'm positive will continue to be great going forward are Kris Bryant (obv) and to a lesser extent Anthony Rizzo. I'm mostly optimistic on Russell, Baez is a solid guy to have for a number of reasons, I'm not sure on Contreras, love Schwarber but I'm worried he's our Kevin Maas. i don't trust that a single one of the current starting pitchers will be worth a damn in 2-3 seasons. I think the core is still great and has a great future, but I think they'll need to cut bait with a lot of the vets much sooner than anticipated, and with some of the young players too. But it could go all the other way, too, this could just be a bunch of slumps and growing pains happening at once or a post-championship hangover of sorts. idk.

heyward should be fine too, he's still a stud on defense and has been hitting better lately

I'm not panicking; they've been playing like crap but I don't really see anyone else in the division taking an insurmountable lead before the Cubs have time to figure things out. I worry most about the pitching bc I don't see any of the current line up suddenly getting a lot better

I don't really see anyone else in the division taking an insurmountable lead

this is the only thing that's let them avoid making a very difficult decision about whether or not to send schwarber down

Schwarber is now down to .163 with 60 k's in 176 at bats two months in to the season, they have to be a few days from hitting the reset and sending him down to get fixed.

lester picked a runner off at first base!

ycpb

lol huge swing from santana trying to pull the ball

wow that had to be 450 feet

Maddon surely used the 5-man infield at least once last October?

yeah obv maddon loves his crazy shifts but the 5 man infields are rare enough that they're still exciting

the injuries in this game suck :-/

who got hurt

happ kind of slid into the bottom part of the outfield wall (which is just concrete until about half a foot up) and had to leave the field. contreras also had a incident with a foul tip off the knee. and i guess i'm newly experiencing yadi's foul tips off the facemask from last night's game because i didn't hear about them or see them until this game.

almora jr, not happ, oops

sounds like almora's gonna be fine, just a bruise. contreras has been banged up a lot recently, and he hasn't shown much power since coming back from the dl. they should probably give him a lot of rest leading up to the playoffs.

i'm pretty curious/nervous about what their post-season rotation is going to be. seems like lester and arrieta are likely, though lester has been bad lately and arrieta has been hurt. i hope they don't stick lackey in there. quintana and hendricks have both looked better in the past couple of weeks.

and now it sounds like arrieta is still somewhat injured

his hamstrings are just too big and snappy

Hector Rondon's first career hit... Exit velocity of 39 MPH at a -7 degree launch angle. 🔥🔥🔥

— Daren Willman (@darenw) September 29, 2017

apparently arrieta shaves his beard every off season but I've never seen him without it

Well hello there 👋🏼🙈😍#myoffseasonboyfriend #babyface pic.twitter.com/tqzPJg7cgG

— Brittany Arrieta (@MrsArrieta49) October 22, 2017

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bae0dD3HJTukRlIc8Le8s-vlR-NtSXFxTCmqso0/

Tony once asked me what his Era would be over a full season 🚀☝🏼🌖😂🤣😂 https://t.co/FWr7m5zHhv

— Jake Arrieta (@JArrieta34) October 23, 2017

arrieta's an unfairly good looking dude