Playoff Predictions

When no clear answer presents itself, go with the most obvious..

LDS:
Cubs over Dodgers in 4

Phils over Brewers in 3

Angels over Red Sox in 5

Rays over White Sox in 5

LCS

Cubs over Phils in 6

Angels over Rays in 7

World Series

Cubs over Angels in 5

Past the time until first pitch by doing some ball hawking.The playoff roster has been announced as well.

C - Blanco, Soto

INF - Lee, Ward, Fontenot, DeRosa, Theriot, Cedeno, Ramirez

OF - Soriano, Edmonds, Johnson, Fukudome, Pie

SP - Demspter, Zambrano, Harden, Lilly

RP - Wood, Marmol, Samardzija, Cotts, Marshall, Howry, Marquis

With DeRosa limping, the Cubs needed someone who could play the outfield when Lou needs to pinch-hit for Fukudome or the couple dozen other late-inning possibilities. Hopefully the only time we see Bob Howry is if the Cubs are nursing a 13-0 lead after Sutcliffe and the Penguin homer.

Tags: 
2008 Cubs playoffs
Cubs Playoff Roster
Games
Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 11:16am
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Comments

Submitted by Rob G.
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 11:31am

49 is my high in that game btw...

Submitted by Rob G.
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 11:59am

make it 53

Submitted by big_lowitzki
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 12:07pm

Oh my... this going to be addictive.

Submitted by gobuckeyes
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 5:00pm

53 first try, and that's only because I missed 4 in the first inning before I realized how dead on you had to be to catch the thing...

Submitted by Rob G.
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 6:56pm

show-off

Submitted by Jumbo
on Thu, 10/02/2008 - 11:31am

I got 72 on my first attempt (I assume you're leaving off the last two zero's)

Submitted by Rob G.
on Thu, 10/02/2008 - 2:56pm

highest you can get is 63?

you must be talking about score, we were using total catches.

Submitted by Leningrad Cowboy
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 11:38am

It is playoff time--where is the decorative bunting for the TCR website? I demand red, white, and blue bunting!

Submitted by boilermaker
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 11:44am

Howry on the playoff roster is atrocious...As I have said before, let's send him to Mesa with the other guys who didnt make it and have him learn a new grip on that fast ball so that it actually moves a bit...Realistically, I would have been fine with them taking another hitter instead of him.

Submitted by jacos
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 11:48am

LDS-
Cubs in 4
Phils in 4
Rays in 4
Angels in 5

LCS
Cubs in 5
Angels in 7

WS
Cubs in 6

Submitted by navigator
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 11:58am

He's on the roster and I don't get it.
Same goes for Daryl Lard and Lob Howry.

yuk

Submitted by The Joe
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 1:19pm

You're so clever. You must write these days in advance, right? It's just consistently too good.

Pie is not poison, because he's not there to start. He's there for defensive replacement and, perhaps, running the bases.

Submitted by navigator
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 12:07pm

Rafael Furcal SS
Russell Martin C
Manny Ramirez LF
Andre Ethier RF
James Loney 1B
Matt Kemp CF
Blake DeWitt 2B
Casey Blake 3B
Derek Lowe P

http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp...

Submitted by big_lowitzki
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 12:11pm

Predictions:

LDS:
Cubs over Dodgers in 4
Phils over Brewers in 4
Red Sox over Angels in 5
Rays over White Sox in 4

LCS
Cubs over Phils in 5
Red Sox over Rays in 6

World Series
Cubs over Red Sox in 6

Submitted by Brick
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 12:33pm

Predictions:

LDS:
Cubs over Dodgers in 3
Cubs over Brewers in 3
Cubs over Red Sox in 3
Cubs over White Sox in 3

LCS
Cubs over Cubs in 4
Cubs over Cubs in 4

World Series
Cubs over Cubs in 4

Submitted by blockhead25
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 12:36pm

Prediction*:

Dodgers 3 - Cubs 0

* last predictions I made in 2006, I was 0-7 in predicting series winners. Here is to continuing my streak!

Submitted by Rob G.
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 12:36pm

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs2008/columns...

The biggest reason to pick the Dodgers would be their improved, Manny-fied offense, right? Well, what does it tell you that the Cubs outscored the Dodgers over the past two months (275-250) even with Manny Ramirez, and outscored L.A. by 155 runs over the course of the season? One NL executive's description of Manny's supporting offensive cast: "Thin."

We agree. The Cubs' pitching is rested and recharged. The Dodgers need too much to go right. Cubs in four.

Submitted by rokfish
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 12:40pm

LDS
cubs in 4
phils in 4
redsox in 4
w-sux in 5

LCS

red sox in 5
cubs in 6

WS
cubs in 6

hangover on october 30th and sick from work

Submitted by Rob G.
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 12:55pm

for Phils/Brewers as well....

Submitted by big_lowitzki
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 1:01pm

Isn't parachat always open? :)

Submitted by Rob G.
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 1:04pm

nuh uh...it only appears to always be open. Sure if you click on it now you can get in, but what actually happens is I get a message that someone wants to get in, run down 8 flights of stairs to a wooden lever hidden in the basement of my job and let you guys in. To the reader, it just looks like Java is opening, in reality it's a portal to the other side of the world.

 

Submitted by Chad
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 1:09pm

So, you're the TCR's Benjamin Linus?

Submitted by Rob G.
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 1:11pm

look out for any black smoke if I decide to ban you...

Submitted by Chad
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 1:49pm

I kinda see myself as the black smoke monster of TCR.

Submitted by John Beasley
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 12:57pm

Cubs in 4
Phils in 4
Angels in 5
WSox in 5

Phils in 6
Angels in 7

Angels in 6

I feel dirty.

Submitted by Bigz
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 12:57pm

Cubs 163, Dodgers -4

lets see how the west coast pansies handle 50 degrees, 10+ mph winds and the nastiest crowd they have seen all year. We have a Canadian pitcher (2 actually).

p.s. love lilly in dodger stadium if we need it, his downside is the HR and that park is big. good job lou.

Submitted by Chad
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 1:03pm

"Sutcliffe and the Penguin"

Sounds like a 70's cop show

Submitted by navigator
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 1:07pm

"LDS:
Cubs over Dodgers in 4"

So, everyone thinks Lilly will beat "The Unknown Pitcher" in game 4. But, which game do we lose?

Dempster vs Lowe?
Zambrano vs Billingsley?
Harden vs Kuroda?

Submitted by Rob G.
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 1:10pm

one of them?

Submitted by blockhead25
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 1:22pm

based on pitching matchups alone, I think the Cubs could lose all 3 of those games....

or win all 3 of those games. But if I went for percentages, chances are probably best the Cubs win 2 of the 3.

Here is my game by game prediction.

1: W (low scoring game that scares the hell out of us all)
2: L (Z sucks)
3: W (game goes to bullpen early, Cubs almost give up lead, but hold it)
4: W (Lowe on 3 days rest, pitches well, but Dodgers offense is bad)

Anyway, let's just get this done in 3, and move on to the fun stuff.

Submitted by blockhead25
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 1:14pm

12 of 18 ESPN folk pick the Cubs to win the NL, 6 of 18 pick them to win the WS.

Submitted by Bleeding Blue
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 1:31pm

Angels > RSox in 5
Rays > WSox in 3
Cubs > Dodgers in 4
Phils > Brewers in 4

Rays > Angels in 6
Cubs > Phils in 7

Cubs > Rays in 5

Submitted by Rob G.
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 1:37pm

Greg Couch doesn't like Alfonso Soriano much...

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/couch/1194579,CST-S...

Submitted by Bleeding Blue
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 2:00pm

I'm guessing that some writer noticed that Soriano finished the season in a pretty significant slump and is seeing a good "told you so" opportunity.

Sounds like some of the posters here, actually.

Submitted by blockhead25
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 2:19pm

in terms of Soriano's playoff performance last year...can't say I disagree with him. I thought Sori was tight and nervous and it showed, and it set the tempo for the team on offense.

I really do think he is the top key to this series from an offensive stand point. He doesn't do anything, we are in trouble. He has a good series, we should be in great shape.

Submitted by Mike Vail
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 3:38pm

Here are the three players who need to absolutely need to take at least the first goddamned pitch: Ronnie Cedeno, Soriano, and Felix Pie. Those three remind of Corey -0 and 2 -Patterson. It's going to be cold, so it will probably be small ball that wins the game. Trying to rip one out, is probably not going to work. I hope these games go longer only if we're working the pitch counts. Who wants it more, Cubs?

Submitted by Doug Dascenzo
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 3:57pm

Not only cold, but lots of wind blowing in from the north (basically straight in from left field). Hopefully a good day to be Ryan Dempster.

Submitted by Timmer
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 2:02pm

What's the over/under on Derek Lee ground ball double plays in the NLDS?

Cubs in 5
Phils in 4
Rays in 4
Angels in 4

Cubs in 7
Angels in 6

Angels in 7 (The billy goat curse is replaced by the Uggla curse.)

Submitted by big_lowitzki
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 2:15pm

Wow... lots of people picking the Angels over the Red Sox...

Submitted by Rob G.
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 2:33pm

Rsox not playing with the full deck...

Submitted by Timmer
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 2:35pm

For me, it's because of Beckett's status and the fact that Lowell and Drew are also hurting.

Submitted by Dmac
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 2:24pm

I generally don't like Couch, but aside from the article's snide tone, he has a point about Fonzie. At least try to take some pitches tonight vs. Lowe, don't make it easy on the guy. Sounds like basic advice, but we all know that sometimes Fonzie gets homer - happy up there. OTOH, what do I know? When he gets hot, it doesn't matter what his plate discipline is at the time, he hits everything anyway.

Submitted by VirginiaPhil
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 2:37pm

Couch grudgingly admits that Soriano has drawn more walks this season. Actually, his BB/K is much better than last year, .417 (43/103) to .238 (31/130).

He seems much more disciplined to me. He takes a lot of close pitches. I wonder how many of his strikeouts were called-strike-threes compared to last year, but I don't know where to find that.

Soriano got a huge contract specifically for October games this year and the next couple of years. Okay, Sori, you've got the spotlight.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 2:49pm

Soriano got a huge contract specifically for October games this year
and the next couple of years. Okay, Sori, you've got the spotlight.

there's one for the VA Phil HOF of comments...

 

Submitted by blockhead25
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 2:50pm

You don't get a player "Specifically for October"...you get a player who can get you to October. Then you simply hope they continue what they did in Apr-Sep.

Submitted by VirginiaPhil
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 5:24pm

Well, Rich Harden is one who was certainly acquired (at a high cost) for a single season that was not expected to end in the first playoff round. And they didn't care how few innings he pitched along the way--just keep babying him and try to get him to Game 3.

Lilly was their best pitcher in September but won't pitch till after Zambrano and Harden get a turn. Did Zamabrano get them to October more than Lilly did? No, but he's a star, and this is when the stars come out.

Fukudome is in the lineup tonight and batting second, not because they hope he continues to do what he's been doing. He was a star in Japan and in the World Baseball Classic, so you put him in the spotlight and expect him to perform.

Soriano is a high-maintenance guy who may or may not get you to October, but he can carry you for a week or two when a championship is at stake. I think that's why they got him.

Submitted by Bleeding Blue
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 5:45pm

Except Harden wasn't aquired for a single season.

Submitted by big_lowitzki
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 8:22pm

You like to be wrong, don't you.

- Harden was not acquired for a single season.
- Fukudome is not playing because he is a "star." He is playing because, as Lou said, he wanted to focus on defense.
- Lilly was not the best pitcher in September. Both Dempster and Harden had better ERA's, though Lilly did have a better WHIP.

Submitted by The Joe
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 2:57pm

Um...source? For the latter sentence, that is.

Submitted by The Joe
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 2:44pm

I'm at work and, once again, am really happy to be able to watch the game online. And, once again, screw you MLB.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 3:17pm

still don't have the order...

http://blogs.suntimes.com/cubs/

Submitted by The Joe
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 3:20pm

Japan is watching Fuke (now more than ever). Maybe this atmosphere will revive him...or maybe he'll choke (now more than ever).

Submitted by Transmission
on Wed, 10/01/2008 - 5:37pm

Late to party, but:

Red Sox lose to Angels in 4

White sox lose to Rays in 3

Angels beat Rays in 7

Cubs beat Dodgers in 3

Phillies beat Brewers in 3

Cubs beat Phillies in 6

Cubs beat Angels in 7

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