Recent comments

crunch 1 week ago (view)

alzolay has a HR ball problem.  ugg.

4th of the year in his 10th appearance.

Charlie 1 week ago (view)

I have not kept track of Javy really, but I have to assume injuries are factoring into the level if underperformance he's showing.

crunch 1 week ago (view)

assad gets d.ross'd and pulled after 4.2ip.

the guy is awesome, but his quality tops around around pitch 80, though he's capable of going 90-100+ pitches.  command gets a little sketchy and velocity becomes slightly inconsistent around pitch 80+.

it's pretty much the only thing keeping him from being a totally solid pitching option.  hell, this issue would be ignorable and lived with on many teams out there, but the cubs got a bit of an excess SP issue...which is nice.

4 games...21.1ip 14h 8bb 21k, 2.11 era, 1.03 whip

crunch 1 week ago (view)

i think the fans learned from the lame scapegoat of him causing pitchers to perform less that adequately that was tossed around last year.

the "fix" helped nothing, and they lost a batting slot to multiple catchers that couldn't hit so contreras could DH.

also, contreras handled it all really well while commentators and upper team management/coaches allowed him to be dragged for months.

btw, he's in incredible shape going into this season.

crunch 1 week ago (view)

hendricks vs the 2nd worst team in MLB tomorrow.

i know throwing a guy's role away before april ends is a bit premature for a vet, but what he's shown has been consistently terrible, not just a couple bad ones.

if he can't make it happen tomorrow, at least be "average" or "meh"...then it's time to reconsider his role going forward, at least for now.

Dolorous Jon Lester 1 week 1 day ago (view)

I loved Willson. Javy, Rizzo, and Bryant too. I know they all couldn’t stay and the latter 3 have fallen off significantly, but it’s still an incredible shame not a single one was a legacy Cub for life. I believe there is real value to fans and honestly to business to keeping those types of players around for their whole career.

I also staunchly maintain if Javy were playing somewhere that fans really got into the game, he wouldn’t be struggling nearly this badly. He thrives off fan energy.

Charlie 1 week 1 day ago (view)

I hope Cards management and their fans treat Willson with respect going forward. I'd be happy to still have him as a Cub. Heck, he'd even be our best DH option at this point.

Raisin101 1 week 1 day ago (view)

Hi Arizona Phil!

Exciting to see Naz Mule in box scores a few times. What's his stuff like now after the TJS?

Childersb3 1 week 1 day ago (view)

Mastrobuoni can't come back, yet

Wisdom does have an option left. He can hide in Iowa if Jed DFA's someone else

Does Brennan Davis get shown the door? I know it's too early for that, but these injuries are crunching the roster of a 12-7 team playoff demands and BDavis isn't going to help anytime soon.

Someone has to go to add Peralta. And Canario isn't going to get to play everyday regardless of RHers or LHers. Neither is Tauchman. Also don't see PCA getting a chance over Peralta.

If Jed does those moves:

4 OF: Belli, Peralta, Canny, Tauch

2 C: Gomes and Amaya

2 DH: Cooper and Mervis

5 INF: Busch, Nico, Dansby, Morel, Madrigal

Little short on OF depth but two injuries will do that  

Arizona Phil 1 week 1 day ago (view)

I have had the pleasure of watching some of the young A's pitchers lately (first Joe Boyle the last day of Minor League Spring Training in March, and more recently Luis Morales last week and Steven Echavarria yesterday at Extended Spring Training), and it reminds me of the Miami Marlins a couple of years ago. A really nice collection of young pitchers. It will be interesting to see what the A's will get for two years of ex-Cub Paul Blackburn at the Trade Deadline (there should be a robust market for Blackburn). 

Childersb3 1 week 1 day ago (view)

Good deal

MB needs some talent infusion!

Arizona Phil 1 week 1 day ago (view)

Childersb3: Very possible. Suriel, too. 

Arizona Phil 1 week 1 day ago (view)

DJL: if a pitcher is recalled to be the 27th man for a doubleheader and then is optioned back to the minors the next day, the 15-day "clock" does NOT reset. The one day call-up for the doubleheader is treated like it never happened with respect to a pitcher having to spend at least 15 days on optional assignment before he can be recalled. 

Arizona Phil 1 week 1 day ago (view)

Probably the only reason David Peralta is still in the organization (he is at AAA Iowa) is to be available in case anything bad were to happen to Ian Happ (which it just did). So if Happ needs to go on the IL, the Cubs can select Peralta to play LF, DFA Wisdom (and hope he and what remains of his $2.725M salary gets claimed off waivers), and recall Mervis to platoon at DH with Cooper (with Canario / Tauchman sharing RF), at least until Suzuki and Happ are back...

crunch 1 week 1 day ago (view)

i'd just like to take a moment to express to the world i'm still pissed willson contreras is not a cub when the pricetag was 5/87m (17.5m/yr).

it would be nice to have a legacy-type player to stick around, especially one with his leadership and the respect he gets from his peers.  cubs fans deserved more than 1 season of contreras + morel...that was gold.

crunch 1 week 1 day ago (view)

happ, right hamstring tightness, day-to-day (hopefully 0 days).

he will be reevaluated tomorrow.

Childersb3 1 week 1 day ago (view)

I guess I'm not looking for that type of AB 

Just a difference of opinion

TarzanJoeWallis 1 week 1 day ago (view)

I don’t see Tauchman as a weak link in any position. He simply adds his value in a different way.

I don’t know that we gain much by putting him in the outfield - Happ, Bellinger and Suzuki and Tauchman all field their positions well. If you’re looking for Taucnman’s kind of AB in a particular game I don’t see why it can’t come from DH.

Childersb3 1 week 1 day ago (view)

Tauchman gets a pinch hit RBI single with a liner to RF. This is his spot. He's a solid 4th OF. But he isn't a DH. 

He takes pitches. Useful. I still believe in having good hitters.

You don't want your DH to be your weak link (other than your C maybe)

crunch 1 week 1 day ago (view)

bit of a hot take here, but i'm gonna say it.

the 2024 marlins don't seem to be good at doing baseballs.