Reds @ Cubs: Stephens vs Lester (Game 161)

Submitted by CTSteve on Sat, 09/30/2017 - 5:43am

CIN (82-77): RHP Jackson Stephens (2-0, 3.86) 
CHC (91-69): LHP Jon Lester (12-8, 4.46) 
First pitch: 3:05pmCST

Lester rebounded from whatever that was in Tampa Bay to beat the Cards on Monday, giving up 1 ER in 6 innings. In three 2017 starts, he’s 1-0 with a 10.13 against the Reds. Overall, they are 46-166 (.277) against him. Hamilton is 7-17 with 2 HR, and Suarez is 8-25 with 2 HR.

Stephens chalked up his first Major League win in his debut against the Cubs on July 1 (5 IP, 3 ER, 8 K, 1 BB). He had a 6-inning, 1 ER no-decision against the Red Sox his last time out. The Cubs are 6-18 (.333) against him. Jay is 2-3 with a HR.

It’s McGuire (0-1) and Montgomery (7-8) in the final game of the regular season tomorrow at 2:20pmCST.

Go Cubs! 
 

Tags: 
2017 Season Game Thread

Comments

Submitted by crunch  on Sat, 09/30/2017 - 3:09pm  
the A-team backing up lester. maybe he can move that ERA below 4.40 :( what a waste of a season for lester...worst since 2012. it's not a useless performance, but it's some real end-of-rotation quality stuff.

Submitted by billybucks  on Sat, 09/30/2017 - 3:50pm  
Strange year for Lester: - Remove his 3 terrible starts and his ERA drops to 3.67. - 10 starts allowing 1 run or less -- including his first 3 and 2 of this last 4. So, not consistently terrible, but not reliable either.

Submitted by crunch  on Sat, 09/30/2017 - 4:06pm  
working deeper counts (and more walks to show for it) chipped away at his innings, too. 32 starts and he'll finish 25-ish IP off his usual workload...that's nearly 4 starts worth of innings. hopefully he'll turn that around in 2018...oh, and the post-season.

Submitted by Cubster  on Sat, 09/30/2017 - 5:30pm  
that's nearly 4 starts worth of innings. ---- Here are the four worst starts: Approximately 20 of the 25 innings can be accounted for if you project 6-7 IP for these games. The 10 spot in 0.2 IP vs Pitt and the 9 spot in 1.2 innings vs Reds. 6 runs in 3.1 IP vs LA and 3 runs in 4 IP vs Snakes (even though they won that game 16-4. http://www.espn.com/mlb/player/gamelog/_/id/2...

Submitted by crunch  on Sat, 09/30/2017 - 3:38pm  
schwarb gets HR #30...crushed to CF. bryant on #29 coming into the game today. if he gets #30 today or tomorrow that will be 3 30+ HR guys.

Submitted by billybucks  on Sat, 09/30/2017 - 3:41pm  
Nice for Schwarber!

Submitted by crunch  on Sat, 09/30/2017 - 4:18pm  
the current "bleacher culture" sure is something we didn't see in the 80s and 90s...and probably before, but that's before my time since i was a toddler for my chunk of the 70s. there's a "suburban-family-looking" mom out there with 2 small children and a baby. one of the children is holding up a sign announcing it's the baby's first game. the mom is busy digging around in a diaper bag while messing with her cell phone. *shrug* the classic oldschool bleacher creatures seem to have left the bleachers long ago, anyway. things change.

Submitted by crunch  on Sat, 09/30/2017 - 4:46pm  
la stella with a 17 pitch AB for a K. 12 foul balls. longest AB of the season by a cub.

Submitted by crunch  on Sat, 09/30/2017 - 7:19pm  
"Max Scherzer left Saturday's game in the fourth inning with an apparent leg injury." a 2-week injury would be nice about right now.

Submitted by crunch  on Sat, 09/30/2017 - 9:26pm  
it's supposedly a "right hamstring cramp" 2 hours to report it was a cramp...okay, then.

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  • crunch 17 hours 15 min ago (view)

    don't worry, i'm sure even though he was spared from cuts there's some hardship he's being tortured with that he has to unfairly overcome.  #coreystrong #onthecross #yolo #swag #kony2012

     
  • crunch 17 hours 17 min ago (view)

    there's no way a system like that or something similar to that would work.

    "oh hi." - green bay packers

    *shoves out of way*

    like i said, there's no way that would work.

     
  • Hagsag 20 hours 12 min ago (view)

    Corey Black still has a job.

     
  • Charlie 20 hours 20 min ago (view)

    I am ready for MLB owners to give it a f***ing rest. I don't have any outrage to spare on them.

    If they can't afford this crisis, maybe they can surrender franchise rights to the players, grounds crew, concession employees, etc., and MLB teams can be employee owned.

     
  • Dolorous Jon Lester 1 day 34 min ago (view)

    Couldn't have said it better myself, unfortunately.

     
  • JustSayin' 1 day 9 hours ago (view)

    These players weren't cut/released; laid off is more like it. Fifty-two minor leaguers let go before any real games played, in two waves. The draft will be five rounds this year, not forty.  This is industrial downsizing, anticipating no traditional season this year and capitulation to MLB demands for a much smaller minor league system in 2021.  Next year or 2022 could also see a labor stoppage in the big leagues, over what promises to be a very tough CBA negotiation.  The game will not be what it used to be after this.

     
  • crunch 1 day 12 hours ago (view)

    i don't blame the ownership/font office for doing what they did with bryant.  it was just kinda bad timing that bryant was the client that boras was finally "i'm sick of this" over.  the cubs were warned that boras was going to make a stand and it dragged on so long there has to be some kind of toll on the boras/cubs relationship.

     
  • bigsky33 1 day 12 hours ago (view)

    Hi Phil, yes, hoping for an extended AZ Fall League.  Do you think there will be more cuts?  De La Cruz was the only big sureprise to me. I thought he had some upside. 

     
  • Dolorous Jon Lester 1 day 14 hours ago (view)

    It'll be more over when Kris leaves. Or whenever the same thing happens to another of his clients.

    He isn't wrong though...

     
  • Arizona Phil 1 day 15 hours ago (view)

    Presuming there is no traditional minor league season in 2020, expect an expanded Arizona Fall League (with potentially a new "Florida Fall League" as well) for the best prospects and expanded post-season instructs for other minor leaguers (all TBA). 

     
  • Arizona Phil 1 day 15 hours ago (view)

    My understanding is that the other two Cubs minor leaguers who are to be released are the two post-2019 Article XX-B MLB free-agents who signed 2020 minor league contracts, Brandon Morrow and Jason Kipnis. The Cubs will then supposedly re-sign them to new minor league contracts without the $100K retention bonus and 6/1 opt-out. 

     
  • Arizona Phil 1 day 15 hours ago (view)

    CRUNCH: Agreed. Not counting the "4-A" guys, Oscar de la Cruz is the one legit MLB prospect on the list.  

     
  • crunch 1 day 15 hours ago (view)

    aww...de la cruz had some decent looking spring outings (though late inning spring work isn't exactly challenging).  the years of injuries insanely slowed his progression.  totally wouldn't mind seeing him return in 2021 if the team would still be on his radar after getting cut at a time like this.

     
  • crunch 1 day 16 hours ago (view)

    that whole "kris bryant thing" is over...but it's never going to be over as long as this ownership group and boras is around.

    boras could have focused this on 29 other teams, especially the more vocal ones because the cubs have been mostly silent.  the cubs aren't the only team out there paying off "creatively financed" loans, either.

    he chose the cubs.

     
  • Dolorous Jon Lester 1 day 22 hours ago (view)

    Not looking forward to seeing that list. Hate to see it when a guy you've invested any sort of energy in is given up on.

     
  • Cubster 1 day 22 hours ago (view)

    Chi Tribune today. Boras picks, and focused on the Ricketts. 

    Headline writer, fun job: Agent won’t let Cubs get away Scott-free Matt York/AP and Paul Sullivan.

    Boras told his players “the game can not be played without you” and asked them to share the concept with teammates and opposing players when “MLB requests further concessions or deferral of salaries” during negotiations.

     
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