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Hope Springs Eternal in Mesa
Zyhir Hope led off the bottom of the 1st inning with a triple and scored, Alexis Hernandez collected two RBI singles, Geuri Lubo drilled an RBI single, walked, and scored a run, and SP Alfredo Romero tossed three innings of shutout ball, as the Cubs defeated the Athletics 4-1 in Arizona Instructional League "Bridge Camp" game action Friday morning on Field # 1 at the Riverview Baseball Complex in Mesa, AZ.
The Cubs are now 1-4 through their first five Instructs games.
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A's Feed Cubs Goose Eggs at Fitch Park
Nate Nankill belted a solo home run, Nelson Beltran and Darlyn Montero stroked RBI singles, and SP Nathan Dettmer and four relievers combined to hurl a six-hit shutout, as the Athletics blanked the Cubs 6-0 in Arizona Instructional League "Bridge Camp" game action Thursday morning at the Lew Wolff Training Complex at Fitch Park in Mesa, AZ.
Here is the abridged box score from the game (Cubs players only):
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Cubs vs. Diamondbacks: Series Thread (Games 141-144)
The Cubs swept the Giants to climb to 1.5 games back both in the NL Central and behind the Phillies for the top NL Wild Card spot. Moreover, the offense showed up for this series, with Bellinger and Suzuki staying hot and benefitting from support throughout the lineup. Twenty-two games remain to land a preferable playoff position. They host the Wild Card hopeful Arizona Diamondbacks starting this Thursday. See below for matchups in the four-game series.
Angels Take the Labor Day Contest at Sloan Park
Dario Laverde drilled an RBI double and a single, John Wimmer doubled, singled, and scored a run, Capri Ortiz singled twice and stole three bases, and SP Yendy Gomez hurled three innings of no run / no hit ball, leading the Angels to a 6-3 victory over the Cubs in Arizona Instructional League "Bridge Camp" Labor Day game action Monday afternoon at Sloan Park in Mesa, AZ.
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Cubs vs. Giants: Series Thread (Games 138-140)
The Cubs split the series in Cincinnati, dropping to 3.5 back of Milwaukee and maintaining their second Wild Card spot. They return to Wrigley on Labor Day to take on the 70 and 67 Giants. San Francisco enters the series in a four way tie for the last Wild Card spot. See below for daily matchups.
Game 138, Monday, September 4, 1:20 pm central
CHC: LHP Justin Steele (15-3, 2.69 ERA)
SFG: RHP Logan Webb (9-11, 3.49 ERA)
Game 139, Tuesday, September 5, 6:40 pm central
CHC: RHP Kyle Hendricks (5-7, 3.59 ERA)
SFG: TBD
D'backs Cruise Past Cubs at Talking Stick
Yerald Nin drilled a two-run double, singled twice, and scored a run, and Jakey Josepha singled twice, walked, stole a base, scored a run, and drove in another, leading the Diamondbacks to a 9-3 victory over the Cubs in Arizona Instructional League "Bridge Camp" game action Saturday morning on Whirlwind Field at Talking Stick at Salt River Fields, east of Scottsdale, AZ.
Batting RH versus a RHP, Reggie Preciado (no longer switch-hitting) clubbed a solo HR over the LF fence to account for one of the three Cub runs.
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Cubs @ Reds: Series Thread (Games 134-137)
The Cubs closed out August by squeezing two wins from a three-game set against the Brewers at Wrigley. The barely present offense couldn't overcome a poor inning from Taillon to open the series. But Steele, Hendricks and the bullpen gutted out a pair of one-run wins to bring the Cubs to three back in the Central and to retain the second Wild Card spot.
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2023 MLB Post-Season Eligibility Rules
A club's Post-Season Eligibility List is established at midnight (Eastern) on August 31st.
A club's Active List (26-man roster) must be submitted to the MLB Commissioner prior to the start of the first game of each post-season series (Wild Card game, LDS, LCS, and World Series).
A club's Active List can be changed (tweaked) prior to the start of the first game of each series (WC, LDS, LCS, and WS).
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Angels Let Offense Loose at Diablo
Capri Ortiz doubled in the 1st, reached base on an error and scored in the 3rd, singled and scored in the 5th, hammered a two-run double in the 6th, and stroked a sacrifice fly in the 7th, Landon Wallace singled twice, doubled, reached base on an HBP, and scored two runs, Edgar Alfonso ripped three singles, scored three runs, and drove-in two more, John Wimmer doubled, walked twice, and scored two runs, and Caleb Ketchup doubled, walked twice, and scored a run, helping the Angels batter the Cubs 19-7 in Arizona Instructional League Opening Day game action Wednesday morning on Field # 3 at t
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Cubs vs. Brewers: Series Thread (Games 131-133)
The Cubs have gone seven for their last ten, climbing into the second Wild Card position. They next get their opportunity against the Milwaukee Brewers, who are eight are on an eight-game winning streak that extended their NL Central lead to four. This is the first of two crucial series remaining in which the Cubs directly confront the Brew Crew. See below for matchups in this three game series at Wrigley Field.
Game 131, Monday, August 28, 7:05 pm central
CHC: RHP Jameson Taillon (7-8, 5.60 ERA)
MIL: LHP Wade Miley (6-3, 3.18 ERA)
Recent comments
crunch (view)
it is taking more than a minute for me to get used to craig counsell being the cubs manager.
he's going to take the field on opening day at wrigley and get massively cheered.
that is weird. that's a thing that's happening, though.
history aside, while i am horrified at the amount of money they're paying him, i welcome his style of management over what d.ross has given the team. love d.ross and how chill + ready to deliver he kept the team, but he had a serious pitching short-hook problem that exhausted the pen and some very questionable bench/pinch-hitting use.
Arizona Phil (view)
FINWE N: If you go by what Counsell did with the Brewers, he is much more likely to go with younger players than Ross was. I think part of it was that Ross was a "veteran players manager," meaning he was well liked and respected by veteran players because he was inclined to play them over younger unproven guys.
And that actually might have been OK if the Cubs had been "sellers"at the trade deadline (as they clearly had planned to be before suddenly deciding to go fr it), because Ross would have played the veterans a lot the first four months of the season (which would have maximized their trade value), and then Ross would have had no choice but to play the younger guys the last two months after the veterans were traded.
But of course it didn't work out that way.
One thing about Craig Counsell that might have attracted Hoyer to him is that Counsel is very "collaborative" as a manager and welcomes and even demands lots of input from the analytics department. In fact I have heard tell that Counsell knows at least as much as the geeks know and that he routinely goes to them for information rather than waiting for it to be offered. So think of Ross as a Chevy pick-up truck, while Counsell is a Tesla.
crunch (view)
with candelario off the board to the reds, it looks like it's chapman or trade...or another year of gambling cheap on someone like gio urshela or a meh-D donovan solano.
of course there's also this guy with a rocket arm named morel that could have played a bit more 3rd in 2023 seeing if that could be his thing, but whatever i guess. i know accuracy isn't a strength with those throws from 3rd, but still, for his cost and a supporting middle-IF that's one of the best in MLB (if not #1) it's not the worst use of a very cheap talent.
Arizona Phil (view)
FINWE N: I believe Jeimer Candelario offers more roster flexibility in 2024 and beyond than players like Matt Chapman and/or Rhys Hoskins would, not to mention costing a lot less $$$$ (and signing Chapman would also cost the Cubs a draft pick because Toronto extended a Qualifying Offer to Chapman).
Also, I can't help but see visions of Trey Mancini whenever I think about the Cubs signing Rhys Hoskins.
Arizona Phil (view)
FINWE N: Time will tell.
Certainly the Cubs are not exactly flush with lefty relievers in the system. so Adam Laskey was not redundant.
As far as Sheldon Reed is concerned, he pitched very well the last month of the season at South Bend and I thought that would have earned him a spot on the Iowa reserve list.
I presume the Cubs had good reasons for not assigning Laskey and Reed to the AAA reserve list (thus making them available for selection in the AAA Phase of the Rule 5 Draft), but without knowing who was on the AAA reserve list instead of Laskey and Reed, I can't offer an informed opinion.
BTW, the same thing happened last year when I had LHP Luis Angel Rodriguez on the AAA Iowa roster but the Cubs left him off and then he was selected by the Houston Astros in the AAA Phase. I couldn't figure that one out, either.
crunch (view)
reds snag candelario...
Finwe Noldaran (view)
Arizona P:
Would Candelario be someone that is able to take a bench role once some of these younger players are coming up and need playing time and latitude?
So crazy that his career has come full circle like this.......
Finwe Noldaran (view)
Arizona P:
Do you feel that Counsel will be more apt to play out some of the young guys, rather than mainly sticking with veterans like Dross?
Finwe Noldaran (view)
Arizona P:
Do you think they weren't protected in the AAA phase because the organization feels they're redundant or at lesser value than other players they protected, or was this just poor managment?
George Altman (view)
Even more reason that Jed needs to bring back Bellinger and his LH bat.