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R.D. Mangles posted:he didn't steal home, but he easily scored on a weakly-hit grounder directly to a charging shortstop. Yah that was it. And 5
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Sep 24, 2018 02:20
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R.D. Mangles posted:The Kyles! They need to make this into a web series a la "Soup and Sandwich" that the Blackhawks did with Campbell and Panarin.
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Sep 24, 2018 06:14
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Cubs or Bears offense?
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Sep 25, 2018 03:09
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Chili's gotta go
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Sep 25, 2018 04:05
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Niwrad posted:Chili's gotta go I very, very strongly doubt the team is going to dump hitting coaches for two consecutive years.
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Sep 25, 2018 04:20
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Timby posted:I very, very strongly doubt the team is going to dump hitting coaches for two consecutive years. This ain't the 80's. Can't play small ball when everyone is throwing 95 plus. Look at the difference in the Red Sox since he left. Maybe Mallee wasn't great but he understood how you win these days.
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Sep 25, 2018 04:49
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My bad guys, I went to the game last night so they had to lose. I’ve been to 7 games this year and I think I’ve only seen 2 wins. I’m bad luck.
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Sep 25, 2018 11:27
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Niwrad posted:This ain't the 80's. Can't play small ball when everyone is throwing 95 plus. Look at the difference in the Red Sox since he left. Yes, the Red Sox started slugging like monsters when adding esteemed hitting coach *checks notes* Tim Hyers. Seriously, JD Martinez says hello and you're ignoring the fact the Red Sox have two black holes in their lineup.
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Sep 25, 2018 15:39
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https://twitter.com/Bernstein_McK/status/1044634804350840832 gently caress joe maddon
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Sep 25, 2018 18:34
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Yeah, JD was already ridiculous, the Red Sox were already good, and the Cubs have been streaky for years. They saw what the Mets were doing with deGrom and decided to try the "no run support for your starting pitcher, let him bat in his own runs" thing.
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Sep 25, 2018 18:39
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DTaeKim posted:Yes, the Red Sox started slugging like monsters when adding esteemed hitting coach *checks notes* Tim Hyers. Seriously, JD Martinez says hello and you're ignoring the fact the Red Sox have two black holes in their lineup. Chili Davis was brought in to get guys making more contact, putting the ball on the ground more, and hitting to the opposite field. So the Cubs now put the ball in play more but at a higher soft contact rate. Joe mocked launch angles and talked up "situational hitting". All poo poo that doesn't help your team score more runs. You don't win in this league by stringing together a bunch of seeing eye singles. You win by hitting dingers. Mallee understood this basic poo poo while Chili and Joe still think it's the 80's.
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Sep 25, 2018 20:28
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Niwrad posted:Chili Davis was brought in to get guys making more contact, putting the ball on the ground more, and hitting to the opposite field. So the Cubs now put the ball in play more but at a higher soft contact rate. Joe mocked launch angles and talked up "situational hitting". All poo poo that doesn't help your team score more runs. 
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Sep 25, 2018 20:42
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I honestly don't think a hitting coach is gonna change all that much. Guys hit how they hit, Anthony Rizzo is still gonna try and mash bombs and nothing Chili Davis says is gonna change that. I actually found a video interviewing Chili Davis hitting philosophy and I have to say it's actually pretty good. There are plenty of good hitters who don't know jack about teaching hitting and just regurgitate what they were taught as kids. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D2uKg_G6tA He seems like a level headed guy with no fixed approach for all hitters.
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Sep 25, 2018 20:45
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I'm not making this up. Read the interviews everyone gave. Mallee was into launch angles and hitting the ball hard. Maddon mocked that stuff. They wanted the ball put in play more and work on situational hitting which they got. Just means scoring less runs. I don't know the impact a hitting coach has but they are getting the results they desired when they hired him.
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Sep 25, 2018 21:00
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That might be what they want. But when it comes down to a hitter executing I just don't think anything a coach says is gonna change how a guy hits all that much. The whole "launch angles" phenomena is kinda hog wash in my opinion, it's just a fancy term for try to hit the ball into the air. It's nothing new and on it's own it doesn't mean anything. A hitter can attempt to get undeneath a pitch but if you don't have the power to get it out of the park consistently it's a bad approach. It's next to impossible to guide a ball with your swing with any fine degree of accuracy. Some guys have a more uppercut loopier swing and that tends to be your power hitters, where as your contact hitters are more flat. Telling Tommy La Stella to try and get more launch angle on a ball isn't gonna change the fact that Tommy La Stella will never be a power hitter.
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Sep 25, 2018 21:06
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It just seems like the Cubs suck when batting with RISP. Total hitting they are 2nd in AVG and OBP, and 9th in OPS. RISP they are 22nd AVG, 14th OBP, and 21st OPS. I doubt Chili Davis is telling these guys to hit less with RISP, and I would think hitting should actually be easier with men on base. Hell, even going to just runners on the Cubs are 6th, 6th, and 13th for AVG/OBP/OPS, so something is just happening once guys get to 2nd or 3rd. Edit: More I look at this, and it seems that the Cubs are just getting passed by other teams. I'm jumping around in stats, but the Cubs OPS with none on is .738, with scoring position is .721. Take Boston though, none on is .754, but RISP is .866. For whatever reason, they are just really good at hitting with RISP, while the Cubs get worse. Most teams get better with RISP, average none on is .710, but RISP is .752. Bird in a Blender fucked around with this message at 21:41 on Sep 25, 2018 |
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Sep 25, 2018 21:33
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I would expect averages to be lower with runners on base because at least some hits will be taken away via fielders choice. But that doesn't entirely account for it. Again it could just be bad luck on the comparatively smaller sample size of RISP vs all plate appearances.
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Sep 25, 2018 21:40
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If it's fielder's choice then it would have never been a hit if no one was on. At least that's how I understand it to be scored.
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Sep 25, 2018 21:43
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Bird in a Blender posted:If it's fielder's choice then it would have never been a hit if no one was on. At least that's how I understand it to be scored. Not always. Runner at 1st and the batter hits a line drive to center but the fielder plays it on a hop, the runner on 1st holds up midway thinking it might be caught but it is not and the center fielder throws him out on a FC at 2nd. The hitter in this situation is not credited with a hit when they otherwise would have been without a runner at 1st. Popete fucked around with this message at 21:49 on Sep 25, 2018 |
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Sep 25, 2018 21:45
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I'll have to take your word for it. That seems off since you're punishing the hitter for the mistake of the runner, but baseball scoring doesn't always make sense.
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Sep 25, 2018 21:50
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As I said before, why I've turned a skeptical eye to coaching is that almost everybody has stepped back hard this year: -Contreras has stepped back in every regard, most glaringly in the power department. This is a guy who people were saying could be a legit 30 HR threat and here he is with 526 AB's and a measly 9. -Bryant still has the OBP but his power has also evaporated, and it was down even before he got sidelined with shoulder problems. He's had a lot of injury issues this year so I don't want to rag on him too much but honestly I don't get the emphasis on him going oppo. In 2016 he was a pull-happy launch angle dude and it won him an MVP. -Rizzo is on pace to hit less than 30 HR's for the first time since 2013. -gently caress Russell, but he's another example of a guy who completely lost his power. -Schwarber is supposed to be a 40+ HR threat and he's not even going to hit 30 this year, despite limited PA's against tough matchups. -Zobrist has, a shocker, lost his power. That said he's 37 and slap hitting his way to a top three batting title finish, so at least he's adjusting well to it. -Almora has 150 more PA's than last year, but 3 less HR's. His OPS is ~.80 below his career numbers prior despite an insanely hot first half. -Happ has seemingly been tinkering with his swing all season long, none of which has stopped him from striking out at a ridiculous clip with little to show for it. 15 HR's isn't awful, but it doesn't justify how little contact he makes. -Heyward is a goddamn enigma, just when it looked like he might finally be coming online after ~2.5 seasons of agony, he just fades back into the poo poo again. -Caratini's bat is nothing, even if he can switch hit. Quintessential backup catcher bat barring a drastic change. Obviously some of these guys like Zobrist and Rizzo are still hugely valuable, but watching what feels like the entire team slide backwards while the Brewers put together a 90+ win season with far less on paper talent is really draining my enthusiasm. Something isn't working here.
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Sep 25, 2018 21:58
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The offensive strategy is put the ball in play (preferably on the ground and to the opposite field) over try to hit one off the scoreboard but strike out a little more. Many of those hitters who have regressed are following that approach. Contreras is striking out a little less and hitting to the opposite field but lost his power. Almora is putting the ball on the ground more and hitting to the opposite field at the expense of power. Same with Russell. Rizzo has leveled out his swing a bit and isn't getting the ball in the air as much. Even La Stella is putting the ball on the ground much more. Happ is trying to spray the ball around instead of pull pitches and has lost his power. Again, this is what the Cubs wanted if you read all their interviews before the season. Maddon specifically talked about situational hitting and making more contact. He mocked launch angles and talked about how you need to get "on top of the ball" when hitting. He actually said he didn't like the guys trying to pull the ball to hit homers. Just read this which is one of many times he's spoken about what he wants the Cubs to do (which is what they are doing). https://www.dailyherald.com/sports/20180430/rozner-cubs-maddon-preaches-more-contact
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Sep 25, 2018 22:24
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Oh sweet Jesus, they’re going to lose this lead they had all year. They are going to what? A wild card lol
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Sep 26, 2018 04:04
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Sydin posted:As I said before, why I've turned a skeptical eye to coaching is that almost everybody has stepped back hard this year: To me one of the worst thing is that they kept saying they couldn’t trade any of the young players because of how much potential they have, and now we couldn’t get anything for them if we wanted to. We need starting pitcher and, ideally, better relief but instead we take gambles on the likes of Darvish, Chtwood, etc, and now they’re busts whose contracts will restrict what we can do. Add that to the mediocrity that is Quintana and we’ve got a lot of busts on the team with a bankrupt farm system. But at least my 2016 self feels vindicated when I said if we didn’t win it then, that we’d likely not have a good chance again while everyone else talked about how bright the future was with so many talented young position players available. Welp, now they’ve all regressed to being mediocre and we can’t really trade them for much. But we got the 2016 WS so who cares.
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Sep 26, 2018 04:21
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I would buy this more if it weren't for the fact home runs are down nearly ~10% across all of MLB with one week to play. The only teams who have hit more home runs this year compared to last year are the following:: Red Sox (+33), White Sox (+9), and Braves (+8). There's been rumblings that the ball has been "dejuiced" compared to the previous two years. In fact, with the reduced offensive numbers, Heyward is now a league average hitter. Imagine that. The article doesn't mention "on top of the ball" at all. He mentions more line drives, which seems appropriate to me. Your assertions are true with Contreras (if barely), Almora, and Russell. Schwarber, Bryant, and Rizzo doesn't support it though. In short, I think a one year blip supported by a leaguewide downtrend in offense is going to muddy the waters substantially. EDIT: drat, calling Darvish a bust after one year is a tad dramatic. As for Chatwood, who the hell knows, but it won't be the first time the Cubs threw money at a fifth starter. If the Cubs don't win the division, I'm going to tip my cap to the Milwaukee Brewers, because drat they just outplayed all of the peripherals offensively. DTaeKim fucked around with this message at 04:45 on Sep 26, 2018 |
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Sep 26, 2018 04:32
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DTaeKim posted:EDIT: drat, calling Darvish a bust after one year is a tad dramatic. There were people wailing and moaning that the Cubs should have given that money to Arrieta well into, like, July.
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Sep 26, 2018 04:43
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This is what I get for living in southern Indiana and insulated from all of the discussion. Looking at the numbers, Arrieta has been an average MLB pitcher this year. Not what I would give Darvish money to, unless Arrieta resigned at a discount for slightly more than Chatwood's contract. Even then, while I would have liked Arrieta back, I wouldn't have given him $21 million per year. Also yikes, his K/9 is down to 7.29. DTaeKim fucked around with this message at 04:51 on Sep 26, 2018 |
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Sep 26, 2018 04:48
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Their pitching is fine. If they pick up Hamels option, that's a deadly rotation next year assuming Darvish is back. Maybe he's not an ace but I refuse to believe Darvish just forgot how to pitch or that his arm is forever broken. And having a guy like Montgomery in the pen allows them to be cautious with starters. The issue is hitting. Most of the young guys either stagnating or massively regressed. They need to make a big splash in Center or at 2B. Bryce makes the most sense if they're willing to throw money at the problem. Team has to add some power in a big way.
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Sep 26, 2018 04:59
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I just said power is down EVERYWHERE in baseball. One guy is not going to fix it unless you seriously think Bryce Harper or Manny Machado is JD Martinez offensively (hint: they're NOT).
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Sep 26, 2018 05:03
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Niwrad posted:The issue is hitting. Most of the young guys either stagnating or massively regressed. They need to make a big splash in Center or at 2B. Bryce makes the most sense if they're willing to throw money at the problem. Team has to add some power in a big way. I just don't know if the Rickettses are going to be willing to throw a monster deal at Harper or Machado. There's no way on God's green earth that Heyward opts out of his mega-deal, Hendricks is going to make a boatload in arbitration this offseason, they've got the Darvish, Morrow and Chatwood contracts on the books, Bryant, Baez, Contreras and Schwarber are all arb-eligible ... that's a lot of money and pay increases before you even think of free agency.
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Sep 26, 2018 05:15
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DTaeKim posted:The article doesn't mention "on top of the ball" at all. He mentions more line drives, which seems appropriate to me. There are plenty of articles with Joe explaining his philosophy. In fact, "philosophy" was the reason the Cubs gave for dumping Mallee. He was all about pulling the ball and hitting as many homers as possible. Joe (and Chili) believe in higher contact and hitting the ball the other way. I guess we can all judge for ourselves which philosophy accounts for more runs. Here's Joe talking about his approach: quote:"The data is so exact that I think everybody pretty much knows where they want to be," Maddon said on the Bernstein and McKnight Show on 670 The Score on Tuesday. "I also believe the fly ball thing is going to gradually simmer down a little bit. I think the launch angle is going to become less prominent with the elevated fastball. As more teams are incorporating that, then the natural progression is going to be how do you combat that? You combat that by the tried-and-true principles of top half of the ball, inner half of the ball, staying inside the ball. Those are the kinds of thoughts that are going to come back, I believe. Everything's cyclical in our game. As groups make adjustments to something, then you have to adjust back. So velocity in the bullpen, elevated fastballs, all those things don't speak very well for the launch angle or that type of swing. You'll see more traditionalists as you move it down the road." DTaeKim posted:I just said power is down EVERYWHERE in baseball. One guy is not going to fix it unless you seriously think Bryce Harper or Manny Machado is JD Martinez offensively (hint: they're NOT). They just dropped from 3rd in the NL to 11th in the NL. They've also gone from 2nd in the NL in runs to 6th after tonight. We're looking at numbers relative to their opponents, not the league as a whole.
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Sep 26, 2018 05:25
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Joe's prediction about pitchers countering hitters "launch angle" philosophy with high fastballs was spot on though. That is definitely a thing happening in the league.
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Sep 26, 2018 05:33
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I’m getting doubts that the cubs will make it to the postseason this year
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Sep 26, 2018 05:56
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Timby posted:I just don't know if the Rickettses are going to be willing to throw a monster deal at Harper or Machado. There's no way on God's green earth that Heyward opts out of his mega-deal, Hendricks is going to make a boatload in arbitration this offseason, they've got the Darvish, Morrow and Chatwood contracts on the books, Bryant, Baez, Contreras and Schwarber are all arb-eligible ... that's a lot of money and pay increases before you even think of free agency. You're probably right. The one thing going for them is the new TV network in 2020 is estimated to bring in a boatload of new revenue and create a billion dollar asset out of thin air. The team still has a 3-year window left after this season, so maybe they decide to go all-in on another big contract. Then again maybe they just try to figure it out internally. Hope Happ and Almora can develop into good hitters. Hope Bryant, Rizzo, and Contreras rebound. Scour the trade market for a guy who can add a little pop at 2B or CF/RF. Seems risky considering the division is improving, but I guess it's a plan.
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Sep 26, 2018 05:56
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https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/1044788778550874112?s=19
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Sep 26, 2018 06:04
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Niwrad posted:You're probably right. The one thing going for them is the new TV network in 2020 is estimated to bring in a boatload of new revenue and create a billion dollar asset out of thin air. If they still believe that, they're huffing their own farts. The RSN bubble has burst and live sports values are plummeting (pretty sure every network plus ESPN would like to get out of their monster NFL deals right now).
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Sep 26, 2018 06:10
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Popete posted:Joe's prediction about pitchers countering hitters "launch angle" philosophy with high fastballs was spot on though. That is definitely a thing happening in the league. But it didn't necessarily work. Once teams realized pitchers were throwing more high fastballs, homers off the pitch started to surge last season. https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/pitchers-went-up-in-2017-and-it-didnt-work/  Regardless, it's really tough to score in this league without power. With all the velocity and managers playing matchups late in the game, it's difficult to string together 4-5 base hits for a big inning. Your strategy these days should be "how do we hit for more power?".
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Sep 26, 2018 06:14
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Timby posted:If they still believe that, they're huffing their own farts. The RSN bubble has burst and live sports values are plummeting (pretty sure every network plus ESPN would like to get out of their monster NFL deals right now). This isn't true. Regional sports networks still print money most of the time. Cord cutters have cut into profits a bit, but it's still highly profitable. Plus some of the new digital options are staving off the loss of subscribers. The Red Sox are doing well with NESN. The Yankees did amazing with YES. And the Cubs should not have a problem getting on the basic cable package considering the high demand for the product. I believe they're still the bellcow of NBC Sports Chicago in terms of ratings. They won't be making Dodgers money (which was a terrible deal), but they should make considerably more from the stuff I've read. And they immediately create an asset worth a billion dollars overnight (YES is valued at like $4 billion).
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Sep 26, 2018 07:06
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Niwrad posted:But it didn't necessarily work. Once teams realized pitchers were throwing more high fastballs, homers off the pitch started to surge last season. That was last season. It's too bad Travis didn't post a follow-up yet this year, but there is a clear downtrend in home runs this year. https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/something-has-paused-the-home-run-spike/ Niwrad posted:They just dropped from 3rd in the NL to 11th in the NL. They've also gone from 2nd in the NL in runs to 6th after tonight. That's disingenuous to say they've dropped from 2nd in the NL to 6th when the difference in the standings is 17 runs. That can and probably will change after the end of the season. Look, I'm not disagreeing with you that the decline in home runs this season is a disappointment for the team. However, I'm also saying that there is a LOT more to the Cubs decline in home runs than Chili Davis. Again, home runs and ISO are DOWN this season as a league compared to last season. The Brewers are probably going to hit more home runs than last season, but their ISO is down 0.08 from last season. The Nationals lost 0.18 from thier ISO and 37 home runs. The Cardinals may end up hitting more home runs but their ISO is also down from last season. The Dodgers are the only team whose ISO increased from last season, and they're also in a tight division race. There's a pattern here league-wide and it's not Chili Davis. We missed Kris Bryant for portions of two months, where he hit ~5 last season. We had Rizzo hit ONE home run in the month of April, where he hit 5 last year in the same time frame. Ten more home runs there and you jump from 11th to 7th in the NL. The sky isn't falling in Chicago. The Cubs played 0.600 baseball in the last month, but the Brewers have played 0.667. We got caught by one of the hottest teams in all of baseball right now. DTaeKim fucked around with this message at 13:28 on Sep 26, 2018 |
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Sep 26, 2018 13:17
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DTaeKim posted:The sky isn't falling in Chicago. In this thread it is
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Sep 26, 2018 13:49
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