2021 Team

[rok]

Well, this sucks.



https://wgntv.com/news/coronavirus/chica...-to-climb/

[1060Ivy]

They’ll most likely take it one homestand at a time



Will be interesting to check out Wrigley tomorrow. It will be different but hope it still will have a positive fun atmosphere despite pandemic, shit offseason, and poor outlook for team

[Butcher]

They’ll most likely take it one homestand at a time



Will be interesting to check out Wrigley tomorrow. It will be different but hope it still will have a positive fun atmosphere despite pandemic, shit offseason, and poor outlook for team

 

It's also fucking freezing today.

[funkster]

Yeah, pass even if i could get in.

[jstraw]

Isn't opening day at Wrigley always cold as fuck?

[1060Ivy]

Yeah but it’s usually cold and wet so ....

[funkster]

This Valdez guy is an interesting pickup.

[rok]

We seem to be collecting a lot of hard throwers with no control lately.

[rok]

https://twitter.com/M_Montemurro/status/...7512277013

[1060Ivy]

Good overview of Baez in The Athletic with the following paragraph:



“Jim Bowden, the former general manager of the Reds and Nationals who now writes for The Athletic, recently projected a seven-year, $133 million deal for Báez in light of Lindor’s extension and what will be a crowded field of free-agent shortstops after this season (Corey Seager, Trevor Story, Carlos Correa). Bowden’s estimate sounds very team-friendly for an elite defender who put up 34 homers and 111 RBIs when he finished second in the 2018 National League MVP voting.“



https://theathletic.com/2509758/2021/04/...baez-cubs/



Sounds better than the rumors which I heard regarding overall contract expectations: Bryant at $300 MM, Baez at $200 MM, and Rizzo at $100 MM.

[BigBoy]

At this point I wouldnt give any of them long term deals. Full on rebuild baby

[1060Ivy]

Doesnt matter who the opponent is when the Cubs offense goes 1-23 with RISP and leaves 19 men on base in a series. Lucky the Cubs didnt get swept with those stats in a series.



All 3 starters looked bad - even Arrieta who won the opener of the series struggled - but the lack offense is a bigger issue with this team

[Auz]

https://twitter.com/M_Montemurro/status/...7512277013

So with three pitchers going down with COVID leave alongside of the 1B coach, hopefully this will motivate the rest of the team to listen to medical science and get vaccinated rather than listen to Sogard and Mummy blogs.

[rok]

From Sharma's latest. Good times...

Cubs lead the NL and are third in baseball with a 28.8 percent strikeout rate. They're last in the NL in contact rate (71 percent) and 28th in baseball. The Cubs now have twice as many strikeouts (100) as hits (49). They have a collective .164 batting average and a 65 wRC+, both last in the game. According to Cubs historian Ed Hartig, the team's 49 hits are the lowest they've collected in any 10-game stretch since at least 1901.



The Cubs have scored 29 runs on the season, 15 of which have come via homers. In their last six games, they've scored 17 runs, 11 coming off home runs. Hitting homers is a good thing, but a team has to be capable of scoring in other ways on at least a semi-regular basis. And if they don't do that often, they better be hitting a lot of homers. The Cubs are squarely in the middle of the pack, tied for 13th in baseball with 12 home runs so far.

......

On the season, the Cubs offense is ninth in percentage of breaking balls seen (32.1 percent), 15th in off-speed pitches (13.1 percent) and 23rd in fastballs (54.8 percent). When they actually see a fastball, they're certainly not on it, swinging at just 63.8 percent of the fastballs they get in the zone (26th in the league). They have the lowest batting average in baseball against those pitches and are 25th in wOBA (.272).

[Butcher]

Good god. So they're historically bad. I know it's early, but this has definitely been the trend the last few seasons -- it's just a lot worse so far this year.