People need to relax on Brown… we don’t have another legit option at this point and he’s still developing on the fly. This offense is relentless. Love watching them grind pitching staffs to dust.
Prior to the game he had a 3.5 FIP. People need to settle down about Brown. Pitchers take time to develop. The current best pitcher on the planet (Skubal) had a 5.5 xERA his first full season. Corbin Burnes had an 8.8 ERA the year he started starting games. Pretty much every pitcher has an adjustment period the first couple years in the majors. Maybe there’s some misconception because of the way Steele performed right away when he was called up. But he’s the exception for young pitchers, not the norm.
Corbin burnes started 4 games out of 32 appearances in that year. The tigers weren’t under the pressure of making the playoffs as they were developing skubal. Ben brown’s ceiling is also nowhere near close to either of those two pitchers. He’s a number 3 if he can put it together. The cubs should feel no pressure to coddle him as he develops fastball command and / or a 3rd usable pitch. This is not me saying to give up on him. But they shouldn’t keep him in the rotation because it might be good for his development.
Its highly unlikely you develop in the bullpen to be a starter. Its rare that happens, so by you demoting him to the pen you are saying to give up on him as a future starter. Its also silly to speak about upside on pitchers before allowing them to actually develop. Steele wasn't projected to be a top end starter, Shota looks like an ace but wasn't projected to be so. Cubs should allow Brown to develop in the rotation because he's talented enough to stick. There is no pressure to replace him, the team is doing well even with his recent struggles.
Fun game today at Wrigley. Cubs are electric, balls weren’t leaving the park today but you can hear the bats of a few guys. I was stoked that you can get a scorecard for under $2.00. My girl enjoyed remembering how her dad taught her and scored the whole thing. Just a nice day at a game.
Yeah I think they should send him down. He can actually try to develop a third usable pitch in Iowa. It’s the same reason I thought he should’ve started the year in Iowa.
Shaw has been awesome since coming back up. Making plays left and right at 3rd base and getting on base. This walk off should only continue to boost the confidence. I love watching this team grind out wins.
This team is really fun but the steel injury just kills it. You can find a closer in the trade market and you can find an 8th inning guy, but getting both of those things and a top of the rotation starter is asking a lot. Guess it’ll come down to do they go all in this year and say fuck the next few down the line
Yea probably but baseball is weird and with our fucked up history its not unreasonable to say we're due for a pleasant, improbable surprise
Jefferson Rojas should be in Knoxville sometime in the next month. Super excited for him, he should be the shortstop after Dansby’s contract is done.
Which prospects do we think are most likely to be dealt at the deadline? It has to be at least one of Caissie or Alcantara right?
Also I’m curious what a Ryan weathers trade would look like in early June. Miami will trade players before the deadline, I’m just assuming it’ll be kinda expensive. They were openly thirsting over James triantos in the potential Luzardo deal. I wonder if that’s an option because I think he’d be a perfect fit for the type of pitcher they target.
Also my question about 40 man space for McGuire actually applies for Genesis Cabrera. I’m assuming Krieske will get sent back to Iowa but who do we think gets taken off the 40 man? And is there any harm to taking off players with options off the 40 man? Like do they lose Jack Neely if they remove him from the 40 man?
If you remove a player from the 40 man, they get placed on waivers. If they clear waivers, the Cubs can keep them. Options do not affect removing a player from the 40 man. Options are just the ability to move that player from the minors to the MLB and back
One of them or Jonathan Long. Long just won’t stop hitting and currently there doesn’t seem to be a spot for him.
Going to attempt to take my boys tonight for their first game. 4 year old is currently napping so hopefully we can make it til the 7th. Edit: just perusing tickets and seat geek has way more options than stubhub. Never used geek before but found it interesting.
I wish I would have seen this , did your kids get on the field? Kids can line up on the 3rd base side if you get there early and get on the field for BP. A bunch of reds signed for /talked to my kids last year. Was pretty neat.
No. Oldest and I got there mid 2nd inning. Youngest stayed with mom at hotel. Early flight home and long/terrible dinner prevented us from trying to get us all there.
Heading over for the Saturday night game vs the Red Sox on 7/19...tickets are salty af. ~$175 bleachers is the best we can do right now....I can't imagine that price is going to come down, unless the team shits the bed or we wait until the week of and get a bad weather forecast
Abbot at 81 pitches... would be nice to get to him here and get into the pen. Chip away at this lead.
Interested to see what they do tomorrow. I’d imagine it’ll be a bullpen game but flexen finishing this game makes me more intrigued
Brown is going to be pitching, I guess the question becomes do they bring him in the 2nd inning or does he start the game. But he's got to give a good performance
They made the starter TBA this morning, so people have speculated there will be an opener at the very least
Correct, and Brown is going to pitch in "relief." They are doing the same game plan they did with Cade in NY