Cubs 2019: General Discussion

[Bears Whiskey Nut]

I am (as a typical Cubs fan is) very optimistic for this year. I think there will be some interesting story lines;

1. If everyone is healthy, I REALLY like our starting rotation. If Darvish is healthy, he's electric. He's also your #3 or #4 starter behind Lester, Hendricks and Hamels. Speaking of Hamels, I love what he gave to this team last year.

2. I was never a fan of Chili Davis, and thought that he screwed up the swings of a lot of the players last year. Davis was in Boston, and the hitters struggled. He left, and they lit the league up. I see the same thing happening on the Northside. Bats will return in 2019.

3. Maddon is going to have a real conundrum on his hands in May. I expect that Baez is going to light it up at SS, and force the Cubs to decide what they should do with Russell moving forward. I am guessing that they are going to trade Addison at the deadline in order to restock their farm system. Ultimately it will be good for the Cubs.

I can see Spring right around the corner. The Boys of Summer are coming! Baseball is back!

[UOK]

I am (as a typical Cubs fan is) very optimistic for this year. I think there will be some interesting story lines;

1. If everyone is healthy, I REALLY like our starting rotation. If Darvish is healthy, he's electric. He's also your #3 or #4 starter behind Lester, Hendricks and Hamels. Speaking of Hamels, I love what he gave to this team last year.

2. I was never a fan of Chili Davis, and thought that he screwed up the swings of a lot of the players last year. Davis was in Boston, and the hitters struggled. He left, and they lit the league up. I see the same thing happening on the Northside. Bats will return in 2019.

3. Maddon is going to have a real conundrum on his hands in May. I expect that Baez is going to light it up at SS, and force the Cubs to decide what they should do with Russell moving forward. I am guessing that they are going to trade Addison at the deadline in order to restock their farm system. Ultimately it will be good for the Cubs.

I can see Spring right around the corner. The Boys of Summer are coming! Baseball is back!

I'm mixed about the Cubs. I think they'll need to do some major shuffling before the deadline in order to find themselves. Keeping Russell is a major risk, and hoping that Bryant and others remember how to see a pitch simply because they fired Chili Davis is kind of a shot in the dark.

I have ZERO faith in Darvish. I consider him one of those pitchers who gives you 5-7 quality starts a season, but can't stay healthy and has no killer instinct. Heyward I still haven't made my mind up on. Love his defense, but the guy's offense has fallen off the wagon. Schwarber's career is sort of in a weird place, too.

Baez is one of the best reasons to watch the Cubs, and I love Rizzo, Hendricks, and whenever guys like Bote come out of the woodwork. That said, injuries are becoming a disturbing trend, and if the Darvish and Quintana acquisitions don't start paying off in a consistent way, it makes me wonder if a shakeup is coming.

The team's window is on the edge of a knife, and the farm isn't exactly bursting (but has some solid talent at the top). I hope they remember that playing baseball is fun.

[Boris13c]

Source: Lester heads to IL for hamstring issue

CHICAGO -- Cubs ace Jon Lester is being placed on the 10-day injured list because of a hamstring injury suffered in Monday's home opener against the Pirates, a source said Tuesday.

Lester was scheduled to get an MRI on Tuesday, an off day for both teams, who meet again Wednesday.

Appearing on 670 The Score radio Tuesday, Cubs manager Joe Maddon said that Lester will miss one or two starts but didn't confirm a trip to the IL.

[Boris13c]

Cubs To Option Addison Russell

The Cubs will option infielder Addison Russell to Triple-A Iowa when he is activated from the restricted list Thursday, the team revealed to reporters (Twitter link via Gordon Wittenymyer of the Chicago Sun-Times). He’s yet to play in the Majors in 2019 due to a 40-game suspension under the league’s domestic violence policy (which was issued back in September).

Russell will split time between shortstop and second base in Iowa, per Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link). He’s previously served as Chicago’s primary shortstop in large part because of his defensive abilities — Russell has just a career .242/.313/.392 line at the plate and tallied a career-low five homers in 2018 — but Javier Baez has thrived both offensively and defensively in that spot this season. Offseason signee Daniel Descalso has seen the lion’s share of playing time at second base so far in 2019 and posted an overall .268/.358/.380 in 81 trips to the plate. David Bote and Ben Zobrist, too, have chipped in at second base in the season’s early stages, though Zobrist has yet to replicate last year’s production.

The 25-year-old Russell won’t accrue service time on his optional assignment, of course, and it’s not clear when he’ll return to the Majors. President of baseball operations Theo Epstein suggested that the time in Triple-A will serve as a means of allowing Russell to get up to speed after the early downtime, which could point to several weeks in the minors for Russell. He’s already played six games with Iowa, as league policy allows players to begin an unpaid minor league assignment toward the end of their suspensions.

[Boris13c]

Adult fan yanks away Cubs walk off HR ball from 2 kids

An official MLB ball is 5 ounces of leather, yarn and rubber. Certain adults still go crazy for them, as one Chicago Cubs fan showed when his team walked off the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday.

Kyle Schwarber bashed his 21st homer of the season in the 10th inning to give the Cubs a 4-3 win. The ball ended up in the basket hanging over the outfield walls of Wrigley Field.

Two young fans, complete with baseball gloves, had the ball drop right in front of them and tried to reach for it. As the prize bounced inches away from them, an adult fan sitting next to them stretched over and yanked the ball away.

The fan, sporting a custom “Mai Tai Guy” jersey, then held up the ball for all the cameras to see.

Wrigley Field has seen behavior like this before, as a middle-aged fan seemed to take away a ball tossed to a young fan last season. It did later emerge that the older fan had apparently helped the same child obtain a ball earlier in the game, but it was still an awful look.

The Cubs ended up stepping in and giving the young fan a Javier Baez-signed ball, so all was well in the world. We’ll see if they do something similar here.

People, it’s a simple rule. If you find yourself physically competing with a child for something as small as a baseball, re-evaluate your priorities in life.

I've seen grown men almost trample children to get a ball at a game so this latest event is not in any way unique

it is simply the latest example of how people can just really suck for no reason

[Otis Day]

Typical drunk grown up at a baseball game, a Bleacher Bum no less.

I don't know what the thrill is of getting a ball. I saw the highlight and the dude acted as if he hit the frickin home run. He should have gotten a beat down.

[UOK]

I have a sinking feeling in my gut that the Cubs will flop in the final handful of games to miss out on a Wild Card. Their play on the road is the stuff of legend (in the worst ways).