Using Weaver in this situation makes absolutely no sense. You're down by 8 runs with an iffy pitcher going tomorrow and your pen has been used heavily the last two days. Just keep Garcia in until his arm falls off.

We were due a let down. Let’s come back tomorrow.

p.s. F Cecil


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Should have just kept Cecil in until his arm fell off or he died from embarrassment. Either would have been fine with me.

WTF? I take a night off in this thread and you guys let the team go to shit. Who had the bad mojo?

I like Bader

God ****ing damn I love Bader!

Somewhere Whitey just got a chubby!

scoring from 2nd base on an infield single. No throw to 1B. Infielder got the baseball in the base path. Didn’t even field the ball deep.

Has that ever been done?

Yeah **** this slow pitch softball offense. Down by 8 runs? You’re in Colorado, no problem. Just get the ball in the air and let the ball travel through the thin air. Or just hit into that football field size outfield. :shake:

Well, we’re on pace for 30 runs today so...

Jesus. Apparently they resented getting their asses kicked last night.

We had one bad inning. Swept the Dodgers. Took 2/3 from the Rockies. I can’t remember a West Coast trip where we played as well as this one.

Agreed. Sucks that we played that well and still dropped another game back. Goddamn Reds didn't even put up a fight against the Cubs this weekend.

Luckily their schedule gets much harder over the next couple of weeks.

Your new manager has done a great job.

While playing in the WC game sucks, at least they are now 1.5 up on Colorado, 2.5 on the Phillies, and 3 on the Dodgers.

I want the division. I want to be surrounded by legions of miserable Cub fans again. I really miss that. :grr:

I think that winning streak is still in tact.

Leone three up and three down. He was the main return for Grichuk. Had a ~2.50 ERA last year- could be a big producer for us down the stretch.

they keep playing like this, they will at least put a scare into the Cubs that the Division isn’t secure, not quite yet anyway.

Yes, always prefer the division, but can you imagine the joy of dealing them a 2011ish type dismissal in the NLDS? What a pleasure destroying that roided up frog eyed Braun’s championship dreams.

Frazod, was talking about the Cubs. But, knocking the Brewers out when they thought that for sure, no doubt, this is the year that they get to the World Series. That was brutal.
https://i.imgur.com/LlbpGHq.jpg

Thanks man. You saw this team first hand during our first Series. We looked bad, right? We knew we'd be better with a fence post managing the team but this much improvement? :eek: I'm sure we will hit a wall at some point but right now its a fun team. Scoring from 2B on an infield hit? :D

Yes, I know he was referencing the baby bears, I was just saying even if we don't win the division, it would be sweet to give them the same treatment we gave the Brewers in 2011. I still can't believe we beat Halladay, Lee and Oswalt in that first series to even get to the NLCS.

You should hear the local announcers up here today. Apparently sweeping the Reds at home makes the Cubs the ‘27 Yankees. :rolleyes:

Beat supposedly, according to every article and broadcaster at the time, Philly's 3 pitchers that were the best ever thrown against a team in a series.

The Cubs did nothing wrong, but I'd like to return the insult and celebrate in Wrigley. Take our own winning picture on the Cubs mound.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Harrison Bader just scored from 2nd on a ball in the infield! 😱 <a href="https://t.co/dSVF2WMmtj">pic.twitter.com/dSVF2WMmtj</a></p>&mdash; St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) <a href="https://twitter.com/Cardinals/status/1033802968200556544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 26, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

19-5 in the month of August, 23-7 and nine consecutive series wins in the past 30 days. Anyway you slice it, it has been an impressive turnaround.

Waiting for what?

I didn't expect the Dodgers to just lay over.

I'm waiting for the offseason when Mo decides to build the future of the Cardinals around guys like Tyler O'neill.

Nice deflection

I mean you guy are like .5 games up in the WC on 3 or 4 teams and you are talking about shit like knocking the Cubs out of the playoffs.

I would be a little bit worried about a GM who is afraid to make drastic changes looking at this month of baseball where guys like Kolten Wong are having his annual month of offense that make him look like he's turning the corner and Tyler O'neill still striking out 40% of the time but carrying a .450 BABIP.

ROFL Of course it was the Dodgers laying over that determined that series win. Did the Rockies tank too? How about your Cubbies, did they just "lay over" when the Cards started this streak by taking 2 of 3 from them?

Geez your a total tool.

Oh and I look forward to Theo signing Lance Lynn or Matt Harvey to a multiyear deal after Yu Debacle's shoulder turns out really is hamburger.

First it is 1.5 game lead in the WC dumb ass, learn to read a simple expanded standings. It is a .5 game between them and the second wild card. No one here is claiming anything about your little underachievers this year.

You go on a run like this at this time of year and yeah, you start thinking about the possibilities. The Cubs have flaws that if they don't take care of business (as they should) that final series could be relevant.

I hate to break your bubble, but you guys are far from the dynasty you thought you would have, and if you are honest, that is probably what is chaffing your ass right now.

No rest for the weary. A day off but gotta keep winning.

Another 6 or 7 game win streak would be awesome.

If I'm honest?

The Cubs have been to 3 straight NLCS' and are the best team in the NL right now while missing a key part of their rotation, their MVP, and their closer for significant chunks of the season.

If you were honest you would realize how stupid you sound thinking the Cubs are in any way shape or form not the premier team of the NL for the forseeable future.

And moving the goal posts.

THIS! JD, show me the posts in here where someone says we are a legitimate threat to your division title. All I see is "hope" posts.

If I had been him in 2015, I'd been thinking 5 years of owning and threat to go to the WS and win every year. That team was hot and with young talent thanks to tanking and losing 100 games for a few years.
Why start now? :rolleyes:

So why do you keep leaking estrogen all over this thread?

I'm not leaking anything.

People quoted me and I responded.

I posted hope too.

I sincerely hope that the Cardinals FO sees all the excitement over a team full of 1-2 WAR players having unsustainable success and chooses to make them the future while guys like Carpenter say their goodbyes.

If anything has changed with the season for the Cubs this year in regards to their future is that they should be fully committed to moving on from Russell because of the emergence of David Bote over the last couple years in the minors and continued success in MLB so far.

Ian Happ could (should) probably be traded too, but with Maddon's love for players who can be versatile defensively he'll likely play the Zobrist role after his contract expires at the end of next season.

And if the Cubs really wanted to go all in they could look to move Schwarber and blow past the luxury tax and go after Machado or Harper. Signing Machado would likely mean Bryant goes to the OF so I doubt that happens. And I'm not convinced Theo is ready to trade Schwarber so I doubt either one of those happen.

But a package of Russell + Caratini + ?? should return a decent pitching option.

You are focused on this year for the Cardinals, Understandably so. We are not a real threat to your division dominance this year. Next year, that story isn't set yet.

One thing you have ignored with your posts is the value of our young players has jumped up significantly.
Gomber
Gant
Poncedeleon
Hudson
Hicks
Bader
O'Neill
Flaherty


Mikolas this off season will have trade value too

Have all increased their trade value, agree? Expendable trade value put together with our surplus OF and Kelly = A potential great player in 2018.

How many of those players do you think the Cardinals are actually going to trade?

I don't think anyone is going to be looking to trade for Tyler O'neill. And if they are it wont be at the price you seem to think he is worth. He is fools gold.

Bader wont be going anywhere because he is your CFer.

So which pitchers are you trading to replace the majority of your lineup? Outside of Flaherty you are gonna have to package at least a couple of them just to get in the door in a conversation for a middle of the order bat.

You never know for sure on prospects until you get a significant look. It's not like ONeill was some C prospect who hit a few lucky dongs when called up. He has been a top 100 prospect for the last couple of years. Yes, he has a high strikeout percentage, although his plate discipline show signs of adjustment. Hitting a home run every 14 at bats and slugging well over .500 is encouraging. He needs to continue to improve with plate discipline, but his power potential is not a fluke.

What was Baez strikeout percentage in his first partial year when they brought him up. Bueller, Bueller, anyone? 40% and his OPS was around .550 not .850. Totally different players, but Baez made the adjustment to more tolerable levels. We won't know about ONeill until we see more.

Time will tell. One thing is for sure, your setting yourself up for a shit ton of crow if you are wrong.

People quoted you and you acted like it was no big deal you were wrong in your assessment. It wasn't just attributable to losing teams. You seem threatened by simple facts.

No one here is suggesting the cubs aren't still the team to beat. The Dodgers were the heavy favorites coming in this year and it looks like they will come up short, so that leaves the baby bears.

The Cards are having fun. Who knows if the wave will last long enough this season, but you are short selling their near term potential. You want to believe that ONeill will be the new Grichuk etc. However we don't know enough to say for sure now what is there.

All we do know is that they are winning at an astonishing clip for over a month now.

When you say O'Neill is fool's gold, do you mean Yu Darvish fools gold or Addison Russell fool's gold?

You mean Addison Russell the elite defender who's been dealing with a shoulder and finger this year? You know the same thing you want to excuse Paul DeJong for minus the shoulder.

How much has Paul DeJong's OPS dropped for the month since we last talked? 70 points?

.738 is DeJong's current OPS or the same as Russell's best year. DeJong had a broken hand hardly the same as a finger. I don't think he will be the .857 OPS guy he was last year, but I think he can be an adequate defender, 20 homer, 80 rbi guy, hitting 6th or 7th, probably in that above average .780 to .800 range once he completely gets healthy. We have 4 years of sub .700 and just above OPS history to view Russell offensively. He is a fine defender, and there is nothing wrong with going with a defensive glove at short, but let's not be silly and think that was how he was hyped.

Russell was never hyped as a hitter. Ever.

He has always been a guy that has been labeled as "if" at the plate with the assumption that maturing will bring his bat up to speed. Even in his "good" offensive year he was just a 94 wRC+ hitter. That's only 8 points higher than his current numbers. Now you could credit the decline in power this year to his shoulder and finger because it was clearly bothering him because just above every swing he took his lead hand was flying off the bat.

Regardless, I would be very surprised to see him on the Cubs next year. Theo has already moved past protecting Russell in trade rumors and has actively thrown his name out, according to rumors from insiders and anonymous exec's.

Really? Ever?

http://mlbtopprospects.com/2014/12/addison-russell-bio/

https://www.mlb.com/news/bernie-ples...top/c-58486746

https://chicagocubsonline.com/archiv...-cubs-farm.php

You're going to claim that Addison Russell was the #3(ish) prospect in baseball on the strength of his defensive prowess?

FFS - you can't even concede that any part of your precious 'young core' has been a disappointment. Russell's had one of the worst 'performance vs.pedigree' ratios in the game over the last 3 years.

People absolutely believed Russell would be a premier hitter - he just hasn't been since he got into your system.

A "gap power" hitter that was traded because the A's didn't believe it would translate and so far they were right.

He's still only 24 but I dont think you'll ever hope for more than average from Russell.

Are you obtuse?

Why would I be all about trading Russell if I didn't believe he's been a "disappointment"?

Russell and Ian Happ are the only 2 disappointments. I don't really blame Ian Happ, though. He had no business even making it to the majors in the Cubs organization. Everyone else has met or exceeded expectations.

Says the guy who couldn't remain logically consistent for a 2 post span...

How can you say he's been a disappointment if his glove is so sterling and he " was never hyped as a hitter. Ever."?

If all he was supposed to be was Jose Iglesias, then he's right on track, right?

I'm not the one that overplayed my hand here...

ROFL

Russell was a guy that was suppose to get you stellar defense and hit for average with maybe 10-15 HR's a year. That was his expectations. He's given you the defense with a bit of an issue when it comes to throwing errors but he's never reached that average hitter status.

So you are asking why he's been a disappointment? Because he's never reached being an average hitter. It's been 4 years now with no signs of improvement.

Does that work for you, sunshine?

On the vast majority of teams you could live with what Russell gives you. But the Cubs can just as easily move Baez to SS and put Ben Zobrist/Ian Happ/David Bote/Tommy La Stella at 2nd.

Must be why those scouting reports you're ignoring keep referencing his power and hit tool as his calling cards....

"I project hitting for average to be Russell's second most dominant tool, behind only his raw power."

"Hitting: Russell has a quiet setup and advanced approach with a good idea of the strike zone. Russell has the ability to hit to all fields with power. Tremendous bat speed, great hands with a short, compact swing. Russell will chase, especially breaking balls out of the zone. The potential is there for Russell to hit .300 in the majors.

Power: Shows raw power in batting practice. Russell has the speed and gap power to produce doubles and triples. Has the potential to hit 20-30 home runs in a 600-at bat season. Projects to be a run producer in the majors."

Not ignoring anything.

You can pull up all the scouting reports you want. Most all of them will limit him to gap power while suggesting he's going to hit 25 HRs a year (Ok?). Then if you keep looking you start reading about questions he had at the plate with discipline and struggling to hit offspeed pitches against superior competition which led to questions of whether or not he had sufficient pure hitting ability to translate at the MLB level.

Which is why the A's made the trade and "would do it again."

"Never hyped as a hitter."

Reports list his hit took and power as calling cards.

No bullshit here....

Keep holding on to batting practice scouting reports.

yeah JD, WTF? Russell was supposed to be Trout level, top 5 prospects in baseball. And now he’s a defensive only SS?

Man you move the goal posts more than any fan I can remember.:facepalm:

When the hell was Russell suppose to be Mike Trout?

I have said before his call up to the majors that Flaherty can win a CY Young someday. You don’t trade that upside.

None of those others are top shelf players. As was discussed earlier, we need to be looking for $’s and trading our quarters. In this case above, most were dimes and now are quarters, maybe. That was my point. We get a club that has one great piece but need help in a lot of areas, that’s who would be interested in our quarters for their $.

Trout level, a top 5 player and prospect. No one thought Trout would be Trout or they wouldn’t have picked him at 23.

Quit trying to move the goalposts. Russell has underperformed what “most” knowledgeable and just casual fans thought he would be.

There is a big difference between Trout level and top 5 prospect. You realize Trout was drafted when he was 17 years old, right?

Trout entered MLB at age 19. You know who else entered the league at 19? Manny Machado, Bryce Harper, Alex Rodriguez... generational talent level players.

Russell had all of like 70 something games of at least AA ball experience and there were some worrying signs to his game at that level before being called up to the majors. Every one was surprised when he was called up because no one thought he was ready. Most people didn't think he would be in the majors until maybe roster expansion time or the following year. Ever since he was called up its been trying to get his bat up to speed for MLB pitching. It hasn't caught up yet. He's been defense first from day 1.

Oh the irony.:rolleyes:

Viva le Birdos article on Matheny failure:
The answer to failure, in Matheny’s worldview, was always to just believe harder. Matt Adams can’t hit left-handed pitching, you say? Well first off, that’s profoundly insulting to my guy, and yes he can. What evidence do I have? I don’t need evidence, you nerd/reporter/satanist/whatever; I have belief! I believe Matt Adams is good, and should play every day, and so it will be.

Baseball is a game of failure, as they say. Managing that failure is perhaps the most important aspect of the game, of the job. Players have to fail, and fail, and fail again, 60% of the time or more, and still go right back up to the plate with confidence they can get the job done, even when we have an overwhelming body of evidence telling us that no, in all likelihood, you won’t. You’re probably going to fail. Because you usually do.

Managers have to understand that failure, and figure out how to get around it, how to counsel their charges through it, and how to minimise the likelihood it happens again. Managers have to understand that failure is not the same as being a failure, and that understanding how often players fail is not the same as condemning them. Front office people, general managers and the like, have to understand failure is the null state of the game, and look past that, past the limitations, and ask that all-important question of how can this player help us. Limitations are not the same as failure, but rather opportunities to fit the puzzle together in ever-tighter, more productive ways.

When you view the world the way Mike Matheny seemed to, I’m not sure you can succeed in a game like baseball. When you write a manifesto telling parents essentially to shut up, never question your authority or your knowledge, and just trust that you know what’s best at all times, I don’t think you’re cut out for a job like this. A worldview based on blind faith, and just believing harder every time someone questions your beliefs, is going to lead to Matt Adams hitting against lefties over and over again, when that’s not what he’s good at, and Kolten Wong sitting on the bench, marinating in his own frustrations, for reasons no one is ever quite sure of.

All of this is really just a very long-winded way of saying that I’ve been thinking a lot about the state of the Cardinals, and where they are, and where they’re going. And more than anything, trying to figure out whether the future really is so much brighter now than it was just a couple months ago.

I think it is. I really do. And that leads me to another question, one which I have not yet been able to answer for myself in any sort of satisfactory way: why did it take so long for the Cardinals to see what we all saw?

I wish I could answer that. I’ve heard things, things about how much certain people in the organisation liked Matheny, largely for reasons that had nothing to do with baseball, and how he was very much a blind spot for some of those people. But I’m not sure that really satisfies me. An organisation that did so much to make the game smarter over the past fifteen years being so blind, so stubborn, so...dumb about their choice of manager feels almost inconceivable to me. I really don’t know how it happened. Why it continued to happen for so long.

Then again, maybe just believing harder in something, thinking that if you close your eyes hard enough and believe things will get better then they certainly will, wasn’t a problem confined to the dugout.

Things seem better now. We should focus on that.

Whatever happened to that crazed Cubbie on here who bragged that they got a steal on Yu Darvish? Bwahahahha

It went the way of Es co bar cheesy fan made highlight reels lulz

I thought the Cubs had an easy schedule the rest of the way. Maybe they should be concerned........just a little :hmmm:


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From STLToday


The Cardinals and Cubs each play nine more series before the Cubs host the Cardinals for the regular-season finale at Wrigley Field.

For the Cardinals, seven of those nine series come against teams that have more second-half series losses than wins. And five of those seven series will be played at Busch Stadium, where the Cardinals own the NL’s best home winning percentage (.714) since the break.

For the Cubs, only four of their nine series will be played against teams that, as of Monday, had more second-half series losses than wins. And just two of those four series will be played at Wrigley Field, where the Cubs were 42-23 entering Monday night’s game against the Mets.

The Cubs have a cushion, and they are hot once again. The Cardinals can’t afford to let their focus stray up north just yet. They must continue their trajectory to make the finale a compelling one.

The Cardinals got through a pretty rough stretch of games with an amazing record and won every series in that span. There is a legit fear that they will let down once they start playing losing teams but 1) the team has an actual manager now and 2) the players seem to be having a blast and both of those things help guard against a letdown.

The Cubs now enter a tougher stretch of games after their recent stretch of cupcakes. They also have to play something like 23 days in a row, which is a big deal at this point in the season. It's crazy to think, but we will see where the Cards stand in the race after this coming week. With the last 3 games against the Cubs to end the season, anything can happen if the Cards keep playing well.

Yeah, the Cards took just a little starch out of their tough schedule by cranking through a long series of tough opponents.

Now they need to keep the pedal down and not let up. A little regression is coming either way, but win 4 of 6 against the Pirates and Reds and you are holding serve nicely. Even 3-3 wouldn't be disastrous if it teaches them a bit of a lesson about coming up for air.

I hope they realize that they left themselves with no net by playing like balls through the first 95 games or so of the season. I think they probably do.

They need a 6 game sweep here. Keep the hammer down.

"Mitch HOlthus".

JD is scurred as all hell ROFL pissing pants level

Seriously scurred.

The Cubs are 6-0 since the entire NL decided to pass on Daniel Murphy and Kris Bryant just started his rehab assignment in Iowa.

I'm really not sure what will calm my nerves during this trying time. I guess I'll just have to live with knowing Mo will use this run of overachieving to stay the course.

Yes, tough competition - the Reds and the Mets at home. We should just award you ladies the WS trophy now! :whackit:

On the surface its not tough competition but the Reds still have the 3rd best offense in the NL and the Cubs starters gave up only 4 runs in a 4 game series against them and the offense is still scoring against guys like Syndergaard.

We'll see what they do against deGrom tonight.

Park adjustment actually shows that the Reds have the 6th best offense in the NL, behind the Dodgers, Cubs, Braves, Cardinals, and Nationals.

Wherever they stand they still field a good offense and its nice to see the Cubs pitchers producing what they looked like on paper to start the season. They still have the 3rd highest avg and 2nd OBP in the NL with like 5 guys in their lineup with a .800+ OPS.

I still worry about Lester and Quintana, though. They both still have that one inning that just ruins everything.