Game Thread (8/19/2022): Brewers (Ashby) at Cubs (Thompson) - 1:20 PM CDT

[Eye Black]

[Pugger]

These Flubs have given us fits this season and that has to end TODAY.

[Devinep]

[Jim French Stepstool]

Looking forward to seeing how Ashby follows up on what I thought was a real strong performance last weekend. A little disappointing that they had to use 4 relievers yesterday after going up 5-0 but no one was greatly extended & they should be fine there.

Two days in a row w/ Yelich not seeing LF. That's..........interesting............

[Jopal78]

The Cubs probably are not as far away from being competitive as one would think.

They have a group of nice hitters: Happ, Hoerner, Wisdom. Franmil Reyes has been good in the past and for them this week. Although they'll probably be penny smart and pound foolish and resign Contreras,

Thompson, Steele, Stroman and Hendricks four pieces of a decent rotation.  A couple of free agent signings could get them back to respectability, then they'll be armed with a Top 10 draft pick next year with two OFers on the MLB Top 100 on their way as well. 

[igor67]

I love that the TV crew was barely able to get back from the HR highlights from yesterday before Cutch hits another one.

[YelichPosse]

This is going to be one of those football score games with the Cubs like we are used to in the summer.

Ashby not pitching horribly - yet he remains maddening with his "misses".

[Nola Beery]

this is not a good start 

[BruisedCrew]

With the wind blowing out it’s going to take a lot of runs to win today, Giving away outs is a sure fire way to lose. 
 

This is where Burnes failure to get through 6 or 7 innings yesterday is going to hurt. The bullpen is going to be covering a lot of innings.

[Jopal78]

Geez, I get pitchers needing to settle in, but can Ashby get through the first without throwing 40 pitches. 

[edfunderburk]

Two thoughts:

1. If you can’t handle the Cubs, Pirates, & Reds … your team has no business in the playoffs - even the diluted version

2. Ashby needs to go the the pen … he is not currently a quality starter

He cost his team three runs with fundamentals - being slow to the bag to start the inning 

As I’ve stated repeatedly - this 2022 team is hard to watch… no enjoyment at all

[Brewcrew82]

Last run wasn't Ashby's fault. 

[Underachiever]

Unable to watch. TWO infield singles in one inning?

[Brewcrew82]

1 minute ago, BruisedCrew said:

With the wind blowing out it’s going to take a lot of runs to win today, Giving away outs is a sure fire way to lose. 
 

This is where Burnes failure to get through 6 or 7 innings yesterday is going to hurt. The bullpen is going to be covering a lot of innings.

Is 1 out really that big of a difference? It was the Dodgers, man. They will get to you eventually and Burnes did a good job of shutting them down through 5. 

[Jopal78]

4 minutes ago, edfunderburk said:

Two thoughts:

If you can’t handle the Cubs, Pirates, & Reds … your team has no business in the playoffs - even the diluted version

Ashby needs to go the the pen … he is not currently a quality starter

He cost the team two runs with fundamentals - being slow to the bag to start the inning 

As I’ve stated repeatedly - this 2022 team is hard to watch… no enjoyment at all

They are 23-18 against those teams, they are leading the season series against the Reds and Pirates, and could tie the season series with the Cubs if they win today.  

The Cubs and Pirates while not strong teams, aren't in the same class of ineptitude as the Reds. 

[YelichPosse]

Can we start FrelickWatch ?

[willie key]

No lead is too big for Ashby.     He gives it up quick

[willie key]

2 minutes ago, Jopal78 said:

They are 23-18 against those teams, they are leading the season series against the Reds and Pirates, and could tie the season series with the Cubs if they win today.  

The Cubs and Pirates while not strong teams, aren't in the same class of ineptitude as the Reds. 

So it is trash then

[Brewcrew82]

Geez. I see the Cubs are going to get all the infield hits today.

[yourout]

To many pitches that are either not high enough or low enough.

Mid thigh is easy picking.

[edfunderburk]

10 minutes ago, Jopal78 said:

They are 23-18 against those teams, they are leading the season series against the Reds and Pirates, and could tie the season series with the Cubs if they win today.  

The Cubs and Pirates while not strong teams, aren't in the same class of ineptitude as the Reds. 

Do you believe that 23-18 is “handling” those three teams?

[BruisedCrew]

4 minutes ago, Brewcrew82 said:

Is 1 out really that big of a difference? It was the Dodgers, man. They will get to you eventually and Burnes did a good job of shutting them down through 5. 

It isn’t just the 1 out, it’s the 3 runs. I don’t think it’s asking too much from an ace Cy Young pitcher to deliver more than a “good job”.

If the best we can hope for from Burnes is 3 runs in 5+ innings that isn’t going to be good enough against the best teams with their best pitchers on the mound. The Brewers were able to put 5 runs on the board against Heaney, who likely won’t be in the Dodgers playoff starting rotation. They likely won’t be scoring 5 runs  against the kind of starters they would be seeing in the playoffs. 
 

[yourout]

I absolutely hate the one knee of the ground catcher setup.

[willie key]

I’m just so sick of Adames and Ashby this year

[BruisedCrew]

11 minutes ago, Jopal78 said:

They are 23-18 against those teams, they are leading the season series against the Reds and Pirates, and could tie the season series with the Cubs if they win today.  

The Cubs and Pirates while not strong teams, aren't in the same class of ineptitude as the Reds. 

23-18 against those teams is not good enough for a team that wants to make the playoffs. Throw in 3-3 against the Nationals and they are losing significant ground against other playoff contenders.