NL Central Discussion

[Jake McKibbin]

18 minutes ago, Brewcrew82 said:

If I'm not mistaken, the Brewers have the weakest remaining SOS in the NL Central. Which will only get weaker after this weekend.

https://www.tankathon.com/mlb/remaining_schedule_strength

I did a quick glance at teams and though our schedule was harder, shows what I know!

We have some big teams to play, but also some easier ones, plus overlooked Giants esque clubs against the Reds. Eventually their WOBA luck Vs expected numbers will stabilize, surely!

[KeithStone53151]

https://www.fangraphs.com/standings/playoff-odds

This says we actually are tied for the easiest remaining schedule in baseball. After this weekend, it'll for sure be the easiest. After we play the braves, we have series against the Nationals, Pirates, and Rockies. If we don't win at least 7 of those 10, it will be disappointing.

[willie key]

The cubs are just being annoying 

[Fear The Chorizo]

20 minutes ago, willie key said:

The cubs are just being annoying 

I think the best thing for their organization for next season would be to aggressively sell and keep building depth of young talent...but it's been a few seasons since they've been competitive at all, so I expect them to do some soft buying that doesn't cost too much in prospects to try and improve their bullpen and maybe add another bat....and hope the teams in front of them in the division/wildcard races stumble enough for them to be in the mix when the calendar gets to mid-September.

I do still consider them more of a threat to the Brewers than the Reds for the division.  They've been very inconsistent, but the Cubs have talent at some key positions who are having really good seasons.

[StearnsFTW]

2 hours ago, kestrel79 said:

Going to be a close race all the way to the end between 4 teams pretty cool.

No it won't. 

[82brewcrew82]

4 hours ago, StearnsFTW said:

No it won't. 

The Cardinals are coming!   The Cardinals are coming!

[82brewcrew82]

LOL, the Cardinals are such a clown show right now.  I will take every ounce of amusement from their awful, never competitive season.

[Vgmastr]

Not sure who the bigger clowns are, Mikolas, Marmol or the Cardinal announcers who fully admitted they hit him on purpose by saying he "did the job the right way" and then become whiny babies when Mikolas is ejected seconds later.  That whole organization is trash.

 

[Fear The Chorizo]

Nothing like watching a guy hug a former teammate after accidentally hitting him in the helmet with a backswing (Happ and Contreras go quite a ways back with the Cubs), then still think it's appropriate to intentionally drill him a couple pitches later as a way to "send a message".  Somehow that's playing the game the right way?  Just dumb

Pisses me off the most because it's probably the Cubs who will permanently stick a fork in the Cards' season this weekend, and in doing so they'll remain right in the mix for playoff contention.  

Even when the Cards suck, they do so in the most annoying ways...

[KeithStone53151]

1 hour ago, Vgmastr said:

Not sure who the bigger clowns are, Mikolas, Marmol or the Cardinal announcers who fully admitted they hit him on purpose by saying he "did the job the right way" and then become whiny babies when Mikolas is ejected seconds later.  That whole organization is trash.

 

The announcers in my opinion. But my God somebody start sending out tissues to these cry babies

[wiguy94]

Would be nice if the Cards could win a couple of games against the Cubs in this 4 game series 

[Playing Catch]

15 hours ago, Vgmastr said:

Not sure who the bigger clowns are, Mikolas, Marmol or the Cardinal announcers who fully admitted they hit him on purpose by saying he "did the job the right way" and then become whiny babies when Mikolas is ejected seconds later.  That whole organization is trash.

 

The Card's commentator at the 1:20 mark really goes off after the ejections in the most out-of-touch, sanctimonious Cardinal-way possible. He just couldn't believe it. It's just gross.

Your comment about it being the organization is completely correct. Presumably these announcers are hired by the Cardinals. This is clearly the messaging that the organization feels plays well with Cardinal fans.

I feel like Rock would just say something like, "...well, Mikolas knows the rules. When you go inside like that, you're putting yourself at risk of being ejected."

[adambr2]

This is why the Cardinals are always out there on their own little island oblivious to the fact that the entire world hates them. 

Perhaps it is not 1986 anymore and we should no longer accept throwing an object at a high rate of speed in retaliation as acceptable going forward (and even it you do accept it as normal, what an asinine reason for "retaliation" in this instance.)

[LouisEly]

Unless I missed something, the Reds only acquisition was LHRP Sam Moll from the A's.  No SP acquisitions.

Wonder what their fans are thinking.

[nate82]

4 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

Unless I missed something, the Reds only acquisition was LHRP Sam Moll from the A's.  No SP acquisitions.

Wonder what their fans are thinking.

Probably disappointed but sometimes it is best to just hold where you are at.  Sometimes buying turns you into the 2018 Pirates a team that probably should have sold but instead bought.  They probably could of bought off of the margins but there really wasn't anything to buy on the margins for starting pitching this deadline.

[Brewcrew82]

9 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

Unless I missed something, the Reds only acquisition was LHRP Sam Moll from the A's.  No SP acquisitions.

Wonder what their fans are thinking.

I'd be very understanding if I were a Reds fan. Trading away prospects now could reduce your ceiling over the next 5 years. 

[BallFour]

Reds starting pitchers had an ERA- of 73 in July compared to a FIP- of 104. 

From the beginning of the season through June they had an ERA- of 126 with a FIP- of 112.

Just found that interesting nonetheless. Yes they will get Hunter Greene back but they are due for a major regression regardless.

[Underachiever]

Unpopular take, even with me: 2023 Cubs are on the path of the 21 Braves and 19 Nationals

[Underachiever]

6 minutes ago, Underachiever said:

Unpopular take, even with me: 2023 Cubs are on the path of the 21 Braves and 19 Nationals

also nice to see Candelario with seven hits in two games with the Cubs. 

[MoreTrife]

Can someone explain the Cub's record and decent run differential? Does it mean good offense and so so pitching?

[sveumrules]

10 minutes ago, MoreTrife said:

Can someone explain the Cub's record and decent run differential? Does it mean good offense and so so pitching?

Cubs are at 107 wRC+ (8th) and 5.14 R/G (5th), so offense has been driving the bus.

They’ve also fielded well at +27 DRS (7th) and been good on the bases +8.9 BSR (4th).

Rotation has been middle of the road at 7.1 rWAR (15th) while the bullpen has been slightly below average at -0.47 WPA (19th).

BRef has Cubs at 11-13 in one run games and 26-14 in blowouts (5+ run difference) compared to 20-10 in one run games and 12-13 in blowouts for the Brewers.

From there we can extrapolate the Cubs are 19-26 in games decided by two to four runs compared to 27-28 for the Brewers.

[markedman5]

 

[mtsportsfan]

4 hours ago, markedman5 said:

 

Ouch ! Couldn't have happened to a better team except the scrubs !

[Vgmastr]

4 hours ago, markedman5 said:

 

[HarveysWBs]

As the Pirates hang 6 earned runs in 2 and 2/3rds on Spencer Strider of all people, I’m suddenly not super bummed about a split with them this weekend.  Yikes.