YelichPosse

The Cubs are about to play 23 games in 23 days. The Braves just got swept. The Cards won't keep up their pace. No reason to believe we can't be in the thick of things. Just have to get good pen management, and the offense to do what it's been doing more so lately - get 4-6 runs a game, and see where the chips fall. E - Atlanta 68 55 .553 - - 5-5 L4 C - Chi Cubs 71 52 .577 - - 5-5 L2 W - Arizona 69 56 .552 - - 6-4 W1 Wild Card Colorado 68 56 .548 - - 8-2 W4 Philadelphia 68 56 .548 - - 4-6 L2 Milwaukee 69 57 .548 - - 4-6 W1 St. Louis 68 57 .544 0.5 37 8-2 L1 LA Dodgers 67 58 .536 1.5 36 4-6 W1 Pretty fun messy top here.

After 100 some days in a playoff position we now are not.

Just wait we will drop a 6 spot and pull it out .... Right? ... Bahaha yea right.

Jimmy Nelson threw a bullpen session. He will return to the pen for a few innings mid September and spark a 15-3 run to win the division. Wild optimism!

100% this, the offense has been terrible all year. Every 5 games or so they bust out and you think things will get on track but then they'll score 8 total runs over a week and get some good pitching in a few of those games and win some to stick around .500. He's really bungled some stuff but a lot of those bunglings wouldn't be noticeable if the offense was at least league average. The last month or so , haven’t we been scoring like 4.5 runs a game? It seems it’s been the pitching side lately. Mainly the pen. And that may have been from misuse. I don’t know. Just trying to make sense of it. Something we may never be able to do lol.

Was hoping for this kind of fire up from the ejection

+1. I was one of those people. I'm big into small market teams selling high... For instance, this off-season I would trade Jeffress without thinking twice. I would likely also trade Aguilar. With his body type I dont see him being a stud year after year. I wouldn’t move JJ tho. He’s def better here than anywhere else. Been through a lot and feels like home here. I respect that. Aguilar I have no issue trying to move only if it’s a high return. (I’m talking deGrom or similar). Otherwise he has proven to be a good hitter not just a power bat. And he seems like a good teammate and enjoys playing baseball. Guys like him, Brandon Phillips, etc you just love to have on your team. Just my 2 cents.

We have plenty of season left .... no reason we can’t win like 20 straight at some point. Lol. I just keep hearing the Monty Python black night skit over and over gain.

Tell him to say hi to Dave Bush, I mean Zach Davies too!

We have plenty of season left .... no reason we can’t win like 20 straight at some point. Lol.

I think the Cubs and Cards both feel that way. It seems they are two teams that have been our demise or the teams to blow by us time after time. I’d love to think we still squeak out a WC but.. I just don’t know. History is not on our side lol. And I don’t consider myself a negative person in nature. Just seen enough the last 15 years to know better.

2 pitches called stiles were balls there but whatever . Just. Whatever.

Wow bad AB for Shaw there...

Well guys. This was fun today. Self inflicted ....

CC getting tossed - will that be he catalyst for this team now? Hasn’t things like this fired teams up in the past ? Can we please please please be that team for once!!!!?!?

No but '98, '99, '01, '06, '07, '08, '09, '14, '17, '18 do. All either leading the division or within striking distance around the all star break or later. 08 is what I was thinking about. And 07 was a horrible collapse... so was 14 if I recall. My gosh this is depressing to think about lol

I stand corrected what the heck am I thinking about . 2008. That’s what it was lol. Every year seems the same now days. My apologies.

Was just coming to say that Tom, you do not know what we know. Keep dreaming tho !

How come the Brewers always start hot and then fade. Every. Single. Time. Even 2011... they nearly fell out if not for Wes Helms lol and other lucky things that last weekend ! What’s the deal lol

When Keon is your 6, Kratz your 7, Arcia your 8... and you’re in the NL.. nothing good can come from this. All that said... this’ll be a 10-0 brewers win now...

I do agree with a lot of the points here. And not saying it’s all his fault or blaming him for everything. That would be silly. But I wonder how much some questionable decisions have affected the team as a whole. It was mentioned he may have lost the clubhouse. That’s interesting to me as you battle back and get within one run. You basically continue on like it’s a 3 run deficit and a low chance to win. I would get dishesteened as a player. It’s human nature and momentum is a very real thing in baseball. Good teams have gone bad quick and kept getting worse because of negative momentum. Just like good ones have gotten hot and ridden that all the way when nobody thought it was possible. This is a fantastic discussion and why I posed the question as I did. I really am honestly curious what everyone else feels about this. I see some think he’s done great and some think horrible. Every manager has their warts. I guess I was just really hoping for once we would get that awesome manager that makes fantastic moves we all can be excited about. And yes I know - those are super rare!! Success in April and May stemmed from him using Hader and JJ a lot. But now he went away from that. So him making those moves and getting credit there almost seemed to have detracted from the rest of the year. Almost set us on a course for disaster. I mean you cant totally blame him based on the roster build. However ... a more consistent use of the pen, perhaps would have led to a better position right now in the standings instead of us dive bombing here. There are big games ahead and lots of time left still to right the ship. I just don’t know if I trust him to manage the pen correctly to save our season. That’s where I’m at.

I feel this pain too. When you have relievers on the shelf for longer than a starter sits between starts ... as we have seen... that can affect effectiveness ... that florida series sticks out like a sore thumb. And that’s when the real trouble began in earnest. And it seems he got caught between 4/5 different methods to use the relievers ... as well as sticking with Knebel way way way too long.

I do agree about the offense in the lower half of the order. Also about the random pieces thrown at the wall and see what sticks. Yes Hader and JJ were on pace for high innings counts. But do you guys think he went TOO MUCH in the other direction now? Requiring us to be ahead really handicaps us doing what we have done well this year - come from behind. Earlier in the year we came from behind a lot because he used JJ and Hader in more spots. Lately, not so much. Rallies come up short then the other team answers back and that’s that. I think that’s where my issue lies. And in no way do I ‘hate’ CC or think he’s all to blame but the lack of sense making in the pen is what really cooked my goose!

Ok, so through IGT's and discussions ... a common theme is Counsell's handling of the pen... his lineups and all that jazz. My question is... THIS YEAR... here and now.... how much is the club's struggles since May attributed to the way he has managed the pen, starters, lineups, etc. We have talented pieces, but are they being used correctly? This isn't about what we have or don't have, I want to know how much blame ya'll think he should receive for how he handles what is here and now. I think a game like last night was the straw that broke the camel's back for me. You just can't get within one run. Leave a mediocre pitcher out there (who let 2 on the inning before even) with a completely rested pen - off days, and minimal usage the last week.... I think there is NO EXCUSE for that. This isn't the first time either... that's the problem I have. I said in the IGT last night CC has maybe cost us 4-5 games. Yes I know it's hard to know outcomes, but just from our view as fans... letting rust accumulate, not holding deficits to 1 run ... it's maddening. How much blame is CC's?

I agree more and more each game. From how he handled Knebel ... how he handles guys when we can see plain as day they don’t have it that day ... and how he refuses to use any of the top half of the pen to keep a one run game a one run game ... I really am starting to think CC has a WAR of -5 or so right now...