Official 2023 Chicago Cubs Season Thread Vol: (17-17)

[sickickz23]

Unreal on how hot and how well this team is currently playing....5 game WC lead. it's ours to win.

Oh yeah and break out the brooms

 

[arstyle27]

Fat dude on PTI just said Rizzos catch was boring. I wanna punch him in his cankles.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

^
I saw that.
Tony should've back handed him one across his fat mug.

 

[CP1708]

17 games over .500, and this isn't even the year.

I can't imagine what it will be like with full seasons of all these guys, 2-3-4 years after they learn more.

 

[CP1708]

Chicago Cubs ‏@Cubs 3h3 hours ago
@JLester34 is the first LHP in #Cubs history with four double-digit strikeout games in a season.

 

[sportsjunkie]

Fat dude on PTI just said Rizzos catch was boring. I wanna punch him in his cankles.

Jason Witlock. dude is terrible.

 

[sportsjunkie]

I hope we can sweep the White Sox.

 

[CP1708]

Starlin starting at 2B today.

I really hope he can find a niche to contribute, he was the start of all this, I don't want him to get left behind.

Ace of MLB Stats ‏@AceballStats 2h2 hours ago
#Cubs Anthony Rizzo is batting .298/.400/.547 with 94 R, 43 2B, 2 3B, 34 HR, 95 RBI, & 18 SB over his last 162 games played.

Ace of MLB Stats ‏@AceballStats 2h2 hours ago
#Cubs Dexter Fowler is batting .292/.444/.490 over his last 26 games. He has reached base safely 55 times with 26 walks.

 

[CP1708]

Saw a list today that has Willson Contreras as the #1 prospect in the Cubs system now.

When I wrote about the possible candidates to be the Cubs new number one prospect on July 19th, I did not mention Contreras at all. When I wrote the first draft of this Top 40, Contreras was not even in the top five. He quickly moved to three, though, and as the top three continued to separate themselves he stuck around. It was very late in the process before he reached the top slot.

So why Contreras? Walk rate: 10.6%. Strikeout rate 12.5%. ISO .149. In every one of those categories he beats both Torres and McKinney. Even so, that may not have been enough to carry the day. After all, Torres and McKinney are both definitely young for their level whereas Contreras, who started the year at 22, is in the more typical age bracket for Double A.

In the end, two factors carried Contreras to the top.

First, Miguel Montero rehabbed in Tennessee. He then took to Twitter to talk about the talent in the Cubs’ organization, and in the process dropped these lines on Contreras’s possible future:

Adam Miller @2008_nbalottery
@coolbearcjs @miggymont26 Wilson Contreras has been playing out of his mind. Leads the league in avg. Break out player this yr.

miguel montero [emoji]10004[/emoji]@miggymont26
@2008_nbalottery @coolbearcjs wait until u see his defense and arm

cubpower @ronawsumb
@miggymont26 sure miss watching you play. Can Wilson contreras catch in the majors?

miguel montero [emoji]10004[/emoji]@miggymont26
@ronawsumb all star major league catcher

miguel montero [emoji]10004[/emoji]@miggymont26
@ronawsumb catch he's going to be one of the best trust me

There might be some hyperbole in that. But Montero is a smart guy who probably has a career as a coach/manager in his future, and he does play the same position. There is probably a grain of truth as well.

I’m not taking Montero’s word for anything, but those tweets did get me to take a closer look at Contreras’s work behind the plate, and I generally liked what I saw. He is a work in progress, but I completely believe he can stick behind the plate and has a chance to be very good.

The second thing that clinched the top spot for Contreras was the concept of positional value. When the question of ‘Who is the better prospect?’ kept me running in circles, I shifted to asking ‘Who will be the more valuable player?’ And as it turns out, catcher is by far the most valuable position on the diamond. At that point it became tough to make a case against Contreras for the top spot.

The one knock on this guy, and it is not minor, is that 2015 is his first really good offensive year. It is possible, despite those excellent supporting strikeout and walk rates, that Contreras is just a flash in the pan. He may fade just as quickly as he emerged.

But I don’t think he will. I think he is for real. And I think he is a very good candidate to take over as the Cubs primary backup catcher in 2017 when Davis Ross is a free agent, and perhaps as the primary non-Schwarber catcher in 2018 when Montero’s contract is up.

As for that All-Star projection from his possible future battery mate? I wouldn’t rule it out.

Rest of the top 5 has OF Billy McKinney at 2, SS Gleyber Torres at 3, SP Pierce Johnson at 4, and OF Albert Almora at 5. (Ian Happ is at 6)

 

[secretzofwar]

The system is just beastly.

 

[secretzofwar]

Looks like Jeff is rocking some playoff 12 cleats.

 

[CP1708]

And getting rocked, too.

 

[CP1708]

8 straight.

18 over .500

And Arrieta throwin tomorrow!!!!

 

[sportsjunkie]

18 games over 500 and a stack farm system. is it safe to say this is the best front office we had in decades?

 

[CP1708]

Ever. Best FO this franchise has ever had.

 

[sickickz23]

We just keep winning! Please gods let us be this hot or hotter come October

 

[sportsjunkie]

lets go for the sweep tomorrow fellas.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Right behind the Cards this is the team I despise the most...feels good taking out that south side trash.

 

[CP1708]

Sale was just too good.

 

[sportsjunkie]

WHite sox lucked up and won 1

 

[pjdabullsfan]

Sale was just too good.

Yep 15k 

 No ER

Great Crosstown series tho 

 

[sportsjunkie]

Sale was just too good.

 

[CP1708]

Although the international free agent news has been strangely quiet on the Chicago Cubs’ front since they reportedly blew out their budget on July 2 when the latest IFA period opened, you knew they weren’t going to sit tight on those signings, alone. There are rumors that they’re still involved on big-time Cuban prospect Eddy Julio Martinez, and now there are reports that they’ve signed a top Korean high schooler.

Yonhap News Agency reports that the Cubs have signed – complete with hat-donning and contract-signing ceremony – 17-year-old high school outfielder Kwang-min Kwon for $1.2 million. Baseball America also reports the signing, and it sounds like the deal was agreed to back on July 2, but is only now becoming official (which is not uncommon – the Cubs still haven’t officially announced any of their signings). Rumors connecting the Cubs and Kwon do, in fact, date back to July 2, but now we’ve got something a little more firm.

Kwon, who bats and throws lefty, comes in at 186 centimeters and 88 kilograms, according to Yonhap – that’s about 6’1″ 195lbs – and is described as a five-tool type, with good speed, power, and a high-contact approach. You can read the Yonhap report for more on and from Kwon, who sounds like the kind of hard-working, plus-makeup amateur the Cubs have focused on in the last few years, in particular.

Kwon was not on MLB Pipeline’s or Baseball America’s top 30 prospect lists, though I don’t know that Korean players are quite as well covered and scouted by third party services as Latin American players for obvious logistical reasons. Kwon does show up on Kiley McDaniel’s board – projected to the Cubs at $600,000 – but he is not ranked.

The Cubs have long had a presence in Korea, so if they’re devoting $1.2 million to this young man – plus the overage – it’s clear that they believe he’s a quality prospect.

It’s possible Kwon will now come to the States to begin working out in Arizona, though I doubt you’ll see him in rookie ball games this year. Instead, he may do instructionals this fall, and then play rookie ball next summer.

You can watch some video of Kwon here, but, I’d caution you if you haven’t watched high school prospects before and you’re not a scout: unedited game film can be an ugly thing.

 

[CP1708]

I know people who don’t want the Cubs to win a World Series. Not just this year. Ever. Some of them are White Sox fans. Others have no Chicago allegiances; they simply like the lovable-losers storyline and want it to continue ad infinitum.

Based on my recent visits to Wrigley, none of those people were in attendance at The Friendly Confines. The atmosphere was electric, and there was little sign of the “They mostly come here to drink beer” dynamic that is often foisted upon Wrigley Field crowds (Not that drinking beer at the ballpark is a bad thing, mind you). Fans were frequently hanging on every pitch.

The ninth inning of last Sunday’s 2-0 win against the Giants epitomized the passion. It was a nail-biter special, with closer Hector Rondon fanning the side after allowing the first three hitters to reach. Exaltation. Exhalation. Visions of exorcising a goat.

Joe Maddon’s team has won nine straight and 15 of their last 16. They’re 19 games over .500 and in line for a postseason berth. Could they conceivably do what some hope will never be done? Yankees fans no longer chant “1918,” so anything is possible. Yes, even the Cubs.

 

[CP1708]

God ******* damnit Hammel.