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

[sickickz23]

Perfect way to prepare for them cards.

 

[sportsjunkie]

we gotta win at least 1 game against the Cards. no sweep. I like our chances with Jake on the mound against the Pirates in that play in game

 

[CP1708]

CJ Edwards called up.

 

[CP1708]

Pirates lose, Cubs up 9-0 on Cardinals.

Hammel, Lester, Arrieta the next 3 starts.

 

[CP1708]

So, Cubs win.

Cards, and Pirates lose.

Giants and Nationals lose.


Cubs now have an 8.5 game lead, with 26 games to go. And they only trail the Pirates by 2 games, with multiple series against them coming up.



Wow.

 

[CP1708]

2 @ St Louis
4 @ Philly
4 @ Pitt (including DH)
3 vs St Louis
3 vs Milwaukee
3 vs Pitt
1 vs KC
3 @ Cincy
3 @ Milwaukee

6.5 game lead

26 games to go.

22 over .500
8.5 game lead over Nats, 9 game lead over Giants. 2 back of the Pirates.

Pirates have 7 games vs us, 3 at the Dodgers, and 3 vs the Cardinals.

 

[dmxfury]

No doubt Cubs pass them, Pitt is sliding

 

[CP1708]

Stop tryin to jinx us. Or reverse jinx, or whatever voodoo you're tryin.

Need to get Schwarber, and Soler healthy and rested, and let them come back full strength for the final month. All of this is gravy for what I anticipate for next season after we sign David Price.

 

[dmxfury]

Dude you see all those NLC games

That's the kryptonite

 

[CP1708]

Yeah, but I've also seen a lot of weird stuff too.

You guys "should" figure out Cincy/Mil at some point, and we still have 12 vs you and StL. We'll lose games still.

 

[arstyle27]

I think we'll pass up Pitt soon, and then itll be close til the end. I wanna be at that one game playoff at Wrigley....and i know sombody who knows somebody that knows sumthin bout it!

 

[CP1708]

Cubs 2016 schedule

April 5-6: at L.A. Angels
April 7-8-9-10: at Arizona (8:40, 8:40, 7:10, 3:10)
April 11, 13-14: Cincinnati (7:05, 7:05, 7:05)
April 15-16-17: Colorado (1:20, TBD, TBD)
April 18-19-20: at St. Louis
April 21-22-23-24: at Cincinnati
April 26-27-28: Milwaukee (7:05, 7:05, 1:20)
April 29-30, May 1: Atlanta (1:20, TBD, TBD)
May 3-4: at Pittsburgh
May 5-6-7-8: Washington (7:05, 1:20, TBD, TBD)
May 9-10-11: San Diego (7:05, 7:05, 7:05)
May 13-14-15: Pittsburgh (1:20, TBD, TBD)
May 17-18-19: at Milwaukee (7:10, 7:10, 12:40)
May 20-21-22: at San Francisco
May 23-24-25: at St. Louis
May 27-28-29: Philadelphia (TBD, TBD, TBD)
May 30-31, June 1-2: L.A. Dodgers (1:20, 7:05, 7:05, 1:20)
June 3-4-5: Arizona (TBD, TBD, TBD)
June 6-7-8: at Philadelphia (6:05, 6:05, 12:05)
June 10-11-12: at Atlanta
June 13-14-15: at Washington
June 17-18-19: Pittsburgh (TBD, TBD, TBD)
June 20-21-22: St. Louis (7:05, 7:05, 1:20)
June 23-24-25-26: at Miami
June 27-28-29: at Cincinnati
June 30, July 1-2-3: at N.Y. Mets
July 4-5-6: Cincinnati (1:20, 1:20, 1:20)
July 8-9-10: at Pittsburgh

July 11-12-13-14: All-Star break

July 15-16-17: Texas (TBD, TBD, TBD)
July 18-19-20: N.Y. Mets (7:05, 7:05, 1:20)
July 22-23-24: at Milwaukee (7:10, 6:10, 1:10)
July 25-26: at White Sox
July 27-28: White Sox (7:05, 7:05)
July 29-30-31: Seattle (TBD, TBD, TBD)
August 1-2-3: Miami (7:05, 7:05, 1:20)
August 5-6-7: at Oakland (9:05, 3:05, 3:05)
August 9-10: L.A. Angels (7:05, 7:05)
August 11-12-13-14: St. Louis (7:05, TBD, TBD, TBD)
August 16-17-18: Milwaukee (7:05, 7:05, 1:20)
August 19-20-21: at Colorado (7:40, 7:10, 3:10)
August 22-23-24: at San Diego
August 26-27-28: at L.A. Dodgers (9:10, TBD, TBD)
August 29-30-31: Pittsburgh (7:05, 7:05, 7:05)
September 1-2-3-4: San Francisco (7:05, 1:20, TBD, TBD)
September 5-6-7: at Milwaukee (1:10, 7:10, 7:10)
September 9-10-11: at Houston
September 12-13-14: at St. Louis
September 15-16-17-18: Milwaukee (7:05, 1:20, TBD, TBD)
September 19-20-21: Cincinnati (7:05, 7:05, 7:05)
September 23-24-25: St. Louis (1:20, TBD, TBD)
September 26-27-28-29: at Pittsburgh
September 30, October 1-2: at Cincinnati

 

[arstyle27]

Cmon CP........looking to next year already??? Im not taking a peek at that schedule til this yrs done.

 

[CP1708]

Everything Cubs goes in here, no matter the year.

 

[arstyle27]

One day at a time. I dont give a damn who we play on July 25th 2016. But its all good.

 

[CP1708]

28-10 since late July.

And as someone said on Twitter, this year will be the WORST Cubs team of the next 2-3 years. Add another Ace and natural progression from all the rooks and the team should be even better thru 2018.

Health permitting of course.

 

[mr jordan04]

Are Cubs season tickets worth it to get next year? Just got a call from a Cubs rep

 

[arstyle27]

Are Cubs season tickets worth it to get next year? Just got a call from a Cubs rep

If you love the Cubs, sure. My buddy got into season tix before this season. Suffice it to say, hes profiting well when he doesnt go.

 

[mr jordan04]

Are Cubs season tickets worth it to get next year? Just got a call from a Cubs rep

If you love the Cubs, sure. My buddy got into season tix before this season. Suffice it to say, hes profiting well when he doesnt go.

The thing is, I live in LA
I signed up for the waiting list like 10 years ago

 

[sportsjunkie]

I always catch Cubs game when they come to DC and in Philly.

 

[CP1708]

Despite all the praise heaped on him here at Bleacher Nation as elsewhere around the Internet, despite winning the Southern League batting title and ranking among the leaders in on base percentage and slugging percentage, despite being singled out for significant compliments by his major league counterpart, and despite being named the best prospect in the organization in the latest update to the Bleacher Nation Top 40 Prospects list, it is possible we are still undervaluing Willson Contreras and his 2015 season.

Had it not been for the recent run of hitters with names like Bryant, Baez, Soler, Russell, and Schwarber, I think we would be proclaiming Contreras as the next big prospect and would be debating daily whether or not he should win the starting catcher job out of spring training (he shouldn’t). Instead, despite his fantastic season, I think it is possible that he remains a little under-appreciated.

Contreras started the season as a largely unknown 22-year-old backstop playing second fiddle to Kyle Schwarber, himself. On the days he got to catch, he hit well, but it still took several weeks before that positive performance began to translate into prospect respect. And then he made the Southern League All-Star Team (along with Schwarber). After Schwarber was promoted to Iowa (via Chicago), Contreras proceeded to carry the Smokies offense as the primary catcher and it became impossible to ignore his extraordinary breakout season.

Now he ranks as the best in the system on my list and as the fifth best catching prospect in all baseball by MLB Pipeline (a ranking I’d dispute, I might add, as there are at least two names on that list (Alfaro and Pentecost) that I would not have slotted over Contreras right now).

But even those accolades are simply the icing on the cake. The real achievement, and the one that serves as the foundation for everything else we’ve talked about, is right there on his stat sheet. Contreras, in his first season in Double A, very nearly walked as often as he struck out. His strike out rate of 12% is impressive alone, but when packaged together with his 11% walk rate his season looks extraordinary. That is not a common achievement for a Double A player.

At this level, those are reasonably sustainable numbers. He probably won’t match them as he moves to Iowa and Chicago, but it is safe to say that he projects as a high walk, low strikeout, good average, moderate power kind of hitter going forward. Combined with his work behind the plate, a part of his game that I quite liked when I saw it in person, that profile sets Contreras up with a future as a possible starting catcher for the Cubs.

But probably not next year. Next year this breakout prospect will test his bat and his glove against Triple A pitching, and if all goes well, the Cubs will start looking for ways to bring him to Chicago. Regardless, he should get a long look in spring training in a few months.

And that might be the most potent indicator of just how far he has progressed this season (together with even more recent praise from Neil Ramirez, who pitched to Contreras at Tennessee, and Cubs GM Jed Hoyer). Seven months ago almost no one was talking about Willson Contreras. Five months from now, he may well be one of the most closely-observed prospects Mesa. When a guy vaults from obscurity to over-analysis in a single season, you know he has had one amazingly good season.

 

[CP1708]

All this talent we've already brought in, and now we still have

Ian Happ, Gleyber Torres, Eloy Jimenez, Albert Almora, Billy McKinney, and now this Wilson Contreras? All still growing on the farm?

Theo

 

[CP1708]

Lester throws an absolute GEM.

Then, bullpen. :x

 

[arstyle27]

Terrible loss.

 

[CP1708]

Totally just dawned on me, with David Price being traded midseason, he has no draft compensation attached to him.

All this time, I just expected we would lose our draft pick to sign another Ace in November, but now, it's possible we could KEEP our first round draft pick, AND get Price.

I completely forgot that. Pick will be in the mid 20's, so nothin sexy, but Trout was late 20's, and with Theo and his scouting department, that's still yet another piece they could insert into the system.


Man......Price getting traded could be yet another blessing for us, same as Lester getting dealt helped us keep our 2nd rounder this year. (1st round bein top 10 protected)