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

[CP1708]

Please be ok Kyle.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Schwarbs

Love the way we manufacture runs, Lackey is just having a tough outing.

 

[illmatic34]

WTF Lackey

 

[CP1708]

This offense.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Kyle sprained left ankle, nothing major hopefully...will have an MRI tomorrow.

 

[CP1708]

Pray for a moderate sprain, not a high ankle one.

 

[CP1708]

This lineup

 

[arstyle27]

Where is the NL Central thread at?

There wasn't one last year, nor is there one this year.

 

[sportsjunkie]

There wasn't one last year, nor is there one this year.

I guess since the Cubs are whooping A** they wanna get rid of the thread. SMH

 

[sportsjunkie]

We basically outscored The Diamondbacks last night. Lackey was stanking up the place last night. Rizzo is that dude!!!!!!

 

[dmxfury]

There are three teams atop the division. Start it up



(There aren't that many fans which is the real reason)

 

[sportsjunkie]

@CP1708. you about to hit your 50K post. Congrats Kid. Stay bless, and always keep the energy positive around here.

 

[Chester McFloppy]

29 runs scored in 3 games, only 7 allowed.

 

[CP1708]

@CP1708. you about to hit your 50K post. Congrats Kid. Stay bless, and always keep the energy positive around here.

Thank you man.

And I opened this to get away from the Central thread and focus on what Theo was doing. I took a lot of heat in 2011-12 tellin people he was building us right, I wanted this to be a way to track our progress as we turned the corner.

I think it's working.


Ha, this is my 50K on the nose.


.

 

[arstyle27]

There are three teams atop the division. Start it up



(There aren't that many fans which is the real reason)

Team thread, division thread, and MLB thread? Itd be overkill.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Rumblings coming out about Kyle and his ACL

 

[CP1708]

This came out just before Opening day, I missed it, my apologies.

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- All the advanced scout could do was shake his head.

It was two days after the Chicago Cubs had beaten the San Francisco Giants 16-14 in a four-hour spring affair that will be remembered as the "blister game" for Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta -- if it's remembered at all.

The scout didn’t care much about the minor ailment to Arrieta. He was still marveling at the Cubs' offense. Down 7-1, 8-4 and then 11-5, the Cubs exploded for eight runs in the fifth inning. It was one of the few times manager Joe Maddon had played his regulars (seven of eight) -- all together.

“Usually in the National League there is a weakness near the bottom [of the lineup],” he said. “That’s why pitchers love coming over here [from the American League]. Where is the hole for the Cubs?”

It’s a notion sure to be repeated many times this season as the Cubs field arguably the most dynamic offense the team has ever employed. The best hitter this spring -- shortstop Addison Russell -- will bat ninth. This is a different offense than the one that went down meekly in four games to the Mets in the National League Championship Series. In the fifth inning of the "blister game" against the Giants, the Cubs scored eight runs without one ball leaving the park.

“It’s a good feeling because there is no one here that is selfish and trying to hit the six-run home run,” first baseman Anthony Rizzo said. “It’s about getting on for the next guy, and so on. And then someone is going to do it -- going to drive in the runs.”

A week earlier, Maddon started seven of eight regulars again -- this time against the Arizona Diamondbacks -- and the result was 15 runs scored. The more he played his main guys the more the vision of the offseason was coming together. There is no easy out. And there is no longer just a "home run or bust" mentality. Ben Zobrist and Jason Heyward are indeed that good and add the perfect balance to the sluggers.

It really all came together weeks before when the Cubs pulled off their best magic trick. And that’s saying something considering their manager had surprises for his team on a daily basis. There was no bigger one, however, than when lead-off man Dexter Fowler walked onto the practice mound to declare he was back -- much to the dismay of the Baltimore Orioles (who nearly signed the center fielder) and the rest of the baseball world. His return completed an incredible offseason in which player after player, including Fowler, took less money to play in Chicago. Fowler even took less than what the Cubs originally offered him.

“I don’t know we knew how important that piece was until it actually came back to us,” Maddon would say of Fowler later.

Fowler’s appearance immediately returned the chemistry and camaraderie from 2015. In one corner of the locker room David Ross immediately trash-talked Fowler, whose locker stall was all the way on the other side. Every once in awhile they would gang up on Rizzo, whose locker was between the two. The bonding of the 2016 Cubs began there.

At the plate it really started to come together late in camp. The baton kept being passed to the next guy until someone drove in the runs. Even some small ball paid off as groundouts and fly balls started scoring runners from third base. This was not part of the Cubs' DNA last season.

“Our lineup reminds me of an American League one,” pitcher Jon Lester said several times during camp.

Lester should know something about good lineups as his Boston Red Sox teams led by Theo Epstein put up huge numbers in the years they went to the playoffs. Pitching might win championships but scoring runs gets you there. The year the Red Sox broke their own curse, in 2004, they scored 949 runs. No other team came close to even scoring 900. That’s when Epstein was just getting started. Those Red Sox teams were not known for home runs. In fact, the Cubs hit more long balls than Boston in 2004 but the Red Sox devastated their opponents by getting on base. A lot. The Cubs have the power but now they have some finesse.

“It does feel a little different with Zobrist and Heyward,” third baseman Kris Bryant said. “Those guys do the little things.”

As a side note, if you’re worried about the reigning rookie of the year only hitting two home runs this spring, including one Sunday, he has a message for you: Don’t be concerned.

“It feels unbelievable,” Bryant said of his swing. “I’ve never had the consistency that I have now. Just off the tee and the flips. It just feels really good.”

Maddon concurred that Bryant is already a better hitter than when last season ended. The home runs will come. They always do for him.

It will be a barrage of home runs combined with walks and extra-base hits which will have not just scouts but opposing pitchers shaking their heads. Just ask the Giants. That fifth inning began with a walk to Rizzo. Then a single by Zobrist. An error, another single and another one after that began the comeback. Then came another walk, a single, a triple and then another single. When it was all said and done the Cubs had scored eight runs and a statement had been made. Spring baseball or not, observers knew what they were seeing.

“That was something else,” the advanced scout stated. “The Cubs of the last few years hit a lot of home runs. This is something different. Zobrist is a big addition.”

It might be the norm in Boston or New York but this is indeed something different for Cubs fans. An offense which can do it all -- just as they envisioned during the winter.

It takes center stage Monday.

But it makes perfect sense after watching last night. 14 hits, 10 walks, and the last hit was the only homer of the game. Even without that shot, they still woulda had 11 runs, 13 hits, and 10 walks before Rizzo ended all doubts.

Also, that's with Rizzo striking out on ball 4 with the bases loaded earlier. And Montero being ROBBED of an RBI basehit up the middle by the SS. And another inning with the bases loaded that didn't get any runs. They scored 14 and could have had 17-18, easily.


Without Baez, with Schwarber and Soler only getting one at bat each. And Lackey batting.

Holy ****

 

[illmatic34]

Schwarber done for the season

 

[CP1708]

 

[arstyle27]

View media item 1986006

 

[dland24]

 Ha, this is my 50K on the nose.

 

Congrats CP.  Thats awesome! 

I wish the new NT kept track and assigned each post a specific number like it used to on the old platform.  Was cool to look back at old threads and say "ooh look that was my 100th post!"  Now every post you make just has your total posts.  Just one of the very few things I preferred about the old NT platform.

Anyway, congrats again.

 

[CP1708]

Feel terrible, but we have depth enough to overcome losing Schwarber. The one thing we don't have, is a left handed bat that can replace him.

Soler, Baez, Bryant, can all play LF, but none of them bat from the left side and can mash righty's like Kyle.


Ironic that the addition of Heyward and Fowler along with Zobrist at least gives us a few extra left handed bats, as well as Montero, just sucks to see. Kid was a damn monster in the playoffs last year, I wanted to see his legend grow with hopefully another postseason run this year.

 

[CP1708]

We're not going undefeated this season.

The first and third, nobody out, heart of the order inning killed us. Coulda/shoulda broke it open right there.

Now we face Grenkie tomorrow.

 

[CP1708]

W. 4-1

Need Jake to keep his streak goin tomorrow.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Rizzo

Greinke been getting roughed up this year, makes me kinda glad we didn't go all in on him.