Cubs Mailbag
Cubs mailbag. Ready set go.
I would love to see Javy Baez rearrange Stephen Piscotty’s stupid Stanford face with a perfectly timed, flawlessly executed right cross. And it would be nothing short of delightful to watch Arrieta power bomb Yadi onto home plate. You also have to imagine Tommy La Stella has some pent up rage that’s capable of some serious damage. That or he knows a guy who knows a guy that can get rid of dead bodies. Hard not to with a name like that. Tommy La Stella. Just sounds like a made man.
Nevertheless, I think there could be a brawl if cardinals’ fastballs start flying high and tight. And while I suppose that’s always the case, the difference this year is that the cardinals are entering the season in the clear rearview mirror of the Cubs for the first time in about forever. I would imagine that bothers the cardinals. ADDITIONALLY, the cardinals have the tendency to act like dirty rotten rednecks. So there’s the increased risk that because the cardinals know they suck… and because they’re DRR’s… certain fastballs may get dangerously close to some Cub helmets.
I would imagine if that happens, Rizzo will escalate shit pretty quickly. He’s got way to much championship swag left over to not confront aggression with physical violence. Cubs and cards benches clearing brawl at +350.
162 minus however many games Brett Anderson needs to miss in July to rest his arm for a few weeks around the all star break. Also worth considering John Lackey’s hallowed out right shoulder, but I still think the big fella has another 32 starts left in him.
Arrieta also might actually ask for more starts just because he’s in what we like to call Fuck You mode. It’s his villain alter ego where he basically becomes to most evil man on the planet. Usually it lasts for a game, maybe a few starts in a row if he gets hot. But this time I think he’s in Fuck You mode all season long. He’s on a mission to give everyone a nice big Fuck You on his way to proving that he deserves to be paid like a top 5 pitcher in baseball. And in the process I think he channels his chi and whatever else he balances and turns in one of the all time great Cub seasons from a starting pitcher. So pencil him in for 33 with capacity to do 40 if you really want to let the animal loose.
And then finally, Hendricks and Lester are as predictable as it gets. 32. 33 starts. 200+ innings. Lots of quality pitches. Rinse and repeat.
No. That award goes to Kris Bryant. So much so that I refuse to even joke about it.
“What’s a joke?”
That said, Joe Maddon has probably been sandwiched between more FFM threesomes than the rest of the team combined. So whether or not he’s the best looking dude on the team is outside the scope of relevance. Joe Maddon likes to party and everybody knows it so honestly who gives a fuck. Guy wants it.
Yes and no. He needs more playing time, but this environment is just different and that’s the way it is.
Almora would be the talk of pretty much any other MLB team. He would be leading off and staring in center and posting web gems on a semi-nightly basis, and I’m not exaggerating. Albert Amora is an absolute stud and the long-term centerfielder for the club. This is not speculation. This is fact.
Unfortunately for AA, he has to split this year with Jon Jay because that’s the smart move. Platoon the rookie with the veteran. Put Almora in lower risk situations to find success and let him naturally come into his own. The nice thing is that he can earn himself more playing time with the opportunities he’s given. I don’t think Jon Jay is the kind of guy to play himself out of time here, especially with $8m, but Almora can force the issue now with good play to be the #1 guy at the end of the year. It’s still too early to be caught up on it though. Almora is so, so good that it’s just a matter of time until he becomes a regular name with Rizzo, Bryant and Russell. It will take time but that’s the path he’s on.
Injuries and Chicago night life are the only threats in my opinion.
Hopefully zero.
He seems to be more relaxed prior to the pitch, and he seems to be more aggressive with the pitch. If that makes sense?
He looks like he got his dick sucked is what I’m trying to say. He’s not moving around and all that little league bullshit he was trying last year. He’s keeping his hands back (sorta) and really exploding at the baseball. These aren’t the defensive swings we saw all throughout the second half of last year. Those were laughably bad swings. These are more aggressive, confident swings where you can clearly tell he’s trying to hit the shit out of the baseball, which, uh, good. He’s getting $168 million to play right field and hitting the shit out of baseballs is kind of in the job description. I have faith though. I have immense faith that Heyward gets back to his old self this year. Too much talent not to.
Contreras looks rough behind the plate and that’s putting it lightly. He has an absolute hose for an arm, but he calls a slow game and has pretty stiff receiving skills. I wish he was better. Really do.
At the same time, we need to remember that he was a rookie ball third baseman in 2012. Pretty crazy that he’s now the #1 catcher in the organization. Just goes to show the importance of being able to swing some decent lumber in the middle of a lineup.
So do we like him stabbing at outside fastballs when they’re running back to the strike zone? No. And we also don’t like him recycling signs every other pitch and continuous mound visits. But we do love the fact that he can throw a baseball over the scoreboard and slug yabos onto waveland. We love his athleticism, projectability, and blah blah blah. Ultimately, his good severely outweighs the bad, so it’s worth it.
Until he stops hitting.
Smaller than I’d love, but still a lot higher than most ever thought. Got that?
He’s come a long way with his plate discipline and it’s only getting better. Javy is a bonafide student-of-the-game kind of player, which is why it baffles me when he gets a bad rap from the outside. Javy is one of the smartest, most intuitive young players I can remember. He’s had to learn how to play the game differently, mostly at the major league level (which is insane btw), and he’s done extremely well adapting to the changes. He is a completely different player now than in 2014. And all of that is a credit to him making changes to his game. The plate discipline will be the last piece as it just takes the most time to develop.
That said, he’ll probably always chase a good slider. It’s part of what makes him Javy.
Depends on the DH. If the DH goes to the NL, then Happ plays LF for obvious reasons. If not, Happ would be forced into the Zobrist/Baez/Heyward/Almora/Jay rotation. That would be pretty crowded, so you’d have to assume one of them is hurt or traded in 2017, or it’s replacing Jay in 2018. In any event, I don’t think he becomes an every-day-guy without the DH. Otherwise, his best bet is to see time split between second and right.
My thinking is that the Cubs don’t really care about his position right now. I think the front office is more concerned about how Happ’s bat holds up in AAA over the first 30 games of the season. If it’s major league ready, then Happ would be the 1st man up for every position save for catcher. In that case, Joe would just plug Happ into whatever role they needed. We hope that’s not the case, but common sense tells us that’s exactly how Happ will end up making his debut this year. Injury and opportunity go hand in hand.
Not for nothing, this basically symbolizes the ultimate strength of the organization. The versatility and depth of everything described above is just incredible. Who knew finding playing time for top-100 prospects was so difficult?
Cody is referring to these (BONER WARNING):
And they are nothing short of fantastic. The craftsmanship and attention to detail is top notch. The kind of stuff made exclusively for the backs of champions. Normally I’d shy away from any jersey purchase, but this is special. This took 108 years. You go ahead and you buy one of these jerseys, Cody. There might be some time before we get to lace the logo in gold again. JUST KIDDING.
Real talk though you should definitely go Rizzo. He’s Batman and everyone else is Robin and I don’t care what the numbers say. He’s the captain. He’s the face of the organization. Any other name on the back of that jersey is an insult to everything this organization stands for. I know it’s tempting, but don’t get cute with your World Series Championship memorabilia. Rizzo is a corner piece you build around, and that includes your wardrobe, Cody. Go 44 and don’t look back.
PS – When is it socially acceptable for an adult to wear a jersey?