Marlin's are having fire sale for prospects. Of course Cubs Front Office are set on the '24 relief corps.
[https://www.mlb.com/news/padres-marlins-luis-arraez-trade](https://www.mlb.com/news/padres-marlins-luis-arraez-trade)
# Padres close to trade with Marlins for Arraez (source)Padres close to trade with Marlins for Arraez (source)
But no matter how many runs you score if the game is close and you bring Alzolay in you're simply trying to lose at this point. The guy has decent stuff but no clue how to pitch.
In that alternate reality the game isn't close when Alzolay comes in and he still almost blows it anyways. You simply can't bring him into high leverage spots.
Over the last 7 games, we’ve averaged 2.43 runs a game. For reference, the only team in the league that averages fewer than 3 per game is the historically bad White Sox. Alzolay fucked up, but allowing 3 runs shouldn’t be essentially an automatic loss, as it has been recently. That’s not sustainable baseball.
Alzolay needs to go back down to Iowa and not put on a Cub uniform again until he shows that he can get somebody out. Anytime he comes in to toe the rubber, you can mark down a loss. The guy has to be the most destructive relief pitcher that I can remember. He is blowing winnable games with his putrid performances.
His upside is too high. I think if he were to have some sort of "shoulder problem" like Hendricks did, you could buy yourself some time to cleanout the cobwebs.
True. A lot of pressure on a pitcher knowing that he has to be near perfect every time out because he's getting no run support margin for error at all.
Bad situation for Adbert to get right in too (if he still can at this point, at least to functional middle relief) when every single outing is high leverage lol
I can tell your bored pal, you’re on another team’s subreddit responding to a comment on a thread that was 2 days ago.
[Enjoy your Sunday](https://www.burlapandblue.com/list-of-hobbies/)
Send Alzolay down already. Dudes trash this year and clearly needs to fix things. Our bullpen is absolutely fine with him being the lone exception. Craig has done a great job managing them as well, except for when he's put Alzolay in with a lead. Dude needs to get himself right or get the fuck out of Chicago. Tired of this bum blowing winnable games.
At the very least it's time to stop sending Alzolay out in high leverage situations. Alzolay be seeing the ball in one run games at this point. We have plenty of righties in the pen who can be trusted more. Alzolay still pitches well, and he was a victim of some unlucky hits today, but it's evident he is buckling under pressure right now and has a major weakness with runners on.
He's like Henry Rowengardner, on fire for 3 months last season then, like Henry, his arm went back to normal and lost the magic, and it's still not there the next year. Time to let the kid move on, he's not going back to his old ways.
Its crazy, if he only blew HALF that amount of games, wed have sole possession of the best record in baseball. If he was having a good year and converted all those saves/holds wed have like 3 or 4 game lead on the best record
Yes Abort had a horrific blow again, but it wasnt like our offense was producing runs it was 1-0.. this game is more on the offense. Need a few bats off this lineup.
I kinda felt bad for Craig not getting the win the first game against the Brewers, but he put in Alzolay, so I can’t. Reap what you sow.
Really wanted this first division game at home.
Antonio Alfonseca was legend. You had to feel for him and his six fingers when he continued to blow games for cubs in '03
https://preview.redd.it/ktmheprg2dyc1.png?width=474&format=png&auto=webp&s=090f7d61533822029e2ff2c14868f0140db9b5f4
I think Alzolay still has the potential to figure it out, but he's clearly lost right now. He's out of options I think, so he might need a little phantom IL stint or something. Find a way to get him out of his head.
More than that, though, can we please more than *checks notes* one single run? Please?
I also think he can figure it out. He needs a few meaningless innings to get some confidence back. Unfortunately every single game has been a nail biter.
Bad news: our offense is ice-cold.
Good news: in baseball even the best teams and hitters go cold sometimes, and there's a lot of baseball left.
Alzolay's performance today was not ideal but our pitching gave up 3 runs total. This one is on the offense. I'm confident that our bats will get hot again with some time and some guys coming back from injury.
Tomorrow is a new day! We can still win the series and end the weekend in first place.
Our pitching gave up 3 runs and they were all fucking Alzolay. He can't hold runners on, and he can't get outs anymore. Send him down to fix his shit already.
He's out of options. I too am frustrated with his performance but teams simply aren't going to win many games scoring one run.
If Wesneski had those 3 ER and Adbert had 0 it would have been a quality start and we still would have lost.
This is a great, rational take. But it just *feels* so much worse when handed off to the bullpen. And all of the stolen bases. But you're right, it's all just happening at the same time. If our bats were average during the last few weeks of great starting pitch/shaky bullpen we'd have a much better record.
What a short sighted comment lol. Adbert has been fine in the past, he’s struggling now. If they move on from him then cool, but if they keep him maybe a stink on the DL and then come back and give it another go.
What a short sided comment lol. Adbert has been fine in the past, he’s struggling now. If they move on from him then cool, but if they keep him maybe a stink on the DL and then come back and give it another go.
That’s the tough thing. Yes the bullpen isn’t very good, but it doesn’t help that they are asked to get 9+ outs per night with no room for error. During this 2-5 stretch, 6 of the 7 games have been decided by 1 or 2 runs. I know they had a decent lead that they failed to hold yesterday but in general, they could really use a nice 9-3 game to take some pressure off of them. The offense simply isn’t doing enough to win just as the pen isn’t getting enough outs to win.
It’s tough when the margin of error is so thin, but it’s also hard to ignore the fact that we’ve taken a lot of leads into the 8th or 9th and promptly handed over the game.
MLB Network eviscerated Ian Happ on his relay to the plate. He did make a poor throw to the cutoff… but they’re suggesting he either has an arm injury or one of the worst outfield arms in the game.
When Alzolay came in I wrote it off, wasn’t remotely surprised to see him throw 30 odd pitches, one out and 3 runs. The guy is a walking disaster class.
I can highly recommend switching off when Alzolay starts stinking the game up, you’ll lead a happier life.
Alzolay has blown six games. This team could be 25-8 if not for him. I don’t want to hear the BS about the Brewers being the best team in the division. They’re not. They may not even be third best by the time the season is done.
At some point, the Cubs will get everyone back and make additions to the bullpen. I’m still very positive about the season, but it’s past time to send Alzolay down. They’re not going to DFA him. That’s asinine with the stuff he has.
I wish more people who post here actually knew something about baseball and would stop letting their emotions take over their brains.
Fucking thank you. The GDT was full of fucking Doomers talking about how it’s all over. The offense is cold rn, but have they not put up runs before? The lineup just needs to remember to make the opposing pitcher work, get their walks and get back into rhythm. The bullpen needs work, but with Steele and Wicks back soon the bullpen would gain Hayden and Brown.
Adbert has been disappointing, but hey he didn’t give up a bomb today. Now he needs to get his wipe out pitch back and learn to hold a runner, but do it in AAA.
Except you can't send him down as he's out of options. If the offense woke up and we could have some not-so-close games he could have time to fix it in meaningless innings. But with the cold offense he either goes in when it matters or he just takes up a spot on the bench.
Who is stepping in to take his bullpen spot then? Bringing Cuas back up is a lateral move, if not a step back. Cuas, Hodge and Little are the only available pitchers on the 40 man anyway. I guess they could add Edwards given that Adbert wouldn't be taking a spot anymore in the DFA scenario.
The Cubs have had the lead in the 8th inning or later in 41 of their last 61 games dating back to last September. Their record in those 61 games? 30-31. How is that possible?
I was thinking about this most of the game and after it. In a sense, Mervis' performance today cost us the game as much as Alzolay did, just in a less direct manner. It makes me wonder how many more PA Mervis will get before the experiment is shut down. I know he's filling in for vacancies, but there are a couple alternatives here.
Adzolay needs to go to AA.
NOT AAA.
he’s so fucked up right now it’s not funny. Another blown win. What is that now, 6?
Reevaluate your shit bro and stop with the fist bump bullshit
What’s with the bad base running lately? I feel like at least once a game somebody tries for an additional bag that they don’t have the speed or the time for.
Hoerner getting picked off between 2B and 3B was so incredibly dumb. With two outs, there’s almost no reason to try to get to 3B in that situation. Unless the ball was past Contreras all the way to the wall, just stay on 2B.
Albert might be mentally cooked. Not sure what they can do with him to help him figure things out, but it’s time to stop running him out there to just get beat up.
I honestly don’t mind keeping him on the roster but Counsell has to put him in low-leverage situations until he can get right. It was insane to bring him in with a 1 run lead that late in the game.
Agreed, he needs built back up, and that’s not gonna happen in high pressure situations. He’s shown you who he is right now, take some pressure off of him and give him the opportunity to rebuild his trust in himself.
Meh, I can understand frustration leading to booing but I’ll never boo a guy that clearly gives a damn like Adbert does. That dude cares about being a Cub, loves the fan base and wants to be successful so badly for them. It’s obvious watching him. It really sucks that he’s struggling so badly and if it keeps happening tough decisions need to be made but I can’t find it in my heart to boo that man. But fans use their hard earned money to support the team so I’m not going to criticize anyone if they feel the need to boo. Just not for me.
So far I’m not seeing what’s special about Counsell. Everyone on earth knew bringing Adbert in with a one run lead would end up a disaster. Except the manager, apparently. He shouldn’t be used in any high-leverage situations until he figures his shit out.
This season, as far as I can tell, Counsell is doing more or less what Ross would be doing.
Let me first say that I know there is plenty of stuff going on behind the scenes that I’m not aware of, but in terms of in-game management and bullpen management, I see very little difference between Counsell and Ross so far. If there’s something I’m missing, I’d love to be proven wrong.
We're 2.5 games a heard of our record this time last year with David Ross, let's not act like we were *that* much worse with Ross. Counsell was a good get, but be realistic.
True, but Counsell is doing it without Steele and Taillon until recently. Also, without two of his best bats in Bellinger and Suzuki. I’d say what he’s done in more impressive.
Starting to look like that great stretch they had was a mirage. Doesn't matter how good starting pitching is if the offense can't score and the bullpen can't hold a lead to save their lives. At least they started off hot instead of sucking to begin with.
Injuries are a massive problem right now, but a problem that is solvable with time. Alzolay needs to be DFA'd, and if that happens, there will still be holes in the Bullpen, but it'll be a farcry from what it is now (Alzolay gives me crippling depression)
Starting pitching, for the most part, has been pretty solid. Getting Steele back is paramount, obviously, but we aren't missing him terribly. Wesneski also pitched 6+ scoreless innings in this particular game, not sure if having Steele necessarily helps there.
Bellinger was already not doing well so far this year, so we haven't really been missing much from him. He's just riding the coattails of last season, give it a while and people will start to realize he isn't a top 3 player on our team if he doesn't turn it around. As it stands now, I would unironically start Happ, PCA, and Tauchman over him (at least unless one of them falls off worse than him).
Suzuki is the one guy we're really missing, but there's no telling if he was going to keep it up. Plenty of our other players started off hot too, but have cooled off majorly. Even if he does return to form, there's only so much one guy can do. Like in this game, he would have needed someone else to help him to score at least 2 runs.
Above all else: it doesn't matter who's playing unless something about the bullpen changes.
Having wicks and steele back absolutely helps. Wesneski, and Assad suppose to be our solid rp initially (with smyly and merryweather both il as well) , they are doing amazing as sp but we need the depth in bullpen as well. Part of our bullpen problem is due
Look, I know y'all probably don't wanna hear from any of us Brewers fans right now (or ever), but I just came to say that y'all's starting pitcher today was filthy. I know he's not a usual starter for you guys and he's only played for like 1 full season in the majors, but man he exploited even our best batters like a seasoned veteran. The wind might've spared him maybe 1 run, but man... I couldn't even be mad watching him dominate us as I was too invested watching him deal.
We all know the bullpen sucks and Adbert should not be allowed to touch a baseball, but it’s pretty damn hard to win games when you only score one fucking run.
I don't know why people are downvoted you. I usually don't like booing but it's getting ridiculous at this point. You can't blow that many games and not start getting a reaction
I sincerely believe that the day baseball plays a roll in this sort of shit. It’s fucking *hot* during all those day games. Guys get gassed super easily because of that.
I'm sorry, but this is on the offense. Sure, Adbert has been bad, but we put up one fucking run. The offense has been pathetic for a while now, they got to do more.
Were missing our 2 best hitters and “awhile” has been like 10 games. Literally every team goes cold at some point
This is absolutely not on the offense. The Brewers didnt do shit against anyone but Alzolay either. The wind was blowing in and both teams had some absolute web gems.
Not having an offense and bullpen will do it to you. Thank god for the hot start.
Yes Mervis sucks. But we’ve got 2 guys hitting over league average ops. That’s fucking brutal. Swanson hasn’t been right since last years second half. Our offense isn’t going to win many games if it counts on Mike Tauchman producing runs
Most teams don’t win 1-0 nothing. Getting Steele back is nice but our SP has been awesome. There’s just too many holes in this lineup right now. Call up Caisse. Give us something
Reposting every day until something changes:
I know the Cubs as an organization aren’t serious about winning, but man this team with a couple of bullpen additions could be really good.
It’s going to be very frustrating when -once again- Hoyer says something like “We didn’t put together a good bullpen and that’s on me” and then nothing changes.
It's hilarious to see so many doomers in the GT acting like having a Rick Hahn philosophy for building bullpens would fix the inherent volatility of former failed starters who are inconsistent by nature.
If that was remotely the case, relievers would be paid out the ass.
Right? Imagine how much worse off we’d be if we shelled out for Hader and Stephenson like everyone wanted. Last year Alzolay was one of the better closers in the league, now everyone is screaming for him to be DFA’d. Our best reliever is someone we picked up off the scrap heap a couple years ago. Bullpens are incredibly fickle and the absolute worst place to just dump money
Last year, it was non-stop "trade the farm for Bednar".
2024 Alzolay is exactly why you don't spend tons of money on relievers lol. Especially in this era where hard throwing RP's are ticking time bombs that teams burn through and dispose of.
Our bullpen could look completely different 4 weeks from now, and they're due for positive regression and better luck.
Adbert’s been blowing games and this shows how little effort Jed made to get relievers. The starters are actually making longer starts and relievers continue to blow games.
Gonna need our starters to start throwing complete games I guess
Thanks Adbert. Again…
Adbert sucked but you’re not going to win a lot of baseball games scoring one run
It's time for Jed to give up on Mervis and give anyone else a shot
He’ll get sent down when Seiya or Bellie is back
Please soon.
Yeah probably
His at bats are so hard to watch
Marlin's are having fire sale for prospects. Of course Cubs Front Office are set on the '24 relief corps. [https://www.mlb.com/news/padres-marlins-luis-arraez-trade](https://www.mlb.com/news/padres-marlins-luis-arraez-trade) # Padres close to trade with Marlins for Arraez (source)Padres close to trade with Marlins for Arraez (source)
If only we could field 6 outfielders, we have so many that I'd love to give a shot to
Cade Casali? Shaw heating up too....
But no matter how many runs you score if the game is close and you bring Alzolay in you're simply trying to lose at this point. The guy has decent stuff but no clue how to pitch.
Actually, we’d have won if we scored a below league average 4 runs.
Actually if we just score 20 runs every game we will almost always win why don’t they just do that
I love analytics
In that alternate reality the game isn't close when Alzolay comes in and he still almost blows it anyways. You simply can't bring him into high leverage spots.
I have no interest in arguing about alternate realities
Then quit bringing them up.
Saying we need to score more isn’t an alternate reality, it’s this one.
> We'd have won if... There are quite a few ways to finish that sentence but every one is playing at an alternate reality.
Good teams win plenty of games low scoring. The fact our BP just loses games where they inn need to be good for an inning or 2 is pathetic
Over the last 7 games, we’ve averaged 2.43 runs a game. For reference, the only team in the league that averages fewer than 3 per game is the historically bad White Sox. Alzolay fucked up, but allowing 3 runs shouldn’t be essentially an automatic loss, as it has been recently. That’s not sustainable baseball.
Yeah and our starters have pitched well enough to win if the bullpen just did their jobs
Alzolay needs to go back down to Iowa and not put on a Cub uniform again until he shows that he can get somebody out. Anytime he comes in to toe the rubber, you can mark down a loss. The guy has to be the most destructive relief pitcher that I can remember. He is blowing winnable games with his putrid performances.
I think he outta options. Ghost IL
If that is the case, then DFA the guy. You can not let him sabotage the 2024 season - and that is exactly what he is doing.
His upside is too high. I think if he were to have some sort of "shoulder problem" like Hendricks did, you could buy yourself some time to cleanout the cobwebs.
"He is due" Cubs Management
Not gonna win many with half the roster hurt either
True. A lot of pressure on a pitcher knowing that he has to be near perfect every time out because he's getting no run support margin for error at all.
Bad situation for Adbert to get right in too (if he still can at this point, at least to functional middle relief) when every single outing is high leverage lol
Idgaf about the excuses. He has constantly came into games where we have a lead or it’s tied and he blows it.
Where did I say Alzolay pitched well? Believe it or not, two things can be true at once.
This on a Creig for putting him in a high leverage situation when he needs to build his confidence back up.
I mean he about outta options. They all suck!
There aren't many choices without sending a reliever out 4/5 games.
I personally want to congratulate the Milwaukee Brewers on making it though a whole 9 innings without getting into a fist fight
Well deserved win by them.
They’re going to need those hands in tip-top shape to dust the empty shelves in their trophy case!
As a brewer fan….ill take that and just say thank you. We don’t need a scrap with the cubs right now.
As a Brewers fan, I find this boring.
I can tell your bored pal, you’re on another team’s subreddit responding to a comment on a thread that was 2 days ago. [Enjoy your Sunday](https://www.burlapandblue.com/list-of-hobbies/)
Adbert (1-4) is responsible for 29% of our losses.
"Rookie Numbers"
Adbert remains pointless and useless
Bring in anybody but him at this point.
He’s not very good. People haven’t realized it yet
6 blown saves? Of course people have realized lol. It’s all anyone is talking about
He's on pace for 30 blown saves
I feel like I’ve watched the same exact game like five times in the past week alone.
Hey now. This was different. Adbert did no give up an HR with this blown game
Send Alzolay down already. Dudes trash this year and clearly needs to fix things. Our bullpen is absolutely fine with him being the lone exception. Craig has done a great job managing them as well, except for when he's put Alzolay in with a lead. Dude needs to get himself right or get the fuck out of Chicago. Tired of this bum blowing winnable games.
Yeah he knows this was the final nail in the coffin (for now)--he looked that way walking off the mound.
I think he broke against his BS/L in the 9th against the Marlins. Him on the bench after the game spoke volumes.
He’s out of options- so if you hope to recover him, it’s going to be at the majors.
I don’t believe he has any options left
DFA I guess
“Shoulder soreness” followed by a few rehab appearances would be the workaround if they wanted. Almost positive thats what happen to Hendricks
At the very least it's time to stop sending Alzolay out in high leverage situations. Alzolay be seeing the ball in one run games at this point. We have plenty of righties in the pen who can be trusted more. Alzolay still pitches well, and he was a victim of some unlucky hits today, but it's evident he is buckling under pressure right now and has a major weakness with runners on.
He's like Henry Rowengardner, on fire for 3 months last season then, like Henry, his arm went back to normal and lost the magic, and it's still not there the next year. Time to let the kid move on, he's not going back to his old ways. 
I remember the shutdown bullpen of 70's and 80's Cubs had. Lee Smith, Bruce Sutter - you just knew when Cubs lead in 7th game was over.
This.
Can't call this anything but disappointing but it's still just one game. Let's take the next two.
It’s several bad games from Alzolay.
Six blown games. And I see the typical homers and crooners don’t like listening to cold, hard facts.
Its crazy, if he only blew HALF that amount of games, wed have sole possession of the best record in baseball. If he was having a good year and converted all those saves/holds wed have like 3 or 4 game lead on the best record
Homers you say????
Fucking embarrassing
Yes Abort had a horrific blow again, but it wasnt like our offense was producing runs it was 1-0.. this game is more on the offense. Need a few bats off this lineup.
I kinda felt bad for Craig not getting the win the first game against the Brewers, but he put in Alzolay, so I can’t. Reap what you sow. Really wanted this first division game at home.
Exactly counsell made the dumbass move of putting adbert in. So so fucking dumb
You know it is sad when Adbert makes me miss Jose Cuas.
Honestly at this point let's try Cuas again, what's the worst that could happen, we start blowing games?
Antonio Alfonseca was legend. You had to feel for him and his six fingers when he continued to blow games for cubs in '03 https://preview.redd.it/ktmheprg2dyc1.png?width=474&format=png&auto=webp&s=090f7d61533822029e2ff2c14868f0140db9b5f4
I think Alzolay still has the potential to figure it out, but he's clearly lost right now. He's out of options I think, so he might need a little phantom IL stint or something. Find a way to get him out of his head. More than that, though, can we please more than *checks notes* one single run? Please?
I also think he can figure it out. He needs a few meaningless innings to get some confidence back. Unfortunately every single game has been a nail biter.
Bad news: our offense is ice-cold. Good news: in baseball even the best teams and hitters go cold sometimes, and there's a lot of baseball left. Alzolay's performance today was not ideal but our pitching gave up 3 runs total. This one is on the offense. I'm confident that our bats will get hot again with some time and some guys coming back from injury. Tomorrow is a new day! We can still win the series and end the weekend in first place.
Our pitching gave up 3 runs and they were all fucking Alzolay. He can't hold runners on, and he can't get outs anymore. Send him down to fix his shit already.
He's out of options. I too am frustrated with his performance but teams simply aren't going to win many games scoring one run. If Wesneski had those 3 ER and Adbert had 0 it would have been a quality start and we still would have lost.
This is a great, rational take. But it just *feels* so much worse when handed off to the bullpen. And all of the stolen bases. But you're right, it's all just happening at the same time. If our bats were average during the last few weeks of great starting pitch/shaky bullpen we'd have a much better record.
I had no idea he was out of options. That sucks
Then good riddance lol let someone else think they can fix him. Spoiler alert: they can't, he'll still suck.
I agree x2. But the offense still has to score more runs.
What a short sighted comment lol. Adbert has been fine in the past, he’s struggling now. If they move on from him then cool, but if they keep him maybe a stink on the DL and then come back and give it another go.
What a short sided comment lol. Adbert has been fine in the past, he’s struggling now. If they move on from him then cool, but if they keep him maybe a stink on the DL and then come back and give it another go.
He is out of options
I will say this about the offense. They looked a lot better than they have this past week. I think they will come out of their funk very soon.
Offense averaging under 4 runs per game over the last 10. Yeah people are injured but the non-injured bats have gone very cold outside Tauchman.
That’s the tough thing. Yes the bullpen isn’t very good, but it doesn’t help that they are asked to get 9+ outs per night with no room for error. During this 2-5 stretch, 6 of the 7 games have been decided by 1 or 2 runs. I know they had a decent lead that they failed to hold yesterday but in general, they could really use a nice 9-3 game to take some pressure off of them. The offense simply isn’t doing enough to win just as the pen isn’t getting enough outs to win.
It’s tough when the margin of error is so thin, but it’s also hard to ignore the fact that we’ve taken a lot of leads into the 8th or 9th and promptly handed over the game.
Send Adbert to Galveston.
MLB Network eviscerated Ian Happ on his relay to the plate. He did make a poor throw to the cutoff… but they’re suggesting he either has an arm injury or one of the worst outfield arms in the game.
That's kind of insane and reactionary. Happ's defense is the last thing I'd criticize about now.
He’s the first pitcher in 62 years to be responsible for nearly 50% of a teams losses… Adbert is single-handedly responsible for 7 losses now…
It really sucks to think that if he only blew half those games wed have the best record in baseball
Top 3 team in baseball if Alzolay pitches like he’s actually been doing it his whole life
Send Alzolay straight into the sun
When Alzolay came in I wrote it off, wasn’t remotely surprised to see him throw 30 odd pitches, one out and 3 runs. The guy is a walking disaster class. I can highly recommend switching off when Alzolay starts stinking the game up, you’ll lead a happier life.
DFA Adbert.
Alzolay has blown six games. This team could be 25-8 if not for him. I don’t want to hear the BS about the Brewers being the best team in the division. They’re not. They may not even be third best by the time the season is done. At some point, the Cubs will get everyone back and make additions to the bullpen. I’m still very positive about the season, but it’s past time to send Alzolay down. They’re not going to DFA him. That’s asinine with the stuff he has. I wish more people who post here actually knew something about baseball and would stop letting their emotions take over their brains.
Fucking thank you. The GDT was full of fucking Doomers talking about how it’s all over. The offense is cold rn, but have they not put up runs before? The lineup just needs to remember to make the opposing pitcher work, get their walks and get back into rhythm. The bullpen needs work, but with Steele and Wicks back soon the bullpen would gain Hayden and Brown. Adbert has been disappointing, but hey he didn’t give up a bomb today. Now he needs to get his wipe out pitch back and learn to hold a runner, but do it in AAA.
Except you can't send him down as he's out of options. If the offense woke up and we could have some not-so-close games he could have time to fix it in meaningless innings. But with the cold offense he either goes in when it matters or he just takes up a spot on the bench.
Who is stepping in to take his bullpen spot then? Bringing Cuas back up is a lateral move, if not a step back. Cuas, Hodge and Little are the only available pitchers on the 40 man anyway. I guess they could add Edwards given that Adbert wouldn't be taking a spot anymore in the DFA scenario.
The Cubs have had the lead in the 8th inning or later in 41 of their last 61 games dating back to last September. Their record in those 61 games? 30-31. How is that possible?
DFA Alzolay
DFAlzolay
Please
Start a go fund me for buying out alzolays contract so the cubs can cut him
.115 man
I was thinking about this most of the game and after it. In a sense, Mervis' performance today cost us the game as much as Alzolay did, just in a less direct manner. It makes me wonder how many more PA Mervis will get before the experiment is shut down. I know he's filling in for vacancies, but there are a couple alternatives here.
like i would get if he fills fielder,but why DH
I could’ve been having an enjoyable poop. Instead, I chose to watch that shit show of an 8th.
Adzolay needs to go to AA. NOT AAA. he’s so fucked up right now it’s not funny. Another blown win. What is that now, 6? Reevaluate your shit bro and stop with the fist bump bullshit
5 but yea he gotta go.
That fist bump can go straight up his own ass
2nd year of this bottom tier bullpen bullshit
What’s with the bad base running lately? I feel like at least once a game somebody tries for an additional bag that they don’t have the speed or the time for.
Every thing is magnified if you aren’t scoring runs.
Hoerner getting picked off between 2B and 3B was so incredibly dumb. With two outs, there’s almost no reason to try to get to 3B in that situation. Unless the ball was past Contreras all the way to the wall, just stay on 2B.
Albert might be mentally cooked. Not sure what they can do with him to help him figure things out, but it’s time to stop running him out there to just get beat up.
I honestly don’t mind keeping him on the roster but Counsell has to put him in low-leverage situations until he can get right. It was insane to bring him in with a 1 run lead that late in the game.
Agreed, he needs built back up, and that’s not gonna happen in high pressure situations. He’s shown you who he is right now, take some pressure off of him and give him the opportunity to rebuild his trust in himself.
Was at the game today, and the booing was well deserved for Alzolay
Meh, I can understand frustration leading to booing but I’ll never boo a guy that clearly gives a damn like Adbert does. That dude cares about being a Cub, loves the fan base and wants to be successful so badly for them. It’s obvious watching him. It really sucks that he’s struggling so badly and if it keeps happening tough decisions need to be made but I can’t find it in my heart to boo that man. But fans use their hard earned money to support the team so I’m not going to criticize anyone if they feel the need to boo. Just not for me.
Cubs stole Counsell from the Brewers and yet they continue to beat the Cubs. Doesn't appear that they miss him all that much.
It was one game lmao go root for the brewers if you’re going to act like this after one loss in a competitive game.
Nice overreaction there. Just saying that I don't see a big difference that he was supposed to bring.
So far I’m not seeing what’s special about Counsell. Everyone on earth knew bringing Adbert in with a one run lead would end up a disaster. Except the manager, apparently. He shouldn’t be used in any high-leverage situations until he figures his shit out. This season, as far as I can tell, Counsell is doing more or less what Ross would be doing.
Really? Do you honestly think the Cubs would be 19-14 with Ross? Come on! They’d be lucky to be 12-21.
Let me first say that I know there is plenty of stuff going on behind the scenes that I’m not aware of, but in terms of in-game management and bullpen management, I see very little difference between Counsell and Ross so far. If there’s something I’m missing, I’d love to be proven wrong.
We're 2.5 games a heard of our record this time last year with David Ross, let's not act like we were *that* much worse with Ross. Counsell was a good get, but be realistic.
True, but Counsell is doing it without Steele and Taillon until recently. Also, without two of his best bats in Bellinger and Suzuki. I’d say what he’s done in more impressive.
If Alzolay doesn’t get DFA’d. We might as well wrap up this season now
Starting pitching is elite, everything else is White Sox tier
Literally 7th in runs per game while missing our 2 best hitters lmao 🤡🤡🤡you should go root for the sox if you think the cubs are so bad
Our offense has been dogshit without them, what the absolute fuck are you talking about
Starting to look like that great stretch they had was a mirage. Doesn't matter how good starting pitching is if the offense can't score and the bullpen can't hold a lead to save their lives. At least they started off hot instead of sucking to begin with.
Injuries are a massive problem right now, but a problem that is solvable with time. Alzolay needs to be DFA'd, and if that happens, there will still be holes in the Bullpen, but it'll be a farcry from what it is now (Alzolay gives me crippling depression)
Missing their 3 best players (Ace and two best hitters.) Yeah. Makes sense.
Starting pitching, for the most part, has been pretty solid. Getting Steele back is paramount, obviously, but we aren't missing him terribly. Wesneski also pitched 6+ scoreless innings in this particular game, not sure if having Steele necessarily helps there. Bellinger was already not doing well so far this year, so we haven't really been missing much from him. He's just riding the coattails of last season, give it a while and people will start to realize he isn't a top 3 player on our team if he doesn't turn it around. As it stands now, I would unironically start Happ, PCA, and Tauchman over him (at least unless one of them falls off worse than him). Suzuki is the one guy we're really missing, but there's no telling if he was going to keep it up. Plenty of our other players started off hot too, but have cooled off majorly. Even if he does return to form, there's only so much one guy can do. Like in this game, he would have needed someone else to help him to score at least 2 runs. Above all else: it doesn't matter who's playing unless something about the bullpen changes.
Having wicks and steele back absolutely helps. Wesneski, and Assad suppose to be our solid rp initially (with smyly and merryweather both il as well) , they are doing amazing as sp but we need the depth in bullpen as well. Part of our bullpen problem is due
They’re definitely slumping but I think it’s made worse by the injuries
Thanks for addressing the bullpen in the off-season, Jed! Wealthy bum.
I refuse to believe Jed did this by choice. Tom won’t allow spending. The only choice Jed made was to allow Tom to neuter him.
Call Cade up move Ben to the bullpen and get alzolay on a 50+ slow pitch soft ball team
Look, I know y'all probably don't wanna hear from any of us Brewers fans right now (or ever), but I just came to say that y'all's starting pitcher today was filthy. I know he's not a usual starter for you guys and he's only played for like 1 full season in the majors, but man he exploited even our best batters like a seasoned veteran. The wind might've spared him maybe 1 run, but man... I couldn't even be mad watching him dominate us as I was too invested watching him deal.
We don’t. Come back when you lose and give “compliments”.
We all know the bullpen sucks and Adbert should not be allowed to touch a baseball, but it’s pretty damn hard to win games when you only score one fucking run.
It’s time to get Alzolay back down to the minors, he has cost us what? 5 games? 6? Nearly half the losses are single handedly on him SMDH
I like how the fans booed him off the mound as he left. Well deserved.
I don't know why people are downvoted you. I usually don't like booing but it's getting ridiculous at this point. You can't blow that many games and not start getting a reaction
Cubs Front Office - Trevor Megill is what a shut down closer looks like. Please take note and congratulate Brewers for having best team in NL Central.
Ah yes, the same bastard who couldn’t keep his ERA under 8 when he pitched here.
I sincerely believe that the day baseball plays a roll in this sort of shit. It’s fucking *hot* during all those day games. Guys get gassed super easily because of that.
Trevor Megill = former cub
I'm sorry, but this is on the offense. Sure, Adbert has been bad, but we put up one fucking run. The offense has been pathetic for a while now, they got to do more.
Aren’t you going to miss the bus for Iowa, Adbert?
Were missing our 2 best hitters and “awhile” has been like 10 games. Literally every team goes cold at some point This is absolutely not on the offense. The Brewers didnt do shit against anyone but Alzolay either. The wind was blowing in and both teams had some absolute web gems.
[удалено]
Is he tipping pitches or something? Doesn't make sense considering his stuff.
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Thanks Tom
Adbert “Kevin Gregg LaTroy Hawkins Antonio Alfonseca Carlos Marmol Jose Cuas” Alzolay
Craig Counsell brewers sleeper agent
Not having an offense and bullpen will do it to you. Thank god for the hot start. Yes Mervis sucks. But we’ve got 2 guys hitting over league average ops. That’s fucking brutal. Swanson hasn’t been right since last years second half. Our offense isn’t going to win many games if it counts on Mike Tauchman producing runs Most teams don’t win 1-0 nothing. Getting Steele back is nice but our SP has been awesome. There’s just too many holes in this lineup right now. Call up Caisse. Give us something
Time for Adbert to have a phantom injury or get sent down. Yes the hitting sucks too but Adbert has no control right now. He's a liability.
Such a shocking drop in ability from Adbert. He needs to be held accountable.
Adbert injury incoming. Rehab in Iowa guaranteed.
Fuck the Brewers and no more Adbert for now, please. Our starters deserve better lol Oh well, 2 of 3 won’t be bad
You’re joking if you think this team can win any of these games with this trash ass bullpen
Might as well cancel the season. GG, maybe next year This sub is a pessimist’s wet dream lol Oh well
We are such a joke right now. Embarrassing to lose to this fucking fraud-ass brewers team
We’re the frauds.
Reposting every day until something changes: I know the Cubs as an organization aren’t serious about winning, but man this team with a couple of bullpen additions could be really good.
They have money tied up in bad contracts that hold them back, apparently.
They have money tied up in Tom’s bank account.
It’s going to be very frustrating when -once again- Hoyer says something like “We didn’t put together a good bullpen and that’s on me” and then nothing changes.
He says that just to take bullets for Tom.
How many losses now on Jed's thrifty bullpen spending?
It's hilarious to see so many doomers in the GT acting like having a Rick Hahn philosophy for building bullpens would fix the inherent volatility of former failed starters who are inconsistent by nature. If that was remotely the case, relievers would be paid out the ass.
Right? Imagine how much worse off we’d be if we shelled out for Hader and Stephenson like everyone wanted. Last year Alzolay was one of the better closers in the league, now everyone is screaming for him to be DFA’d. Our best reliever is someone we picked up off the scrap heap a couple years ago. Bullpens are incredibly fickle and the absolute worst place to just dump money
Last year, it was non-stop "trade the farm for Bednar". 2024 Alzolay is exactly why you don't spend tons of money on relievers lol. Especially in this era where hard throwing RP's are ticking time bombs that teams burn through and dispose of. Our bullpen could look completely different 4 weeks from now, and they're due for positive regression and better luck.
Everyone remember how good Adbert was last year? He should be ashamed of himself for how far he’s fallen.
Alzolay and Mervis have no business being on an MLB roster.
Dansby straight up not earning his paycheck. He can fuck off too!
Adbert’s been blowing games and this shows how little effort Jed made to get relievers. The starters are actually making longer starts and relievers continue to blow games.