I admit it...

[flannj]

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/politicalinsider/2017/04/13/democratic-jesus-rubalcava-voucher-bill-sponsor-wanted-punch-her-throat/100389028/

[Yeti]

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/politicalinsider/2017/04/13/democratic-jesus-rubalcava-voucher-bill-sponsor-wanted-punch-her-throat/100389028/

Are you a closet Trumper at this point?

[flannj]

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/politicalinsider/2017/04/13/democratic-jesus-rubalcava-voucher-bill-sponsor-wanted-punch-her-throat/100389028/

Are you a closet Trumper at this point?

Nope. Just throwing that out there because they all suck.

[Brownie]

I am tired of WGN showing the bullpen dancing after every HR.

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

I am tired of WGN showing the bullpen dancing after every HR.

https://twitter.com/eligieryna/status/872641931570028545

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

My unquestioning faith in the 2017 Cubs suffered its first crack last night.

[SKO]

My unquestioning faith in the 2017 Cubs suffered its first crack last night.

It's difficult because they are right now a legitimately bad team. They are exactly what their numbers say they are. But we also know there's more talent there than that and also this division is rancid garbage. So I'm still thinking they'll win the mud hump to 85 wins and the NLC crown and we'll probably enjoy very little of it.

[Quality Start Machine]

My unquestioning faith in the 2017 Cubs suffered its first crack last night.

It's difficult because they are right now a legitimately bad team. They are exactly what their numbers say they are. But we also know there's more talent there than that and also this division is rancid garbage. So I'm still thinking they'll win the mud hump to 85 wins and the NLC crown and we'll probably enjoy very little of it.

I'm waiting to see what happens at the deadline. I still have faith this team can nut the fuck up late and send some teams home sad.

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

My unquestioning faith in the 2017 Cubs suffered its first crack last night.

It's difficult because they are right now a legitimately bad team. They are exactly what their numbers say they are. But we also know there's more talent there than that and also this division is rancid garbage. So I'm still thinking they'll win the mud hump to 85 wins and the NLC crown and we'll probably enjoy very little of it.

I don't intend to split hairs over semantics, but I wouldn't say they're a "bad" team.  They're decidedly mediocre right now.  We've seen bad.  We've seen lots of bad in fact.  For good chunks of our lives we've been exposed to some of the very worst.  This team isn't bad, but considering our expectations and how well they've done for the previous 2 years, it feels bad by comparison.  They're mediocre and inconsistent which of course makes it no less frustrating.

Agreed, though, that they only need to right the ship to 85-88 wins and they're probably in.  There're 97 games to go.  If they merely go 55-42--which shouldn't be too tall of a task even in spite of how they've played to date--they'd be 87-75.

Nevertheless there was something about last night's game that sheds a little bit of doubt that they can even pull that off.  Obviously I'm not giving up but for the first time all season I'm concerned.

[SKO]

My unquestioning faith in the 2017 Cubs suffered its first crack last night.

It's difficult because they are right now a legitimately bad team. They are exactly what their numbers say they are. But we also know there's more talent there than that and also this division is rancid garbage. So I'm still thinking they'll win the mud hump to 85 wins and the NLC crown and we'll probably enjoy very little of it.

I don't intend to split hairs over semantics, but I wouldn't say they're a "bad" team.  They're decidedly mediocre right now.  We've seen bad.  We've seen lots of bad in fact.  For good chunks of our lives we've been exposed to some of the very worst.  This team isn't bad, but considering our expectations and how well they've done for the previous 2 years, it feels bad by comparison.  They're mediocre and inconsistent which of course makes it no less frustrating.

Agreed, though, that they only need to right the ship to 85-88 wins and they're probably in.  There're 97 games to go.  If they merely go 55-42--which shouldn't be too tall of a task even in spite of how they've played to date--they'd be 87-75.

Nevertheless there was something about last night's game that sheds a little bit of doubt that they can even pull that off.  Obviously I'm not giving up but for the first time all season I'm concerned.

Yeah bad is perhaps a little harsh but I think the general "smart" opinion on them has been "this is a good team going through some bad luck/struggles" and I think at this point its pretty clear that last year is irrelevant and they are what their record says they are. There's no bad luck in one run games, poor team BABIP etc that can sometimes be used to explain away slumps by otherwise good teams.

This team does not pitch well or hit well right now. The hitting should MAYBE come around with this same cast of characters. Schwarber at least has been largely unlucky and we're starting to see stirrings from Russell and others. Even then though sometimes good hitters just have bad years. It's unfortunate that it could be multiple players in the same year but it isn't unprecedented and it can't be assumed they'll fix it this year just because of track records of whatever.

The pitching is truly broken, though. This isn't the same rotation as last year no matter what the names say because the ones over 30 have lost velocity and aren't going to get it back and Hendricks out-performed his metrics last year to begin with and was always bound for some regression and now he's hurt anyway. They'll probably need two big upgrades in the rotation by the deadline and that is hard to swing without wrecking the farm, so we'll see.

[Oleg]

My unquestioning faith in the 2017 Cubs suffered its first crack last night.

It's difficult because they are right now a legitimately bad team. They are exactly what their numbers say they are. But we also know there's more talent there than that and also this division is rancid garbage. So I'm still thinking they'll win the mud hump to 85 wins and the NLC crown and we'll probably enjoy very little of it.

I don't intend to split hairs over semantics, but I wouldn't say they're a "bad" team.  They're decidedly mediocre right now.  We've seen bad.  We've seen lots of bad in fact.  For good chunks of our lives we've been exposed to some of the very worst.  This team isn't bad, but considering our expectations and how well they've done for the previous 2 years, it feels bad by comparison.  They're mediocre and inconsistent which of course makes it no less frustrating.

Agreed, though, that they only need to right the ship to 85-88 wins and they're probably in.  There're 97 games to go.  If they merely go 55-42--which shouldn't be too tall of a task even in spite of how they've played to date--they'd be 87-75.

Nevertheless there was something about last night's game that sheds a little bit of doubt that they can even pull that off.  Obviously I'm not giving up but for the first time all season I'm concerned.

Yeah bad is perhaps a little harsh but I think the general "smart" opinion on them has been "this is a good team going through some bad luck/struggles" and I think at this point its pretty clear that last year is irrelevant and they are what their record says they are. There's no bad luck in one run games, poor team BABIP etc that can sometimes be used to explain away slumps by otherwise good teams.

This team does not pitch well or hit well right now. The hitting should MAYBE come around with this same cast of characters. Schwarber at least has been largely unlucky and we're starting to see stirrings from Russell and others. Even then though sometimes good hitters just have bad years. It's unfortunate that it could be multiple players in the same year but it isn't unprecedented and it can't be assumed they'll fix it this year just because of track records of whatever.

The pitching is truly broken, though. This isn't the same rotation as last year no matter what the names say because the ones over 30 have lost velocity and aren't going to get it back and Hendricks out-performed his metrics last year to begin with and was always bound for some regression and now he's hurt anyway. They'll probably need two big upgrades in the rotation by the deadline and that is hard to swing without wrecking the farm, so we'll see.

Or, we can look at the pre-season projections and think this club still has plenty of talent up its ass.  Last night, the bullpen burned them after John Lackey screwed the pooch on Monday (so Duensing wasn't available to face the lefties -- yeah, yeah, relying on Brian fucking Duensing and all that shit).

Monty is fine as a rotation piece (maybe they can scavenge a lefty bullpen arm and allow Lackey to get launched into the sun once Hendricks comes back).
Russell is showing signs of life at the plate and is hitting the shit out of the ball lately.
I worry about Contreras but I'm willing to buy Maddon's explanation that these are still kids, some of whom are going through their first full MLB season right now (Contreras, Happ, Almora).
The defense has been meh but they have some of the best defensive players in the world and it'll come around.
Feel free to write off Jake at your own risk.  And Hendricks, too.  They're not tolerating your bullshit, you fucking pansies.

So get it the fuck together people.  This ain't fucking over.  Gutless assholes, the bunch of youse.

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

My unquestioning faith in the 2017 Cubs suffered its first crack last night.

It's difficult because they are right now a legitimately bad team. They are exactly what their numbers say they are. But we also know there's more talent there than that and also this division is rancid garbage. So I'm still thinking they'll win the mud hump to 85 wins and the NLC crown and we'll probably enjoy very little of it.

I don't intend to split hairs over semantics, but I wouldn't say they're a "bad" team.  They're decidedly mediocre right now.  We've seen bad.  We've seen lots of bad in fact.  For good chunks of our lives we've been exposed to some of the very worst.  This team isn't bad, but considering our expectations and how well they've done for the previous 2 years, it feels bad by comparison.  They're mediocre and inconsistent which of course makes it no less frustrating.

Agreed, though, that they only need to right the ship to 85-88 wins and they're probably in.  There're 97 games to go.  If they merely go 55-42--which shouldn't be too tall of a task even in spite of how they've played to date--they'd be 87-75.

Nevertheless there was something about last night's game that sheds a little bit of doubt that they can even pull that off.  Obviously I'm not giving up but for the first time all season I'm concerned.

Yeah bad is perhaps a little harsh but I think the general "smart" opinion on them has been "this is a good team going through some bad luck/struggles" and I think at this point its pretty clear that last year is irrelevant and they are what their record says they are. There's no bad luck in one run games, poor team BABIP etc that can sometimes be used to explain away slumps by otherwise good teams.

This team does not pitch well or hit well right now. The hitting should MAYBE come around with this same cast of characters. Schwarber at least has been largely unlucky and we're starting to see stirrings from Russell and others. Even then though sometimes good hitters just have bad years. It's unfortunate that it could be multiple players in the same year but it isn't unprecedented and it can't be assumed they'll fix it this year just because of track records of whatever.

The pitching is truly broken, though. This isn't the same rotation as last year no matter what the names say because the ones over 30 have lost velocity and aren't going to get it back and Hendricks out-performed his metrics last year to begin with and was always bound for some regression and now he's hurt anyway. They'll probably need two big upgrades in the rotation by the deadline and that is hard to swing without wrecking the farm, so we'll see.

Or, we can look at the pre-season projections and think this club still has plenty of talent up its ass.  Last night, the bullpen burned them after John Lackey screwed the pooch on Monday (so Duensing wasn't available to face the lefties -- yeah, yeah, relying on Brian fucking Duensing and all that shit).

Monty is fine as a rotation piece (maybe they can scavenge a lefty bullpen arm and allow Lackey to get launched into the sun once Hendricks comes back).
Russell is showing signs of life at the plate and is hitting the shit out of the ball lately.
I worry about Contreras but I'm willing to buy Maddon's explanation that these are still kids, some of whom are going through their first full MLB season right now (Contreras, Happ, Almora).
The defense has been meh but they have some of the best defensive players in the world and it'll come around.
Feel free to write off Jake at your own risk.  And Hendricks, too.  They're not tolerating your bullshit, you fucking pansies.

So get it the fuck together people.  This ain't fucking over.  Gutless assholes, the bunch of youse.

[Oleg]

My unquestioning faith in the 2017 Cubs suffered its first crack last night.

It's difficult because they are right now a legitimately bad team. They are exactly what their numbers say they are. But we also know there's more talent there than that and also this division is rancid garbage. So I'm still thinking they'll win the mud hump to 85 wins and the NLC crown and we'll probably enjoy very little of it.

I don't intend to split hairs over semantics, but I wouldn't say they're a "bad" team.  They're decidedly mediocre right now.  We've seen bad.  We've seen lots of bad in fact.  For good chunks of our lives we've been exposed to some of the very worst.  This team isn't bad, but considering our expectations and how well they've done for the previous 2 years, it feels bad by comparison.  They're mediocre and inconsistent which of course makes it no less frustrating.

Agreed, though, that they only need to right the ship to 85-88 wins and they're probably in.  There're 97 games to go.  If they merely go 55-42--which shouldn't be too tall of a task even in spite of how they've played to date--they'd be 87-75.

Nevertheless there was something about last night's game that sheds a little bit of doubt that they can even pull that off.  Obviously I'm not giving up but for the first time all season I'm concerned.

Yeah bad is perhaps a little harsh but I think the general "smart" opinion on them has been "this is a good team going through some bad luck/struggles" and I think at this point its pretty clear that last year is irrelevant and they are what their record says they are. There's no bad luck in one run games, poor team BABIP etc that can sometimes be used to explain away slumps by otherwise good teams.

This team does not pitch well or hit well right now. The hitting should MAYBE come around with this same cast of characters. Schwarber at least has been largely unlucky and we're starting to see stirrings from Russell and others. Even then though sometimes good hitters just have bad years. It's unfortunate that it could be multiple players in the same year but it isn't unprecedented and it can't be assumed they'll fix it this year just because of track records of whatever.

The pitching is truly broken, though. This isn't the same rotation as last year no matter what the names say because the ones over 30 have lost velocity and aren't going to get it back and Hendricks out-performed his metrics last year to begin with and was always bound for some regression and now he's hurt anyway. They'll probably need two big upgrades in the rotation by the deadline and that is hard to swing without wrecking the farm, so we'll see.

Or, we can look at the pre-season projections and think this club still has plenty of talent up its ass.  Last night, the bullpen burned them after John Lackey screwed the pooch on Monday (so Duensing wasn't available to face the lefties -- yeah, yeah, relying on Brian fucking Duensing and all that shit).

Monty is fine as a rotation piece (maybe they can scavenge a lefty bullpen arm and allow Lackey to get launched into the sun once Hendricks comes back).
Russell is showing signs of life at the plate and is hitting the shit out of the ball lately.
I worry about Contreras but I'm willing to buy Maddon's explanation that these are still kids, some of whom are going through their first full MLB season right now (Contreras, Happ, Almora).
The defense has been meh but they have some of the best defensive players in the world and it'll come around.
Feel free to write off Jake at your own risk.  And Hendricks, too.  They're not tolerating your bullshit, you fucking pansies.

So get it the fuck together people.  This ain't fucking over.  Gutless assholes, the bunch of youse.

And that movie ended in a parade.  Just sayin'.

[Eli]

Feel free to write off Jake at your own risk.  And Hendricks, too.  They're not tolerating your bullshit, you fucking pansies.

Jake hasn't been Cy Jake for about 300 innings now. Hendricks's fastball velocity is down almost 4 mph this year. These are real problems.

[SKO]

Feel free to write off Jake at your own risk.  And Hendricks, too.  They're not tolerating your bullshit, you fucking pansies.

Jake hasn't been Cy Jake for about 300 innings now. Hendricks's fastball velocity is down almost 4 mph this year. These are real problems.

To be extremely pedantic it's been about 200 innings. He was very Cy Jake in April/May of 2016. Since June 1st last year, though:195.1 IP, 3.4 BB/9, 8.94 K/9, 14% HR/FB, 46.9 GB%, 4.01 FIP, 4.28 ERA.

He was awesome in the WS and I will forever be grateful and he will always be one of my favorite Cubs but Cy Jake is gone and expecting him to come back especially with his velocity down 3-4 ticks from where it was during that Cy Season is probably folly.