Joe Maddon: The Man Behind the Glasses

[SKO]

Bunting with your clean up hitter with no outs to set up a struggling rookie and Jason Heyward is about a thousand different kinds of dumb.

"struggling rookie" = 4 for 8 in the series up to that point.

That's quite the sample size you're working with there. He's hitting .224/.328/.276 since the break. I mean I hope he's warming back up as well and he will because he's a great hitter, but the point stands that the bunt there was the wrong play. They won anyway but that doesn't really make it *not* a bad decision.

That said, Joe said he only put the sign up for the first attempt and then called it off once Zobrist got ahead in the count, it was Zobrist deciding he wasn't comfortable facing Rodney's stuff that led to him laying it down the rest of the AB so whatever. Ben Zobrist knows more about what he thinks he can do against Fernando Rodney than I do. Complaint withdrawn.

[Oleg]

Bunting with your clean up hitter with no outs to set up a struggling rookie and Jason Heyward is about a thousand different kinds of dumb.

"struggling rookie" = 4 for 8 in the series up to that point.

That's quite the sample size you're working with there. He's got hitting .224/.328/.276 since the break. I mean I hope he's warming back up as well and he will because he's a great hitter, but the point stands that the bunt there was the wrong play. They won anyway but that doesn't really make it *not* a bad decision.

That said, Joe said he only put the sign up for the first attempt and then called it off once Zobrist got ahead in the count, it was Zobrist deciding he wasn't comfortable facing Rodney's stuff that led to him laying it down the rest of the AB so whatever. Ben Zobrist knows more about what he thinks he can do against Fernando Rodney than I do. Complaint withdrawn.

Photoshop stands.

[SKO]

Colonel SKurtz:

The horror... the horror... We train young men to bunt with with nobody out and runners on first and second, but their managers won't allow them to write "fuck" on their baseball bats because it's obscene!

EDIT: Hat tip to Oleg for the idea.

I'm very uncomfortable with how weird I look without hair

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

Colonel SKurtz:

The horror... the horror... We train young men to bunt with with nobody out and runners on first and second, but their managers won't allow them to write "fuck" on their baseball bats because it's obscene!

EDIT: Hat tip to Oleg for the idea.

I'm very uncomfortable with how weird I look without hair

Real mean comb with razor blades--give it a shot!

[Quality Start Machine]

Bunting with your clean up hitter with no outs to set up a struggling rookie and Jason Heyward is about a thousand different kinds of dumb.

"struggling rookie" = 4 for 8 in the series up to that point.

That's quite the sample size you're working with there.

Maybe, but if Joe saw him struggling, he had both Russell (who has driven damn near as many runs as Bryant, FWIW) and Sczcur ready to pinch hit, and he left Contreras in there after the bunt.

[SKO]

Bunting with your clean up hitter with no outs to set up a struggling rookie and Jason Heyward is about a thousand different kinds of dumb.

"struggling rookie" = 4 for 8 in the series up to that point.

That's quite the sample size you're working with there.

Maybe, but if Joe saw him struggling, he had both Russell (who has driven damn near as many runs as Bryant, FWIW) and Sczcur ready to pinch hit, and he left Contreras in there after the bunt.

That's not really my point? I don't care if Joe saw him as struggling or not, the situation is they had guys on first and second with no out and the cleanup hitter batting against a guy who couldn't throw strikes. Giving up an out there, and reducing yourself to two chances (one of which would be that a guy with a .640 OPS gets a 2 out hit) decreased their win probability and their run expectancy in that situation.

It was without question the wrong move, but again Joe changed his mind after Rodney fell behind in the count, and the rest was Zobrist's decision, so I withdraw the complaint about Joe. He saw the error of his ways and the rest was Zobrist lacking the confidence to do much against Rodney's change up and assuming he could help the team better by bunting. I'd urge him to have more faith in himself next time, I guess, but it's not the strategic blunder it seemed at the time.

[SKO]

If you're willing to use Chapman in the eighth LET HIM START THE FUCKING 8TH AGAINST THE MIDDLE OF THE GODDAMN ORDER.

Joe fucked up good

[CubFaninHydePark]

If you're willing to use Chapman in the eighth LET HIM START THE FUCKING 8TH AGAINST THE MIDDLE OF THE GODDAMN ORDER.

Joe fucked up good

It should be Joe's head if they lose this series.

[Saul Goodman]

If you're willing to use Chapman in the eighth LET HIM START THE FUCKING 8TH AGAINST THE MIDDLE OF THE GODDAMN ORDER.

Joe fucked up good

It should be Joe's head if they lose this series.

Lol

[Canadouche]

If you're willing to use Chapman in the eighth LET HIM START THE FUCKING 8TH AGAINST THE MIDDLE OF THE GODDAMN ORDER.

Joe fucked up good

I was telling this to my brother as the 8th inning began.  After Chapman surrendered the lead, I turned off the TV and went to bed.

[SKO]

If you're willing to use Chapman in the eighth LET HIM START THE FUCKING 8TH AGAINST THE MIDDLE OF THE GODDAMN ORDER.

Joe fucked up good

It should be Joe's head if they lose this series.

Jesus, dude

[Eli]

If you're willing to use Chapman in the eighth LET HIM START THE FUCKING 8TH AGAINST THE MIDDLE OF THE GODDAMN ORDER.

Joe fucked up good

It should be Joe's head if they lose this series.

He was terrible last night, but c'mon dude.

[CubFaninHydePark]

If you're willing to use Chapman in the eighth LET HIM START THE FUCKING 8TH AGAINST THE MIDDLE OF THE GODDAMN ORDER.

Joe fucked up good

It should be Joe's head if they lose this series.

He was terrible last night, but c'mon dude.

If Theo is going to give up significant assets to acquire rentals, he has to have a manager that will use those assets optimally in the postseason. I love Joe, and he could be Jeebus otherwise, but if he can't effectively use a bullpen in the postseason, he has no business managing a WS contender.

To put it another way: only managers who can effectively manage bullpens should manage the Cubs.

And it wasn't just last night. There have been several questionable instances of bullpen use this season and some outright debacles (the extra inning game in Milwaukee in May-ish).

It's counter-productive to have Theo's acquisitions thwarted by poor asset management.

[Canadouche]

If you're willing to use Chapman in the eighth LET HIM START THE FUCKING 8TH AGAINST THE MIDDLE OF THE GODDAMN ORDER.

Joe fucked up good

It should be Joe's head if they lose this series.

He was terrible last night, but c'mon dude.

If Theo is going to give up significant assets to acquire rentals, he has to have a manager that will use those assets optimally in the postseason. I love Joe, and he could be Jeebus otherwise, but if he can't effectively use a bullpen in the postseason, he has no business managing a WS contender.

To put it another way: only managers who can effectively manage bullpens should manage the Cubs.

And it wasn't just last night. There have been several questionable instances of bullpen use this season and some outright debacles (the extra inning game in Milwaukee in May-ish).

It's counter-productive to have Theo's acquisitions thwarted by poor asset management.

You entirely deserve the backlash that you are about to experience.

[Yeti]

If you're willing to use Chapman in the eighth LET HIM START THE FUCKING 8TH AGAINST THE MIDDLE OF THE GODDAMN ORDER.

Joe fucked up good

It should be Joe's head if they lose this series.

He was terrible last night, but c'mon dude.

If Theo is going to give up significant assets to acquire rentals, he has to have a manager that will use those assets optimally in the postseason. I love Joe, and he could be Jeebus otherwise, but if he can't effectively use a bullpen in the postseason, he has no business managing a WS contender.

To put it another way: only managers who can effectively manage bullpens should manage the Cubs.

And it wasn't just last night. There have been several questionable instances of bullpen use this season and some outright debacles (the extra inning game in Milwaukee in May-ish).

It's counter-productive to have Theo's acquisitions thwarted by poor asset management.

You entirely deserve the backlash that you are about to experience.

It'll be nice to link to after tonight.