The 2015 Coin Flip Game Thread

[PenFoe]

DPD but for what it's worth La Stella did have that big double off of Cole the last time they faced him in Pittsburgh.

Just spitballin', but I wonder if La Stella being pretty good at putting the ball in play was factor...he could always DeRosa into a back-breaking 6-4-3 but I don't hate the move based on that nebulousness.  Meanwhile, the infield defense should be improved. 

You seriously have problems.

Did I offend Pen's Inner Bro one too many times?

I give zero shits about DeRosa, but it's been SEVEN years.

And, oh by the way, the Cubs made four errors that game and lost 10-3.  

And nevermind that DeRosa went 12-34 in the postseason from '07-'09 with about a .900 OPS.  

[SKO]

DPD but for what it's worth La Stella did have that big double off of Cole the last time they faced him in Pittsburgh.

Just spitballin', but I wonder if La Stella being pretty good at putting the ball in play was factor...he could always DeRosa into a back-breaking 6-4-3 but I don't hate the move based on that nebulousness.  Meanwhile, the infield defense should be improved. 

You seriously have problems.

Did I offend Pen's Inner Bro one too many times?

I give zero shits about DeRosa, but it's been SEVEN years.

And, oh by the way, the Cubs made four errors that game and lost 10-3.  

And nevermind that DeRosa went 12-34 in the postseason from '07-'09 with about a .900 OPS.  

Actually I believe it's been 8 years, because I thought the GDP that caused Huey's PANKrage was DeRosa hitting into a double play on a 3-1 count with the bags loaded and one out against Livan Hernandez in game 3 in 2007. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN200710060.shtml.

In Huey's defense, that was the single biggest play of that game in terms of WPA. In not-Huey's defense, they were already down 2 games to nothing and were trailing 3-1 and DeRosa hit .333 in that series and was also 2-4 in that game alone.

[PenFoe]

The Man Behind the Sunglasses has apparently already thrown his first curveball.

Len Kasper on @670TheScore reports that Tommy LaStella will start at third Wednesday night. Hmmm.

I'm guessing

Fowler CF
Schwarber RF
Bryant LF
Rizzo 1B
Castro 2B
Montero C
Russell SS
Arrieta P
La Stella 3B

Tommy La Stella to start at third base, Castro at second base, Kris Bryant to outfield

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

DPD but for what it's worth La Stella did have that big double off of Cole the last time they faced him in Pittsburgh.

Just spitballin', but I wonder if La Stella being pretty good at putting the ball in play was factor...he could always DeRosa into a back-breaking 6-4-3 but I don't hate the move based on that nebulousness.  Meanwhile, the infield defense should be improved.  

You seriously have problems.

Did I offend Pen's Inner Bro one too many times?

I give zero shits about DeRosa, but it's been SEVEN years.

And, oh by the way, the Cubs made four errors that game and lost 10-3.  

And nevermind that DeRosa went 12-34 in the postseason from '07-'09 with about a .900 OPS.  

Good point.  The cornucopia of playoff success that followed that wretched failure should've washed all of the bad taste out of my mouth by now!

[PenFoe]

DPD but for what it's worth La Stella did have that big double off of Cole the last time they faced him in Pittsburgh.

Just spitballin', but I wonder if La Stella being pretty good at putting the ball in play was factor...he could always DeRosa into a back-breaking 6-4-3 but I don't hate the move based on that nebulousness.  Meanwhile, the infield defense should be improved.  

You seriously have problems.

Did I offend Pen's Inner Bro one too many times?

I give zero shits about DeRosa, but it's been SEVEN years.

And, oh by the way, the Cubs made four errors that game and lost 10-3.  

And nevermind that DeRosa went 12-34 in the postseason from '07-'09 with about a .900 OPS.  

Good point.  The cornucopia of playoff success that followed that wretched failure should've washed all of the bad taste out of my mouth by now!

I don't know if there's a corollary to Victim Mentality called Scapegoat Mentality, but as the one person who still kind of thinks Bartman was in the wrong and tends to put the massive weight of the playoff losses from the last run on DeRosa and Dempster, you definitely have some condition.

[Tonker]

DPD but for what it's worth La Stella did have that big double off of Cole the last time they faced him in Pittsburgh.

Just spitballin', but I wonder if La Stella being pretty good at putting the ball in play was factor...he could always DeRosa into a back-breaking 6-4-3 but I don't hate the move based on that nebulousness.  Meanwhile, the infield defense should be improved.  

You seriously have problems.

Did I offend Pen's Inner Bro one too many times?

I give zero shits about DeRosa, but it's been SEVEN years.

And, oh by the way, the Cubs made four errors that game and lost 10-3.  

And nevermind that DeRosa went 12-34 in the postseason from '07-'09 with about a .900 OPS.  

Good point.  The cornucopia of playoff success that followed that wretched failure should've washed all of the bad taste out of my mouth by now!

I don't know if there's a corollary to Victim Mentality called Scapegoat Mentality, but as the one person who still kind of thinks Bartman was in the wrong and tends to put the massive weight of the playoff losses from the last run on DeRosa and Dempster, you definitely have some condition.

Intrepid reader: Kenny Rogers

Hi!  I'm Kenny Rogers.  I just dropped in to see what condition Huey's condition is in.

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

DPD but for what it's worth La Stella did have that big double off of Cole the last time they faced him in Pittsburgh.

Just spitballin', but I wonder if La Stella being pretty good at putting the ball in play was factor...he could always DeRosa into a back-breaking 6-4-3 but I don't hate the move based on that nebulousness.  Meanwhile, the infield defense should be improved.  

You seriously have problems.

Did I offend Pen's Inner Bro one too many times?

I give zero shits about DeRosa, but it's been SEVEN years.

And, oh by the way, the Cubs made four errors that game and lost 10-3.  

And nevermind that DeRosa went 12-34 in the postseason from '07-'09 with about a .900 OPS.  

Good point.  The cornucopia of playoff success that followed that wretched failure should've washed all of the bad taste out of my mouth by now!

I don't know if there's a corollary to Victim Mentality called Scapegoat Mentality, but as the one person who still kind of thinks Bartman was in the wrong and tends to put the massive weight of the playoff losses from the last run on DeRosa and Dempster, you definitely have some condition.

You're really spraying to all fields today, I'm beginning to think you're the one with the issue.

I pick on DeRosa.  It's what I do.  I know you've been gone but are you actually NEW?

[PenFoe]

DPD but for what it's worth La Stella did have that big double off of Cole the last time they faced him in Pittsburgh.

Just spitballin', but I wonder if La Stella being pretty good at putting the ball in play was factor...he could always DeRosa into a back-breaking 6-4-3 but I don't hate the move based on that nebulousness.  Meanwhile, the infield defense should be improved.  

You seriously have problems.

Did I offend Pen's Inner Bro one too many times?

I give zero shits about DeRosa, but it's been SEVEN years.

And, oh by the way, the Cubs made four errors that game and lost 10-3.  

And nevermind that DeRosa went 12-34 in the postseason from '07-'09 with about a .900 OPS.  

Good point.  The cornucopia of playoff success that followed that wretched failure should've washed all of the bad taste out of my mouth by now!

I don't know if there's a corollary to Victim Mentality called Scapegoat Mentality, but as the one person who still kind of thinks Bartman was in the wrong and tends to put the massive weight of the playoff losses from the last run on DeRosa and Dempster, you definitely have some condition.

You're really spraying to all fields today, I'm beginning to think you're the one with the issue.

I pick on DeRosa.  It's what I do.  I know you've been gone but are you actually NEW?

I don't think it's unreasonable to call you insane for it once every 6 months or so. 

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

DPD but for what it's worth La Stella did have that big double off of Cole the last time they faced him in Pittsburgh.

Just spitballin', but I wonder if La Stella being pretty good at putting the ball in play was factor...he could always DeRosa into a back-breaking 6-4-3 but I don't hate the move based on that nebulousness.  Meanwhile, the infield defense should be improved.  

You seriously have problems.

Did I offend Pen's Inner Bro one too many times?

I give zero shits about DeRosa, but it's been SEVEN years.

And, oh by the way, the Cubs made four errors that game and lost 10-3.  

And nevermind that DeRosa went 12-34 in the postseason from '07-'09 with about a .900 OPS.  

Good point.  The cornucopia of playoff success that followed that wretched failure should've washed all of the bad taste out of my mouth by now!

I don't know if there's a corollary to Victim Mentality called Scapegoat Mentality, but as the one person who still kind of thinks Bartman was in the wrong and tends to put the massive weight of the playoff losses from the last run on DeRosa and Dempster, you definitely have some condition.

You're really spraying to all fields today, I'm beginning to think you're the one with the issue.

I pick on DeRosa.  It's what I do.  I know you've been gone but are you actually NEW?

I don't think it's unreasonable to call you insane for it once every 6 months or so. 

Fair, but then just call me a fucking whackjob then.  I think you can spare everyone your long-distance analysis of victim mentalities and such, nobody cares what your thoughts are on exactly how I became any crazier than the rest of you and doing so only seems like you're taking this more seriously than maybe you should. 

And fuck Mark DeRosa forever and always.

[PenFoe]

DPD but for what it's worth La Stella did have that big double off of Cole the last time they faced him in Pittsburgh.

Just spitballin', but I wonder if La Stella being pretty good at putting the ball in play was factor...he could always DeRosa into a back-breaking 6-4-3 but I don't hate the move based on that nebulousness.  Meanwhile, the infield defense should be improved.  

You seriously have problems.

Did I offend Pen's Inner Bro one too many times?

I give zero shits about DeRosa, but it's been SEVEN years.

And, oh by the way, the Cubs made four errors that game and lost 10-3.  

And nevermind that DeRosa went 12-34 in the postseason from '07-'09 with about a .900 OPS.  

Good point.  The cornucopia of playoff success that followed that wretched failure should've washed all of the bad taste out of my mouth by now!

I don't know if there's a corollary to Victim Mentality called Scapegoat Mentality, but as the one person who still kind of thinks Bartman was in the wrong and tends to put the massive weight of the playoff losses from the last run on DeRosa and Dempster, you definitely have some condition.

You're really spraying to all fields today, I'm beginning to think you're the one with the issue.

I pick on DeRosa.  It's what I do.  I know you've been gone but are you actually NEW?

I don't think it's unreasonable to call you insane for it once every 6 months or so. 

Fair, but then just call me a fucking whackjob then.  I think you can spare everyone your long-distance analysis of victim mentalities and such, nobody cares what your thoughts are on exactly how I became any crazier than the rest of you and doing so only seems like you're taking this more seriously than maybe you should. 

And fuck Mark DeRosa forever and always.

My mom's a shrink, it comes with the territory. 

*Sets up Huey for a solid mom joke.*

[PenFoe]

Oh good, a new installment of "The Cubs Screwed Themselves by Keeping Kris Bryant Down for Those 8 Games."

Steaming hot garbage.

[CBStew]

Que sera, sera / Whatever will be, will be / The future's not ours to see / Que sera, sera

[Saul Goodman]

Oh good, a new installment of "The Cubs Screwed Themselves by Keeping Kris Bryant Down for Those 8 Games."

Steaming hot garbage.

Did they screw (or negatively impact) themselves, at least in some measurable way, this season? Maybe. It's debatable. After that scorching hot spring training maybe he blasts ten homers in the time he missed, and they could have caught the Cardinals. Sure, it's no more likely than the chance he would've been MLB Debut Vs James Shields Bad that entire time, but it's possible. But did they screw themselves seven years of team control into the future? Hell. No.

[SKO]

Oh good, a new installment of "The Cubs Screwed Themselves by Keeping Kris Bryant Down for Those 8 Games."

Steaming hot garbage.

Did they screw (or negatively impact) themselves, at least in some measurable way, this season? Maybe. It's debatable. After that scorching hot spring training maybe he blasts ten homers in the time he missed, and they could have caught the Cardinals. Sure, it's no more likely than the chance he would've been MLB Debut Vs James Shields Bad that entire time, but it's possible. But did they screw themselves seven years of team control into the future? Hell. No.

They lost 3 games without him. One was 5-1, and I love Kris but saying he was worth 4+ runs is a stretch. One was 3-0 on opening day, and, again, I doubt he's worth 3-4 runs vs Adam Wainright. They lost one game 3-2, so maybe he could have influenced that one.

So I'll generously say there's a 50% chance that keeping Bryant in the minors for 8 games possibly cost them one ballgame and therefore homefield advantage in the play in game. I don't really think that matters all that much, to be honest. The Cubs went 6-4 against Pittsburgh at PNC and 5-4 vs them at Wrigley. Jake's only loss to the Pirates came at Wrigley as well.

This is the dumbest fucking argument of all time and I hope it dies and burns in the hell of bad takes.

[Canadouche]

Oh good, a new installment of "The Cubs Screwed Themselves by Keeping Kris Bryant Down for Those 8 Games."

Steaming hot garbage.

Did they screw (or negatively impact) themselves, at least in some measurable way, this season? Maybe. It's debatable. After that scorching hot spring training maybe he blasts ten homers in the time he missed, and they could have caught the Cardinals. Sure, it's no more likely than the chance he would've been MLB Debut Vs James Shields Bad that entire time, but it's possible. But did they screw themselves seven years of team control into the future? Hell. No.

They lost 3 games without him. One was 5-1, and I love Kris but saying he was worth 4+ runs is a stretch. One was 3-0 on opening day, and, again, I doubt he's worth 3-4 runs vs Adam Wainright. They lost one game 3-2, so maybe he could have influenced that one.

So I'll generously say there's a 50% chance that keeping Bryant in the minors for 8 games possibly cost them one ballgame and therefore homefield advantage in the play in game. I don't really think that matters all that much, to be honest. The Cubs went 6-4 against Pittsburgh at PNC and 5-4 vs them at Wrigley. Jake's only loss to the Pirates came at Wrigley as well.

This is the dumbest fucking argument of all time and I hope it dies and burns in the hell of bad takes.

Besides, the Cubs are equally strong on the road as they are at home. Home games would be great in the playoffs, but it's not a stretch to argue that they aren't particularly negatively effected by all the games on the road, as much as the term "road-field advantage" annoys me.