The 2016 Cubs: SPLOOGE SPLOOGE SPLOOGE

[Eli]

I noticed it mentions that Jim Courier doesn't like his forehand. So the article could be edited to mention that it definitely wasn't Eli Gieryna that taught him how to hit his terrible forehand.

Weird. I'm not really into the Wiki-editing world, but as far as I know, Courier (and pretty much everyone else) loves his forehand.

Data collected by Hawkeye at the tournament in Indian Wells, Calif., in March provided a comparison of Sock's forehand against two of the most devastating forehands in the modern game. Sock's average forehand speed was 77 miles per hour, the same as Rafael Nadal's and 2 m.p.h. faster than Roger Federer's.

When it came to average revolutions per minute, Sock's forehand came in at 3,337 r.p.m., just behind Nadal's 3,391 and well ahead of Federer's 2,925.

"Jack is the only person who is in Rafa's league as far as the combination of speed and r.p.m.s on the forehand side," said Jim Courier, the former world No. 1 and the current United States Davis Cup captain.

[Eli]

So, in conclusion, tennis is a land of contrasts.

Go Cubs.

[Saul Goodman]

Someone bring Trevor Cahill some fried chicken and beer.

[Yeti]

I noticed it mentions that Jim Courier doesn't like his forehand. So the article could be edited to mention that it definitely wasn't Eli Gieryna that taught him how to hit his terrible forehand.

Weird. I'm not really into the Wiki-editing world, but as far as I know, Courier (and pretty much everyone else) loves his forehand.

Data collected by Hawkeye at the tournament in Indian Wells, Calif., in March provided a comparison of Sock's forehand against two of the most devastating forehands in the modern game. Sock's average forehand speed was 77 miles per hour, the same as Rafael Nadal's and 2 m.p.h. faster than Roger Federer's.

When it came to average revolutions per minute, Sock's forehand came in at 3,337 r.p.m., just behind Nadal's 3,391 and well ahead of Federer's 2,925.

"Jack is the only person who is in Rafa's league as far as the combination of speed and r.p.m.s on the forehand side," said Jim Courier, the former world No. 1 and the current United States Davis Cup captain.

The quote from the article is

Some commentators have remarked that his technique on the forehand, while quite effective, actually hinders his ability to hit returns well. If Sock has a successful singles career, it will be in spite of, not because of, his technique, according to retired American tennis champion and now commentator Jim Courier.

I don't know that the two ideas are in conflict. His forehand strength can be great, but his ability to return shit properly can be lacking.. or not? I'm no tennis pro. I leave that to Eli and my brother-in-law.

[PenFoe]

Theo may also wait and see if Edwards can keep this up before he decides more pen help is needed. Right now Edwards/Montgomery/Strop/Rondon with Wood available as your long man or loogy depending on the situation is a promising group, with Matusz potentially joining them in the near future. Grimm's also been less of a dumpster fire of late and if he's your 5th or 6th option you're probably not in a place where overpaying for Miller is your best bet.

We'll also find out fairly soon if Joe Nathan can serve any purpose for a couple months.

Spoiler: No

Armando Rivero still just hanging around in Iowa, striking everyone out that he doesn't walk.

Since June 15, Rivero has posted a 0.32 ERA over 28.0 innings, with a 1.79 FIP, 39.3% K rate and 9.8% walk rate.

Anytime you're ready, Epstink.

[ChuckD]

I noticed it mentions that Jim Courier doesn't like his forehand. So the article could be edited to mention that it definitely wasn't Eli Gieryna that taught him how to hit his terrible forehand.

Weird. I'm not really into the Wiki-editing world, but as far as I know, Courier (and pretty much everyone else) loves his forehand.

Data collected by Hawkeye at the tournament in Indian Wells, Calif., in March provided a comparison of Sock's forehand against two of the most devastating forehands in the modern game. Sock's average forehand speed was 77 miles per hour, the same as Rafael Nadal's and 2 m.p.h. faster than Roger Federer's.

When it came to average revolutions per minute, Sock's forehand came in at 3,337 r.p.m., just behind Nadal's 3,391 and well ahead of Federer's 2,925.

"Jack is the only person who is in Rafa's league as far as the combination of speed and r.p.m.s on the forehand side," said Jim Courier, the former world No. 1 and the current United States Davis Cup captain.

They like the results. They don't like the process. And as we all know: results don't validate processes.

[Saul Goodman]

TOMMY LA STELLA WATCH 2016:

Tom will report to Double-A Tennessee, starting at second base, as soon as tonight.

[WTB...A RING FFS!!]

Hopefully that means one of us can put Coghlan's name on the Greatest Thread Ever? Please let it be so.

[Shooter]

Hopefully that means one of us can put Coghlan's name on the Greatest Thread Ever? Please let it be so.

DL is a step in the right direction.

[Wheezer]

TOMMY LA STELLA WATCH 2016

In case the article hasn't been noted already, this struck me as an unusually rational take on the situation.

[Tonker]

Assuming for a moment that the Cubs can manage to go 22-21 the rest of the way (and they have 17 games still to come against the Brewers, Reds, Rockies and Padres), the Tards would need to go 35-7 (.833) in their remaining games to win the division.  Pissburgh would need to go 37-7 (.841).

Just sayin'.

[SKO]

Assuming for a moment that the Cubs can manage to go 22-21 the rest of the way (and they have 17 games still to come against the Brewers, Reds, Rockies and Padres), the Tards would need to go 35-7 (.833) in their remaining games to win the division.  Pissburgh would need to go 37-7 (.841).

Just sayin'.

Fangraphs has the Cubs chances of winning the division at 99.8%. Baseball Prospectus has them at 99.9%. I think it's gonna work out.

I do wonder how their % on fangraphs has gone down in the last week. They were at 99.9% going into the series vs the Cardinals up by 12 games, and since then they've increased their lead in the division by half a game and the magic number has only gone down. Not sure how they could be less likely to win the division now than they were then. Not like it matters, I'm just not a math person and would like to know why the formula dinged them ever so slightly for this last week.

[morpheus]

Assuming for a moment that the Cubs can manage to go 22-21 the rest of the way (and they have 17 games still to come against the Brewers, Reds, Rockies and Padres), the Tards would need to go 35-7 (.833) in their remaining games to win the division.  Pissburgh would need to go 37-7 (.841).

Just sayin'.

Fangraphs has the Cubs chances of winning the division at 99.8%. Baseball Prospectus has them at 99.9%. I think it's gonna work out.

I do wonder how their % on fangraphs has gone down in the last week. They were at 99.9% going into the series vs the Cardinals up by 12 games, and since then they've increased their lead in the division by half a game and the magic number has only gone down. Not sure how they could be less likely to win the division now than they were then. Not like it matters, I'm just not a math person and would like to know why the formula dinged them ever so slightly for this last week.

I assume you're using this.  Looking at historical projections:

On 8/12: Cubs 99.9%, all others showing 0.0% due to rounding.

On 8/18: Cubs 99.8%, Cardinals 0.1%, Pirates 0.1%

Fangraphs is using a monte carlo simulation (I would guess, anyway) that does thousands of runs, simulating each team's performance for the rest of the season.  Based on that assumption, it appears to me that both the Cardinals and Pirates have increased their probabilities of winning the division slightly based on their relative performance the past few games.  Over their past 4 games the Pirates have gone 4-0 scoring 11,8,4,6 runs respectively.  Cardinals 4-0, scoring 8,6,8,8.  Cubs have gone 3-1, scoring 4,4,4,6.  This probably means that at the margin, the Cardinals and Pirates are projected to score slightly more runs than before, which would up their chances of winning the division ever so slightly.

[SKO]

Assuming for a moment that the Cubs can manage to go 22-21 the rest of the way (and they have 17 games still to come against the Brewers, Reds, Rockies and Padres), the Tards would need to go 35-7 (.833) in their remaining games to win the division.  Pissburgh would need to go 37-7 (.841).

Just sayin'.

Fangraphs has the Cubs chances of winning the division at 99.8%. Baseball Prospectus has them at 99.9%. I think it's gonna work out.

I do wonder how their % on fangraphs has gone down in the last week. They were at 99.9% going into the series vs the Cardinals up by 12 games, and since then they've increased their lead in the division by half a game and the magic number has only gone down. Not sure how they could be less likely to win the division now than they were then. Not like it matters, I'm just not a math person and would like to know why the formula dinged them ever so slightly for this last week.

I assume you're using this.  Looking at historical projections:

On 8/12: Cubs 99.9%, all others showing 0.0% due to rounding.

On 8/18: Cubs 99.8%, Cardinals 0.1%, Pirates 0.1%

Fangraphs is using a monte carlo simulation (I would guess, anyway) that does thousands of runs, simulating each team's performance for the rest of the season.  Based on that assumption, it appears to me that both the Cardinals and Pirates have increased their probabilities of winning the division slightly based on their relative performance the past few games.  Over their past 4 games the Pirates have gone 4-0 scoring 11,8,4,6 runs respectively.  Cardinals 4-0, scoring 8,6,8,8.  Cubs have gone 3-1, scoring 4,4,4,6.  This probably means that at the margin, the Cardinals and Pirates are projected to score slightly more runs than before, which would up their chances of winning the division ever so slightly.

Well there we go. I learned something today.

[CBStew]

Assuming for a moment that the Cubs can manage to go 22-21 the rest of the way (and they have 17 games still to come against the Brewers, Reds, Rockies and Padres), the Tards would need to go 35-7 (.833) in their remaining games to win the division.  Pissburgh would need to go 37-7 (.841).

Just sayin'.

Fangraphs has the Cubs chances of winning the division at 99.8%. Baseball Prospectus has them at 99.9%. I think it's gonna work out.

I do wonder how their % on fangraphs has gone down in the last week. They were at 99.9% going into the series vs the Cardinals up by 12 games, and since then they've increased their lead in the division by half a game and the magic number has only gone down. Not sure how they could be less likely to win the division now than they were then. Not like it matters, I'm just not a math person and would like to know why the formula dinged them ever so slightly for this last week.

I assume you're using this.  Looking at historical projections:

On 8/12: Cubs 99.9%, all others showing 0.0% due to rounding.

On 8/18: Cubs 99.8%, Cardinals 0.1%, Pirates 0.1%

Fangraphs is using a monte carlo simulation (I would guess, anyway) that does thousands of runs, simulating each team's performance for the rest of the season.  Based on that assumption, it appears to me that both the Cardinals and Pirates have increased their probabilities of winning the division slightly based on their relative performance the past few games.  Over their past 4 games the Pirates have gone 4-0 scoring 11,8,4,6 runs respectively.  Cardinals 4-0, scoring 8,6,8,8.  Cubs have gone 3-1, scoring 4,4,4,6.  This probably means that at the margin, the Cardinals and Pirates are projected to score slightly more runs than before, which would up their chances of winning the division ever so slightly.

Well there we go. I learned something today.

Has Nate Silver weighed in yet?