Colome's Hat

Hell yeah. I also just think Hernandez had better stuff and had experience pitching in relief that Keuchel doesn't. I'm pretty sure Keuchel can be in teh clubhouse and in the dugout even if he's not on the playoff roster. That might be where his value is highest.

Cease's Hipster beard.

So as a New Yorker, the Mets are my National League team and I'm a casual fan. I also don't believe in booing players unless they are assholes or don't put in the effort. It's pretty damn hard to do what they do and slumps happen. For example, when Paulie when through that nightmarish 03 and 08 seasons, I was really glad White Sox fans cheered loudly for him every time he came up to bat and every time he got a hit. But like this is such a slap in the face especially for a multi-millionaire to say this to a bunch of working people who come to the ballpark (and yes the Mets are the more working class team in New York in terms of fan bases, although it's not as stark as the White Sox-Cubs split). White Sox won't go after him anyways but he's such a jackass. And now that he plays for a team I kind of like and have some rooting interest in, I feel like I can say this even more. He's a jackass.

I have been thinking about this since Cease's dominant start against the Blue Jays. Is he this year's Contreras? Is he the Starting Pitcher that comes out of nowhere to end up becoming the ace of the staff? Now I don't think this is an apples to apples comparison for several reasons. One, I don't think Cease will be able to top Lynn or Rodon this year. I would not start Cease in Game one of the playoffs. I also don't think Contreras came out of nowhere. For example, his main issue in the first half of 2005 was a lack of run support. However the splits don't lie. His ERA was at about 4.5 going into August and it fell almost a run by the end of the year. Cease's ERA hasn't ballooned as much but I also think he's gotten luckier than Contreras did that year. The metrics on Cease and his stats don't lie. He's been one of the best pitchers in the AL this year. We don't talk about it because he sometimes infuriates us but he will blow by 200 strikeouts very easily and I believe his swing and miss rates is one of the highest in baseball. And in his last seven starts, he's 4-0 with a 2.85 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. He had flashes of brilliance last year and his ERA was pretty low last year but the metrics and the stats didn't hold up. He got very lucky and towards the end of the year it caught up with him. There are still some downsides for sure. BABIP is still quite high, although it's likely because he throws so hard and is getting more strikeouts. Also he's given up quite a few home runs this year. Still, while I would never say that I think he should be our Game 1 starter, I now trust him to be able to pitch in big games, something I don't think I would have last year. I also think that in two years, the Quintana deal will look all the more devastating for the Cubs. I think Cease may well be a Cy Young award winner in the future. It's often been said that of pure stuff, he has the best in the White Sox rotation.. Anyways would love to know other people's thoughts on this. Are we looking at the surprise breakout starting pitcher on the White Sox rotation? And I don't think there is any doubt that he has earned a spot in the playoff rotation.

Yeah. I think it's that. Also you can just see how much he busts his ass out there each day. Especially how much he he busted his ass to get back as soon as possible after a pretty bad injury. That work ethic is pretty awesome.

Clearly you didn't watch Thursday's game.

They have two mounds. I figured this was the case. Grandal's home run happened pretty quickly and it was with two out. Cesar made a quick out after that. I would have warmed Ruiz up along with Kimbrel because I think you should know there is the possibility that the Sox wills score more runs.

Gotta be honest, Yaz annoyed the shit out of me earlier this year but now he's one of my favorite players on this team.

Yeah. It was a seven run lead.

He looked really good in that field of dreams game. And he got squeezed and was kind of the victim of bad luck in that Rays game. But he was likely going to work his way out of it until Tony messed up. He gave up a home run to Aaron Judge. Judge was on a tear at that moment. I honestly don't put much stock in this outing.

Yeah but I think El Duque did serve a purpose given his track record in the post season. I don't see what purpose Keuchel serves right now.

Is it possible that the dude just gets over amped when he's facing his old team? Because his only awful outings have come against them.

To be honest, if you want to be pissed off at someone be pissed off at Tony. He just wasted Kimbrel with a 7 run lead when he had Ruiz warming. He should have had both of them warming. Kimbrel can't pitch tomorrow. What if it's a close game? Shitty managing if you ask me.

We have this game and you post this? Seriously?

You really thought he was going to blow the game?

Please stop. In fact I really don't want to see any Kimbrel sucks posts after this joyous game. Dude shouldn't have been out there in the first place and the runs he gave up were pretty meaningless. Enjoy this great victory.

agree. I only boo if they earn it with their behavior.

The problem with Keuchel is he's useless if he isn't starting. I wouldn't put him in the bullpen. I honestly think Tony has the guts not to put him on the postseason roster in the first round if he keeps pitching like this.

He's likely motivated given he'll be a free agent. I think the right team would take a flyer on a guy who two years ago was in the top 10 for cy young votes.

To be honst, I think we will see what this team is made of starting tonight. Yeah, the Cubs are a AAA team right now but this is the first time this year that the team is playing as close to as they were intended to be constructed all year.

If he doesn't pitch an immaculate inning, he's bad. To be honest, a lot of times, the outs closers get come on hard hit balls that defense do their thing on. The base hit was actually a good pitch he made to like the best hitter on the planet at the moment. I'll take a do nothing base hit against Guerrero anytime of the week.

Was in Montreal a few years ago. i thought it was ok.

Leury!!!

This is the ponytail matchup lol

I think the reason Crochet was used is Hendriks wasn't available.