Does Four Wins in a Row Move the Needle? And Other Bullets

Jun 07, 2014

It’s Day Three of the Draft, so make sure you settle in for non-stop coverage starting at around 11:30 CT or so. It’s rounds 11 through 40, so it flies fast. I get very tired today, if memory serves. If you’re just now tuning, by the way, the Cubs have reportedly already signed one of their top picks. Luke gave his thoughts on how the Cubs did on Day Two early this morning, in case you missed it.

With their fourth straight win yesterday, the Cubs now sit at 24-34, 10 games behind the Brewers in the NL Central, but just 6.5 out in the Wild Card. So … the Cubs should totally stop the plans to sell, right? Eh. The problem? The Cubs still have the worst record in the National League (effectively tied with the Diamondbacks). That means, despite those 6.5 games, they’d have to climb over 9(!) teams to actually get into a Wild Card spot. It’s certainly not impossible – BP has the Cubs at a 2% playoff chance right now – but the odds remain extraordinarily long. No plans should be altered just yet because of a lovely, but indecisive, four-game winning streak. If that four becomes a ten, maybe then we can talk.

… and even then, I’d have a tough time agreeing that the Cubs should “go for it.” Obviously we’re all desperately want to see the Cubs playing meaningful games in August and September, but, when I look at this roster with a serious and critical eye, I still see too many flaws to overcome in the second half, even if the Cubs added, for example, a big bat. It’s a conversation I’d be thrilled to have, though.

Joel Pineiro will not be a second half fill-in for the Cubs. After coming back from shoulder issues that ostensibly ended his career a couple years ago, the Cubs signed the veteran righty to a minor league deal earlier this year. He took a while to get out of extended Spring Training, and, when he did, his results at AA were mixed. The Cubs apparently decided it wasn’t going to happen for him, so they’ve released him.

Also, at AA, the Cubs have placed Corey Black on the DL. The good news is that it doesn’t seem to be a serious issue – he took a comebacker off the hand, and the organization decided to give him a little extra time to get over the soreness – but the bad news is that, together with C.J. Edwards (shoulder), Pierce Johnson (calf (and earlier, hamstring)), and Ivan Pineyro (forearm), the entire playoff rotation that titillated us so much last year for the Daytona Cubs is now on the disabled list at AA. That’s some crap-ass luck, man.

Anthony Rizzo got a shaving cream pie from Emilio Bonifacio after he hit his walk-off homer yesterday.

The best thing you will read about the confluence of sports media and Twitter. So much truth, and a big reminder that we’re all people, and we control the choices we make, not Twitter (or any other medium).

Your cognitive-dissonance-prospect-porn of the day:

Over his last 18 games, Javier Baez is hitting .339/.368/.661 with a .429 wOBA. Only downside? 30.9% K rate.

— Brett Taylor (@BleacherNation) June 7, 2014

No dissonance on this one, though:

Another Cubs prospect heating up: Dan Vogelbach over his last 17 games is at .368/.478/.667 & crazy .513 wOBA. Nearly as many BB as K.

— Brett Taylor (@BleacherNation) June 7, 2014

written by

Brett Taylor

Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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Does Four Wins in a Row Move the Needle? And Other Bullets

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