Game of the Week: July 29: COL @ CHC

[Commissioner Erick]

Colorado Rockies (50-48) @ Chicago Cubs (69-30)

COL: J.A. Happ (7-5, 4.88)
CHC: Jon Lester (7-4, 3.84)


The Chicago Cubs keep adding stars to build the best possible team in the postseason. They’ll showcase their star power against the Colorado Rockies in the Game of the Week.

Over the last week, Chicago has added Marcell Ozuna, Felix Hernandez, Jose Bautista, and Josh Donaldson to what was already a star-laden super team. Already the best team in the NL, they’ve added perhaps the best hitter in the American League; last season’s home run leader in the midst of an incredible year; a third slugger they’re taking a flier on, and a pitcher they’re hoping a change of scenery will revitalize.

It’s an ambitious project that cost most of the rest of Chicago’s prospect capital, plus a large financial investment offset by the fact that the acquired players all expire or can be non-tendered after the season, and some are seeing their original teams paying down their salary.

Nonetheless, the Cubs have the best record in the National League, the best run differential in the PBA, have roared to wins in 18 of their past 20 games, and have made their intentions clear to the rest of baseball. They’re not here to lose in a seventh game of the World Series to their crosstown rivals. They’re here to bring Chicago’s baseball allegiance back to the Cubs with a dominating postseason run and a championship.

They’ll take on a Colorado Rockies team that’s playing good ball, but is without the services of its best player. Colorado has gone 10-4 over its last 14 games, but they haven’t won a series all season against one of the division-leading teams, and were swept by the Cubs back in April. Nolan Arenado went 1-11 in that series and will need to play better for the Rockies to win.

They’ll be without the services of two-time All Star David Dahl, as a diving catch resulting in a separated shoulder has the young star out until September. Dahl was hitting .307 with 20 home runs and 20 steals at the time of his injury, and on his way to besting last year’s 4.3 WAR mark.

Fortunately, Colorado’s received production from a pair of unexpected outfield sources. Colorado expected Raimel Tapia to hit for a high average, so his .303 mark is par for the course. Tapia, however, has six home runs in July, showing a skill Erick Blasco didn’t think he had. Tapia’s also shown reverse splits with his home and road numbers, hitting as many home runs on the road despite fewer at bats, plus hitting for a better average on the road. Tapia’s done all his home run damage against righties and his average against lefties is abysmal, so he may not do much damage against tonight’s starter, Jon Lester.

However, fourth-outfielder Abraham Almonte has carried the slack against lefties to the tune of a .315 average and .500 slugging percentage. Almonte’s marks are also strong against righties, but the extreme left-handed makeup of Colorado’s outfield has allowed Almonte to carve out an important niche. His ability to play center field in a pinch has also been huge for Colorado in the wake of Dahl’s injury.

Colorado’s also made a small move in order to boost their first base output. With Josh Ockimey inconsistent and Ian Desmond slogging through an underwhelming year, Eric Thames was acquired from Seattle. Thames isn’t nearly the caliber of hitter the Cubs required, but he hit at least 30 home runs each of the past two seasons. It may not be the kind of pickup that makes opposing teams quake, but if he can contribute with his power, it may allow the Cubs to slip in to a wild card berth.


Questions for the GMs:


For Erick Blasco, your team hasn’t made many major moves this trade deadline. Why is that?

Your team recently traded away Chad Bettis. What allowed you to offload him?

The Cubs are a nasty team, especially with all the moves. How do you look to defeat them today?

For Brandon Hillebrand, with all the stars moving into roles on the team, which incumbents will lose starting spots?

You acquired Marcell Ozuna, though it’s now been leaked that he’s on the block. What caused you to trade for him and then turn around and want to deal him?

Felix Hernandez hasn’t been overly impressive this season. Why did you make the move to acquire him?

[Commissioner Erick]

For Erick Blasco, your team hasn’t made many major moves this trade deadline. Why is that?

We're looking at our team and very excited for our near future. Most of our players are on the younger side and we're giving playing time to some youngsters we like for the future. With some of our upper minor prospects flaming out, we want to make sure we have some youth on our major league roster as well. Next year we'll have more flexibility and will be more ambitious in gunning for a championship. We also feel like our team as presently constructed is plenty good to make the playoffs.

Your team recently traded away Chad Bettis. What allowed you to offload him?

We have so many major league pitchers in Triple A that with Bettis struggling, it was easy for us to move him. He had a good year last year and we were sympathetic that he could have turned things around this year. Once we zeroed in on Eric Thames and needed to cut some salary though, he was an expensive and ultimate expendable player we were looking to move.

The Cubs are a nasty team, especially with all the moves. How do you look to defeat them today?

Happ is okay and our pen is okay, but we're going to have to outscore them. Facing a lefty isn't easy for us, so it'll come down to Abraham Almonte and Ian Desmond. If Almonte is having a good game, we may be able to get some runs from the middle of our lineup. Same thing with Desmond lower on. If not, Arenado won't have players in front of him, and the middle of our lineup won't be consistent enough to bring in the 6 runs or so we feel we'll need for this game.

[brandoncubs]

Q) With all the stars moving into roles on the team, which incumbents will lose starting spots?

A) Justin Upton has really struggled at the plate this season, and is what ultimately motivated us to pursue upgrades such as Josh Donaldson and Jose Bautista. Candelario has the ability to play right field, so the rest of the season will essentially be an evaluation to see how he fares in his new position before the playoffs start.

Q) You acquired Marcell Ozuna, though it’s now been leaked that he’s on the block. What caused you to trade for him and then turn around and want to deal him?

A) He was acquired with the intention to replace Delino Deshields as our backup outfielder, but with the acquisitions of Donaldson and Bautista there is no longer a roster spot for him. We will hope to move him somewhere he can play regularly, or maybe even stash him in the minors.

Q) Felix Hernandez hasn’t been overly impressive this season. Why did you make the move to acquire him?

A) We think he still has juice left in the tank, and is just in need of a change in scenery. He's an extreme groundball pitcher, which is what our pitching coach Bryce Bence specializes in. He also can log alot of innings and go deep into games, which saves our bullpen for the playoffs. Thirdly, if there is ever an major injury to someone in the rotation, he can provide solid depth and is someone I feel I can trust in a big game situation.

[Commissioner Erick]

Cubs 5 - Rockies 2

WP: J. Lester (8-4)
LP: C. Estevez (5-2)
SV: W. Davis (25)

The Chicago Cubs added a lot of stars before the trade deadline. They didn't need any new faces to take down the Rockies though.

The Chicago Cubs behind a stellar performance from Jon Lester handled a hot Colorado Rockies team 5-2 in the opening game of a three-game set.

Lester was sharp, showcasing why the Cubs are perhaps the team to beat in the majors. Despite being one of the better staffs in baseball, Lester may be the fourth best pitcher on his staff. He stifled Colorado, allowing two runs on seven hits, striking out six and walking nobody over 6 innings.

Not unexpectedly, Lester handled most of the Rockies lefties. Raimel Tapia, Carlos Gonzalez, and Dee Gordon combined to go 2-9 off Lester, meaning it was up to Nolan Arenado and Ian Desmond to have big days on offense. Arenado had an RBI double and Desmond had a stray hit, but it was a paltry day for who the press labeled as the two biggest keys for the Rockies in the game. It was disappointing as Abraham Almonte had three hits for Colorado, but he was only able to score a single run.

Meanwhile, Colorado's manager bot malfunctioned and turned in the wrong card with the wrong starting pitcher. Chi Chi Gonzalez was forced into action after pitching on Saturday, while J.A. Happ was left steaming in the dugout.

Gonzales was fine, going 2 shutout innings, but Colorado's long man was traded earlier that day. Carlos Estevez was brought in, and he was putrid, allowing hits to Justin Upton, Albert Almora, and Freddie Freeman among his first four batters, putting the Rockies in an early 2-1 hole.

Estevez settled down in the fourth, but in the fifth he allowed a single to Francisco Lindor before Freddie Freeman got him for a second extra base hit, this one a two-run home run that put Chicago up 4-1. Anthony Rizzo added a solo blast off Adam Ottavino that made it 5-1 Chicago.

That was enough for Lester and a solid bullpen effort. A.J. Ramos, Justin Grimm, and Wade Davis were each splendid and combined for 3 shutout innings, with one hit allowed and six strikeouts totaled. Davis locked down his 25th save.


Questions for the GMs:


For Erick Blasco, J.A. Happ was supposed to start. What happened there.

You considered yourselves a possible contender before the season. Does anything change after this game?

Adam Ottavino continued to struggle. What recourse do you have if he can't turn it around?

For Brandon Hillebrand, Freddie Freeman had a really strong game. He struggled mightily in the early part of the season but turned it on today for sure. Were you confident this Freeman would reveal itself?

Did your lineup change at all when Happ was announced he wasn't going to start and Gonzalez would instead?

All your relievers today have done a little bit worse than last year. However, the run environment is more conducive to offense this year than in prior years. With that as a backdrop, how confident are you in your relievers right now?

[Commissioner Erick]

For Erick Blasco, J.A. Happ was supposed to start. What happened there.

I know I'm probably going to get fined or whatever, but it's fucking unacceptable and it starts with me. I gave the wrong weekly inputs for the weekly lineup to our manager bot, and it can't fucking program itself to learn that maybe pitchers who pitched the day before shouldn't start the next day. Gonzalez, I know he was pissed and he talked to the robot, but the manager bot---and maybe baseball shouldn't team up with like fucking defense contractors to build these things, it let out that high pitched noise to force compliance or whatever, so Chi Chi went out and gave the team two good innings which is all he could. Our pen wasn't prepared with the Betts trade and we were caught with our pants down. Our team is playing too fucking hard and I'm not doing my job as manager.

You considered yourselves a possible contender before the season. Does anything change after this game?

I take virtually nothing from this game, as it was a joke of a situation. I credit our bullpen for steadying things after Esteves struggled. I have a lot of respect for Chicago's firepower and I thought we battled them alright.

Adam Ottavino continued to struggle. What recourse do you have if he can't turn it around?

I can't say I haven't been frustrated, but I know he's working hard every day to figure this out. I think hitters have just figured out that he's going to throw his slider like 70% of the time. They've been sitting on it, and when they sit on it, they can do damage. He's been fine against righties, but our manager bot keeps using him against lefties and they've wrecked him. He's going to have to be a leader and realize that teams are taking the slider away. Lefties are taking it away. I know he wants to keep working hard on the same strategy, as it's his personality, but we'll need him to step up and be a leader and show that he can adapt. If not, we may have to make him a righty specialist which is such a waste of a resource.

[brandoncubs]

Q) Freddie Freeman had a really strong game. He struggled mightily in the early part of the season but turned it on today for sure. Were you confident this Freeman would reveal itself?

A) Yes, I was always pretty confident Freddie would find a way to turn it around for us. He's a special player in this league, and we just thought he had been running into some bad luck. His OPS and OBP were always high and around career norms throughout his struggle, so I figured the rest would eventually follow and they have.

Q) Did your lineup change at all when Happ was announced he wasn't going to start and Gonzalez would instead?

Yes, with Gonzalez starting the game off, Freeman was bumped into the two hole and Bogaerts back down to the six spot.

Q) All your relievers today have done a little bit worse than last year. However, the run environment is more conducive to offense this year than in prior years. With that as a backdrop, how confident are you in your relievers right now?

A) I'm confident in our bullpen at this point. We have two elite shutdown guys at the backend in Bonkers and Davis, with Bonkers being able to pitch two innings if need be due to his high stamina. We also acquired Dan Otero through the wavier wire, and he has been outstanding for us so far and has yet to allow a run in 8.1 innings. I think as long as the pen stays stays healthy, we should be fine come playoff time. Especially if our starters can manage to go 6 or 7 innings in order to save the bullpen.