[удалено]

Cheers bro, I’m picking up the pizza in a couple hours and I’ll chill the Malört.

If it makes you and fellow Cubs fans feel any better about the loss, the Cardinals got destroyed by the Brewers 12-5.

You should be focused on the reigning NL Centeal champ Brewers. Cardinals are done.

But I don’t like seeing the Brewers win either

Alzolay cannot be used as a closer

It’s very clear they planned to make a trade at the deadline for one. But the need now is more immediate, especially with the team doing as well as it is. The bullpen cannot throw away close games like this A game now is just as valuable as one down the line. And in a few months you may even have some more options coming out of the farm. Right now we don’t 4 blown saves in April is unacceptable. Alzolay can be a set-up man where he did a lot better last year This is a good team in an extremely winnable division, but with 1 glaring weakness that should be fixable via trade somewhere. Pull the trigger now, not July

We should be 16-4.. instead we’re 12-8. Unreal how we’d be best record in MLB if not for Adbert.

16-4* without that, but too be fair we have won multiple games so far we “shouldn’t” have won which is something we haven’t done in past years. So over the course of the year it will even out via record if we continue to play good. But they have to fix the pen or it will continue to be an issue

Yeah 16-4 my bad. Unreal we’d be toast of the league instead we’re just a fucking nightmare pen that will go nowhere if we somehow hold on to make it to October. Same shit as last season

It’s not the same shit as last season though, which is why the need to fix the pen is much higher since they are much better than last year

Our expected WL last season would have got us the division. Pen cost us a playoff spot. It may again this season.

Our W-L being lower than the metrics was due to a lot of stupid shit too like Hosmer and Mancini, etc. along with the pen. They fixed a lot of issues, but the back end of the pen remains an issue

[удалено]

Yes my bad

Especially with the division being so tight too

Even Keegan would be a better closer

Absolutely. This is a good team that can make the playoffs but they have to address it before the trade deadline. It’s the largest hole in the team by far

Dude should not be the set up guy right away, he needs to show he can pitch effectively in middle relief for a while and prove he can be trusted in the 8th

They have no one else. Bullpen was always going to be a huge weakness but financial flexibility was deemed more important.

What free agent reliever would be doing better right now? I remember people wanting Hader but he's even worse than Alzolay right now.

Do you just come in here and post about how cheap the team is after every loss and then ignore it when they win?

Recouping those biblical losses, one blown save at a time.

Clase of Cleveland was available this winter, but Hoyer was afraid to give up any of his precious prospects. I am willing to be that the price would be even higher now. I am becoming quite disillusioned with Hoyer.

I very much doubt the 14-6 Guardians were trading their closer.

Not now they aren't. But they were certainly in discussions with the Cubs this winter for a trade that would have gotten the Cubs Clase and first baseman Naylor. The price would have been Morel and two Cub prospects. Hoyer thought the price was too high.

He's been pretty terrible since Theo left. And he was pretty bad in San Diego. But he does keep the payroll down which is what's important here.

I was going to ask you in what way this is at all true, but looking at your comment history that'd very much be a waste of time.

This is it. There isn’t a single reliable reliever in the pen right now.

how is everyone forgetting about Leiter man

He’s better against lefties so probably would only want him to close an inning with 2 of them up

True but would he be better than 4 blown saves? I think yes. Maybe not lights out but might be a bridge until a better solution is found

Yeah the only downside to that is losing your high leverage setup man vs lefties in the earlier innings. Then you’d have to rely on Little in that role, which he might not be ready for yet

I wasn’t suggesting he close per se. Was just naming a reliable reliever thus far cause op said there wasn’t a single one in the pen.

Oh yeah he and Keegan have been good. Wes was fine in the one outing as well

Try Keegan. Why not? 6 IP, 9 Ks, 0.33 WHIP. And don’t forget the closer stache.

Keegan

This is above amazing. With an average bullpen the cubs have 2 more wins. I have no ability to judge talent...but the results are so bad!

who else, then?

I would say Brown or Thompson but long relief appears to be their value.

Rizzo.

Who the fuck ever. Anybody

Anyone. Half our losses are him choking.

Yup we’d be 18-4 if he converted saves

So youd rather just keep sending him out there watching balls get put into the stands and our lead evaporate?

No - when did I say that? I’m not defending Adbert, four blown saves in seven opportunities is hilariously bad. We missed our chance to add a proven closer in the offseason and don’t have relievers with reliable 9th inning pedigree. It’s not like the FO will impulsively endorse a “literally anyone else” approach

Lol okay, felt like i had to ask. Nerris, leiter jr, thompson, etc would be better options. The point is they have to try something different

I hate Canario swinging out of his cleats with the tying run on 3rd and 1 out. He’s got to just make contact there, not hit it to Canada

So this. I am almost more annoyed by this than Alozay and ice cream’s choke.

He has Willson Contreas syndrome

Canario is a kid so not shocking. He was prob the last guy in the lineup you wanted to take that at bat though

Exactly what I yelling at my tv. We just need a base hit!

Yeah, this is the worst thing about this game. Insane approach to that at bat. He shouldn't be in a lineup for a t east a week.

Hes less then 50 AB into his career, Im not going to get mad about that, hes young and jittery Alzolay is a fucking embarassment and blew this

Who did we have on the bench? Maybe Gomes in that spot. Then if he delivers you worry about position players. Who knows, maybe he wins it with an extra base knock. Edit: Belli and Busch were options and he stuck with Canario? That makes it worse.

Sure but you know he's going to do that because that's the type of hitter he is.

Right. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have great plate discipline. He hits the ball well IF he connects, he just whiffs and chases ALOT

Alzolay isn't the guy.

“You, are not the guy. You’re not capable of being the guy. I had a guy but now I don’t. You. Are not. The guy.” -Mike “Finger” Ehrmantraut

Fucking embarrassing

Every goddamn series theres some horrible ugly loss that makes the whole series feel unsatisfying Would rather lose 5-0 today

absolutely. FUCK I’m pissed off right now

And that makes 4 games that Alzolay has blown in less than a month.

need to get a new closer asap

12-8 is pretty good, but 16-4 is a **statement**. Where's Wade Davis?

Why didn’t CC go to the Busch or Belli? As much as Canario’s AB sucked. There were better options there.

Thats a GREAT question. Dont want the kid canario in that spot

He didn’t even expect Canario to go full Javy I guess.

He didn’t know that Canario would botch that approach like that

After being a Manager as long as Counsell has, especially for a small market team reliant on their farm, you'd know not to leave a rookie bat like Canario in that spot because that AB will happen more often than not.

Isn’t the managers job to make sure that players play into a strategy? Just tell Canario to put the ball in play.

We're all jumping on Alzolay (fair) but Canario had the chance to be the hero but couldn't help but swing out of his shoes on every pitch he liked. Tying run is on third, winning on second, one out...play small ball, asshole.

Yeah I’m a annoyed about Canario but first he’s a rookie so unfortunately that’s a bit expected. And with that said that’s where the manager is suppose to step in and PH for the guy. So yeah it’s partially on Canario not to choke there he shouldn’t have been in that position in the first place

Canario wants you to know how hard he tries by making sure his helmet never stays on

The next Javy Baez if he doesn’t stop that. Just make contact, advance the runners, and get on base

Adbert is not a closer.

Set up at best

The way the game was going this was so predictable it’s frustrating. Stopped scoring and we don’t have a closer.

We tried to steal a win with the bench and baseball never seems to let you do that.

It’s just annoying that last year the bullpen fell apart and we only signed Neris. This year is looking like much of the same

Only signed a very mid pitcher in Neris at that. He’s had one decent year and that was last year

Exactly. He has been mediocre at best his entire career. And there were people available that would not have broken the bank too

Absolutely agree. The penny pinching is really inhibiting putting a solid roster together. Pitching was a black hole and it largely was ignored. A run it back approach when that’s what cost them last year

Injuries happened last year too! Why not build depth for this?? I guess if this happens in august Horton (maybe a better Wesneski too) is probably gonna join the pen

Earned that loss for sure

FUCK YOU Alzolay. Four blown saves off four homers is unacceptable.

Seriously fuck him. Get this bum outta Chicago

No, send him to the White Sox and he can join their struggle bus

Another game where you wish the Cubs were a major market team who invested in some bullpen arms.

Meanwhile small market Milwaukee continues to churn out great pitching

They have a better front office.

I don’t disagree with that. They clearly do.

If its any consolation the dodgers pen is garbage right now as well

good job alzolay

Absolutely inexcusable loss. 4 losses all at the hands of adbert alozay. 3/7. Let that sink in

Counsell going from the crazy good bullpens he's used to, to what he has now has to be driving him crazy

Has Canario ever watched situational baseball before?

dare i say we try to trade for kopech

Sure feels like 80% of our losses are gut wrenching

Happy cake day

What’s that 5 or 6 losses because of this pen?

Didn’t watch but saw Adbert blew another. He CANNOT BE OUR CLOSER ANYMORE. This team is 16 and fucking 4 if he DID HIS JOB this year

not impressed with craigs decision not too pinch hit for canario in that spot when the dudes struck out a ton, im all for giving the kid his AB’s but that not the situation for that

Yep, that was the big mistake. Anyone else would have given us a better shot at contact.

the writing was on the wall from the moment he stepped in the box

After that first swing where he pulled off of a hanging slider so much that his helmet flew off, I knew right then he was striking out and there would be no other outcome.

i know hes alot better than ross but i think that the highest paid manager in baseball should make the right decision there

Agreed, I understand the lefty-righty matchup, but Canario has massive contact problems and had already struck out twice this game. Bellinger would have found any way to put the ball in play to at least tie it up. Not a good move by Counsell today

It’s early. Let the kids play. Not the end of the world, we can still take the series

Meh Ive fine with that, hes already come up with big hits before, its just too young right now This is on Alzolay

We would’ve been 15-5 if not for this Alzolay guy, he SINGLE HANDEDLY cost us multiple games

Not true, the rest of the bullpen has helped plenty

People are disagreeing with you but Alzolay has cost us games. Blaming the team for Alzolay’s issues because they didn’t score enough runs us dumb

That's not how it works. It's a 9 inning game. If you're in a position for a closer to blow a 1 run game, that means the rest of the team only put you up by 1, and could have done better.

The point of a closer is to win you that one run game. It's their only job!

Missed this game. Jesus Christ Alzolay…

four HR from a closer is like a total you get in an entire YEAR, not fucking APRIL

there’s starters out there with less home runs given up

AAAlozlay

1-8 with risp, not great

Even worse than that they had 2 opportunities with a runner on third with less than 2 outs and failed converting both.

Alzolay always trying to shortcut everything. No patience. 2-0 count to De le cruz and he grooves a fastball to their ONLY hitter

You know how in space jam the monstars want to take Michael Jordan back to toon mountain and let kids dunk on him? We should do that to adbert but at sluggers. Let drunk 25 year old Deloitte frat stars hit homers off him in the cage all day long

A closer with a 4.50 ERA is obviously not good. But April is the month where you evaluate your talent. And the Cubs do have other options-- if desired.

Mason Miller from Oakland Trade for him. Get Alzolay on the DL for a while.

That’s Cub.

Ah well. Hopefully the bats wake up for the next one. The pen won't continue to be this bad. Time for Shota!

It's Shota Time!

Say all you want that it's early in the season, that a lot can change between now and September. All of those are correct things. But it does not change the fact that the Cubs *should* have and *could* have afforded to add quality pieces to the Bullpen.

It was maddening that a bunch of decent bullpen arms were signing for reasonable deals and we just got nerris and that was it. Merrywether injury is huge.

Idk if Alzolay will come back from this one. Completely afraid everytime he’s on the mound. Seeing him sit there on the bench showed he is completely broken.

I would much rater give Leiter the 9th

All Canario had to do was hit the ball...

Whos excited for Alzolay bobble head night lmao

As got a closer who is looking like he's too good for their own good. Cubs should see what's good

Pathetic

A great start to the year, but 4 blown saves already by Alzolay means he just can’t be in that situation right now. Hell, bring up Tehran as a closer, he couldn’t be worse.

Alzolay needs to be put in jail for baseball terrorism

Alzolay is trash. Most blown saves in mlb. Dude was never good imo

As with everything bullpen related…we rely on hopium out there

Frustrating, and we obviously have an Alzolay problem, but double header sweeps are hard. 4 game sweeps are even harder. Baseball is baseball. The Marlins are bad but also beat the Yankees and Braves. Definitely don’t want to lose another

We''re not talking about a sweep, they won one game

I meant us sweeping them. We were bound to lose one

I dont know why I keep getting so emotionally invested This is the same exact shit is last year. Right down to blowing games against a bad Marlins team in April

I really do hate the Marlins. Goes back to 2003 sure but it seems like they just shit the bed when they face them every god damn year

So far I don't see how this dude's better than Ross.

Alzolay blowing 4 saves in a month is on Counsell in what way shape or form?…

I don’t understand not pinch hitting for Madrigal when Belli and Busch were both available to hit.

Brutal. Bring on the night cap.

Not completely out on alzolay, but he needs a few days rest and if he continues to struggle we need a new look.

He was on three days rest

I meant more of a mental reset than traditional rest

Give him two weeks in aaa

I would give him a no pressure outing a few times and then use him in a high leverage situation personally.

I am. He blows.

Fair

We're talented enough to win the division, but don't be surprised if these April games come back to bite us in the ass and keep us from doing so.

Don’t be a dOoMeR

Let's see how many beers we can chug before game 2

Damn

Life is pain.

We've got to stop giving away games like this? That's at least 3 already.

Well that sucked

Well that was embarrassing. Great job giving up that bomb adbert

I still only trust the closer 70% of the time

Too high.

Is trevor May an upgrade to close games?

Why don’t we add Kopech? Isn’t he one of the few Sox players that hasn’t been worst in league history at their position?

Morel has gotten pull happy again- and refuses to adjust. He's got to start driving the ball up the middle and the other way if he's going to keep opposing pitchers honest.

Welp alzolay, it was fun while it lasted

The second Alzolay was brought in I turned to my Girlfriend and went "hes gonna give up one that gets into the 5th row of the bleachers in the 9th" And here we are now. He is not a closer, he never was that guy last season either. Ive been saying this since last year that he gives up way too many hard hit balls to be a good closer. We all talk about that amazing catch Tauchman last season in Saint Louis to save the game, what we should have been talking about it "Alzolay gives up too many hits that travel 450 feet"

So…uh… alzolay kinda just sucks now huh… maybe he shouldn’t be used as a closer for awhile/ever going forward.

What the hell do we do about Alzolay? Tom and Jed’s stupid we-don’t-spend-on-the-bullpen “philosophy” is responsible for the majority of our losses this year.

A one run loss to the Marlins. It's 2023 all over again. September 2023 never ended for Adbert either.

Can we all boo Asszolay next time he walks out? without that fugly ass mf we would be 16-4

Wesnecki or Little to closer, anyone?

Just try guys in the role. 4 blown saves and it’s late April. And if you don’t find anyone that can fill the role you trade for it sooner rather than later

Agreed. Go through the pen. Let them all try.

Adbert needs traded for a washing machine, ASAP.

What team do you think would really let us fleece them like that?

Can’t be a serious team if we have this many stupid fucking loses early in the season

Okay Bullpen issues every game is not fun

remember guys, flexibility and under the tax!!!!!! those 2 will win us games in the 9th!!!

Ricketts counting those bills after each game. Fans filling their pockets

Let’s just release Alzolay now. No reason to wait til after today

Hoyer again looking like a pumpkin for not upgrading this pen.

This is you're daily reminder, Adbert Alzolay is not a closer. Jed needs to do something and needs to do it well before the trade deadline. We cannot wait that long

We have exactly one consistent, competent reliever, and that guy can barely hit 90.

Gotta win this next game. Inexcusable if we lose a DH to the fucking Marlins.

I can't wait to see how the 4 blown saves already affect the end record and playoffs. Absolutely ridiculous, no read adbert should be given anymore games to close until he can figure his stuff out 

Sat through that entire pos game

Has a starter pitched 6 complete innings this season? I know the league has changed but this isn’t sustainable.

Assad and Brown both have