These are the type of games that keep the Cubs from winning the Central. The bullpen has been a disaster and Alzolay has got to have his closing job taken away.
Look for Hoyer and Ricketts to rub our nose in it by trotting Hendricks out there again today ... Its all about money at this point, the tail wags the dog ... that's why Counsel has ceded power to Hoyer on Hendricks' fate ...
@@douglascarlson9006 You sure called that one. It's time for the Cubs to cut ties with Hendricks. His expiration date is way pat due. The fans can see this - why can't management?
@@tomhyland4077 Hey Tom ... management does in fact see it ... But there's principal at work here that the average person is oblivious to ... It happens when an MLB owner invests millions into a FA pitcher and he does a face plant, like Hendricks and Taillon last year ... In this case, Ricketts orders the manager and/or GM, to keep that pitcher in the rotation in hope of recovering something, anything on his investment ... The priorities are flipped ... it's no longer about pulling that pitcher out of the rotation in the best interest of the team or winning ... Having said that, the problem started with Hoyer's recommendation to sign FA Taillon last year Hendricks this year ... And here's my next prediction ... Counsel or Hoyer will make the case that Hencricks' giving up 4 runs in 4 inn on 6 hits, is actually a sign of improvement! Enough improvement to keep him in the rotation so Ricketts can recover $79.83 on his multi-million dollar investment Hendricks. Ricketts is no different than any other billionaire ... they are all nasty carnivores and we are livestock!
Aldzolay has been throwing some meatballs lately, don't know who to blame for pitch choice? You're winning 2-1 ninth , you work away top mid and low, does he understand that? Incredible.
Not sure why Bellinger couldn't pinch hit. Other than the overrated "use a righty vs lefty" concept. Bellinger is 7-20 vs lefties this season. I trust a guy like him more with the game on the line over some rookie swinging for Waveland. Maybe they INT walk Bellinger then, but still bases loaded then for Nico with 1 out, like the chances more than just keeping Canario in there
Everyone wants to call out the bullpen but we're not gonna talk about scoring 2 runs? At home? Against one of the worst teams in baseball? Sorry, but this one ain't on the 'pen. Everyone was solid except for Leiter Jr. (who usually is) and Alzolay (who got out of a jam in the 8th and had to face the opponents' two best hitters). Let's score some damn runs and give Adbert a break.
this is just kind of intuition, but Alzolay was *solid* last year. Ross started going to him in trouble situations in the 8th. understandable ... 'this guy's light's out, why don't we just lean on him a little more to help out our crappy bp'. But then alzolay wasn't so good towards the end of last year. he's still a rookie basically. i feel like, leave him alone and use him for save situations only and he'll be solid. But overuse him, and he doesn't deliver.
Will he be solid? Even if you account for the extended save opportunity today that was blown, he still has 3 other blown saves on the year… it’s not even may yet
@@ThatGuy-nv7cx "it's not even may yet" Isn't that reason enough to give the guy a few more weeks? His track record the past few seasons, especially last year and 2021, show he can pitch. He may have had his confidence rattled a bit blowing his first save opp. And like @cambium0 said, he's been brought in early in the 8th with men on base multiple times already. That's added pressure being asked to bail out the bullpen multiple times already this year. One of those times against SD resulted in a BS. It's not like Counsell is doing him any favors in the confidence department.
As good as the offense tends to be I swear they fold under pressure late in games and especially in extra innings. Was a thing last season too. I'm not blaming them, especially with several key names out, but even when it's a healthy lineup it still happens. I'm just saying. But Alzolay gets my blame. 1 run lead or not, it's still a game you have to win when you're pitching, you have to do your job, which he tends to fail to do
It’s not so much the fold under pressure as it is them trying to survive while throwing a patchwork bullpen out there. There’s been maybe 2 guys that are dependable, but no matter who gets thrown out there I’m holding my breath because there isn’t a single lockdown guy in the bullpen.
I guess I’d say it’s nice that the Marlins finally won a game, but the Cubs rested a lot of their best hitters, and the Marlins don’t look like they’re trying very hard. Worst team in baseball, probably.
assad is really good but he doesn't make it out of the 4th. he's helping us out while we cope with injuries on the rotation. he's a great pitcher but perhaps not a starting pitcher just yet. it will be great to have him give us 1 or 2 from the bp when Steele comes back. i mentioned in another comment that alzolay probably shouldn't be asked to pitch in the 8th at this point. just let him focus on the save. Maybe there are other issues, but they should have brought somebody else in. he was so good for a long stretch last year ... we need to work this out and get him back on track.
Dodgers - won that series too. And since it's so early in the season, Cubs are partly responsible for those other teams being .500 or lower like Padres, Seattle, etc.
@@jrm2383 Cubs are 1 game behind the Brewers, they're fine. Just be happy your team is healthy and focus on getting your own fans to attend games. You guys are habitually at 75% capacity... except for Cubs games of course.
@@jrm2383 Pretty sure those numbers were just from last year. Cubs were down last year, but are normally around 3.2 Million. And let's not pretend that somehow makes your stadium any fuller. 2.5 Million is your peak and your stadium is still a quarter empty. And your pettiness and bitterness about the Cubs and Counsell is just sad. The fact that you're posting on Cubs highlights video is downright pathetic. Enjoy the season there, slugger.
