NL CENTRAL PREDICTATRON 2019

Kris Bryant, 3 HR tonight...

i know willson contreras can't catch every cubs game but why have they consistently paired yu darvish, the wildest pitcher they have, with back-up back-up catcher taylor davis?

oh wait, back-up catcher victor caratini is back and catching tonight, that's a little better

1915 Reds threads are pretty nice I think.

http://cdn1.creativecirclemedia.com/kentuckytoday/original/20190519-214256-reds.jpg

ooooh yeah

this reds/brewers game is odd (luis castillo and zach davies both out after three innings) but entertaining

these two teams have played some weird-ass games over the last couple years, I love it

just like that we've got an RBI HBP to bring it to 9-11

so much MANAGING going on in this game

Something Wick This Way Comes (to the cubs)

Fugly game by the Reds pitching. Hernan Perez and Orlando Arcia deserve today's Bill Hall Award (tm) for down lineup Brewer to hit like they are going to the Hall of Fame against the Reds.

Thames seems to like hitting Reds pitching. I think a couple of years ago he hit like 10 HRs against him.

And all of this is without Braun, who is a long time Red nemesis.

Jay Bruce used to be the guy that hit a ton against the Brewers.

Yelich was out too

Anthony Rizzo hit one out that would have gone about a mile if the Budweiser sign above the Wrigley video screen hadn't gotten in the way.

https://www.mlb.com/video/anthony-rizzo-homers-12-on-a-fly-ball-to-right-field-kyle-schwarber-scores-kris-?t=most-popular

<3 david freese

who told yadi that neck tattoos and white hair was a good look

bengie

His new neck tattoo is actually a lot better. Before it was just a set of music notes 🎵🎶

I'd like to know how much the Reds team batting average went up this weekend as they went (42-116) .362 at the plate in the 3 game series. Cubs now have lost 2 series to the Reds in May.

Not that it matters in the big picture as Derek Dietrich has pretty much emulated his success in some ways both with the home run power and certain panache, but Scooter Gennett must have been hurt pretty bad in spring training. He was out 1/2 of spring training and is heading into June, out two months without starting back playing yet. Don't think they expected it to go this long.

yadi looks like he’s seen attack ships burn off the shoulder of orion

when he makes his big league debut tonight, génesis cabrera will become the 2000th player to appear in a game for the cardinals since they joined the NL in 1892

(mitch keller recently became the 1979th player to appear for the pirates)

cubs sign carlos gonzalez to a minor-league deal. local sports radio dudes point out this shows how the team feels about ian happ.

just a head's up - one of the cardinals top prospects is Dylan Carlson, which is the same name as the Earth guy.

could be cool

génesis cabrera will become the 2000th player to appear in a game for the cardinals

"Cards! You've got Genesis!"

I could see Carlos Gonzalez as a nice platoon player and pinch hitter. It's kind of an old Yankees type signing. Might hit or miss, either way they can afford to give him a shot. Cargo's stat line is a pretty classic peak around age 30 so far, but hey he hit the lottery with one big deal. I'd figure after that kind of deal, baseball is a hobby (albeit that pays well). I'm sure Cargo would like to play in the playoffs and have a shot at winning a ring.

The Cardinals have lost seven consecutive one-run games in May. You have to go back to July 1970 to find that many one-run losses and zero victories in the same month.

not sure if the second sentence is MLB-wide or just cardinals history - probably the latter

I would imagine - assuming these are 50/50 your odds are 1 in 128 out of any given 7-game stretch of one-run games, I would guess some team accomplishes that misfortune every year

pretty sure this is the first time since jason thompson circa 1982-85 that the pirates' best hitter is their first baseman

in between there have been a couple serviceable guys and an astonishing number of flat-out awful ones

3+ hour rain delay. this trio must have been ragin

https://i.imgur.com/JmI64CS.png

Brewers/Pirates yesterday was nuts

The Brewers placed Gio Gonzalez on the injured list with a dead arm.

that's pretty ominous, doesn't "dead arm" usually mean TJ? not to mention Chacin is *also* on the DL, though he's been fairly garbage in nearly every start thus far. on the flip side Jimmy Nelson is set to return Wednesday, the Brewers could potentially have a decent starter in their rotation for once

nah, 'dead arm' is pretty common. not a good sign or anything, but it happens.

I kind of always just took it for basic over use inflammation.

"pretty sure this is the first time since jason thompson circa 1982-85 that the pirates' best hitter is their first baseman"

Bell starting to hit like he looks. He's built like Frank Thomas, football player build.

Pirates have had a lot of formerly serviceable guys at the end of their careers playing first who are most known for playing with other teams.

The move Brewers fans have been dreading. Hiura goes back down to make room for Travis Shaw’s return from IL. https://t.co/L7ciO1hak2

— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) June 3, 2019

seems like a dumb move

idk. i mean shaw did hit 30 homers the last two seasons, but he also did not look cured in his triple-a stint

tough all around when every team needs 15 relievers

I am sure he'll be back fairly soon but yeah, pretty disappointing. he looks big-league ready.

I'm pretty sure the longterm solution is gonna be DFA'ing Aguilar - he's actually been *worse* than Shaw, and I think his prior success is a bit more flukey. Plus, we already have Eric Thames...you can always use middle infielders, while bad 1B/DH guys do nothing but clog up the roster

Moustakas just broke his finger so Hiura will probably be coming back in a day or two.

Cardinals first round draft pick UK pitcher Zach Thompson is from the county in Indiana where I grew up. Jeremy Hazelbaker who had one season as a utility guy for the Cardinals also wen to the same small county high school. I'm sure there are going to be a few less Reds fans growing up in the area and a few more Cardinal (sic) fans. Not like it is a big push to follow the Cubs or something else than the Reds these days in Indiana.

Unfortunately, he is Zack with a K, and for that reason alone, i don't like the cut of his jib

so you have also bounced Britton from the brotherhood?

lol, watch the first part (the fielding segment) of this video of the guy the cardinals drafted in the second round yesterday:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5c4v_sSfQU

mmmmm

Today @baseballpro, how #Rays Austin Meadows has fulfilled the potential that always lurked in his bat, becoming one of baseball’s best hitters. It’s a story of approach and mechanics, and of the #Pirates looking awfully silly again. https://t.co/b1BKvUnYgf

— Matthew Trueblood (@MATrueblood) June 5, 2019

all three pirates color guys have now said stupid shit that drew national attention just in the last month. i think only steve blass was obviously racist, so maybe that's a minor victory

craig "dumbass" kimbrel signs 3-year, $43M deal with Cubs

what was he originally asking for?