The Cubs are considering having left-handers Brett Anderson and Mike Montgomery share the fifth spot in their rotation because they “have not been satisfactorily stretched out,” manager Joe Maddon told Carrie Muskat of MLB.com on Saturday. Injury issues have long beset Anderson, who only notched 11 1/3 innings as a member of the Dodgers last season, while Montgomery has only gone past the 150-frame plateau twice in a professional season. Montgomery last accomplished that in 2015, when the then-Mariner split his season between the Triple-A level and the majors. Maddon opined that Montgomery, 27, has “really high-quality stuff” and could rack up “10 to 15” wins per year.
More from the National League:
- Injury woes continue for Mets first baseman Lucas Duda, who is dealing with hip stiffness after missing most of last season with a stress fracture in his lower back, relays James Wagner of the New York Times. Duda received a cortisone shot in each hip Friday and then sat out the Mets’ game on Saturday. Manager Terry Collins noted that the Mets are “very fortunate” that it’s still early in camp, which gives Duda more time to heal and should enable the club to make in-house contingency plans at first base. Second baseman Neil Walker and right fielder Jay Bruce could be among the Mets’ fallback options. Walker has never played first, but he took ground balls at the position Saturday, and Collins wants Bruce to get some work there next week. “We’ve just got to protect ourselves,” said Collins.
- Bud Black is the latest Rockies manager to try to solve the mystery of Coors Field, ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick writes. The troubles with Coors Field generally begin with finding good, consistent pitching. “On top of talent, we need mentally tough SOBs,” says Black. “It might get a little bit unsightly when it pops up on the scoreboard or on TV. We have to have guys who will overlook that individual line.” Crasnick notes that the Rockies enter the season with an experienced bullpen that features newcomers Greg Holland and Mike Dunn, and their young starting pitchers (including Jon Gray, Chad Bettis, Tyler Anderson, Tyler Chatwood, and either Jeff Hoffman or German Marquez) gives them hope. GM Jeff Bridich says various types of pitchers can work well in Coors Field, but strong makeup can be a key. “We don’t dwell on it, but we address it openly — this misnomer that success can’t be had at altitude from a pitcher’s perspective,” he says. “We’re 25 years old now as an organization, and there are all different types of pitchers who’ve had success.”
- Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak is optimistic that newly signed outfielder Jose Adolis Garcia will reach the majors this season, per the Associated Press. “In terms of skillset, I just feel like I would describe him more as a five-tool player, so from a defensive standpoint, above average, from an offensive standpoint, I think there could be some power,” Mozeliak said when assessing Garcia on Saturday. Garcia, a native of Cuba, mentioned through an interpreter that “other offers” were on the table, but he accepted the Cardinals’ $2.5MM proposal “because of the tradition and because it is such a wonderful organization and I knew that I was going to identify with the team and fit in.”
Using wins as a measure of success? Whoever that Joe Maddon guy is, he will never amount to anything….
Ha ha good one.
He is terrible. The Cubs won despite him.
Maddon’s a polarizing enigma and seems to struggle to find a good balance in his approach:
-He’s generally a terrific, thorough pregame planner, but once the game starts, he tends to overmanage and involve himself as a manager to a fault.
-He’s open-minded and the most innovative manager in baseball, but he’s prone to getting too cute and fancy when situations call for simple, straightforward tactics.
-He has a great, analytical mind and is able to view situations with unique perspective. At the same time, he can be oblivious to the obvious and experience pareidolia (perceiving things that aren’t actually there).
-He’s a “players’ manager” who openly wears rose-colored glasses and works to foster strong confidence and chemistry among his players. On the other hand, his eternal optimism can rub disingenuous and avoidant, and he often delays far too long in making necessary changes to player usage (e.g. Heyward, Soler). His loyalty to past players also borders on nepotism.
The Cubs won the WS both because of and in spite of Maddon. He’s the best manager I almost wish my team didn’t have.
Um, my comment was a joke….
I think he was responding to the other guy
He tried to lose the World Series. His management of the bullpen was awful.
Was it awful? Of the two managers in the World Series, his management of the bullpen was the best. Seems nobody remembers Francona trotting out Miller with a 7-2 lead in one of the games. Nobody seems to remember the two runs Miller gave up in game seven, including the home rum to David Ross. Nobody remembers Francona trotting out Shaw in the 10th inning of game seven and having five of six runners reach base. Nobody remembers Francona running out of players in game seven and being forced to play Rajai Davis in center field–who defensively contributed three runs to the Cubs–the 190 foot fly ball tag up by Bryant to score; the misplay of Contreras double which drove in a run, and of course the fly ball by Bryant that Almora tagged up on setting up the two runs. Oh yeah, and running out of players—-he had to bat Michael Martinez with two out in the tenth. Seems everyone only remembers the home run that Chapman gave up. For my money, Maddon was the better manager on the field in game seven…and it showed…..and continues to show—-as a world championship.
There’s always that one person…
That game 7 was the worst-managed game I’ve seen on that level in a long time… I’m not sure how you can watch that whole game and attribute the outcome to Maddon’s brilliance
I really didn’t attribute it to Maddon’s brilliance at all. Just stated that he was much better than Francona that night, and in the series, and nobody seems to be questioning the way that turned out for the Indians. Francona gassed his bullpen as much, if not more, than Maddon.
Why was it awful Vedder? Because some moron on TV said so?
Maddon’s good as a clubhouse leader and he’s good with stuff like the psychological side of the game. He’s also the most media-friendly pro sports coach I’ve ever seen in my life. He’s likable and easy to quote.
But, although I like the guy, after watching him manage for a decade now, he ranges from mediocre to downright atrocious as a tactician.
I’m not liking some of the noises eminating from cubdom.
Get real lol they’re just as good, if not better, than last year.
There is no way they are better. For starters, Chapman is not closing out games.
They also don’t have one of the best lead off hitters anymore either.
Davis (though less healthy) has been more effective in past years than Chapman, and he wasn’t a top 3 closer down the stretch.
Wade Davis has career era 0.00 in World Series. Schwarber for entire year, contreras entire year. Baez Russell will be better. Rondon healthy. Bullpen strop Edwards Rondon Davis. Maddon did what no cub manager has done since 1908. Roberts overused kershaw and Francona overused kluber.
Schwarber is healthy. Baez and Russell have another year under their belts, Davis and others added to pen.
It’ll be hard to repeat, but there’s legit reasons to think they’ll be better. (Or they could be worse if Lackey falls off and Hendrick cant repeat his great year.)
I’m not sure you can even remotely compare managers based on their usage of starters. Fact remains the Cubs were relatively healthy one claim the other two managers couldn’t make. There was a reason both managers had to use the aforementioned names frequently. Plus the Dodgers didn’t lose the series because of Kersh.
Now that being said do I think Maddon might have gotten out managed in certain instances? Yes I do. But that doesn’t take away his accomplishments. The Cubs were just flat out better and healthier. Sometimes the ball roles your way
Chapman really wasn’t all that great, to be perfectly honest.
It’s perfectly reasonable to think they will be worse. The probability of winning 103 games is low. However, they could also be worse and still be playing in october, those two things aren’t mutually exclusive.
Wasn’t kersh the loser of game 6? Rizzo bomb contreras bomb? Baez Blanton overused . Didn’t miller give up Ross bomb? No credit for maddon’s moves? Didn’t he put Montero in to pinch hit in game one of nlcs and grand slam? Didn’t he put Ross in game 7 and home run? Contreras in and double? Montero in and game winner? Who put Montgomery in to get final out . Joe Maddon will always be remembered for doing something no other cub manager could do for 108 years . Win the World Series. He beat both manager of year.
They will probably win 100 games – Mets fan
Then they would become only the 2nd team since 2004 to have back to back 100 win seasons.
and would still be a worse team than last year.
It’s the smell that bugs me
Renterie was better in 2 years we will see that sorry Theo no do overs
Comments like that, just shows how little you know about baseball. The Cubs will own the birds this season.
Totally unbiased thoughts from “babycubsW”
Not sure what you mean despite him. He did do what 30+ other managers didn’t do…win the World Series. DESPITE not winning the World Series before 2016, he has a pretty good track record, consistently contending in Tampa with fewer resources and winning over 200 games with the Cubs in two seasons.
Re: Mets… If Neil Walker plays 1st, who plays 2nd?
Flores, Ceechini, Rivera
Wilmer Flores comes to mind. …assuming Wright and Reyes can handle 3rd and SS.
Wright I highly doubt to be ready so Flores at 3rd. The smart move now would be see if Conforto or Bruce can do it. But I thought it was a mistake not to sign Loney to a minor league deal as he did with the Rangers.
They didn’t sign Loney under the (apparently faulty) assumption that Duda would be able to start. A healthy Duda is miles ahead of a healthy Loney, so I can see that. I still think Loney would have been a fair insurance signing, even though I wasn’t nearly as enamored with him as a lot of Mets fans.
i liked Loney a lot however he really is marginal at-best and his offensive production at first was terrible. If they had resigned him remember you are now carrying two first-base only players.
Yes, Who plays second.
No, Who’s on First.
Flores should be at first. It’s his best position
As a Chicago Cubs fan, and Chicagoan, the way some fans bashed Maddon was shameful. But then again, it IS Chicago. The city where no one is ever satisfied.
Cubs haven’t won the World Series in 108 years. Cubs bring in the best manager in baseball. Cubs win the World Series. Some fans still piss and moan about a few bullpen calls. Lol. It’s beyond comedic. Hey morons….HE WON YOU A WORLD SERIES TITLE!
He’s one the most highly regarded managers, not only in baseball, but in all of professional sports. Lighten up! Now that the Cubs won the World Series, everyone feels a need to critique every single God d @ m n thing.
I could sum some of these ridiculous fans up like this…..”See the game today?” “Yea, I don’t know about that Maddon. We just lost a game after winning 25 in a row because he pulled a pitcher early. He s u c k s!
NEVER SATISFIED.
Bravo. The job of the manager (and players) is to get to the playoffs and when there be the first one to three or four wins depending on the series. Maddon had his team prepared, planned, and executed the plan. In watching closely, it really is amazing how loose and ready they were an how they answered the call all season long. If Davis doesn’t hit the home run in the eighth inning, this is a very quiet board. Like I said in previous post, not too many (actually none) throwing Francona under the microscope for having a tired Miller give up a bomb to Ross. Francona was using who he thought was best, just as Maddon was.
As a Mets fan and Cheapon/Sandy sufferer….Here we go again….
The one thing the Mets have that many other teams don’t (finally) is depth. Losing Duda for a time won’t be the end of the world. Bruce playing there allows conforto to play. Walker playing there (if Wright is healthy) allows Reyes time to play. Flores playing there gets his bat in the lineup. If Wright is not healthy than I’m pretty sure Reyes will be full time third base. Reyes kind of needs to be in the lineup as the lead off man. Otherwise I think that will be where they miss Duda the most, because then grandy moves to lead off and ur taking two big bats out of the core of the lineup (Duda and grandy). If Reyes leads off, and any of those other changes are made to cover first, I think they are in real good shape still.
Plus d smith is gonna be a mid season or at the very latest a sept call up and I’m excited to see him play.
Having Maddon, who so many believe is the best manager in the game, bring up “Wins” must really tick off a lot of the regulars on this site. It’s so nice to know that it is a stat that means something to the “real” baseball people. While I will agree that it holds little to no value for relief pitchers, I feel it does show which Starters are able to outpitch the competition. It also explains why the pitchers with the highest win totals are compensated at the highest levels.
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“GM Jeff Bridich says various types of pitchers can work well in Coors Field, but strong makeup can be a key. “We don’t dwell on it, but we address it openly — this misnomer that success can’t be had at altitude from a pitcher’s perspective,” he says. “We’re 25 years old now as an organization, and there are all different types of pitchers who’ve had success.”” <—–so in the quarter century history of this team, which Rocks pitcher has had success pitching in Coors? I'll give you Ubaldo Jiminez. A couple others did ok. But really only one good pitcher at Coors after all these years? It's no accident. Even high priced free agents like Darryl Kile, Mike Hampton and Denny Naegle were terrible.
Brett Anderson Jon Jay and Brian Dueseng will all be DFA’d by seasons end.