Hank Scorpio wrote:
Here it is fellas. Jump on board now before this wagon is full. I hope to change the thread title once we see for sure they are in play to win the division. I didnt want to get crazy though.
Olt hits 20 HRs
Baez makes the team in June and just wangwhips everyone in sight.
Castro bounces back
Rizzo gets to 30 HRs
Pitchers do pitchery things but it doesnt matter because the Cubs are outscoring everyone.
yeah as i was reading your list my trigger finger was just itching over the REPLY button ready to say "ok hank that's all fine and good but who's pitching for you?"
that's the problem that the cubs have. and when you consider that jeff fucking samardzija, aka THE SHARK (RIP.... good god this board misses SHARKeroo) is your staff ace? well you're just hoping he can "pull it together" and have one of those ~2.something/low-mid-3s ERAs along with his 200+ Ks and all that.... and at least the guy's been durable and out there, i'll give you that. and that once-gaudy 10mil signing bonus ended up still being an overpay, but not really once they finally got around to stretching him out and giving you those ~200IP/200+K seasons.
but yeah, even if samardzija goes HAM and gives you 14-9 3.27/1.16 with 242K in ~216IP or whatever..... then what?
and i dont think anyone has an answer for me.... but hey you never know, as this is baseball after all. who had the 2012 white sox one 2nd half bataan death march (i.e. you knew what was coming and it wasn't good, but the longer they hung around the more pronounced the walk was) away from making the playoffs and then dan bernstein has told me that it's a crapshoot and all you have to do is make the tournament and you have a chance just like anyone else..... so yeah man, by hank's metrics if the cubs make the playoffs then they're technically championship contenders because of the bernstein doctrine.
suffice to say a lot of stuff is going to have to go right for that to happen. people like chris rusin are going to have to start games and end up like 15-7 3.66/1.23 with ~150K in ~180IP behind the aforementioned SHARKening for them to even have any chance of this. oh and jose veras shocks the world with a 2.16/0.84 and 24 saves in 25 chances b4 getting spun for an actual pitching prospect with a pulse (still part of the equation, even tho theo and jed and the boys have been content to go all offense and build up an everyday core of excellence before worrying about pitching..... well it's nigh time to worry about pitching, boys)
_________________
Curious Hair wrote:
Les Grobstein's huge hog is proof that God has a sense of humor, isn't it?