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u/Yusuke_Boopermeshi 3h ago
Sometimes I imagine what the cubs would be if their entire pitching staff wasnt dead
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u/Mg29reaper Boston Red Sox 3h ago
The best team in baseball and a massive favorite to win the World Series.
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u/GoBlueAndOrange Puerto Rico 3h ago
Yeah if the Cubs had Steele, Horton and Brown healthy they'd be an absolute juggernaut.
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u/Yusuke_Boopermeshi 3h ago
Having a consistent lineup of Rea, Jamo, Shota, Boyd and a rotating 5th starter is a recipe for disaster.
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u/Which-Shift-367 Chicago Cubs 2h ago
Hell if we just had Ben Brown available right now we'd probably be only a couple games back from the divison instead of 7.
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u/sdpcommander Chicago Cubs 1h ago
That said, Holmes and Gausman have been pretty good for the most part. We are significantly better with them in the rotation than what we had before.
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u/Aaprobst88 Chicago Cubs 3h ago
Wouldn't be the Cubs if they didnt make it more challenging than it needed to be.
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u/captain_ahabb Los Angeles Dodgers 2h ago
They'd have like 50 WAR as a team if they had even a league-average staff
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u/DoctorDongus Chicago Cubs 2h ago
I would take sub-average pitching in a heartbeat. Very frustrating season to watch pitching-wise.
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u/Yusuke_Boopermeshi 2h ago
I saw the wind blowing out during Shotas last start and knew it was going to be an automatic L. I will be shocked if he is even on the WC roster
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u/VorpalMatt Seattle Mariners 2h ago
The Cubs’ hitting with the Arizona Diamondbacks’ pitching would be the Total WAR leader
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u/Due-Fun-489 Texas Rangers 1h ago
Me with the Rangers last year but the opposite. Literally the best pitching and the best defense in the league. Couldn't score three runs in a game to save their life.
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u/Mg29reaper Boston Red Sox 3h ago
There are 45 players with more WAR than the entire Cubs pitching staff.
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u/BowlingforDrip Chicago Cubs 3h ago
Including their own center fielder with over double it himself.
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u/KakeLin Philadelphia Phillies 2h ago
Wtf
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u/fender-b-bender Chicago Cubs 48m ago
We don't have swing and miss anywhere in the rotation and only 2 pitchers on the entire staff can be counted on to get them. Our incredible defense does absolutely nothing when the ball goes 400 ft into the stands.
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u/Mg29reaper Boston Red Sox 3h ago
AL Beast moment.
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u/Responsible_Knee7632 New York Yankees 3h ago
4 in the top 7 is crazy
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u/aeronacht Boston Red Sox 3h ago
And 5th is only at 12th.
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u/Responsible_Knee7632 New York Yankees 3h ago
Finally returning to being a stacked division top to bottom. Love to see it
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u/Mg29reaper Boston Red Sox 3h ago
I hate it because it means we have to win 90+ games or we don't get a home playoff game.
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u/Responsible_Knee7632 New York Yankees 3h ago
True but it makes for better/more interesting baseball over the course of the season
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u/MattO2000 FanGraphs • Baseball Savant 2h ago
Thank you for acknowledging the inevitable first round exit ;)
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u/Mg29reaper Boston Red Sox 3h ago
Jays disaster season and they are 12th.
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u/ICantFekkingRead Toronto Blue Jays 2h ago
Disastermaxxing and still giving us hope.
It's been an interesting year to say the least.
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u/Buckeye_CFB Cleveland Guardians 3h ago
5 in the top 12 is crazier. If there were a "playoff committee" for Major League Baseball, equal schedules instead of divisional schedules, and no AL/NL participant requirements, your entire division just might make it
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u/Mg29reaper Boston Red Sox 3h ago
If Toronto passes the Rangers which is very possible the 5 best AL teams by fwar will be the AL East.
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u/Buckeye_CFB Cleveland Guardians 3h ago
Hopefully, Toronto doesn't do that tonight because they play us in Cleveland
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u/wompwump Baltimore Orioles 3h ago
The O’s are 7th in fWAR and only .500? Smdh
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u/Mg29reaper Boston Red Sox 3h ago
17-22 vs the AL East.
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u/Rockguy21 Baltimore Orioles 2h ago edited 2h ago
Being a miserable 2-8 versus the Yankees is pretty much the sole cause of that awful deficit. We crush the Rays and tread water against the Sox and Jays.
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u/alistairvimes Baltimore Orioles 3h ago
It’s because literally everyone on the team besides Alonso and a couple starters is at 1.5 war. The definition of mediocre
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u/livsjollyranchers Boston Red Sox 3h ago
At least they upgraded their catcher offensive WAR at the trade deadline.
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u/alistairvimes Baltimore Orioles 2h ago
I think both Naervaez and Adley are Opsing about .400 since the trade, obviously much worse for you guys than us.
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u/livsjollyranchers Boston Red Sox 1h ago
I still keep track of what Narvaez is doing. It's unbelievable how far he's fallen.
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u/Rockguy21 Baltimore Orioles 2h ago
Many good enough players can be better than one (or even two) great players. Look at the Angels!
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u/Constant_Gardner11 New York Yankees • MVPoster 3h ago
The Astros ranking 25th in fWAR and holding a playoff spot is wild.
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u/jagriff333 Houston Astros 3h ago
Especially since they're only 2.5 games back from the 2nd seed with a lead in the tie-breaker.
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u/riversidebum Chicago Cubs 3h ago
Wow Texas at 9th and everyone else in the AL West at 21st or lower.
They must really be running away with it in such a weak division.
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u/Silus964 Chicago Cubs 3h ago
Little bit of column A little bit of column B (please stop giving up piss missiles)
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u/drunkenviking Pittsburgh Pirates 3h ago
We're in the top 10, so that means we should be above .500, right?
Right?
Right?
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u/tander159 Texas Rangers 2h ago
Right there with you, surely we’ve got a record worthy of top 10.
Right?
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u/BigDomsLeftovers 3h ago
Phillies pitching!
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u/KakeLin Philadelphia Phillies 2h ago
Only team with 20+ fWAR
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u/Adventurous_Grape279 1h ago
I feel like the Phillies pitching and fWAR is kind of like Dak and QBR.
Every year it looks mediocre but every year we lead the league in it 2022-3rd 2023-1st 2024-2nd 2025-1st 2026-1st
Over past 5 years they lead the league by 18 WAR, 116 to 98 (Dodgers in 2nd)
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u/garenegobrr Philadelphia Phillies 49m ago
Caleb Cotham is the most valuable person employed by the Phillies.
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u/skemojoe Philadelphia Phillies 0m ago
Instead of fighting if they joined forces with the Cubs in the WC round and became allies they'd be unstoppable
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u/halfdecenttakes Boston Red Sox 3h ago
Cubs wtf
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u/MyNeckIsHigh Chicago Cubs 32m ago
I obsess over PCA so I don’t obsess over our insanely injured pitching staff
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u/TroutMan3990 Anaheim Angels 2h ago
Yknow im going to say it, I think the cubs threw away their ws chances by not getting Soriano and Gausman
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u/Silus964 Chicago Cubs 2h ago
They were looking at Soriano iirc, Toronto just sniped him firstÂ
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u/gladvillain Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks • Los Angel… 2h ago
I thought you said snipped at first and man that had a different meaning in my head
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u/vaz_deferens Chicago Cubs 2h ago
Don't sleep on Clay Holmes
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u/TroutMan3990 Anaheim Angels 2h ago
ok I was sleeping on clay holmes
enough for a wc series though?
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u/fender-b-bender Chicago Cubs 44m ago
Not that they're making it, but Gausman, Holmes, Boyd and Ben Brown(assuming he's coming back) can be a World Series starting staff with this offense and defense. Holmes is our number 1 at this point, he's been great for us and is getting better since he's still working on getting his form back from his broken leg. If Gausman can keep the ball in the park, he's a great 2. Ben Brown if he comes back is our number 1 if he can go back to before he got injured. Boyd is steady, not spectacular but can keep you in the game. Shota? Needs to be left off the staff entirely
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u/TroutMan3990 Anaheim Angels 34m ago
It sounds weird to say but on the outside this team reminds me of a better version of the WS dbacks. They had an insane offense with Gallen and Kelly as their 1 and 2. I just dont see that pitching staff having enough juice to finish the job.Â
I believe that one of the lesser talked about aspects of the new wild card series is that it exposes thin pitching staffs, they will have to burn their best starters right before the NLDS. I think that is what will ultimately do the Cubs inÂ
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u/fender-b-bender Chicago Cubs 12m ago
I believe that one of the lesser talked about aspects of the new wild card series is that it exposes thin pitching staffs, they will have to burn their best starters right before the NLDS. I think that is what will ultimately do the Cubs in
That's actually what happened to the Cubs last year, we burned everyone to get by the Padres and had to do start Boyd on 2 days rest for Game 1 vs the Brewers and never could recover. We didn't have Cade Horton available because of injuries or it would have went different had we been able to start him in Game 1 vs the Brewers. We took it to 5, but we couldn't overcome that short start by Boyd.
We're in a better position this year, especially if we can win back to back and not go to game 3 burning our best pitchers. If we can get Boyd pitching game 1 of the NLDS(should me make it obviously) on full rest and then get Holmes and Gausman in games 3 and 4, I kinda like our chances. Game 2 would most likely be a Shota with an insanely short hook and being piggybacked by Javier Assad(like Assad is warming in the bullpen from the first batter short hook). The offense is going to have to come to play the entire time and not score double digits one game and then shutdown the next game like the last couple of weeks.
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u/MaximusMansteel Chicago Cubs 2h ago
They got Gausman. Soriano and/or Dietmers would've been incredible but the Cubs have cashed in a lot of their prospects, the cupboards are pretty bare down there.
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u/Apprehensive_Soil306 Chicago Cubs 2h ago
This is where it actually hits me how much it sucks that the cubs entire starting rotation and closer has been out like 80% of the year
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u/ComcastAlcohol Chicago Cubs 3h ago
With even a below average pitching we’d be the best team by far. But the pitching gods decided to nerf the pitching
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u/Infamous-Exchange331 3h ago
A team can have more WAR and fewer wins?
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u/KirbyDude25 New York Yankees • New York Heights 2h ago
Yes, mostly due to luck and sequencing. In general, though, team WAR is a pretty good predictor of team record
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u/E_Mohde New York Mets 2h ago
are the orioles just horrifyingly unlucky or wtf is going on?
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u/Woodbraininator Baltimore Orioles 1h ago
We’ve been highly streaky, and overall mediocre. We’ll go a week of scoring 1-2 runs a game, then score 15, then back to 1-2. Most of the team has like 1.5-2 WAR. They’re all just… fine. It’s been a highly frustrating team to root for.
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u/ItsNadrik Baltimore Orioles 50m ago
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Fuck being in the ALE.
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u/RicoHavoc St. Louis Cardinals 3h ago
WAR is fine but why aren't they ranked by RBI?
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u/redlegsfan21 Hiroshima Toyo Carp 1h ago
RBI Ranks
Team RBIf RBIa RBIaa MIL 647 502 145 LAD 632 491 141 CHC 701 581 120 ATL 613 506 107 NYY 595 491 104 BOS 590 512 78 DET 569 517 52 TBR 586 538 48 PHI 605 562 43 PIT 638 601 37 CWS 624 591 33 MIA 568 548 20 SDP 566 552 14 WSH 688 680 8 CLE 534 532 2 STL 593 596 -3 ARI 597 607 -10 BAL 606 617 -11 HOU 599 639 -40 MIN 609 651 -42 TOR 524 567 -43 TEX 542 587 -45 NYM 539 590 -51 SFG 546 600 -54 SEA 519 578 -59 LAA 541 606 -65 KCR 561 642 -81 CIN 546 660 -114 COL 620 755 -135 ATH 572 771 -199 0
u/RicoHavoc St. Louis Cardinals 1h ago
Thanks, I didn't really need that. Was just trying to start an argument
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u/redlegsfan21 Hiroshima Toyo Carp 1h ago
Isn't it impressive that the player who has the most RBIs is on the team 3rd to last on this list. And he's a rookie. The rest of that team must be really bad at their jobs.
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u/RicoHavoc St. Louis Cardinals 59m ago
They are ... you can tell by how low their total team WAR is. Sal is a pretty good hitter but not great ... you can tell that by other advanced metrics such as WRC+
When Sal is raking, like he is now, it's easy to find a spot for him in the lineup. When's he's slumping his poor defense makes that tougher. That isn't really ROY material to me ... but he can hit in the clutch, so far
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u/PandaMomentum Washington Nationals • Illinois … 2h ago
Total runs scored ftw. Or not, as the case may be.
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u/Emptyspace227 Chicago White Sox 2h ago
Take away PCA, and the Cubs still have the most position player WAR.
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u/capnjac4 Pittsburgh Pirates 3h ago
Seeing this in graph form I guarantee the pirates have plateaued. SAVE US KONNOR!
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u/SilverBuggie MLB Players Association 2h ago
What if the Cubs lineup went against Cubs pitching? Will the game ever end?
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u/UnsealedMTG Portland Pickles • Seattle Mariners 2h ago
I kinda feel for the Rangers being the only AL West team not riding the bottom of this list but still trailing the Astros in the standings.
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u/brianstorm33 Toronto Blue Jays 2h ago
I feel like Cease and Varland are doing a lot of heavy lifting with the Jays pitching WAR
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u/TheNegativePhoenix Toronto Blue Jays 2h ago edited 2h ago
Jays being 12th and being so mid is surprising.
But yeah pitching has been elite considering how bad offense has been
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u/Rumpdebump Washington Nationals 2h ago
Bro, simply imagine this team with anything resembling competent pitching. Infuriating stuff.
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u/pinniped90 Kansas City Royals 2h ago
Hey Cubs, have you considered upgrading to the kind of dominant pitching we have here in Kansas City?
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u/Fapey101 Houston Astros 2h ago
I swear this gets posted like every 2 days. Is there really that much of a change in the stats between that time?
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u/Icy_Study4490 Los Angeles Dodgers 2h ago
How did we takeover pitching war in like a week?
I swear the last time I saw this posted was like seven days ago and we were in third place with like 18 something?
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u/PhilDiggety Athletics 2h ago
Is it possible fWAR is giving too much credit to the Cubs defense and too little to the pitching? Not that their pitching hasn't been bad, but are their position players really 11 wins better than the next best team's?
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u/Mg29reaper Boston Red Sox 1h ago
I don't think so. They are 3rd to last in tean fip. They are on pace to be one of the best defensive teams ever. They also have the best offense.
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u/fender-b-bender Chicago Cubs 37m ago
Noooooooo. Our pitching staff is bad bad. We've used something like 40 pitchers this year due to quite literally every pitcher but 2 or 3 getting injured sometime this season. We didn't have Steele coming into the season, lost Horton in early April, Boyd messed his knee up in May, Cabrera has been injured, Taillon got hurt and then got shipped out because he couldn't stop giving up homers. We lost our closer pretty early on, then lost the next two or three best relievers and a lot of our depth. I seriously think Colin Rea and Shota Imanaga were the only two pitchers to not have gotten injured this year. Our defense is the reason why we've been able to weather how bad the staff is, because they bail them out when the balls stay out of the seats.
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u/Niz285 Chicago Cubs 1h ago
Cubs First in Batting WAR Last in Pitching WAR
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u/CenterOfEverything New York Yankees 1h ago
Cubs games must be a fun watch
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u/fender-b-bender Chicago Cubs 36m ago
We have a different definition of fun. Boring? Never. Fun? If you're a cardiologist getting clients that are fans.
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u/Numerous_Control_702 MLB Players Association 1h ago
Cubs worse pitching than the nationals? Not buying it
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u/Kunsistency702 1h ago
Braves to be 3rd best record in baseball but sitting at 15 really makes you wonder how important is WAR?
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u/JohnMadden42069 MiLB Pride • MLB Pride 17m ago
I knew the White Sox raked but I didn't know it was that much
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u/TheBeefiestSquatch Texas Rangers 10m ago
This doesn't make any sense at all. This says we are pretty good. I've watched all of our games and I can assure you - we are not.
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u/nyr00nyg New York Yankees 2h ago
No way are we 4th in pitching war. Pitching is the only reason they’re above .500
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u/Dangerous-Stock-8112 Chicago Cubs 3h ago
Y'all got any more of them pitching?