Impressions from opening night

[Docwaukee]

Went to the game.  Brought my cub fan brother in law, my other brother in law and a friend who doesn't have a tone of interest in baseball.  

 

I had never seen Arrietta live before.  Amazingly, Richards has better stuff.  It's true.  

 

The big difference was that Jake pounded the strike zone.  He got the ball and it was strike one, strike two.  In charge the whole time.  No messing around.  

 

Richards pissed me off.  The dude was throwing 98mph and he moped around the mound like his mom took away his xbox.  Body language was for shit.  He had that look on his face when I ask my five year old to put away his transformers.  Dude.  You have 4 filthy pitches.  Get on the mound and throw them.  I was bored as hell watching him slump his shoulders and walk around without purpose.  

 

We actually hit some balls hard early on but then the tone changed across the board when the 2nd and 3rd runs score and Arrietta smelled blood.  At that point it was over.  

 

Salas did what he does best and put the nail in the coffin.  When he came in, I turned to my cubs fan bro in law and said 'your'e welcome'.  Salas struck out the first two and he was wondering what I was talking about.  I told him to just wait.  

 

I know it's one game, but I just don't think this pen is going to be very good.  I think we'll get a 7th inning guy out of Morin, but the crew that is going to be coming in for the 6th or when we are behind is a total crapshoot.  

 

As for the offense, sometimes you have to face Jake Arrietta.  In those cases, you have to hope your starter matches up strong and shows some balls on the off chance you can push a run or two across.  Just wan't in the cards.  

 

But truly, I am disappointed in Garrett.  I keep thinking he's gonna turn a corner and be that guy who acts like he knows what great stuff he has.  He took the crowd out of the game from the second he gave up that leadoff hit.  

 

Overall though, it's just one of 162.  Hopefully they have a short memory and kick some ass tomorrow.  

[NrM]

richards' body language annoyed me too. 

Edited April 5, 2016 by Mr. Meeseeks

[Billy_Ball]

I'll cut GRich some slack.  He's young, and it was his first ML Opening Day start.  He'll settle down and have a really good year.

[Broad Street]

How about nobody going out there to calm him down? Nagy's first trip out there was to talk to Rasmus. That's not kosher.

[Angelsjunky]

The Cubs have an incredible lineup.

[Jason]

Arrieta looked like an "ace", Richards did not. Bullpen was shaky too. The offense didn't show up and appeared to have chances early on with some mistakes made by Arrieta. The Cubs lineup didn't miss the mistakes. It was just a bad game and really isn't enough to make any judgments. Very disappointing and sucked to watch.

[rick99gtp]

I agree with you that Richard's body language was absolutely horrible.  Not a positive thought was going through his mind when it was clear he had no control whatsoever.

 

 

I know it's one game, but I just don't think this pen is going to be very good.

 

It was a bad loss, but you can't judge an entire bullpen, offense or pitching staff for that matter, based on the very first game of the year.  

 

 

Overall though, it's just one of 162.

 

There you go.  That's better.

Edited April 5, 2016 by rick99gtp

[Broad Street]

What are the numbers against Lester? I feel like we usually do pretty decent against him...

[Broad Street]

What are the numbers against Lester? I feel like we usually do pretty decent against him...

Never mind. Pujols and Simmons seem to have good small sample size numbers against him.

[totdprods]

Arrieta is a monster right now. No offense was going to do much against that, and it's hard to work the count when the dude is painting the corners and throwing his breaking stuff as well as he did last night. 

[California Cajun]

Went to the game. Brought my cub fan brother in law, my other brother in law and a friend who doesn't have a tone of interest in baseball.

I had never seen Arrietta live before. Amazingly, Richards has better stuff. It's true.

The big difference was that Jake pounded the strike zone. He got the ball and it was strike one, strike two. In charge the whole time. No messing around.

Richards pissed me off. The dude was throwing 98mph and he moped around the mound like his mom took away his xbox. Body language was for shit. He had that look on his face when I ask my five year old to put away his transformers. Dude. You have 4 filthy pitches. Get on the mound and throw them. I was bored as hell watching him slump his shoulders and walk around without purpose.

We actually hit some balls hard early on but then the tone changed across the board when the 2nd and 3rd runs score and Arrietta smelled blood. At that point it was over.

Salas did what he does best and put the nail in the coffin. When he came in, I turned to my cubs fan bro in law and said 'your'e welcome'. Salas struck out the first two and he was wondering what I was talking about. I told him to just wait.

I know it's one game, but I just don't think this pen is going to be very good. I think we'll get a 7th inning guy out of Morin, but the crew that is going to be coming in for the 6th or when we are behind is a total crapshoot.

As for the offense, sometimes you have to face Jake Arrietta. In those cases, you have to hope your starter matches up strong and shows some balls on the off chance you can push a run or two across. Just wan't in the cards.

But truly, I am disappointed in Garrett. I keep thinking he's gonna turn a corner and be that guy who acts like he knows what great stuff he has. He took the crowd out of the game from the second he gave up that leadoff hit.

Overall though, it's just one of 162. Hopefully they have a short memory and kick some ass tomorrow.

ESPN had the strike zone in front of every batter and Garrett's pitches didn't miss by a lot, but they consistently missed. He threw well but couldn't locate. In the 4th alone he threw 41 pitches and 96 for the night. It happens and had to be extremely frustrating. Arrieta located his pitches in the strike zone.

Today's another day.

[Glen]

Arrieta's next start: 5 IP, 4 ER.

[19HALO71]

Didn't Arrieta win 22 games last season?

 

The dude is a TRUE ACE. That's what they do, they shut teams down. Our offense was over matched, that's all.

 

Today is a new day, let's go!!

 

Go Halos!!!

[Brandon]

Watching Richards go up 0-2 to to 3-2 that lead to a walk or hit was pretty rough.

[19HALO71]

Watching Richards go up 0-2 to to 3-2 that lead to a walk or hit was pretty rough.

 

Agreed.

 

Go Halos!!!

[halobob]

My only take away from the game is the irony in the Halos motto/sales pitch for the year of "Every Game Matters".

[zenmaster]

Let's just pretend the season starts today.

[Turd Ferguson]

The turning point for Richards was the Bryant AB where he had him 0-2, didn't get a called strike 3 that he should have (and that Arrieta got all night), and then subsequently walked him. You could tell that he mentally lost it after that. But, hey, that's a great lineup and Arrieta is about as good as it gets right now. Tough opener but hard to take a lot from that.

[Amazing Larry]

The turning point for Richards was the Bryant AB where he had him 0-2, didn't get a called strike 3 that he should have (and that Arrieta got all night), and then subsequently walked him. You could tell that he mentally lost it after that. But, hey, that's a great lineup and Arrieta is about as good as it gets right now. Tough opener but hard to take a lot from that.

 

That was the turning point for me as well. I turned around and walked to the beer line.

[Biergott]

How about nobody going out there to calm him down? Nagy's first trip out there was to talk to Rasmus. That's not kosher.

Nagy visited Richards in the 4th inning.  Right after the walk to Rizzo and the bunk walk to Bryant.  They nearly used up the entire visit clock too.

[Guest]

"my cubs fan bro in law and said 'your'e welcome'. Salas struck out the first two and he was wondering what I was talking about. I told him to just wait. "

Damn .

[Glen]

Watching Richards go up 0-2 to to 3-2 that lead to a walk or hit was pretty rough.

Yeah. CJ Richards.

[WallyWorld]

Arrietta is a stud AND he also got the benefit of some borderline calls that Richards did not. 

 

Garrett did pout an annoying amount last night - he's got some maturing to do.

 

Angels hit into some tough luck early on and that seemed to set the tone.

 

I'm actually not worried about the bullpen at all. These kind of games tend to make pens looks bad.

[Stradling]

If you throw 98 you should probably be less concerned with painting the corners. He had the high strike going last night. Hard to hit 98 up. I was at the game so I couldn't tell if he was getting squeezed or if Arrieta had a generous strike zone. Obviously the offense didn't do dick, but the game got out of hand because Richards only went five. Guys like Salas and Bedrosian as well as Rasmus are going to pitch in games where we are chasing some runs. My two take away from this game are, the Angels pitchers, all of them, need to control the zone and throw some strikes. Two, the Cubs are good, but will struggle against strike throwers because that team is going to strike out a TON.

[HaloCory22]

Said it once, I'll say it again. 2014 Richards was a fluke. Not an ace. Not necessarily bad by any means, but he's not what Scotty err I mean.. No, that's right. Not what Scotty claims he is. That 4th inning was insanely painful to watch. Like the OP said, Richards looked like a spoiled kid out there mad he didn't get his way. He reminded me of CJ out there. Nibbling the corners instead of trusting his stuff and going after them.

Edited April 5, 2016 by Cory