The Late-Inning Difference for the Cubs, Check Swing, Bellinger Streak, and Other Cubs Bullets

Brett Taylor Brett Taylor
Sep 15, 2024
Sep 15, 2024

The Bear is a “comedy” in the same way that the 2024 Chicago Cubs are a comedy. The humor is there, but it is incidental to the haunting, and occasionally beautiful, mix of drama and horror.

Which is to say, it is not a comedy, and it is very stupid that it is included in the comedy category for Emmy purposes simply because it’s a 30-minute-type show.

  • Speaking of horror masquerading as comedy, the Cubs blew yet another late lead last night, their 24th blown save of the season. The team’s save percentage is an abysmal 58%, meaning that the Cubs held the lead and won the game BARELY HALF of the times the bullpen came into the game with a lead. Woof. But believe it or not, that’s actually ahead of four teams: the Pirates, Red Sox, Marlins, and White Sox. There are seven teams that have more total blown saves than the Cubs, too. It’s pretty hard for me to imagine what the fans of those teams feel about their late-inning performance this year, because we know how we feel about it for the Cubs!

  • If the Cubs had a league-average save percentage, they would have three more wins than they have now, and at 78-70, they would be three games out of a Wild Card spot. That’s not to say the Cubs’ late-inning woes have been exaggerated, but I suppose it’s useful context to know that it isn’t the singular and sole difference between a playoff team and this. Blown saves happen. More for the Cubs this year than most, but I guess not necessarily an extreme outlier.

  • Of course, if the Cubs were among the BETTER late-inning teams, and had a save percentage more like 73% – which happens to be the save percentage of the Brewers – the Cubs would have nine more wins, and would be 84-64, a half game ahead of the Padres for the top Wild Card spot, and just two games behind the Brewers in the NL Central. Soooooooo, yeah. Thinking about it that way stings a good bit more.

  • Last night’s blown save came from the otherwise excellent Porter Hodge, who was a pitch away from a strikeout, strikeout, strikeout 9th inning. This was the check swing call that kept the Rockies’ hopes alive last night:

  • I watched it about 10 times, and honestly I could justify either direction. That’s the thing about a “swing” – the definition is not as firm and clear as you might think, and does not involve the various tests you might’ve heard about as a kid (breaking your wrists, for example, or crossing the front of the plate). Instead, a swing is basically when a batter makes a genuine offering at hitting the ball, and goes too far in that process. If the wrists break, that is often used as a clear marker of a swing, but is not explicitly required. Goodman’s swing/non-swing was a pretty good example of this, as he went very far in tracking the ball and offering at it, but stopped just short of breaking that left wrist. Still, you can see physically how much of his swing his body completed, and you can also see the bat tip up as he was trying to engage with an elevated pitch. I probably go something like 55/45 swing, but it was close enough that I can’t get myself to freak out about the call.

  • The main reaction I was left with after that call and then the Rockies going on to win the game? “Thank God this doesn’t actually matter.” Can you imagine a call like that deciding a game that sent the Cubs home on the final day of the season or something? Oof. I would not want to experience that …

  • Cody Bellinger stayed hot with this blast:

  • Bellinger, with a nice little five-game hitting streak and 10 of his last 11, is now up to a .269/.332/.438/114 wRC+ slash on the season, and .277/.343/.497/130 wRC+ since the day a pitch broke his finger on July 10. I’ll reiterate my belief that this is trending toward an opt-out.

  • Perfect choice as underrated. Too often people pick actually well-rated unis or logos as being underrated. This one actually does kinda get ignored. But it’s a beauty:

  • Pablo Sandoval pitches now:

    • written by

    Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at and on LinkedIn . Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about th𓆏e Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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