Cubs 38-22
Padres 24-37
POTG: SP Ted Lilly (7.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 8 K)
Runner Up: SS The Riot (2 H, 2B)
Yea, they got owned by Maddux. No, this doesn’t mean they should sign him. This was more the Cubs making him look by going after him too strong. Maddux can still beat you if you let him average 10 or less an inning, and the Bell/Hoffman combination is still strong enough to shut the door when the Padres are capable of getting the that far.
Maddux Game Scores:
Good: 70, 74, 71
Okay: 64, 65
Below Average: 49, 45, 32, 50, 47, 59
Horrible: 16, 26
Yes, he can still throw a game game, but he’s throwing a lot of disappointing ones and he’s relying a lot on the his team to get the outs for him.
The whole “do you need another starter” argument is another one entirely, but if you agree that the Cubs should trade for one, you ought to be aiming higher than that. When the Cubs brought Maddux back last time, it made he was four years younger and hadn’t declined nearly as much. It was decent tactical move that happened to have some nostalgia thrown in. Picking Maddux over other options would be all nostalgia now, and that’s not something a playoff team can afford. I’d be happy for him if some other team picked him up for One Last Run, but I also wouldn’t mind the Cubs facing him during that run.
Meanwhile, in a season where Lilly’s pitched bad and won, this was an actual good perfomance. He may have hung around just a little too long, but he did enough in this game.