2016 Cubs catch-all thread

[fathom]

Just looking at the velocity data, if he was up to no good, it probably started taking place towards the end of the 2012 season. Some pretty big spikes across the board. It is amazing that he's throwing his slider 5-7 mph harder than when he first came into the majors.

 

http://www.brooksbaseball.net/velo.php?pla...16&s_type=2

[Kyyle23]

You mean the sports media that breathlessly fawns over the Cubs all day every day? Joe Maddon could be killing prostitutes in broad daylight in front of Tribune Tower and they'd burying the story.

 

The same media that breathlessly fawned over Sosa until they didn't, yes

[BaconOnAStick]

Just looking at the velocity data, if he was up to no good, it probably started taking place towards the end of the 2012 season. Some pretty big spikes across the board. It is amazing that he's throwing his slider 5-7 mph harder than when he first came into the majors.

 

http://www.brooksbaseball.net/velo.php?pla...16&s_type=2

M-mechanics! Chris Bosio! Theo did it!

 

 

It''s a sad state of affairs when the baseball media chooses to look at this story and pursue it the way they have.

[Kyyle23]

Just looking at the velocity data, if he was up to no good, it probably started taking place towards the end of the 2012 season. Some pretty big spikes across the board. It is amazing that he's throwing his slider 5-7 mph harder than when he first came into the majors.

 

http://www.brooksbaseball.net/velo.php?pla...16&s_type=2

 

What has Arrietta said all along about Baltimore forcing him to throw the way they wanted to? All we ever talk about is how his delivery across the body is bad news and is the reason for his success and could be the reason for his downfall.

 

People are gonna believe what they want. Could Arrietta be on the juice? Yea. Does his success indicate that he is on the juice? No

 

[ChiSoxFanMike]

It's amazing how many garbage teams the Cubs face on a regular basis.

[Kyyle23]

It's amazing how many garbage teams the Cubs face on a regular basis.

 

I'm pretty sure the baseball media makes the schedule

[BaconOnAStick]

People are gonna believe what they want. Could Arrietta be on the juice? Yea. Does his success indicate that he is on the juice? No

This isnt just people, these are other MLB players who are in the same labor union Arrieta is in. You think these guys dont talk? You dont think what happens in the Cubs locker room necessarily stays there? The thing about office gossip is at its core there's almost always a truth, yet here we are with a Cubs-obsessed media willing to walk right past the obvious.

[Kyyle23]

This isnt just people, these are other MLB players who are in the same labor union Arrieta is in. You think these guys dont talk? You dont think what happens in the Cubs locker room necessarily stays there? The thing about office gossip is at its core there's almost always a truth, yet here we are with a Cubs-obsessed media willing to walk right past the obvious.

 

Hey man, don't let anything get in the way of your crusade. rage on, fight the power, take the man down

 

*raises fist*

[fathom]

What has Arrietta said all along about Baltimore forcing him to throw the way they wanted to? All we ever talk about is how his delivery across the body is bad news and is the reason for his success and could be the reason for his downfall.

People are gonna believe what they want. Could Arrietta be on the juice? Yea. Does his success indicate that he is on the juice? No

 

He very well may be clean. As we've seen too often over the last 20 years or so in MLB, usually when someone starts doing unprecedented things, suspicion has become reality. If you didn't know the situation and learned that a pitcher that flopped in the majors all of a sudden became the best pitcher in the history of the game with the body of a Greek god and was hitting 440 foot homers, I think everyone would start wondering. It's not like people weren't questioning it last season...it's just now it's come out his peers have questioned it also.

[Kyyle23]

He very well may be clean. As we've seen too often over the last 20 years or so in MLB, usually when someone starts doing unprecedented things, suspicion has become reality. If you didn't know the situation and learned that a pitcher that flopped in the majors all of a sudden became the best pitcher in the history of the game with the body of a Greek god and was hitting 440 foot homers, I think everyone would start wondering. It's not like people weren't questioning it last season...it's just now it's come out his peers have questioned it also.

 

 

That's perfectly fair, all I am saying is blaming the baseball media for burying this because OMG CUBS is super f***ing lame. ManRam, Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, Clemens all got rooted out and every one of them was much bigger to the majors at that time than the Cubs are right now. There are always skeptical reporters that start digging when they are suspicious, not all of them follow along like puppies on a leash

[fathom]

That's perfectly fair, all I am saying is blaming the baseball media for burying this because OMG CUBS is super f***ing lame. ManRam, Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, Clemens all got rooted out and every one of them was much bigger to the majors at that time than the Cubs are right now. There are always skeptical reporters that start digging when they are suspicious, not all of them follow along like puppies on a leash

 

Agreed, too many reporters out there trying to get the big scoop for something like this to be buried if there was actual evidence. Now of course the Chicago media will defend anything relating to the Cubs at all costs, but you're foolish to begin with if you let those homers tell you what to think.

[BaconOnAStick]

Hey man, don't let anything get in the way of your crusade. rage on, fight the power, take the man down

 

*raises fist*

I just think the media's job when accusations of PED use are made against a player by other players is not to ask the accused player for reaction quotes and build a story around how lighthearted and funny they are when acccused of PED use.

Edited April 27, 2016 by Alexeihyeess

[southsider2k5]

I prefer my speculation with some sort of basis, even if it is a Cub.

[BaconOnAStick]

I prefer my speculation with some sort of basis, even if it is a Cub.

There's plenty of basis to suspect Jake Arrieta, now we have concrete people within baseball willing to corroborate what many have suspected for about a year now.

[southsider2k5]

There's plenty of basis to suspect Jake Arrieta, now we have concrete people within baseball willing to corroborate what many have suspected for about a year now.

 

You keep using that word, I do not mean what you think it means.

 

Corroborate would mean that more than one person witnessed something, and are telling the same stories. We don't have that going on in this case.

 

The word you are looking for is "speculate".

[BaconOnAStick]

Whens the last time MLB players "speculated" about one of their own using, and they were loose lipped enough (or the speculation was pervasive enough) to make it to the media?

[southsider2k5]

Whens the last time MLB players "speculated" about one of their own using, and they were loose lipped enough (or the speculation was pervasive enough) to make it to the media?

 

Why does it matter? Speculation isn't evidence of anything.

[shysocks]

GOOGLE AUTOCOMPLETE IS IN ON IT.

 

 

Actually, the "steroids" option won't show up with any baseball player I tried. Wonder how much money MLB is kicking Google's way to make that happen.

[LittleHurt05]

GOOGLE AUTOCOMPLETE IS IN ON IT.

 

 

Actually, the "steroids" option won't show up with any baseball player I tried. Wonder how much money MLB is kicking Google's way to make that happen.

 

I typed in "Barry Bonds steroids" and "Barry Bonds PEDs". Nothing.

[shysocks]

I typed in "Barry Bonds steroids" and "Barry Bonds PEDs". Nothing.

It works in Bing though. But now Bing is in my browser history, so that's a shame.

[JUSTgottaBELIEVE]

He very well may be clean. As we've seen too often over the last 20 years or so in MLB, usually when someone starts doing unprecedented things, suspicion has become reality. If you didn't know the situation and learned that a pitcher that flopped in the majors all of a sudden became the best pitcher in the history of the game with the body of a Greek god and was hitting 440 foot homers, I think everyone would start wondering. It's not like people weren't questioning it last season...it's just now it's come out his peers have questioned it also.

I've been saying Arrieta is on something for nearly a year now and everyone thought I was crazy. The only thing crazy to me is how long it took for these suspicions/accusations to be publicized. The funny thing is most of the past suspicions surrounding stars like bonds, Big Mac, sosa, clemens, etc. were spot on. There are many parallels to Arrieta's sudden rise of dominance, well except for the fact that those guys were already all stars and then became all time greats with PED assistance. Arrieta was a high draft pick bust until his sudden resurgence. Yea, I'm sure it was all just a change in mechanics, that seems more plausible lol.

[Rowand44]

Whens the last time MLB players "speculated" about one of their own using, and they were loose lipped enough (or the speculation was pervasive enough) to make it to the media?

You tell me. Is there evidence out there that players speculating = guy is a steroid user? I bet there isn't.

 

Per usual baseball has brought this on their own so speculate away but there is testing now a days and Jake hasn't failed anything. I certainly wouldn't be shocked if he is on something but some of the opinions in here are pretty ridiculous.

[Buehrle>Wood]

I'm betting my mortgage on the Brewers tonight. Believe it.

[Quin]

My suspicion of Arrieta comes from his very late velocity increase.

[JUSTgottaBELIEVE]

You tell me. Is there evidence out there that players speculating = guy is a steroid user? I bet there isn't.

 

Per usual baseball has brought this on their own so speculate away but there is testing now a days and Jake hasn't failed anything. I certainly wouldn't be shocked if he is on something but some of the opinions in here are pretty ridiculous.

Was Sosa ever suspended for a failed drug test? Hard to trust the league or the testing given past history on this issue. I'm sure the tests are more sophisticated now than before but so are the masking agents and ways of circumventing the system. If something doesn't pass the eye test - i.e. abnormal jump in production, noticeable change in physical appearance, etc. it certainly warrants suspicion. How many pitchers have gone from bust to an ace, let alone best pitcher in the league, in their late 20's?

 

At the end of the day for many of these guys it's all about the money and the fame and gaining a competitive advantage to achieve both:

 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?id=42...t=bryant_howard