{"id":111083,"date":"2024-03-27T16:11:58","date_gmt":"2024-03-27T16:11:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/?p=111083"},"modified":"2024-03-27T16:14:53","modified_gmt":"2024-03-27T16:14:53","slug":"cubs-nearly-acquired-lhp-with-20-game-scoreless-streak-report-hong-nhung","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/cubs-nearly-acquired-lhp-with-20-game-scoreless-streak-report-hong-nhung\/","title":{"rendered":"Cubs Nearly Acquired LHP With 20-Game Scoreless Streak: Report"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<p>Getty\u00a0Cubs brass thought they were close to a deal for Sam Moll last summer, before he was dealt to the Reds.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/GettyImages-1693105135-e1711553844364.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" alt=\"Cubs Nearly Acquired LHP With 20-Game Scoreless Streak: Report - Heavy.com\" width=\"628\" height=\"352\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>On August 9 of last season, less than two weeks after he was dealt from the\u00a0A\u2019s\u00a0to the\u00a0Reds, lefty reliever\u00a0Sam Moll allowed two runs\u00a0in a third of an inning and was charged with a blown save. After that, though, Moll did not allow another run in 20 stretch-run appearances, a span of 19.0 innings in which he allowed eight hits, 11 walks and struck out 14. Oh, and before he went to Cincinnati, Moll was nearly traded to the\u00a0Cubs.<\/p>\n<p>Oh, what might have been for a Cubs team that was 1.5 games behind the Brewers in the National League Central on September 6, but proceeded to close the year on a 7-15 slide. The Cubs were just one game out of a wild-card spot and while the team\u2019s late flop was not entirely on the bullpen, a late-inning stopper like Moll might have been the difference between a postseason run and a non-playoff disappointment.<\/p>\n<p>According to Reds beat writer Gordon Wittenmyer, before the Reds ultimately made the deal for Moll, sending starter Joe Boyle to Oakland, the Cubs thought Moll was coming their way. Alas, it was not to be.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Cubs \u2018Were Close\u2019 to Deal for Moll<\/h2>\n<p>Here\u2019s what Wittenmyer, who was a longtime Cubs beat writer before he joined the Cincinnati Enquirer last year,\u00a0wrote about the Moll situation\u00a0this week.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Reds initially rejected the A\u2019s request for Joe Boyle in the deadline trade for lefty reliever Sam Moll last summer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2018They said no on Joe a couple of times until they finally came back and said yeah,\u2019 A\u2019s GM David Forst said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUntil then, the Chicago Cubs believed they were close to finalizing their own deal for Moll, a team source there said.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In all, Moll was 2-0 with a 0.73 ERA for the Reds after the July 31 trade was finalized. Somewhat of a undersize late bloomer (Moll is 5-foot-9 and 32 years old), it was something of a rough Spring Training for Moll, as he battled shoulder soreness coming off his offseason throwing program. He allowed six runs in 1.2 innings in Arizona this month, for a hefty 32.40 ERA.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Craig Counsell a Top Bullpen Manager<\/h2>\n<p>As it stands, the Cubs figure to have a strong bullpen in 2024, anchored by closer Adbert Alzolay flanked by set-up men Julian Merryweather and Mark Leiter Jr. Hector Neris and Yancey Almonte figure to play major roles, too. The team is lacking in lefties\u2014Moll would have helped there\u2014but manager Craig Counsell likes his group.<\/p>\n<p>Counsell had a reputation in Milwaukee for being one of the better managers when it comes to getting the most out of bullpen talent. Counsell is leaving the roles in the bullpen as an unanswered question, suggesting the unit will, \u201cevolve.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs people, we love to know exactly what we\u2019re going to do,\u201d Counsell said of the bullpen,\u00a0per The Athletic. \u201cBut at the same time, it\u2019s not always best for the group to make it so defined. Sometimes it\u2019s a little harder. The game doesn\u2019t always present itself in this clearly defined way.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe place we start with, with all pitchers, is our job is to get outs. If we start from that place and work to be a little more defined, that\u2019s the best place to be.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty\u00a0Cubs brass thought they were close to a deal for Sam Moll last summer, before he was dealt to the Reds. On August 9 of last season,&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":111088,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb-sport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111083"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}