Top Play (WPA): Sometimes things are just that simple. Not 15 pitches into his start Thursday night, everyone in the ballpark knew Jon Lester was in trouble, and men in Dodger blue took their leads at every base. Howie Kendrick was at the plate, and with one out in the inning I suppose there was reasonable cause to hope […]
Day: June 26, 2015
YOUNG CUBS: Billy the Kid Keeps It Up
Hello, readers. Welcome to another edition of “Young Cubs.” The All-Star break for the minor leagues was this week, and it saw some great performances from Cubs prospects throughout the system. Dan Vogelbach, for instance, hit a three-run homer in the Southern League All-Star Game for the South Division squad. That means that there weren’t […]
Players are Human: On Quantifying Makeup and Personality
We’ve heard it countless times: baseball is a game of adjustments. Regardless of how talented a player is, he’s going to have to adjust at the big-league level if he wants to remain successful. Take Anthony Rizzo, for example. In 2012 he tasted his first bit of success in the major leagues. The following year […]
Eyewitness Report: Carl Edwards, Jr.
Carl Edwards Jr. has been widely considered the top arm in the Cubs farm system for the past two seasons. Edwards, who was impressive in his first big-league spring training, spent half of last season on the disabled list with shoulder inflammation that occurred in April. This undoubtedly was a major concern for many scouts […]