The Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 8-1 Thursday night to bring their record, fittingly, to 8-1. But the lopsided scoreline serves mostly as a lavish facade for what, until the fifth inning, was a tight 1-0 game. Jason Hammel delivered a solid six-inning performance, walking four batters but surrendering no runs on the way to […]
Day: April 14, 2016
What Can We Make of the Cubs’ (Very) Good Start?
The Cubs have spent the first eight games of the season generally wreaking havoc on their opponents. With the Orioles dropping their first game yesterday, the Cubs are now tied with Baltimore for the best record in the league thus far, at 7-1. With the exception of a 3-2 loss to the Diamondbacks involving lots of […]
In “The Narrative,” Cubs Face a Storied Enemy
At this point, all of us are aware of the ironclad rule of Cubs history: nothing that happens today is so bad that it can’t be compared to something worse from the past. The media that follows the team reminds us of this constantly. And one of the consequences of Kyle Schwarber’s injury is that […]
Pitching Progress: An Effort in Finding Incremental Gains, Vol. I
My very favorite thing about baseball is that it’s like a dog; no matter what transpires one day, it’s always there for you the next. [Editor’s note: Until it dies.] The constancy acts something like a drug, for those of us that are addicted to its remedies. Quite simply, life is better with baseball. But for […]