Position: Third base, occasional corner outfielder 2018 Stats: .272/.374/.460, 109 DRC+, 0.6 FRAA, -2.2 BRA, 1.9 WARP Year in Review: After being promoted in April 2015, Kris Bryant wasted no time in establishing himself as a force in the middle of the Cubs lineup. That season, he belted 26 home runs on his way to […]
Author: Andy Ziccarelli
Player Profile 2019: Brandon Morrow
Position: Relief Pitcher, Primary Closer 2018 Stats: 1.47 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 2.92 FIP, 3.66 DRA, 0.4 WARP Year in review: The Cubs knew the risk they were taking when they signed Brandon Morrow to be the team’s primary closer prior to the 2018 season. As a starter early in his career, the injury-prone righty made 30 starts […]
Game 121 Recap: Cubs 1, Pirates 0
What You Need to Know: Kyle Schwarber homered early for the Cubs, giving them the only run they would need in their second consecutive 1-0 victory. However, the defense stole the show by turning a whopping seven(!) double plays on the night, the most the Cubs have ever turned in a single game, and tied […]
Third Time Hasn’t Been the Charm This Season for Cubs
Over the past few seasons, the Cubs’ offensive trademark has been their ability to wear down starting pitchers by grinding out at-bats early in the game and forcing the opposing pitcher to throw a high number of pitches. Even in games in which they didn’t score early, the Cubs maintained a confidence that they would […]
Game 80 Recap: Cubs 10, Twins 6
What You Need to Know: Conditions were favorable for the long ball today at Wrigley Field, with the heat index over 100 degrees and the wind blowing out hard all game. The Cubs obliged, launching four home runs en route to a 10-6 win over Minnesota. Jason Heyward, Ben Zobrist and Kyle Schwarber all went […]
Game 77 Recap: Cubs 9, Dodgers 4
Lead photo courtesy Gary A. Vasquez—USA Today Sports What You Need To Know: The Cubs received another solid start from Jon Lester, who allowed only two runs in five innings of work. However, the offense failed to cash in on a number of early opportunities, and the Cubs found themselves trailing 2-1 entering the […]
Game 76 Recap: Dodgers 2, Cubs 1
What You Need To Know: Duane Underwood, Jr. made an emergency start for the Cubs, and kept the game within reach, yielding only one solo home run in four innings of work. Justin Wilson gave up another solo shot to Chris Taylor in the eighth, which ultimately proved to be the difference. The Cubs failed […]
Game 66 Recap: Cubs 13, Cardinals 5
What You Need to Know: The Cubs’ offense broke out of their collective slump in a big way against Cardinals’ starter Michael Wacha, taking him deep three times and piling up nine runs on him in four-plus innings, turning the game into a rout early. With the big cushion, Jon Lester turned in another solid […]
Game 64 Recap: Brewers 4, Cubs 0
What you need to know: The Cubs offense never got anything going against Chase Anderson, scratching out only one infield hit in seven innings against the Brewers starter. Tyler Chatwood spent more time around the strike zone that he has recently, but Travis Shaw drilled two doubles in his first two at-bats, plating four early runs […]
Breaking Down the 2018 Bullpen
The lasting images of the 2017 Cubs bullpen are not favorable ones. In the NLCS alone, we saw Carl Edwards, Jr. walking Yu Darvish on four pitches with the bases loaded, Hector Rondon getting passed over in the ninth inning of Game 2 in favor of John Lackey (a career starter who had never pitched […]