It’s been a fun season on the North Side of Chicago. For the first time since 2008, the Cubs are relevant, and their young core has them in position to make it to the playoffs—and possibly the promised land—come October. The starting pitching has been excellent, the bullpen inconsistent at times but with flashes of […]
Author: Baseball Prospectus
Cubs Acquire Tommy Hunter from Orioles
The fascinating thing about the rumors this week that Aroldis Chapman or Craig Kimbrel might be traded was the fact that that just never happens. Relievers change hands in big volume every year at the deadline, but they tend to be interchangeable arms, many of them with eerily similar profiles: the left specialist, the ancient […]
Cubs Acquire Dan Haren From Marlins
With thoughts of Tyson Ross or Carlos Carrasco dancing in their heads, Cubs fans may not be as excited to see Dan Haren being added to Chicago’s rotation. But the fact is for the remaining two months of the season, Haren is exactly what the team needs when it comes to the starting staff. After […]
The Beer List: Trade Deadline Mega Edition
This is The Beer List. It’s an opportunity, once every so often, for the staff here at BP Wrigleyville to get together (virtually, of course) and respond briefly to one specific, usually quite general, question. Despite the strenuous efforts of certain members of the writing crew to make it so, it has nothing to do […]
The Call Up: Kyle Schwarber
This article originally appeared on Baseball Prospectus The Situation: The 34-27 Cubs have been one of the best stories in baseball, and though it will only last for a week—or so the team says, anyway—Chicago will get another glimpse of its future when they promote Schwarber on Tuesday. Background: Schwarber was an offensive stalwart at […]
Game 42 Recap: Cubs 9 Diamondbacks 6
Photo courtesy of Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports The below recap is written by BP-Wrigleyville contributor Leo Martinic Top Play (WPA): A back and forth game led to a 6-6 tie in the top of the ninth inning. After Dexter Fowler’s sharp single and a Yasmany Tomas error on a hard hit Kris Bryant groundball, Anthony […]
The Beer List: Stat Most Likely to Change by Season’s End
This is The Beer List. It has nothing to do with beer, it’s just a list. But I like beer, and I hear that every once in a while, the folks who frequent Wrigley Field may take a sip as well. What we’re doing here is throwing out a question to the staff each week […]
Going Yard: How Bryant Can Crush
This article originally appeared on Baseball Prospectus and is written by BP author Ryan Parker. Today is the day. Cubs fans have waited 12 days (well, technically the buzz has been building since last summer) for the monumental occasion that is a rookie walking onto the field. Despite all the drama at the start of the […]
The Call Up: Kris Bryant
This article originally appeared on Baseball Prospectus and is written by BP authors Christopher Crawford and Bret Sayre. The Situation: The Cubs have their best roster since at least 2008, and with Mike Olt headed to the disabled list with a hairline fracture of his wrist, the Cubs have called up Bryant to man the […]