The Astros outhit the Cubs for the second straight game, but this time managed to score two runs first. Two runs is apparently the most runs teams are allowed to score while playing in Houston. So it was a good strategy by A.J. Hinch to call for an early Alex Bregman home run. A couple […]
Author: Mike Banghart
Game 140 Recap: Cubs 2 Astros 0
Third time is the charm after all. The Cubs are no longer stuck on 89 wins. They have now won 90 or more games in back to back seasons for the first times since the 1930 season. Milestones like this have been a frequent occurrence, and that is to be expected when watching the best […]
Winning is Fun: A Brief History
Winning is fun. The Cubs rolled through the early portion of their schedule, and used that cushion to weather a midseason blip in late June and early July. Then they came roaring out of the All-Star break, and are now poised to win a tenth straight game. Every team experiences ebbs and flows over the […]
Just a Reliever? Maybe Not.
The Cubs remade their bullpen in the two weeks before the non-waiver trade deadline. The Cubs added three major league-caliber relievers, who now make up a third of their nine man bullpen. The acquisitions of Joe Smith and Mike Montgomery brought little fanfare despite adding depth to the bullpen. Aroldis Chapman and the price paid to […]
Skill, Not Luck: Hammel Time
The Cubs rotation has been the driving force behind this team all season. As the club got off to a near-historic start, it was powered largely by a pitching staff with historic run prevention rates. There were questions marks, though, about how sustainable this level of performance was given the low .258 BABIP allowed by […]
Cubs, Despite Struggles, Studded With Stars
There has not been much joy for the Chicago National League ball club the past three weeks. The Cubs are limping both metaphorically and literally, with seemingly-all of their players recovering from leg injuries as we head into the All-Star Break. It is easy to forget, these days, just how good and talented the 2016 […]
Game 81 Recap: Mets 14 Cubs 3
An age-old sports question is what is the most preferable way to lose. Is it more damaging to be blown out or to suffer a nail-biting defeat? Cubs fans have gotten a side-by-side comparison throughout the four-game rematch of the 2015 NLCS. The answer is that they both suck, especially when they happen four straight […]
The Cubs at 70: How’re They Doing?
The mighty Cubs struck out three times against their mortal enemy St. Louis Cardinals. This means that they are limping, somewhat, into the 70 game mark of the season. 70 games is an important demarcation line in the season is because this is the point where Russell Carleton, writing at the mothership, found that run differential stabilizes. […]
An Old Idea as New: Let’s Turn This Thing Down to Eleven
Baseball is a beautiful game but also a cruel one. Often it can be both at the same time. That might lead one to call baseball a crueltiful game. On second thought, don’t call it that. That would be weird. Perhaps no better example of the sport’s essential duality has been the recent injury bug […]
Dexter Fowler and the Cubs’ Perpetual Center Field Search
The vacancy at third base that lasted for three decades is now a part of Cubs lore. Ron Santo was a Hall of Fame player on a beloved Cubs team that fell just short, and he was traded away to the crosstown White Sox to finish off his career after the 1973 season. The search […]