When the Cubs acquired José Quintana from the White Sox in July of 2017, the narrative Quintana carried was his consistency. Overshadowed by Chris Sale and saddled with a going-nowhere franchise, Quintana was undervalued, underappreciated, and (maybe most importantly for his trade value) underpaid. He was the guy about whom articles with titles like, “Is […]
Author: Josh Cole
Game 107 Recap: Cubs 9, Pirates 2
This game was a snoozefest, but a snoozefest in the best way possible. The story, of course, was the newest addition to the Cubs’ rotation, Cole Hamels. Just over three years after no-hitting the Cubs back on July 25th, 2015, Hamels made his debut in Cubbies pinstripes. The 2018 version of Hamels is a little […]
For Willson Contreras, It’s Not All About the Long Ball
Last Saturday, Willson Contreras hit this opposite-field homer off an Anthony DeSclafani slider. Thanks to the soft skin of home plate umpire Gary Gibson and the Cubs ultimately falling for the third straight time to the last-place Reds, Contreras’s second-inning shot was nowhere near the most newsworthy thing that happened in that game. But the […]
Game 73 Recap: Reds 6, Cubs 3
What You Need to Know: Jose Quintana took the hill in Great American Ball Park, trying to build on his recent stretch of success. And in the early going, that’s what he did. Apart from a Billy Hamilton line drive in the second, which scored Curt Casali, Quintana was looking sharp through four frames, racking up […]
Kyle Hendricks Can’t Keep the Ball in the Park
If you’ve watched a lot of Kyle Hendricks this year (and let’s be honest – if you’re reading this, you have), and if you’ve thought he seems a little off, don’t worry; you’re not alone. Hendricks himself has noticed, as he explained after last Sunday’s loss to the Pirates: “I’m just fighting myself on some […]
Game 63 Recap: Cubs 7, Brewers 2
Entering the first game of this all-important series with the Brewers, the Cubs had won seven of eight games against Milwaukee this season. And yet, all of that was prelude to this series, with the surging Cubs still finding themselves a half-game back in the division standings. What You Need to Know: Despite giving up […]
Game 45 Recap: Cleveland 10, Cubs 1
What You Need to Know: We all saw this coming, didn’t we? Didn’t we? After staving off the regression gods for most of the season, Tyler Chatwood could stave no longer. Chatwood entered Tuesday’s start, the first of a two-game interleague set with Cleveland, boasting a stellar 3.14 ERA that stood in stark contrast to his […]
Game 17 Recap: Cubs 16, Rockies 5
In an era where every pitch thrown, every brush of bat against ball, seemingly every breath taken by big leaguers is immediately measured and categorized and dissected, it’s refreshing to witness something that cannot be quantified. Javier Baez’s baseball instincts are unparalleled, and they were on full display on Friday night in the Cubs’ 16-5 […]
The Cognitive Dissonance of Ian Happ, Leadoff Man
“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The Crack-Up” Ian Happ is the new Cubs leadoff hitter; Ian Happ strikes out all the time. Fourteen times in his first 23 plate […]
Game 6 Recap: Cubs 8, Brewers 0
There’s something about rain delays. Everybody knows the story of the Cubs rallying to win the World Series after a 17-minute rain delay and some inspiring words from Jason Heyward during a player’s only meeting. It’s one of the more overplayed narratives of Cubs 2016 World Series lore, and even inspired an NBC documentary called […]