“Always I had in mind some giant, armed in giant force, would come against me here. But this, but you—small, pitiful and twiggy—you put me down…” – Polyphemus (The Odyssey, Book 9, lines 427-430) Seattle Mariners reliever Cody Martin had to have wondered at the situation he found himself in late into the night of […]
Author: Jared Wyllys
Tyson Ross: Potential Offseason Target
The Cubs want for very little when it comes to their expected 25-man roster going into 2017. Many things can change, of course, but they are well built enough to be the World Series favorite again next year—not just contend. It’s easy to make that projection before Christmas of 2016. However, there’s a developing point […]
Player Profile: Mike Montgomery
Position: Relief pitcher, likely starter in 2017 2016 Stats: 100 IP, 2.52 ERA, 3.89 DRA, 90 cFIP, .262 oppTAv Year in Review: Every successful team needs a few of the players who are willing to shoulder the unglamorous grunt work in order to make a run at a championship. The task of turning an unparalleled regular season […]
Transaction Analysis: Brian Duensing
This piece, previewed here, is part of Baseball Prospectus’ “Transaction Analysis” series, which covers all trades and signings around the league. It originally ran on December 5. The Cubs reached into the archives and grabbed a left-handed reliever in Duensing. He gave fans in Minnesota plenty to be happy about earlier in his career, and […]
The Bullpen’s New 1-2 Punch
And just like that, the Cubs have three of the last four pitchers to record the final out in a World Series. Even with the departure of Aroldis Chapman, Chicago possessed a cadre of formidable bullpen holdovers. Pedro Strop and Hector Rondon had, after all, handled the duties of closing out games for much of […]
Player Profile: Miguel Montero
Position: Catcher 2016 Stats: .216/.327/.357, .257 TAv, 2.1 WARP Year in Review: Recency bias would have been kind to Miguel Montero if not for some surprising off-the-cuff remarks on the day of the World Series victory parade and rally a few weeks ago. What made them surprising was not so much that Montero had spoken so […]
Aroldis Chapman: Potential Offseason Target
Aroldis Chapman’s time as a member of the New York Yankees will likely not be what’s remembered about his 2016 season. His chief highlight from his tenure in the Bronx was the 105.1 mph fastball he chucked in July, just a few weeks before coming to the Friendly Confines. But for as remarkable as that is, […]
It’s Time to Move on From Dexter Fowler
Cubs fans have already said goodbye to Dexter Fowler once, and they undoubtedly did not anticipate not only finding themselves in a position where they would be preparing to do it again but also that it would somehow be even harder than the first time. His surprise and well-chronicled return to the Cubs in late February sparked a […]
Going Long: Mike Montgomery, Starter
Mike Montgomery made his first career start in the majors on June 2, 2015 against the New York Yankees. His box score from the night is innocuous—six innings, 24 batters, four hits, a run, a walk, and four strikeouts. That he would be, just sixteen months later, pitching the final out of Game Seven of the […]
Second City October: World Series Game Four Preview, Cleveland (2-1), at Cubs (1-2)
There’s the plan and then there’s the outcome, and very often those two things don’t wind up in sync. When the flyball pitcher from Cleveland takes the mound at Wrigley with the wind blowing out, a 1-0 finish in his favor is not the expected outcome. But it was, and that’s put the Cubs in […]