Position: Right fielder par excellence 2018 Stats: .270/.335/.395, 97 DRC+, 8.8 FRAA, 3.0 BRR, 2.6 WARP Year in Review: On June 6 of this past season with the Cubs trailing the Phillies 5-3 and with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Jason Heyward stepped to the plate with the bases loaded. In the previous […]
Author: Ken Schultz
Drill Instructors, Whammy Men, and Senseis: A Brief History of Cubs Gimmick Fails
Once Joe Maddon takes his perch at the edge of the dugout on Opening Day 2019, he will become the first Cubs skipper to manage five consecutive years with the team since Jim Riggleman (1995-99). That fact is at once astonishing for what it reveals about the franchise’s ineptitude and yet not surprising at all […]
Player Profile 2019: Steve Cishek
Position: Relief pitcher. Joe Maddon’s security blanket. 2018 Stats: 2.18 ERA, 3.40 FIP, 4.68 DRA, 1.04 WHIP, .218 TAv, 0.2 WARP Year in Review: Someday, billions of years into the future, the sun will burn out and threaten life as we know it across the galaxy. And as its helium core begins to collapse on […]
Player Profile 2019: Jon Lester
Position: Starting Pitcher. Supplier of perfect metaphors for the 2018 season. 2018 Stats: 3.32 ERA, 4.35 FIP, 4.44 DRA, 1.31 WHIP, 7.4 K/9, 18-6, 1.8 WARP Year in Review: “Sometimes you need to get your dick knocked in the dirt to appreciate it. Maybe we needed that.” — Jon Lester following the Cubs’ elimination from the […]
Offseason target: Manny Machado
Position: Shortstop (if you ask him). Third base (if you ask Buck Showalter). Unprintable expletive (if you ask anyone from Milwaukee). 2018 Stats: .297/.367/.538, 37 HR, 146 OPS+, 140 wRC+, 5.8 WARP How He Fits In: It seems like we’ve been preparing for the 2018-19 free agent class for three or four years now. And […]
Anthony Rizzo and the greatest mulligan of all time
Back in late July, I had the distinct pleasure of attending the finale of the Cubs/Diamondbacks series in person. After David Bote sent Wrigley Field up for grabs with a two-run, bottom-of-the-ninth-inning homer to complete a furious five-run Cubs comeback, tying the score at six, Anthony Rizzo strode to the plate as the potential game […]
The 2018 Cubs: I still liked them better than Steinbrenner
The 2018 Chicago Cubs did not end well. Given how things turned out on the field, it would have been as satisfying to conclude the 2018 Wild Card Game with Gary Pressy playing “Don’t Stop Believin’,” Scott Oberg winding up to deliver an 0-2 pitch to Albert Almora, and the ESPN feed suddenly cutting to […]
Game 161 Recap: Cardinals 2, Cubs 1
It is with great sadness and regret that I must begin this recap with the bleakest and most hopeless words I’ve written all year… Go Tigers. What You Need to Know: This one had the feel of October with a national telecast on a crisp fall day and both starting pitchers performing at or near […]
The Crosstown Classic: The Pitcher Win of the MLB Schedule
My first experience with the Crosstown Classic was in 1997—the debut year for interleague play. There was a considerable amount of fanfare and hype for the series that essentially boiled down to: “Watch a team six games below .500 take on another team twelve games below .500 to determine who owns bragging rights!!!” Left unsaid, […]
Game 156 Recap: Pirates 5, Cubs 1
Early on in tonight’s game, the Cubs telecast showed a clip of the Pirates’ three runs wild pitch from yesterday. And as the horror show unfolded before his eyes, Pittsburgh play by play man Greg Brown cried out, “That is AWFUL. Oh my goodness, is this AWFUL! That’s DISGRACEFUL.” It was a confusing moment for […]