Joe Maddon’s quippy, screen print-friendly words of advice and encouragement to his players can be a bit tedious at times. “Try Not to Suck” is a winner. “Respect 90″ is basic, but strong. “Do Simple Better” and “The Process is Fearless” encapsulate these Cubs so wonderfully, one can excuse the fact that they’re inherited Maddonisms, […]
Author: Matthew Trueblood
Series Preview: Cubs vs. Padres, May 9-11
This series represents the calm in the middle of the storm for the Cubs, who follow a week of games against the Pirates and Nationals with three night games at Wrigley against the lowly Padres, after which they’ll host the Pirates for three games, then head out on the first road trip of the season […]
Game 27 Recap: Cubs 5 Nationals 2
I’m not saying the Cubs are going to win 110 or more games. All I’m saying is that the way to win 110 or more games is to sometimes get one when you’re a long way from full strength and the opposing starter is on top of his game and you’re sending your fifth guy […]
Game 22 Recap: Cubs 6 Braves 1
This one was close… until it wasn’t. Top Play: The lowly Braves played the Cubs to an unlikely draw through seven and a half innings, but it couldn’t last. After loading the bases in the seventh inning but failing to score, the Cubs loaded them again in the eighth, and Anthony Rizzo was due this time, […]
In Hitting Environment All About Surviving, Cubs Offense Thriving
With an eight-run outburst in Arizona Tuesday night, the St. Louis Cardinals took over the runs per game leadership of MLB from the Chicago Cubs. The Pittsburgh Pirates, enjoying the thin air and thinner pitching staff in Colorado, padded their league-leading team OBP (it was .378 entering play, and the steam uncannily matched that figure […]
Game 18 Recap: Reds 13 Cubs 5
For all the fun the baseball world has had with the Cubs and their gaudy run differential in the early going (and I’ve had plenty myself), this game was a good reminder of something I hope everyone kept in mind from the get-go: run differentials are often deceiving. This game was a whole lot closer […]
Can Jake Arrieta Keep This Up? Data, Instead of History, Might Hold The Answer
This much we know for sure: Thursday night in Cincinnati was not Peak Jake Arrieta. The Cubs’ ace did complete his second no-hitter in less than eight months, shutting out the Reds in a 16-0 rout, but he walked four batters, fanned only six, and needed nearly 120 pitches to do it. Compared even to […]
Game 15 Recap: Cardinals 5 Cubs 3
A long rain delay and a teaser of an eighth-inning rally couldn’t undo the damage of a rocky start for Kyle Hendricks and an offense that had their getaway day shoes on. Top Play: In the Cardinals’ half of the first inning, after a Stephen Piscotty grounder that eluded Tommy La Stella at third base and […]
Why Aren’t the Cubs Following Their Preseason Plan for Pitchers?
The Chicago Cubs’ starting pitching has been phenomenal over the first two weeks of the 2016 season. There’s really nothing but good news. Entering Monday, no team had matched the Cubs’ 11 Quality Starts, and only the Nationals rotation had a higher average Game Score. By a narrow margin, the club led the league in […]
The Surprisingly Rich History Between the Cubs and the Rockies
The Rockies and Cubs have a knack for playing odd, exciting, and/or marathon games against one another. That’s the premise here. Please don’t seek an analytical bent here; there is none. I suspect that phenomenon is mostly meaningless, the expected compound produced when one combines extreme, unusual run environments, persistent organizational failures in the area […]