As of Monday, the Cubs had given 2,345 plate appearances to players in their age-25 season or younger. In those trips to the plate, that subset of the team drew 207 walks. Both figures are the highest in the league for that age group, which should surprise no one at this point. The Cubs are […]
Author: Matthew Trueblood
Them Wild-Eyed Boys That Have Been Away: How the Full-Strength Cubs Should Look
On Wednesday night, as the Cubs fought in vain to keep their winning streak alive in Pittsburgh, Miguel Montero and Tommy La Stella toiled in Tennessee. Their situations are very different. Montero is trying to hurry back from a sprained thumb that appeared it would steal most of his second half; La Stella is trying […]
What (If Anything) Is Wrong with Kris Bryant?
From the start of the series in which the White Sox visited the Cubs leading into the All-Star break through the end of this weekend’s trio of frustrating losses to the Phillies, Kris Bryant hit .120/.224/.260. In 58 plate appearances, he drew six walks and notched four extra-base hits (including a home run, Friday), but […]
Do Rookie Regulars Wear Down in the Second Half?
The Cubs’ offense began to break out of its weeks-long slump in its first two series out of the All-Star break. Their runs scored by game, since the break, read: 2, 4, 4, 4, 5, 1, 6. That’s hardly an explosion, but for a team who scored 51 runs in their final 20 games before […]
A Long Season in Short Relief
The truth about contending teams’ bullpens is that very few of them remain the same throughout a season. The easiest thing to add at the trade deadline is an extra relief arm, and the easiest guy to displace to make room for any addition is the last guy in a bullpen, but that’s only part […]
Starlin Castro: (Re)Making Strides
It’s been a rough first half of 2015 for Starlin Castro. After a strong start, Castro faltered in late April. The Cubs played a game on each of the first 17 days of May, during which time Castro played every day—and fell headlong into a slump the way out of which remains undiscovered. For all the […]
Fixing the Cubs Offense
The Cubs offense isn’t exactly lighting up the scoreboard. Despite a .711 team OPS in June (narrowly, the best of any month to date), they’ve scored only 100 runs in 26 June games. In fact, 74 games into their season, they’re on pace to score fewer than 650 runs for the campaign. They could keep […]
A Modified Piggyback, with an Earl Weaver Gambit Kicker
The Cubs carried 14 pitchers for Sunday night’s game against the Reds, and if they’d played on Monday night, they’d have done the same. That’s one more hurler than threw a single pitch for the 1993 Atlanta Braves, and just one fewer than pitched for the 2005 Twins, 2001 Mariners, 1999 Astros, or 1996 Dodgers. […]
The Light at the End of the Tunnel
No matter how it ends, June will be a tough month for the Cubs. There were four games against the Nationals, and between here and the end of the month, there will be: two against the Tigers, four against the Indians, four against the Dodgers, and three against the Cardinals. That’s 17 games against, perhaps, […]
Checking in on the Bottom of the Cubs’ Lineup
Photo courtesy of Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports The Cubs have used the pitcher in the eighth slot in each of their first 49 games. This was one of the (minor) innovations new manager Joe Maddon promised when he arrived from Tampa Bay. For Maddon, doing things differently than other managers is a point of pride, […]