Top Play (WPA): The top play of this mostly very fun night came when Kyle Schwarber did this to a baseball (.306): This three-run homer in the third inning off of Matt Cain gave the Cubs a lead that they would never relinquish. Coming into tonight, Schwarber had been 3 for his last 26, including a four-strikeout […]
Author: Nate Greabe
State of the NL Central: Cardinals and Pirates
With six weeks left in the season, there is little doubt that the NL Central is MLB’s best division. Even after the Cubs’ recent three-game losing streak, the division is home to three of baseball’s best four teams by winning percentage in the Cardinals (77-43), Pirates (71-47), and Cubs (67-51) (the other best team is […]
Game 110 Recap: Cubs 2 Giants 0
Top Play (WPA): Whew, well, what a weekend. In front of another raucous Wrigley crowd on Sunday, the Cubs (barely) completed their second consecutive four-game weekend sweep, and entrenched themselves as favorites in the NL Wild Card race. Let’s recap. The Cubs never quite scored a knockout blow against Giants starter Jake Peavy, but with Jake Arrieta […]
Game 106 Recap: Pirates 7, Cubs 5
Top Play (WPA): The Cubs actually had the top two WPA plays of the game, and they came in quick succession in the sixth inning. Down 4-1, Kyle Schwarber powered a towering home run to center to make it 4-3 (.166), and then Anthony Rizzo homered to tie the game two batters later (.181). This was a […]
Game 94 Recap: Cubs 6 Reds 5
Top Play (WPA): Wow—what a crazy win, and what a positive way to finish up what ended up as a successful 4-3 road trip. It will be hard to do this game justice in a recap, but I’ll do my best. When the Cubs went down 5-0 in the bottom of the second, it looked […]
Game 91 Recap: Reds 5 Cubs 4
Top Play (WPA): This game was back and forth through the first six innings, but Jay Bruce’s two-out, two-run homer off of Justin Grimm gave the Reds a 5-to-4 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish (.412). Grimm came on in relief of Clayton Richard, who was removed after 70 pitches and three runs through 5 2/3 innings. The decision […]
The Dangers of a Quick Rebuild
As all Cubs fans know, Theo Epstein took over baseball operations of the Chicago Cubs prior to the 2012 season. His 2003-2011 Boston teams had been consistent and perennial winners, and he promised to give the Cubs organization similar sustained success through a ground-up rebuild. This certainly sounded enticing at the time, and the rebuild’s awesome effects […]
Game 83 Recap: Cubs 5, Cardinals 3
Top Play (WPA): Whew, well that felt good. Cardinals Devil Magic ran thin in the seventh inning of this one, and the Cubs were able to pull off what seemed like an unlikely doubleheader sweep on Tuesday. Let’s recap. The top play in this one was Addison Russell’s game-tying single in the bottom of the […]
Game 68 Recap: Cubs 4, Dodgers 2
Top Play (WPA): Things weren’t looking great for the Cubs in the bottom of the third inning. Enrique Hernandez had just homered to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead, and Cubs starter Tsuyoshi Wada had left the game with an apparent shoulder injury. Meanwhile, Clayton Kershaw had looked very comfortable against Cubs bats the first time through […]
Game 63 Recap: Cubs 17, Cleveland 0
Top Play (WPA): Kyle Schwarber’s triple in the top of the second kicked off what turned out to be a relentless offensive onslaught from the Cubs last night (.160). It was the first hit of Schwarber’s career. Cleveland starter Shawn Marcum was chased after two innings and seven runs, and then the Indians bullpen burned through […]