If you want to start worrying about the Cubs rotation, I’m going to give you permission to raise your threat level from green to orange. Not that you really know what that means, but it probably means adjusting in your seat. Jon Lester has been riding his luck and the Cubs defense, and you never […]
Author: Sam Fels
Game 83 Recap: Cubs 5, Tigers 3
What You Need To Know: If you were hoping for an easy, I’ve-Figured-It-Out Kyle Hendricks ride, you didn’t get it. Hendricks got paper cut to death in the first, with only one hard-hit ball accounting for the two runs against. But he hung in there—which he’s basically been forced to do all season—didn’t pitch enough innings—which everyone […]
Game 71 Recap: Cubs 4, Dodgers 0
What You Need To Know: If you were to sketch out what a Cubs win on a Jon Lester start looks like, it would probably be exactly this. He doesn’t strike anyone out, there’s a lot of loud contact, but the Cubs play great defense behind him with notable catches/plays from Kyle Schwarber, Albert Almora, Jason […]
The Cubs Defense Is Great, And It’s Going To Have To Be
This Cubs team is hard to pin down for a lot of people. Because they tend to have a lot of nights where they don’t score much, a lot think they’re offensively challenged. Except they’re one of the best offensive teams in the league. A lot of people have ranted and raved about the starting […]
LE-STER! LE-STER! The Ace We’ve Been After?
It probably wouldn’t be healthy to think about where the Cubs might be if Jon Lester weren’t having a terrific season. Hendricks has been homer happy and innings-short. Quintana has been up and down, Darvish has been ouch-y and wonky and maybe a couple other -ys, and Tyler Chatwood has been performance art for the […]
Game 60 Recap: Cubs 3, Pirates 1
What You Need To Know: When a team gets really rolling, it doesn’t win every game by 10 (unless it’s 2016). A rolling team can methodically rack up wins and surge up the standings, though. That’s what the Cubs are doing at the moment. Mike Montgomery did more floating like a butterfly than stinging like a bee […]
Spreading The Love: The Cubs and Plate Appearances
There’s certainly a lot that’s unique about the Cubs. For three years now, we’ve wondered how the Cubs will cram in ABs for all the players they have. And generally, it’s worked itself out. While we complain about teams having three- or four-man benches these days thanks to bloated bullpens and injuries and a terror […]
Game 58 Recap: Phillies 3, Cubs 4
What You Need To Know: Ride the Chatwood Snake (are we still doing phrasing?). You’ve seen this start before. Tyler Chatwood is so bad it’s good, like pizza or comedy (or other stuff). He walked seven while getting 14 outs, but because he was so all over the place the Phillies couldn’t zero in on anything […]
What You Don’t Know About The Cubs Offense Won’t Kill You
The Cubs are now 10 games over .500 a third of the way through, meaning they only have the seventh-best record in the league. Even considering that the Cubs have played the least amount of games of anyone, there has been a lot of monkey-in-a-zoo activity out here in the fandom wilderness—especially before their recent surge. […]
Game 53 Recap: Cubs 7, Mets 4
What You Need To Know: Tyler Chatwood didn’t immolate. Zack Wheeler was good. But he wasn’t nine innings good. And when you don’t throw nine innings as a Met, you’re basically asking the local neighborhood arsonist to watch your kids. Wheeler opened the door a crack, the Cubs kicked it open while the Mets’ pen got […]