Lost in the wealth of young Cubs talent like Kris Bryant, Jorge Soler, Javier Baez, and Arismendy Alcantara are some of the other players of their generation. Junior Lake typifies this crowd, which also included former Cubs Brett Jackson and Josh Vitters—players best left forgotten. What shouldn’t be readily forgotten is how hot Lake’s 2013 […]
Author: Scott Lindholm
The Cubs at 50 Games
As the Cubs has passed the 50-game mark, they’re approaching the point where questions begin to be answered, and not always in a positive manner. With a 27-23 record after Tuesday, the Cubs would be right in the thick of the playoffs if they were to begin now. It’s not too soon to wonder if the […]
Why Team WARP Isn’t as Important as the Individual
Photo courtesy of David Banks-USA TODAY Sports Having buried my head in sports statistics for the better part of the past fifteen years, I often take for granted the sports literacy of the typical fan, particularly when it comes to the utilization of some of the newer measures. I was listening to 670 The Score […]
Cubbie Ks a Concern?
Photo courtesy of Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports I was doing research for a piece on the difference in strikeout rates depending on whether there were runners in scoring position or if the bases were empty, and I was struck by a number that leaped off the page at me. In addition to the Cubs bucking […]
Was Castro’s Mild Dash Worth It?
Photo courtesy of David Banks-USA TODAY Sports My wife and I were driving to Chicago last Friday to help our younger daughter move from one Lakeview apartment to another. It really wasn’t the ideal time to move, with the Cubs at home, but a confluence of events made these days the only ones that would […]
Breaking Down the Cubs Defense
Photo courtesy of Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports Cubs fans had every right to be excited entering 2015. In addition to the wealth of young talent, new additions like Jon Lester, Jason Hammel, Miguel Montero, and David Ross had even the most jaded Cubs fan thinking positive thoughts. In the face of this optimism, a rational […]
How the Cubs Have Fared on the Mistake Index
Photo courtesy of Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports A couple years ago, I created something I call the Mistake Index, in which I attempt to measure mistakes that both teams and their opponents make, with the assumption that teams that make fewer mistakes have more success. I’ve written about this in several places, most recently here, […]
The Ramifications of a 13-Man Pitching Staff
Photo courtesy of Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports The Cubs called up Junior Lake and sent Brian Schlitter down on Monday, and until then they had been carrying a 13-man pitching staff, and there’s many reasons for that. They had a stretch of consecutive games from April 17-29 without an off day, even though they received […]
The Impact of Hitting the Pitcher Eighth
Joe Maddon stated he was going to bat his pitcher in the eighth slot in the batting order, and so far this year, he’s stuck to his guns. Regardless of the hitting abilities of the pitcher involved or the player slotted in the ninth spot, the Cubs pitcher has batted eighth in every game so […]
Picking Apart Lester’s Pickoffs
Much was made about Jon Lester’s lack of throws to first after his Opening Night start against the Cardinals, which is easy to understand. It was the first game of the season, featuring a national broadcast with a three-man booth using every bit of information generated by their producers. After the game, I didn’t hear all […]