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A Look at the Past, Present, and Future of Junior Lake and the Cubs

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 […]

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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 […]

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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, […]

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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 […]