When I got word of the new Cubs-focused site to be launched by Baseball Prospectus in early 2015 and led by Sahadev Sharma, I jumped at the opportunity to write about baseball for the first time away from academia. Sure, I had concerned myself with baseball history as an undergraduate working on his senior thesis, […]
Author: Zack Moser
The Cubs Can Afford Any Free Agent They Want
We’ve all seen the reports regarding the Ricketts’ reluctance to spend money this offseason, so I’m going to get down to brass tacks very quickly: the Cubs can afford any free agent they want this offseason. They could sign Bryce Harper or Manny Machado, add to their shaky bullpen, and nab a veteran backup catcher, […]
The Cubs and Astros: A Brief Treatise on Young Hitters’ Roles
Last week, my colleague Sam Fels outlined the parallels between the Cubs and Astros: their recent success, their methods to get there, and where the two teams stand at the moment. Sam’s ultimate conclusion was somewhat optimistic, ending on this note: When you total it up, the Cubs have won more games than the Astros […]
Kyle Schwarber Is a Great Platoon Player—The Cubs Should Use Him Like One
Ever since Theo Epstein took the podium the Wednesday following the Cubs’ Wild Card game loss to Colorado, there’s been speculation about which players he had in mind when saying the club needed to “stop evaluating this in terms of talent and start evaluating in terms of production.” Even before those comments, I posited that […]
Cubs Make First Change of Offseason, Fire Chili Davis
Over a week ago, I wrote these words about Cubs hitting coach Chili Davis: It’s difficult to know how or if to blame a hitting coach for one season’s worth of poor performance, but the Cubs’ firing of John Mallee and hiring of Davis has, at best, been lateral move. I wrote this in the […]
The Cubs Lost the Division (and the Wild Card), Pt. 3: Outfield and More
The Cubs lost the Central Division on Monday, 3-1 to the Brewers at Wrigley Field. The Cubs lost the NL Wild Card game on Tuesday, 2-1 to the Rockies at Wrigley Field. The games themselves are hardly worth a post-mortem, if only because the reasons they lost are the among reasons I’ve outlined in the first […]
If the Cubs Lose the Division, It’s Not Because of the Weather, Pt. 2: Catcher
Yesterday, we published the first of three parts in this series considering the preventable causes for this disappointing Cubs season. Identified in that part were two pitching-related causes: the domino effects of Tyler Chatwood’s poor pitching, and a bullpen that quickly found itself logging too many innings while striking out too few hitters. Today’s entry focuses on a […]
If the Cubs Lose the Division, It’s Not Because of the Weather, Pt. 1: Pitching
The Cubs’ division lead over the Brewers has yo-yoed between a slim half-game and a somewhat cozy five games for what seems like forever, even as the Cubs went 18-11 over a hellish stretch of 30 straight days with a game scheduled. Panic reached a fever pitch the week of the Washington rainouts and Brewers […]
Addison Russell’s Ex-Wife, Melisa, Posts Account of Russell’s Abuse
(Content warning: abuse, domestic abuse, domestic violence) On Wednesday, Melisa Reidy posted on her WordPress blog an account of Addison Russell’s abuse during their marriage. This follows her initial Instagram post from June 2017, accusing Russell of cheating on her and lying to her. On that post, since deleted, Reidy’s friend commented that Russell had abused Reidy. […]
Game 128 Recap: Cubs 10, Reds 6
What You Need to Know: It was a slow-burning offensive day for the Cubs, but the team eventually heated up enough to put the game safely out of reach by the time José Quintana exited the game in the sixth. Three homers headlined, as Daniel Murphy, Kyle Schwarber, and Javier Báez all left the yard. […]