It was Social Media Night at Wrigley Field, and the Cubs came away with a clean victory against the Reds behind another gem from Jon Lester. The lefty shined, the Cubs came through with timely hits against what amounted to the lion’s share of the Reds bullpen, and one of BP Wrigleyville’s own made known […]
Author: Zack Moser
Game 147 Recap: Cubs 5 Brewers 4
We Are Good. It’s been the unofficial motto of the Cubs for two seasons now, outlasting the somewhat limp corporate sheen of “Let’s Go,” and packing the same pithiness as the slogan-du-jour, “Try Not to Suck,” and it’s been evident that these Cubs are good since at least the middle of last season. Running laps […]
Series Preview, Cubs vs. Brewers: September 5-7
Probable Starters Monday: Kyle Hendricks vs. Zach Davies The last time Kyle Hendricks faced the Brewers, he lost in a 5 1/3-inning, four-run effort. That was the last time he surrendered more than three runs in a start—and it was on May 17, nearly four months ago. Since, Hendricks has ridden his changeup and savvy […]
Game 134 Recap: Cubs 2 Giants 1
Top Play (WPA): Jon Lester might have been the star of this sunny Chicago Friday afternoon, but his batterymate provided the fateful batting blow to fell the Giants. Every half inning featured five hitters or fewer, save the Cubs’ half of the third, in which the streaking Cubs plated both of their runs. Javier Baez, […]
With Bryant, the Proof Is in the Swing Plane
Here we are, August 23: the Dog Days, the Stretch Run, the days of Magic Numbers and Playing out the String. If you squint, you can see the final strains of the regular season, shrouded in fall freshness and early darkness. The end is nigh; we’ll begin to look upon who did what, and how, […]
Game 122 Recap: Cubs 9 Rockies 2
After last night’s travesty of a game ending, tonight’s Coors Field matchup served as a good palate cleanser. Mike Montgomery shined in his first Cubs start, Trevor Cahill followed with stellar relief work, and the Cubs hitting machine was on display versus a pitcher making his major-league debut. Oh, and since WPA wasn’t available upon game’s […]
Series Preview: Cubs vs. Cardinals, August 11-14
Near the end of June, and a couple of weeks before the All-Star break, the Cardinals swept the Cubs at Wrigley Field. The Cubs were flailing in the deep waters then, at the nadir of their 2016 season; they subsequently dropped series versus the Reds, Mets, and Pirates, plus a makeup game versus the Braves. […]
Javier Baez, Refined
The prospect of some positional comfort going into his mid-30s, after years of being moved all over the diamond, helped lure Ben Zobrist to the Cubs this past offseason. He had been promised the starting second base job and a reunion with his old skipper, a situation in which he was poised to succeed, but […]
Game 103 Recap: Mariners 4 Cubs 1
Sometimes the other guy just beats you. And sometimes that guy is Wade Miley, so he gets super close, he confounds everyone (hitters, fans, umpires, himself), he blows the lead, and then his team wins anyway. Normal stuff, really. “The Instant Replay Game” turned on a few bad pitches from Cubs’ hurlers, and, in the end, […]
Game 89 Recap: Cubs 6 Rangers 0
We witnessed a near-perfect 2016 Cubs performance on Friday afternoon, beginning the ceremonial second-half with a bang against the AL-best Rangers. Good pitching, patient and timely hitting, savvy managing, and superb defense: this game was a good one on all fronts. Top Play (WPA): Although the fireworks would come later, it was the Cubs’ half of […]