About ten minutes to six, I felt a slight breeze in the whiskers that grace my upper lip: the collective sigh of Cubs fans, the response to the news that Jason Heyward would miss only three to five days from his Friday night collision with the AT&T Park wall. His Saturday MRI showed a bruise […]
Author: Zack Moser
Game 39 Recap: Brewers 5 Cubs 3
Top Play (WPA): In the culmination of a frustrating series for the Cubs (frustrating for both teams, really), the Cubs’ top play came on the second pitch of the game. Before the sizable crowd of Cubs fans settled into their Miller Park seats, Dexter Fowler sent a rocket into the right-field bleachers off of Junior […]
Tales of a Baserunning Ballclub: Cubs Running Wild
Late in Sunday’s 13-inning affair, overshadowed by Javy Baez’s walk-off fireworks, the Nationals’ defense succeeded in throwing out Jason Heyward at home plate. Michael Taylor corralled the ball perfectly on one hop in right-center field and fired a throw to the cutoff man; the cutoff man, Danny Espinosa, flung the ball to catcher Wilson Ramos, […]
Game 31 Recap: Cubs 8, Padres 7
Not often does a laugher turn into a nailbiter as quickly as it did on Tuesday night. The Cubs had five-run leads twice in this game; twice, though, the Padres’ lineup removed their sheep’s clothing and revealed their, well, not-quite wolf-ish hitting, but something more than their “hitless wonder” reputation suggests. Luckily, the Cubs have […]
Game 28 Recap: Cubs 8 Nationals 6
Top Play (WPA): Although the Cubs didn’t score in the first, the way they attacked Max Scherzer set the tone for the afternoon. Scherzer threw 25 pitches in the first without surrendering a hit, allowing a walk to Jason Heyward and a few long at-bats that ended in strikeouts. Even though John Lackey struggled early, […]
In Relief, Warren Soars
Tuesday evening in Chicago, Warren blanked the Brew Crew for two innings, allowing nary a baserunner and striking out three. Normally, this wouldn’t be remarkable. But, for the 2016 Cubs, it was a minor milestone: Warren was the first Cubs reliever to throw two innings in an appearance. As the starters have gone deep into […]
Game 20 Recap: Cubs 4 Brewers 3
The Cubs’ offense often explodes early in the game, bludgeoning opposing starters and instilling fear into pitchers of the National League. On nights that they don’t hang a crooked number early, they are a slow burn offense; Tuesday’s chilly, windy night against Brewers’ ace Jimmy Nelson was an example of the latter. Nelson mixed his […]
Series Preview: St. Louis Cardinals, April 18-20
It was a disappointing weekend on the North Side, as the Cubs dropped two of three to the lowly Rockies, replete with a shutout Sunday and a lonely run scored on Friday. The good news: the starting pitching has been sterling. The Cardinals are on the docket this week, with as much tension and excitement […]
Game 10 Recap: Rockies 6 Cubs 1
Top Play (WPA): Kyle Hendricks looked solid through five innings today, using his changeup effectively and keeping his sinker down often enough to stymie Rockies hitters. In the sixth, however, Hendricks allowed two singles to the most dangerous hitters in the Rockies’ lineup, Carlos Gonzalez and Nolan Arenado, the third time through the order. Hendrick’s […]
Fatigue, Platoons, and a Prospect: Cubs Catching Sans Schwarber
Kyle Schwarber was never going to catch more than a couple dozen games this season. Even as the end of Spring Training revealed the Cubs’ plan to hitch Schwarber’s catching starts to Jason Hammel’s starts on the mound, the former Hoosier’s catching development—which some began to view with cautious optimism last season, a testament to […]