For six and two-thirds innings on Monday night, the Reds’ Brandon Finnegan looked like Cole Hamels reincarnate—or, I guess, Koufax—while he baffled the Cubs’ litany of sluggers and held them to nary a hit. Perhaps this rekindled concerns about the Cubs’ poor 2015 versus left-handers, a team that, against lefties, featured a poor .691 OPS and sank to […]
Author: Zack Moser
Game 3 Recap: Cubs 14 Diamondbacks 6
Pardon me for quoting my own tweet, but… this game is straight bonkers — zack moser (@BeersNTrumpets) April 8, 2016 The game was sloppy. John Lackey gave up a home run on his first pitch as a Chicago Cub. Chase Field looked like a pinball machine. And the Cubs lost their left fielder for an […]
With Wrigley All-Star Game on Horizon, A Look Back
It’s been a lifetime since the Cubs have hosted an All-Star Game at Wrigley Field. No, literally—I’m a ripe old 24, and this season marks 26 since the light standards shone down on Sandberg, Dawson, and their All-Star peers in July of 1990. That drought will reach 28 years by the time the Cubs can […]
Munenori Kawasaki and the History of Racial Mascots
At the end of last week, Cubs fans experienced their first taste of the exuberance of Munenori Kawasaki. A Spring Training invitee, Kawasaki displayed his singing chops with a rendition of Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing.” You know, that song from Armageddon. While his song choice was no doubt troubling in and of itself—“Mama […]
In Torres, a New Development Challenge
The BP Annual’s blurb on Gleyber Torres includes a cautionary aside: “When you’re scouting [Torres’s] stat line, remember the following key considerations: age relative to level, position, and the fact that you really shouldn’t be scouting his stat line.” While cute, it’s salient advice nonetheless: low-level minors stat lines are almost never useful in scouting players […]
Cactus Catchup: Embrace the Versatility
Spring Training games are still nearly a week away for the Cubs, but it’s hard to believe that any day until Opening Day will trump Thursday’s insanity. Chris Coghlan is heading to Oakland, Dexter Fowler is back, and we’ve got oodles of coverage right here at BP Wrigleyville to sate your hunger for more Fowler […]
Return of Dex: A Timeline
“All right, Rian, the piece is ready to be edited!” (record scratch) “What the hell is going on?” (Cubs Twitter burns down) Before Thursday’s eruption of news and confusion and eventual clarity, I had written a fine collection of this week’s happenings from Cubs’ camp. Well, that piece immediately became obsolete: Dexter Fowler is returning to […]
Much Ado About Center Field: Jason Heyward’s Odd PECOTA Projection
PECOTA has no idea what to do with Jason Heyward in 2016. The Cubs’ new outfielder has a career .292 TAv and 26.9 BWARP in six seasons, all the while providing exceptional defense in right field. Theo Epstein and company offered Heyward a club-record $184 million contract to produce similar offensive numbers while roaming center […]
From Altman to Murton: A Brief History of Cubs in NPB
Readers, I have a confession to make: I own a Matt Murton shirsey. This is, of course, an elliptical way of saying that I’ve got a soft spot for the redheaded outfielder. And so naturally, I was ecstatic when the Cubs signed Murton to a minor-league deal early yesterday morning. And although Murton will likely start his […]
The Four Swingmen of the Cub-pocalypse
Yesterday, my fellow contributor Stan Croussett sketched a picture of the 2016 season in which the Cubs give a decent amount of starts to three of their swingmen: Trevor Cahill, Clayton Richard, and Adam Warren. A combination of contract incentives, comments from the front office about their prospective usage, a need to rest the workhorse […]