A mere seven years after his major league debut, Monte Irvin was without a job in the major leagues. Despite posting an impressive .296/.389/.477 batting line over his Giants career, socking 84 home runs, and garnering a third-place MVP finish in 1951, the New York Giants did not renew the left fielder’s contract for the […]
Author: Zack Moser
Heyward, Wainwright, and Being “The Man”
It’s been a banner offseason for the Cubs, who have improved significantly both at primary positions and at the margins, all the while keeping a tight grip on their top prospects. The biggest coup of the offseason was clearly signing three top free agents—Jason Heyward, Ben Zobrist, and John Lackey—to contracts that were reportedly less lucrative […]
Cubs Player Profile: Tommy La Stella
Position: 2B/3B 2015 Stats: 33 G, 75 PA, .269/.324/.403, .269 TAv, 0.2 WARP 2015 in Review: Acquired last winter from the Braves as middle-infield depth with a shot to compete for the starting second base job, Tommy La Stella quickly found himself ensconced in the team’s 60-day disabled list due to a strained oblique. Jonathan […]
Creating Depth and Versatility, Cubs Build on Strong Present
The question of how to improve a youthful, 97-win, NLCS-reaching baseball team has been the driving force behind our work here at BP Wrigleyville this offseason, and we’ve generally tackled it in terms of identifiable weaknesses of the 2015 Cubs: contact hitting, outfield defense, and starting pitching beyond their two aces. But the 2015 Cubs […]
Upon the Retirement of Aramis Ramirez, Great Cub
I remember exactly where I was for the greatest moment of Aramis Ramirez’s career, one of the most memorable games in the past decade of the Chicago Cubs. The promise of the 2006-07 offseason remained unfulfilled on June 29, 2007, as the Cubs scuffled midseason, a game below the .500 mark and 7.5 out of […]
Cubs Player Profile: Addison Russell
Addison Russell Position: Shortstop/Second Base 2015 Stats: .242/.307/.389, .252 TAv, 1.57 WARP Year in Review: As he laced a flyball off the base of the left-field wall, made his way around second, found that extra gear, and sprung himself airborne as he dove into third base, Addison Russell could have hardly imagined it would be […]
NLCS Game Two Recap: Mets 4 Cubs 1
Yesterday, Mauricio Rubio recapped a tough Game One loss, relaying the sadness, dejection, and frustration already thick in the air. At one point, he stopped to explain, “I’ve been the dejected fan wondering why this is happening again even if the series is young and the reasons for my sadness do not sync up with […]
Maddon Throwing Cubs into Stark Relief after NLDS Success
Last week, I made some predictions about how Joe Maddon might manage his bench and bullpen in the Wild Card Game and Division Series, drawing upon his history in Tampa Bay and the composition of the Cubs’ roster in order to do so. With the Cubs now moving on to the NLCS for the first time in 12 years, I thought […]
The Playoffs, through Horn-Rimmed Glasses
On the day of his introduction as Cubs manager, Joe Maddon declared, “I’m gonna talk World Series this year.” Since that beginning, the eminently quotable Maddon has continued to embrace bold predictions while keeping the young Cubs loose yet focused, and players like Anthony Rizzo have echoed the confident tone set by their philosophical skipper. And, at last, […]
Game 161 Recap: Cubs 1 Brewers 0
Top Play (WPA): The pivotal inning of the Cubs’ 96th win—a total which tied the 2015 club for their second-best record since 1945—wasn’t the inning in which the Cubs scored the game’s only run. Rather, it was the tense bottom of the eighth inning, where the Brewers threatened to score against Fernando Rodney. Prior to that point, […]