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 […]
Category: Articles
Cubs Waste No Time Inking a Somewhat New Hitting Coach
And just like that the Cubs have a new hitting coach in Anthony Iapoce. It was a bit of a surprising move to have the deal done so quickly, but Anthony is no stranger to the Cubs’ system. With Chili Davis, the Cubs were supposed to improve their situational hitting. Instead, scoring zero or one […]
It’s Time To Give Pedro Strop a Chance to Close
Game after game, season after season, there is one player on the Chicago Cubs who flies under the radar. It’s not surprising that any great player could fly under the radar with teammates like Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Dexter Fowler, John Lackey, Willson Contreras, and Javier Báez continually finding themselves in the spotlight. It’s even […]
Ditching The Chili Cook-Off Might Not Be The Answer
I’ve never known what it is hitting coaches actually do. From what I gather from people closer to the game than I, they’re not nearly as intrinsic as pitching coaches. After all, pitching coaches go out there in the middle of the game. Though I suppose hitting coaches do their work in the clubhouse and […]
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 […]
All The Strands Of Possible Kris Bryant Extension
It’s always exciting when local air raid siren David Kaplan emerges to see if he and everyone else can still hear his voice (all too well, friendo). So it was interesting on Wednesday, when Kaplan went on ESPN 1000 and broke a story about the Cubs offering Kris Bryant a contract-extension worth over $200 million […]
It’s Kris Bryant, Stupid
I must be getting older, or more evolved, or both. Usually, when the Cubs crash out before the playoffs start (and you’ll never get me to say the Wild Card game is part of the playoffs, whatever marketing and branding MLB sticks on it—I am not one to take urine in the ear and conclude […]
Arizona Fall League – Bailey Clark Is an Arm to Watch
The Arizona Fall League usually has its fair share of top Cub prospects. Last year, David Bote hit three home runs the first week and was one of the best hitters over the next five weeks. That was a bit of a surprise, but we saw how his participation in the league might have paid […]
The 2018 Cubs: I still liked them better than Steinbrenner
The 2018 Chicago Cubs did not end well. Given how things turned out on the field, it would have been as satisfying to conclude the 2018 Wild Card Game with Gary Pressy playing “Don’t Stop Believin’,” Scott Oberg winding up to deliver an 0-2 pitch to Albert Almora, and the ESPN feed suddenly cutting to […]
Theo Explains It All
I think the thing I’ll miss most about Theo Epstein, whenever he decides to stop and wait around for his Hall of Fame induction, is just how open and clear most things are with him. At least when it comes to strictly baseball matters. And to be fair to him, he’s tried to make up […]