For the past couple of years, many of us have pointed out the lack of controllable starting pitchers in the Cubs organization. With the minor league system still lacking impact arms at the upper levels, the Cubs might have to look outside the organization to acquire controlled arms. Given the extremely steep price of proven […]
Category: Articles
Going Long: Mike Montgomery, Starter
Mike Montgomery made his first career start in the majors on June 2, 2015 against the New York Yankees. His box score from the night is innocuous—six innings, 24 batters, four hits, a run, a walk, and four strikeouts. That he would be, just sixteen months later, pitching the final out of Game Seven of the […]
Emotional Moments: Pennant-Winning Edition
On Tuesday, we relived the drama and joy of the Cubs’ NLDS victory over the odious San Francisco Giants. Perhaps you need more joy today. I can’t think of a better way than to recount our collective ecstasy brought upon by the Chicago Cubs’ pennant-winning series versus the Los Angeles Dodgers, so I’m going to […]
Jason Heyward’s Unquestionable Leadership
When it comes to legendary moments in Cubs history, Jason Heyward’s World Series Game 7 speech will go down as the single greatest rain delay performance of all time. This is hardly a controversial position–although I should probably apologize for inspiring the string of profanity just heard by anyone within listening range of Gary Pressy. […]
Aroldis Chapman, morality in sports, and the final out of the World Series
In its immediate aftermath, Rajai Davis’ eighth-inning game-tying home run in Game 7 of the World Series felt like the biggest gut-punch in Cubs history. For me and many other Cubs fans, the fact that Aroldis Chapman was the one who surrendered that home run made an unbearable moment even more painful. I had been […]
Emotional Moments: NLDS Edition
Some might seek to rank the Cubs’ best playoff moments with leverage index, taking a stab at quantifying the emotional heft of each moment. Others might take a look at certain games or players, weighing the impact of a player’s contributions, or crafting stories of games that drove us to despair and unbridled celebration, those […]
Cubs Decline Jason Hammel’s Option, Choose Long-term Upside Over Depth
On Sunday afternoon, Theo Epstein released a statement explaining that the Cubs had bought out Jason Hammel’s 10 million dollar option for next year. The statement, in full, is copied in the tweet below: The #Cubs today announced that the club has declined the 2017 option on Jason Hammel’s contract. pic.twitter.com/sJ22n2VQ8N — Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) […]
The Captain’s Instincts Come Through
On an unusually cold early April day, I stepped out of my car at Principal Park with no clue how to do the job I was there to do, and even less idea what would transpire over the next seven months. I was on a mission to conduct my first professional interview, seeking to discuss with […]
The Rajai Davis HR, Emotions, and Objectivity
Emotions are a very subjective thing—we all experience them in our own unique way. It’s hard to describe a collective emotion when things happen to a large group of people. Some people cry, others smile, and some just sit there dumbly. As someone who writes about baseball, it’s very hard to separate your emotions from […]
Kris Bryant’s Playoff Retrospective: Power And Baserunning
It’s a testament to how entertaining and excellent Javy Baez and Jon Lester were during the 2016 NLDS and NLCS that they not only were able to overcome the initial sluggish postseason starts by Anthony Rizzo and Addison Russell, but were also able to nearly completely overshadow Kris Bryant’s solid postseason performance up to that […]