Jason Hammel’s 2016 season has had its ups and downs — more downs, lately, than ups — but on the whole it hasn’t been helped by the fact that he’s been part of what has been a historically good starting rotation. Hammel currently ranks 40th in ERA (minimum 100.0 IP) for starting pitchers across all of […]
Category: Articles
Game 149 Recap: Brewers 3 Cubs 1
While it’s easy for myself and other and other BP Wrigleyville writers to fault Jason Hammel for his lack of recent success, the reality is that Hammel for the vast majority of the season was one of the top fifth starters in baseball. While this sounds like a back handed compliment it’s not; over time a strong fifth starter […]
Game 148 Recap: Brewers 11 Cubs 3
If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear, does it make a sound? The Cubs were blown out at home against a rebuilding team this afternoon. Does anyone care after all the emotions expelled yesterday? The Brewers were able to temporarily delay the Cubs march to a hundred victories, […]
Game 147 Recap: Cubs 5 Brewers 4
We Are Good. It’s been the unofficial motto of the Cubs for two seasons now, outlasting the somewhat limp corporate sheen of “Let’s Go,” and packing the same pithiness as the slogan-du-jour, “Try Not to Suck,” and it’s been evident that these Cubs are good since at least the middle of last season. Running laps […]
Cubs Win!: A History of Cubs Playoff Clinchers
It’s undeniable that some of the fun—nay, a big part of the fun of watching a good baseball team is counting down toward that special day when they clinch their playoff spot. The Cubs have now done it! So pop the champagne bottles and cover your favorite media member from head to toe in plastic. […]
Hammel Doesn’t Need to Start in October, and Shouldn’t
We all have questions about Jason Hammel. Why is he giving up so many home runs? How did he get so into Pearl Jam? What is the real story behind his first and second half splits? There are a bounty of questions surrounding the lanky Cubs right hander, but most importantly right now, at the […]
Game 146 Recap: Brewers 5 Cubs 4
Imagine telling yourself two years ago that you’d be quibbling over how the Cubs clinched the division, not that they had at all. And imagine that it would be the second year in a row that they’d be headed to the playoffs. How wonderfully bizarre. Like last season, the Cubs positioned themselves tonight to clinch their playoff spot […]
Statcast Fun with the 2016 Cubs
What is Statcast? Loyal readers of Baseball Prospectus have at least a rudimentary understanding of it, while major league baseball’s casual viewers probably think it’s the name of Outkast’s new album. In other words, it’s old enough that you won’t think twice when you see it on your Twitter feed, but it’s new enough that […]
Series Preview: Cubs vs. Brewers, September 15-18
We know by now that this series is about clinching. We know by now that it’s rather unlikely that it won’t happen while the Milwaukee Brewers are in town. That’s a dubious honor for them to hold, sure, but with just over two weeks left of the regular season games to play before they are […]
Game 145 Recap: Cubs 7 Cardinals 0
The Cubs reduced their magic number to one in ruthlessly efficient fashion, cruising blithely through St. Louis as if the Cardinals were a light spring rain. It was a game that took just over two and a half hours and yet still managed to be relaxing, even pleasantly boring. Finding myself in Vegas, I put […]