Oliver Sacks, in the opening of his seminal book The Man Who Mistook His Wife for A Hat, writes “I am equally drawn to the scientific and the romantic.” The famed neurologist and naturalist might as well have been penning a mantra for every Baseball Prospectus reader and writer who revels (or obsesses) in the minutiae of the game’s […]
Category: Articles
Revisiting the Tony Campana Trade
The 2012 Cubs were not very good at playing baseball: they finished the season with an awful 61-101 record. To be fair, Theo Epstein didn’t have much talent on the roster, and in amid the losing, that can have its own set of unintended benefits. Take speedy centerfielder Tony Campana, for example. It seemed like […]
Lineup Roulette: How Much Will Jorge Soler Play?
It’s July, the weather in Chicago is steamy, and despite a stretch of baseball that has made much of the city cringe, the Cubs appear to be getting healthy coming out of the break. Tommy La Stella has already come off the DL, and several other important pieces are shortly behind him. David Ross should […]
Don’t Panic, For Things Are Better Than They Were
The Cubs have lost eight of their first ten games in July. Pitchers are looking shaky, and the bullpen has been giving up runs like it’s their job. For many North siders, it’s time to panic. But take a look at these two tables and compare the numbers. Offense Offense AVG .256 7th AVG .239 […]
New Names, Same Story: Cubs Place Three in BP Top 50
The days of occult-like fan-following of the Cubs’ minor-league system have ended. It was a mania brought about by multiple factors, the greatest of which were a miserable on-field product at the major-league level, and arguably more importantly a historically* brilliant collection of talent in their minor-league system. In the span of just over one […]
In Struggling ‘Pen, Carl Edwards, Jr. Seizing Opportunity With Both Hands
After Carl Edwards Jr.’s 2014 was shortened by inflammation in his pitching shoulder, the Cubs made a decision to move him to the bullpen–at least for the short-term. The theory, as general manager Jed Hoyer explained to the Chicago Tribune’s Mark Gonzales, was that moving to the ‘pen would help the former number 81 prospect […]
Montero or Hammel Could Be Casualties of Cubs’ Long-Term Plan
Quietly, Miguel Montero and Jason Hammel have been huge parts of the Cubs’ success over the last two seasons. Montero was worth 3.9 WARP in relatively modest playing time last year, and has been worth 1.3 WARP already this year—in addition to which, he’s been Jake Arrieta’s partner in crime, Willson Contreras’s mentor, and one […]
All-Star Game Recap: American League 4, National League 2
This is an exhibition, so even if WPA was tracked for it somewhere (and I have no doubt that it was), we’re not going to do a WPA-centric, standard-issue recap. Instead, the highlights, the local interest, and then some big-picture thoughts, below. Old Awards, New and Wonderful Names Prior to this game, MLB officially renamed […]
Skill, Not Luck: Hammel Time
The Cubs rotation has been the driving force behind this team all season. As the club got off to a near-historic start, it was powered largely by a pitching staff with historic run prevention rates. There were questions marks, though, about how sustainable this level of performance was given the low .258 BABIP allowed by […]
Wrigleyville Preview: the All-Star Game
Like most things in life, the MLB All-Star Game is what you make of it. If you want, you can be cynical about it and credibly put it down–the silly red carpet run-up, the stretching of commercial breaks, and especially, the fact that 41 players were officially named NL All-Stars this year. On the other […]