Oh, how they needed that. Top Play (WPA): With Dexter Fowler injured, “You go, we go,” has become a more fitting slogan for the Cubs’ opponents, who have persisted lately in hammering Cubs pitching almost immediately after the Cubs’ batters put runs on the board. Such was the case again in today’s cat-and-mouse game. Ben […]
Category: Articles
Game 87 Recap: Pirates 12 Cubs 6
The Cubs’ pitching staff is an abject mess right now. It’s roughly that simple. Okay, it isn’t, but we’ll get into why soon enough. For now, that first sentence is a sufficient explanation of the team’s 15th loss in 20 games. Top Play (WPA): Things began so promisingly. A one-out Kris Bryant walk begat a two-out, two-run, […]
Game 86 Recap: Pirates 8 Cubs 4
Top Play (WPA): Let’s start with some good vibes, shall we? Before the Cubs Cubsed their way to maybe the Cubsiest loss all Cubs season, it looked like it might be a vintage Good Cubs comeback victory behind strong pitching from their ace. The Cubs scraped one run off of the Pirates’ lead in the […]
Evaluating Adam Warren, The Starter
Until Wednesday’s contest with the Cincinnati Reds, Cubs pitcher Adam Warren had not been used as a starter in a game since September 26th of 2015, back when he was a member of the New York Yankees. Warren is a natural starter, so the Cubs giving him a role as a sixth man in the rotation […]
Series Preview: Cubs at Pirates, July 8-10
If there were a euphemism or tired cliché that has described the Cubs’ season so far, it’s Isaac Newton’s “what goes up must come down.” He was talking about gravity, but had he said it about the 2016 Cubs, the 17th century British mathematician and astronomer would be right about the way the season has […]
Game 85 Recap: Braves 4 Cubs 3 (11)
Well, that was ugly, and then it was less ugly, and then it was Nick Markakis’d. Finally, roughly six hours after the scheduled first pitch, Jeimer Candelario flied out to center with the tying run on third, giving the Braves the win, 4-3, in eleven innings. It was a disappointing end to a frustrating night […]
BP Midseason Top 50: Three Cubs Feature
This morning, the prospect team over at the main site released their Midseason Top 50 Prospects List. Three Cubs feature. We hope you enjoy this preview. Let’s make a couple things clear right up top: 1) There are no recent draftees or international prospect signings in this ranking. That means no Kevin Maitan or Corey Ray. 2) […]
Even While Losing, Only One Thing Matters
The Cubs have been losing baseball games. It’s the sad truth, they’re no longer good at baseball. That’s how this works, right? The Cubs were the best team ever when they started the season 25-6, on pace to win 130 games in the regular season. But since then, they’re 27-26—an 84 win pace—and barely hanging […]
Skill, Not Luck: Jake Arrieta Is Struggling Edition
When I wrote of Jake Arrieta, the poet, I wrote of a man opening to us a window unto stories told and retold, a narrative through line from generations past to today. Since, that window has closed slightly. Arrieta has struggled recently, and has looked decidedly human. He’s not bad—far from it. After all, NL […]
Game 84 Recap: Reds 5 Cubs 3
Another day, another close loss. The Cubs could have won this one, but the fact that they didn’t isn’t especially galling. They just need to keep plugging. Top Play (WPA): Superstardom seems forever right around the corner for Addison Russell, and it’s never felt closer than it did during this series. Russell came up with […]