I realize that it’s rather déclassé to refer to Kris Bryant as unlucky. The man is a millionaire, a model, a professional baseball player, and—this is, perhaps, the most infuriating part—by all accounts an extraordinarily humble and well-adjusted young man. In other words, he falls into the category of persons whom you’d least like to run […]
Category: Articles
Ross Retirement Party: Out With a Bang
It’s a very strange thing that a guy can by 39 years old and on the verge of retirement. And have the nickname “Grandpa” to boot. It’s also probably strange that I have felt compelled to write about David Ross on now more than one occasion in this young season. I mean, sure, we’re all […]
Game 37 Recap: Brewers 4 Cubs 2
It’s tough to blame the Cubs. I mean, who the hell likes Tuesdays? Tuesdays are the work week’s purgatory. Tuesdays are Wednesday’s Monday. Nothing good happens on Tuesdays, and that played out tonight in Milwaukee. The Brewers’ Chase Anderson took a no-hitter into the eighth inning, Kyle Hendricks gave up four earned runs in 5.1 […]
Special to BP Wrigleyville: Thank You For Your Interest in My Baseball Team
In celebration of the Cubs-Brewers series this week, please enjoy this guest post by Travis Sarandos of BP Milwaukee and Disciples of Uecker. We think it will make you laugh. There are many nice things one can say about the 2016 Brewers, the 48th iteration of the club founded in Seattle in 1969. For instance, none of […]
Series Preview: Cubs at Brewers, May 17-19
Until now, the Cubs have had it about as good as any team in baseball, schedule-wise. It’s one reason for their early success. Their home slate has been marred by bad weather, but they have played a fairly weak aggregate set of opponents, and a combination of two postponements and a few clustered off days […]
Pitching Progress: An Effort in Finding Incremental Gains, Vol. VI
The sixth turn through the rotation featured an unconventional order (at least with respect to the early season), but the same standard of excellence. Just when it seemed the results couldn’t improve, Cubs starters enjoyed their first perfect turn, leading the team to a perfect 5-0 record, while allowing just five earned runs over 30 2/3 […]
Javy Baez Is The Skynet of Prospects
Javy Baez’s rookie season followed the pattern laid out by most Cub phemons. That is to say, it began with talk of Gary Sheffield and Miguel Cabrera but ended with Corey Patterson, Felix Pie, and Brooks Kieschnick. Back then, going through a list of Cub prospects was like reading Kevin Costner’s IMDB page. You could pick […]
Patience Rewarded as Cubs’ Russell Continues to Grow
While all the focus recently has been the Cubs’ torrid stretch of winning—and then, the sky falling because they lost two games (and, I suppose, another yesterday)—there have some issues that have been glossed over by fans and media. It’s true that Jason Heyward has struggled to start the season, but he’s been given a […]
Game 36 Recap: Pirates 2 Cubs 1
The Pirates narrowly escaped with their first win over the Cubs in six games this season, but given the way it all unfolded, they’ll leave town feeling good about it. The Cubs hit the road knowing they missed some opportunities this week, going 3-3 with two one-run losses and one game coughed up by the […]
Game 35 Recap: Cubs 8, Pirates 2
Jake Arrieta struggled a bit in his last few outing since the no-hitter, but today he looked much more like the dominant pitcher fans have grown to love over the past 11 months. Except for the fourth inning, Arrieta was on top of his game; he had great movement and controlled the strike zone, yielding […]