Top Play (WPA): It’s always a wonderful day when Addison Russell hits a baseball in this manner, but it’s especially good when it carries a massive WPA along for the ride. Pirates starter Francisco Liriano has always been a thorn in the Cubs’ side (see below)—and the first three innings today were no exception to this—but […]
Category: Articles
Does Justin Grimm Need to Add His Slider Back Soon?
When a club is as successful as the Cubs have been since the season got underway, its flaws are sure to stand out just a bit more than they normally would. Still, flaws are hard to find. Not only has the Cubs’ hitting and starting pitching been incredibly good, the bullpen has been absolutely dominant as well. Through […]
Series Preview: Cubs vs. Pirates, May 13–15
After a three-game sweep of the Pirates in their first meeting of the year, the Cubs again face the Bucs starting today, this time at home. They’re coming off a Padres series that ended with a not only the first consecutive losses of the year, but two losses in the same day. The day off yesterday […]
Tales of a Baserunning Ballclub: Cubs Running Wild
Late in Sunday’s 13-inning affair, overshadowed by Javy Baez’s walk-off fireworks, the Nationals’ defense succeeded in throwing out Jason Heyward at home plate. Michael Taylor corralled the ball perfectly on one hop in right-center field and fired a throw to the cutoff man; the cutoff man, Danny Espinosa, flung the ball to catcher Wilson Ramos, […]
What Has to Happen for the Cubs to Be Bad? Will It?
It’s a good time to be a Cubs fan. It’s a good time to be a baseball fan of any sort, for that matter. It’s fun to live in a world where this is possible, “this” of course being the Cubs’s insane, nearly unprecedented, 25-8 start, which they’ve accomplished via a terrifying offense, outstanding starting […]
Young Cubs: Here Come the Vogelbombs
Since I last wrote, Tennessee infielder Chesny Young was named the Southern League Player of the Month, slashing .402/.505/.524 with 11 steals in April. This high batting average is more than a blip—Young led the Carolina League in hitting last year, posting a .321 average with the Pelicans. The 23-year-old was a 14th round pick a few […]
Game 33 Recap: Padres 1 Cubs 0
The Cubs entered the nightcap of their twin bill in full-on freefall mode (by 2016 standards), on the heels of one-game losing streak that had spanned the course of several hours. And now, despite an absolutely superb effort from John Lackey, the losing streak has stretched to a world-shattering two games, as the Cubs fell […]
Game 32 Recap: Padres 7 Cubs 4
It’s a beautiful day for a ball game, in the sense that really any day when it isn’t raining is such a day. In a stricter sense, it’s a pretty miserable day for a ball game, and yet, this was just the first of two. Top Play (WPA): With neither starter pitching well early, the bottom […]
Powell, Maddon Have Cubs Running Wild Through National League
In a season that, by the day, whispers ever-more insistently about the glories in its future, the Cubs’ thrilling, walk-off sweep of a top NL contender last week seems a fitting conclusion to Chapter 1. Having logged thirty games of insane .800 ball, the hot start is turning historic and gaining significance by the win. Though […]
The Workaround: How the Cubs Keep Their Pitchers Healthy (Maybe)
The Cubs are off to a blistering start in 2016, not only winning at an historic clip, but doing it convincingly, with an unprecedented run differential and even better peripheral indicators of team quality. Last season was a different story. Though those Cubs eventually won 97 games, one of the key narratives surrounding them—and one […]