Not often does a laugher turn into a nailbiter as quickly as it did on Tuesday night. The Cubs had five-run leads twice in this game; twice, though, the Padres’ lineup removed their sheep’s clothing and revealed their, well, not-quite wolf-ish hitting, but something more than their “hitless wonder” reputation suggests. Luckily, the Cubs have […]
Category: Articles
Two Go, We Go: Could Dexter Fowler Better Serve the Cubs Batting Second?
Joe Maddon’s quippy, screen print-friendly words of advice and encouragement to his players can be a bit tedious at times. “Try Not to Suck” is a winner. “Respect 90″ is basic, but strong. “Do Simple Better” and “The Process is Fearless” encapsulate these Cubs so wonderfully, one can excuse the fact that they’re inherited Maddonisms, […]
Pitching Progress: An Effort in Finding Incremental Gains, Vol. V
The month of April finished with Joe Maddon deviating from the standard rotation for the first time, coming as a result of inclement weather and a preference for starting Kyle Hendricks against the Nationals instead of the Pirates. Cubs’ pitchers faced unusually tough weather for the end of April, with cold temperatures and strong winds creating […]
Series Preview: Cubs vs. Padres, May 9-11
This series represents the calm in the middle of the storm for the Cubs, who follow a week of games against the Pirates and Nationals with three night games at Wrigley against the lowly Padres, after which they’ll host the Pirates for three games, then head out on the first road trip of the season […]
Exploding the Moment: Lester in a Jam
This won’t come as a surprise, but when the bases are loaded and there are no outs, a team’s run expectancy is at its absolute highest. And by a lot. I’ll pause while that sinks in. In that situation, teams are expected to score at least two runs. It’s the time when, if it’s our […]
These Cubs Are Writing Their Way Into the History Books
With each new win, another franchise or league record seems to come into jeopardy of falling to the 2016 Chicago Cubs. The hype is real with this team, and deservedly so given the results thus far, but the old cliches still apply: “the best team in the regular season isn’t guaranteed anything”; “the playoffs are a crapshoot”; “it just […]
Game 30 Recap: Cubs 4 Nationals 3 (13)
Man, these Cubs truly are never out of a game, are they? Through the first six innings of Sunday’s game, they looked like a team that had no business beating the Nationals. All-World pitcher Jake Arrieta wasn’t at his sharpest, the infield defense was sloppy and the offense seemed lethargic, thrown off early in the […]
Game 29 Recap: Cubs 8 Nationals 5
On a sunny, cold, and windy day at Wrigley, the Cubs and Nationals played a tight, back-and-forth, and crazy ball game. Things have been going the Cubs’ way recently, and it continued this afternoon, as they were able to come from behind three separate times to beat the Nationals. As Len Kasper said in the seventh inning, […]
Game 28 Recap: Cubs 8 Nationals 6
Top Play (WPA): Although the Cubs didn’t score in the first, the way they attacked Max Scherzer set the tone for the afternoon. Scherzer threw 25 pitches in the first without surrendering a hit, allowing a walk to Jason Heyward and a few long at-bats that ended in strikeouts. Even though John Lackey struggled early, […]
Let’s Not Forget Rizzo: A Cubs Star, Already Excellent, Gets Better
I can remember back to a lazy afternoon in the offseason prior to the 2014 season. I was, for some reason, listening to Chicago sports talk radio. A pundit who shall not be named was ragging on ‘The Plan’, which was something that was not uncommon back in those days. With the Cubs coming off […]