After leaving New York in the worst-case scenario, the Cubs will turn to their offense and the shaky back-end of their rotation to dig them out of the 0-2 series hole with the Mets. Kyle Hendricks has been announced as the Game Three starter night in what will certainly be a pivotal game, determining whether […]
In baseball, there are a lot of things that go beyond the numbers. Mechanics. Injury history. State of mind. And a general good old-fashioned feel for the game. While the numbers paint a large portion of the picture, they aren’t the only thing contributing to it. There are exceptions to the sabermetric rule, and I would […]
Jason Hammel failed to throw six innings again Wednesday, a modest feat he’s only accomplished twice since the beginning of July. After failing to retire Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips in the sixth, Joe Maddon sauntered to the mound to once again pull Hammel early. The Cubs’ recent skid, in which they’ve lost three consecutive […]
This piece originally appeared on Baseball Prospectus If you’re a follower of the Cubs, you’re aware that this season has been a bit of an up-and-down experience. After a six-game winning streak in mid-May, which took them to a season-high six games over .500, the Cubs have gone 7–9, with the offense being the biggest […]
When the Cubs acquired José Quintana from the White Sox in July of 2017, the narrative Quintana carried was his consistency. Overshadowed by Chris Sale and saddled with a going-nowhere franchise, Quintana was undervalued, underappreciated, and (maybe most importantly for his trade value) underpaid. He was the guy about whom articles with titles like, “Is […]
“No. No! NO! Stop it! Stop it, please! I beg you! This is sin! This is sin! This is sin! It’s a sin, it’s a sin, it’s a sin!” –Little Alex, A Clockwork Orange ALSO: –Me during any Tyler Chatwood start Actually, hold on a sec… that implies that a Chatwood start is like watching […]
Before the game, the Cubs called up catcher Chris Gimenez and optioned Victor Caratini to Triple A. They also placed Yu Darvish on the 10-day disabled list with triceps tendinitis. What You Need to Know: It was another frustrating game for José Quintana, as he was pulled after just one out in the fifth inning. He started […]
Here’s an interesting stat: only four starting pitchers in MLB history (minimum 590 innings pitched) have posted a sub-2.94 ERA and a 3.5 K/BB rate or better in their careers: Cy Young, Pedro Martinez, Clayton Kershaw, and Kyle Hendricks. Now, is Hendricks really anywhere near the same class as any of the other three pitchers […]
Last year, the Cubs played the Cardinals on September 23-25, and the story was somewhat different. The Cubs had already clinched the NL Central and were simply playing out the season to see how many wins they could rack up (103). While they might prefer to be back in that position this year if they had […]
After a frustrating first half of the 2017 season, some people wondered whether or not the 2017 Cubs would be better off as sellers instead of buyers. Theo Epstein, Jed Hoyer and Co. quickly put an end to that line of thinking yesterday by trading Eloy Jimenez, Dylan Cease, and two other minor league prospects to […]