Position: Shortstop (if you ask him). Third base (if you ask Buck Showalter). Unprintable expletive (if you ask anyone from Milwaukee). 2018 Stats: .297/.367/.538, 37 HR, 146 OPS+, 140 wRC+, 5.8 WARP How He Fits In: It seems like we’ve been preparing for the 2018-19 free agent class for three or four years now. And […]
Category: Articles
Dakota Mekkes: A Backend Option for 2019?
Down the stretch for the 2018 Chicago Cubs, there was one glaring problem with the team: their silent bats. Fans, the front office, the manager, reporters, and every single person watching the team focused on that problem, and with good reason. With the Milwaukee Brewers slowly gaining ground and bludgeoning most teams the lack of […]
Oh Right, Him: Yu Darvish Going Forward
It’s easy to forget that Yu Darvish is on the Cubs, and he will be an important part for years. Having eight starts in a season will do that. Not being around when all the drama hit in September is another. The little nugget that only three of those eight starts were any good is […]
2019 Player Target: Nathan Eovaldi
Nathan Eovaldi was going to find himself as a free agent of some interest heading into the 2019 offseason. Following the playoffs, the flame-throwing right-hander may have made himself the most interesting free agent pitcher of all. Position: Starting/Relief Pitcher 2018 Stats: Combined between the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox, Eovaldi produced a […]
A Win For The Olds: Nick Markakis
The prevailing wisdom around baseball these days is that once you turn 32, you better get ready to star in a comedy with Kevin Kline or Michael Caine. The velocity-revolution has left those without the quickest of twitch muscles behind, and as players come to the majors quicker and at younger ages than before, they’re dragging the […]
2018 Player Profile: Victor Caratini
Coming out of spring training in 2018 the Chicago Cubs didn’t have many tough decisions to make. One of the very few was Willson Contreras’ back-up at catcher. In a surprising move, at the time at least, the Cubs passed over veteran Chris Gimenez and named Víctor Caratini as their opening day 2018 backup catcher. […]
Andrew McCutchen Could Do A Mean Dexter Impression
Not the serial killer. I mean, maybe he can. I don’t know what Andrew McCutchen’s range is, nor his tastes. I wouldn’t rule it out. Anyway, if the Cubs miss out on Bryce Harper, or respectfully decline to hand over literally a bank safe to him, but still want to make a change in their […]
Javier Báez and the Intangibles
If there’s one thing that should unite all Chicago Cubs fans, it’s an unabashed adoration for Javier Báez (well, an unabashed adoration for Javier Báez and Pedro Strop’s hat). In every possible way, Báez is the superstar with flare that Cubs fans have never truly seen. This is a franchise that has had its share […]
How Close Is the Cubs’ 2015 International Free Agent Class to Breaking Out?
In 2015, most of the Cubs’ top position player prospects reached the majors. The Cubs also began winning that summer, and the fortunes of the organization changed greatly. That same summer, beginning on July 2, the Cubs began signing what was thought to be a second wave of players who could possibly be their second […]
Kyle Hendricks’s Version Of Miniaturization
Kyle Hendricks’s 2018 looked a bit like his 2017. And I think this is probably something that we’re always going to see with The Cerebral Assassin. His first half and second half didn’t have the pronounced differences that 2017 had, but they were there. Hendricks was ok-to-good in the first half. He was dominant in the […]