Lineup construction certainly stands as one of the more heavily analyzed elements of Major League managers, and there’s probably an argument to be made somewhere that it’s also a largely overrated element. (Aside: I’m not saying that’s a sentiment that I share, as I put quite a bit of stock into that aspect, but it […]
Category: Articles
GAME 58 RECAP: Marlins 6, CUBS 5
What You Need To Know: John Lackey struggled and gave up five runs on seven hits, including a pair of long balls. The silver lining is that he struck out six and walked none. The Marlins’ sixth, and what would eventually become game-deciding, run was scored on a bizarre strikeout-wild pitch during which no one other […]
A Small and Hesitant Case for Batting Average
When the Cubs are presented with next year’s schedule, there’s nothing I’d like more than to see Theo Epstein cross off the part of the calendar with the west coast trip and write in six days at California Pizza Kitchen. Last week was quite the rough stretch of baseball, wasn’t it? The last time I […]
Game 57 Recap: Cubs 10, Marlins 2
What You Need To Know: After a first inning where Jake Arrieta’s handle on the strike zone was a nod to Doc Ellis on the anniversary of the greatest sporting accomplishment in history, he settled in for the next five, allowing the Marlins only one more hit and one more walk. That gave the Cubs bats just […]
The Complexity Of Flexibility
I like to get cute with my titles. What of it? The past two years, we’ve marveled at the flexibility of the Cubs roster. This guy can play here! This guy can play there! This guy over here can play both and more! We should have been referring to everyone as Optimus or Mystique. Actually, […]
Game 56 Recap: Cubs 3, Marlins 1
What you need to know: Fans know the script the Cubs have followed this season all too well: fall behind early, watch their starter struggle, put lots of runners on base, wait for the two-out hit that never comes, fall short in the end, tell themselves not to worry. The Cubs managed to flip at […]
Falling Through The Cracks: Mel Kerr and the Development of the Farm System
Though baseball is often described in poetic terms, and rightly so, there is another more hurried, cutthroat element to the sport in which players are treated as products who can be bought and sold at will. Though this remains a problem in today’s MLB, it was at its most stark in the 1920s, when teams […]
Winning 100 Games Is Hard
The Chicago Cubs were an unstoppable machine in 2016. Their offense was fueled by the efforts of MVP Kris Bryant, adorable Anthony Rizzo, and the shiny smile of Dexter Fowler. Their pitching staff was infallible thanks to multiple career-best years and a tremendous defense behind them. Simply everything went right for the Cubs as they […]
Game 55 Recap: Cubs 7, Cardinals 6
What You Need To Know: That Jason Heyward had a hand in the game-winning run, and Dexter Fowler struck out to end the game, and that the Cubs swept the series all feels a little too on the nose. Write this in a screenplay and it probably gets chopped, but the Cubs and Cardinals always […]
Schwarber and the Shift
By one measure, Kyle Schwarber’s performance in May was historic. It wasn’t his 51 wRC+, or his .120 batting average, which were bad, but hardly remarkable given that worse marks in both categories have already been posted this season (if you think Schwarber was an ineffective leadoff hitter, Royals leadoff man Alcides Escobar has a […]