Before the spring exhibition season began, we looked at Kris Bryant’s desire to take the ball to the opposite field with more frequency. Having already turned in historically good rookie and sophomore campaigns, it seemed there were few adjustments left that he could make in order to become an offensive force out of the third base […]
Category: Articles
GAME 49 RECAP: Padres 5, Cubs 2
What You Need To Know: For the 12th time since 1913, the Cubs lost a nine-inning game despite drawing 10 or more walks. For the fourth time since 1913, the Cubs failed to score more than two runs despite drawing double-digit walks in a nine-inning game. The last time the latter occurrence happened was five days before WWII […]
Game 48 Recap: Dodgers 9, Cubs 4
What you need to know: Well, that wasn’t a whole lot of fun, was it? The Cubs offense did some damage to baseball’s finest starting pitcher in Clayton Kershaw, but it wasn’t enough to silence a Dodger offense that’s currently clicking on all cylinders. Jon Lester wasn’t good in a short start by his standards, and […]
Jason Heyward Is Who We Thought He Was
It’s easy to understand why people with North Side loyalties are conflicted when broaching the subject of Jason Heyward. On one hand, it’s easy to get excited about everything he does well offensively because there was such limited success on that side in 2016. On the other, there’s the snakebitten element of him, as seemingly every […]
Game 47 Recap: Dodgers 5 Cubs 0
What You Need To Know: My first post on this site was the Game 8 Recap when the Dodgers faced the Cubs at Wrigley Field. It was easy to be objective as a Dodgers fan writing about the Cubs given the nascency of the season. However, almost forty games later, I am torn. Watching the Dodgers dominate […]
Game 46 Recap: Dodgers 4, Cubs 0
What you need to know: The Cubs, having taken three of four from the visiting San Francisco Giants to conclude an impressive and encouraging 7-2 homestand, were no match for Los Angeles Dodgers lefty Alex Wood, who threw five dominant shutout innings to extend his scoreless streak to 25 1/3 innings. The Cubs would open their […]
Zack’s Sack: A Wrigleyville Mailbag, Vol. 2
Welcome to Zack’s Sack, Vol. 2! The best “Vol. 2” to be released in the past month or so, I assure you, and with Kris Bryant instead of Chris Pratt. Please submit your questions—Cubs questions, baseball history questions, or otherwise—to @beersntrumpets on Twitter. Questions posed by Twitter followers are unedited, in the interest of making […]
Ten Years Later: A Draft in Three Acts
With the third overall pick of the 2007 Major League Baseball first-year player draft, the Chicago Cubs selected Josh Vitters. Like most early round draft picks during the Jim Hendry era, the high ceiling, low floor high school third baseman tantalized the imaginations of the Chicago faithful. And like most early round draft picks during […]
Game 46 Recap: Cubs 5, Giants 1
What You Need To Know: Eddie Butler was just a little better than Jeff Samardzija, only giving up one run while Shark gave up three solo homers on a day when both teams definitely had a plane to California to catch. From there Mike Montgomery got the old school save, pitching the last four innings on […]
The Rotation’s Biggest Sequencing Changes
It’s no secret that the Cubs rotation has been different in 2017. Many would be quick to suggest that “different” is a nicer way of saying “bad”. While it’s certainly true that the results for the rotation have not been as good as in 2016, that does not in itself mean anything, nor does it […]