It’s not exactly breaking news that Anthony Rizzo is one of the most watchable players in baseball. Between his mix of power and plate discipline and a defensive reel that looks like a Spider Man reboot (“Spidey Faces His Most Dastardly Foe of All: Corporate Season Ticket Holders!”), the Cubs’ first baseman draws our eyes […]
Category: Articles
Justin Grimm’s Role in 2017
The name Justin Grimm evokes two distinct memories to me. The first was October 28, 2016, Game 3 of the World Series. With no score and the bases loaded with one out in the fifth inning, Justin Grimm was called upon to put out the fire. Quickly, Grimm coaxed Francisco Lindor to hit into an […]
Game 19 Recap: Cubs 14, Pirates 3
What You Need To Know: The Cubs’ offensive explosion continued, as they now have plated 37 runs just four games in on their current road trip. They pounded Chad Kuhl (insert your own “cool” pun here) for nine runs in an inning and two-thirds and effectively put this one out of reach before the fourteenth […]
Jake Arrieta is Adjusting his Pitch Selection, and It’s Working
In the height of his dominance that came two seasons ago, Jake Arrieta used his sinker and his famed slider/cutter hybrid to leave opposing hitters helpless. And after the slightly-awry season that followed his Cy Young brilliance, Arrieta seems in the early going this year to have found a couple of ways to right his […]
Game 18 Recap: Reds 7, Cubs 5
What You Need to Know: Old. 78 combined years of age. Those were the first things I thought of when I saw who the starting pictures were going to be for today’s game. Cincinnati’s Bronson Arroyo is in his 16th year in the majors, despite missing the last two years. And as for the Cubs’ […]
Eddie Butler: The Cubs’ Potential Diamond in the Rough
Early February is a dead zone as far as Major League Baseball goes. There may be some activity in free agency or the occasional trade, but for the most part that time of year is when baseball is at its lowest point. Spring training is right around the corner, and MLB fans the world over […]
Game 17 Recap: Cubs 12, Reds 8
What you need to know: With seven runs in the first two innings and 12 runs overall, the Cubs continued to beat the Reds pitching staff like a rented donkey. Jake Arrieta had a rough start but not in the way you would expect: he did not walk a single batter for the first time […]
Game 16 Recap: Cubs 6 Reds 5 (11)
What You Need to Know Jon Lester was imperfect tonight and the Reds tagged him for five runs in 5 2/3 innings, but the Cubs’ offense refused to die yet again as Anthony Rizzo tied the game with a three-run homer in the ninth. The Cubs finally caught up to the formerly first-place Reds. April […]
Time for Javy Báez to Hit the Reset Button
Let me preface all of this by acknowledging that we’re barely two weeks into the 2017 season, and with sample size in mind, it’s extremely difficult to make too much of an assertion about a lot of things at this point. This isn’t meant to be a hot take or a panicky one in any […]
What’s Eating Kyle Hendricks?
Something is definitely off with last year’s Cy Young candidate. Through his first three starts of the 2017 season, Kyle Hendricks has struggled with the very things that made him excellent just last year. Whether or not this is a harbinger of what the forthcoming months will look like from him is too early to […]