“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” — Atticus Finch, To Kill a Mockingbird Realistically, the Milwaukee Brewers are at least a season or two from contending, but they have a well-stocked farm system with a […]
Category: Articles
Check Your Expectations for Kyle Schwarber
Kyle Schwarber is a mythical player for the Chicago Cubs, and frankly, he has been for quite a while now. It all started when he went 4-for-7 with two home runs and four RBI against Cincinnati in an unbelievable back-and-forth win on July 11, 2015. The lead in the Tribune the following day said it […]
The 90th Percentile Cubs
Last week, the PECOTA projections were released and while few would have expected another hundred-win season projected for the Cubs, the 91 wins they’re currently sitting at on the BP projected standings page is underwhelming to say the least. To make it appear even more like PECOTA has something specifically against the Cubs, the Dodgers […]
Alec Mills and How the Cubs Got Their Starting Pitcher Depth
Before last offseason, I wrote about the way that Theo Epstein-led front offices tend to go about acquiring relief pitchers. The conclusion was that, somewhat surprisingly, these front offices almost never sign high-priced free agent relievers, instead electing to acquire them through trade or from the minor leagues. And the Cubs have stuck to this […]
Remembering Buck O’Neil
There has always existed an immense difficulty in portraying great men, in boiling them down to several quotes or anecdotes that get misplaced and misrepresented through time. It is perhaps even more difficult to capture the lives of good men, who exist in subtler forms transferred from person to person in hidden conversations and the […]
Division Preview: The Cincinnati Reds
‘Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’ Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away. – from “Ozymandias,” by Percy Shelley As recently as 2013, the Cincinnati Reds were a playoff baseball team, but their status now stands as a sad […]
The NRI Watch List
Everyone’s thinking it when they look at the Cubs roster: This is a team that could sure use a surprise contribution from a non-roster invitee. There’s so little depth, and plenty of room on the roster to fit in one of the 24 NRIs that were announced at the end of January. Anyone buying it? […]
How Likely are the Cubs to Flop in 2017?
As we get closer to the start of the baseball season, I’ve found myself wondering why I am hopeful, and yet I worry about, the 2017 Cubs season. I am old enough to remember most Cubs seasons of the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. Each preseason, I felt the excitement of the unknown, like a blackjack player […]
Don’t get too attached to Ian Happ
During the rebuilding years, an essential part of being a fan of the Chicago Cubs was falling in love with the current batch of prospects and following their progress through the minors with almost as much (or more) fervor as the big league team. While there isn’t quite the embarrassment of riches down on the […]
Javier Baez: The Best (Defensive) Player in Baseball
Whether tuned into the game’s various intricacies, no matter how subtle, or merely a casual observer, everyone has different reasons for watching Major League Baseball. For me, it’s stellar defense through and through. A love of defense is the reason that I openly advocated for Nick Ahmed to have a starting gig on a real life […]