One of the most under the radar mid-season acquisitions by the Cubs was an absolute home run. Well, at least as much of a home run as a late August waiver claim for a third string catcher can be. That acquisition was third strong catcher Rene Rivera. Position: Catcher 2017 Stats (With Cubs): .341/.408/.591, .327 TAv in 50 plate […]
Tag: 2017 Offseason
Cubs Target Profile: Brandon Morrow
While many of my other pieces this off-season have focused more on middle relief or setup options, this one will focus on the back end of the Cubs bullpen. One of the most interesting stories of the 2017 season, specifically the postseason, was the enormous success of Brandon Morrow for the Dodgers following five straight […]
2017 Player Profile: Anthony Rizzo
Position: 1B 2017 Stats: AVG OBP SLG HR TAv wRC+ FRAA WARP .273 .392 .507 32 .304 133 15.0 5.1 Year in Review: In what was really a banner year for Anthony Rizzo off the field, taking home both the Roberto Clemente Award and Marvin Miller Man of the Year for his work in the […]
Cubs Target Profile: Joe Smith
The Cubs bullpen conversations will span far and wide for the Cubs this off-season, but one of the better fits they might find is former Cub Joe Smith. You might remember Smith from his brief stint with the Cubs in 2016. Now I’m not saying that Smith is the reason they won the World Series […]
2017 Player Profile: Jake Arrieta
Position: Stating Pitcher, Picture to Stare at While Listening to “I Will Remember You” on Repeat 2017 Stats: 3.53 ERA/4.17 FIP/4.24 DRA, 93 cFIP, 14-10, 2.5 WARP Year in Review: I already miss Jake Arrieta like the deserts miss the rain. Or like Matt Carpenter misses every slider he’s ever thrown. Which is not to […]
2017 Player Profile: Tommy La Stella
Where were you when you found out the Cubs had acquired Tommy La Stella from the Atlanta Braves for Arodys Vizcaino in November 2014? I was in line for Swedish Meatballs at IKEA. Oh, you don’t remember? Yep, makes sense. I’d imagine most folks don’t have that moment ingrained in their memory and haven’t spent […]
Cubs Offseason Target: Alex Cobb
With the departures of Jake Arrieta and John Lackey from the Cubs starting rotation, Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer find themselves with two spots to fill this offseason. This year’s starting pitching market offers a couple top-tier options like Yu Darvish and Arrieta, himself, as well as some high-upside, high-risk arms like Shohei Otani. But […]
Cubs Target Profile: Pat Neshek
After a poor off-season, the Cubs will look to bolster a talented, but inconsistent bullpen heading into the 2018 season. One emphasis you’ll see as the Cubs add to the pen is finding guys who keep walks to a minimum. For the 2017 season, the Cubs bullpen led all of baseball with an 11.2 percent […]
2017 Player Profile: Wade Davis
Position: Relief Pitcher 2017 Stats: 32 saves, 2.30 ERA/3.39 FIP/2.99 DRA, 80 cFIP, 12.1 K/9, 1.4 WARP Year in Review: The quality of Wade Davis’ performance since he became a reliever has been so good that this was in many ways his worst year since 2013, when he was still predominantly a starter. While his […]