WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Heading into the game, I did some online shopping for some pitchforks, lanterns, and clubs in case the Cubs lost. Not surprisingly, Amazon.com had the best deals. I thought $35 was pretty reasonable for a pitchfork. The problem soon became that Amazon did not have same day shipping for what I […]
Tag: Addison Russell
Missing Your Pitch: Addison Russell 2017
Author’s Note: I wrote the majority of this piece before the news broke that Addison Russell is currently under investigation for suspected domestic violence based on an Instagram post made by his wife this past Wednesday night and subsequent comments on said post by his wife’s friend. Obviously, domestic violence is a serious and heinous crime, and […]
Searching For The Rock In “Ad-Rock”
There’s this narrative that follows Addison Russell around. It’s one of the few things I hear Len Kasper continually echo throughout a season, and it’s that Russell will one day win an MVP. All things are possible I suppose, but I’ve found it curious to say the least. Curious because I would think it would be […]
The Continued Evolution of Addison Russell
It’s absurd to think about the idea of Addison Russell being an overlooked element of the Chicago Cubs. But with performances and personas like that of Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, and Javier Baez, it ultimately isn’t all that surprising. While three of those four have made their mark with their offense first, Russell […]
Game 15 Recap: Cubs 7 Brewers 4
What You Need To Know: This thing you Chicagoans call … rain? … delayed today’s game. Rather than a 1:20 start time, the game was finally underway around 2:15 PM. The Cubs faced the Brewers and sit a half-game behind Milwaukee in the NL Central. Chicago sent Kyle Hendricks to face Tommy Milone. Making his third […]
Addy’s 2016 postseason adjustment is carrying over to spring training and that is a very good thing
It’s funny to describe a player who amassed 3.86 wins above replacement last year as a breakout candidate. Baseball is chock full of good players who contributed that much to their teams’ success. For instance, David Ortiz (3.88) and Dexter Fowler (3.62). And yet, many observers, including a majority of the BP Wrigleycast crew, have pegged […]
Cactus Catchup: Spring Training Games Are Still Fun
We’re a week into actual spring training games, which means we have about another week until spring training starts getting annoying. A week from now, the carefree exhibition games will only remind us that this isn’t the real thing. We’ll still have another three weeks of watching three innings of the players we want to […]
Do the Cubs Have Any Viable Extension Candidates?
On Monday, news broke that the Royals had signed Danny Duffy, 28, to a five-year extension worth $65 million dollars. Coming off by far the best year of his career (Duffy put up 3.8 WARP and a cFIP of 91), the Royals locked him up to what seems to be a fairly team-friendly deal. Duffy—who […]
Player Profile: Addison Russell
Position: Shortstop 2016 Stats: .238/.321/.417, .275 TAv, 21 HR, 3.8 FRAA, 3.9 WARP Year in Review: If you’d like to, you can find things that are wrong with Addison Russell. He hit only .238 this year, and .242 the year before. His release is quick, his throws are accurate, but his arm isn’t particularly strong. He strikes out […]
Second City November: Bombs Away and a Forced Game Seven
Let’s hear it for the blowout Game Six. We’re all familiar with the tight Game Six that sends the series to an extra game: the Cardinals breaking the Rangers’ hearts in 2011, the Bloody Sock Game in the 2004 ALCS, the Angels’ comeback in 2002. Historic games all, swinging the momentum of a series dramatically. Undoubtedly worth […]