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 […]
Tag: Anthony Rizzo
Do Defensive Shifts Work? If So, Are Bunts the Silver Bullet?
On opening night, Carlos Martinez had his way with the Cubs to the tune of 10 strikeouts over 7 1/3 innings. In the eighth inning, however, the Cubs stirred to life. They loaded the bases, knocked out Martinez, and had Bryzzo coming up with less than two outs. Both failed to deliver, and that was […]
Cactus Catchup: The Rotation Returns and Baez Departs
The World Baseball Classic began on Monday, which means that a few players will be absent from Cubs camp going forwards, most notably Javier Baez. The versatile infielder will suit up for Puerto Rico in the tournament as part of perhaps the most exciting double-play partnership of the competition with Cleveland’s star shortstop Francisco Lindor. […]
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 […]
Cold Takes on Cubs’ PECOTA Projections
It’s nigh time we indulge in one of the late offseason’s finest traditions: the ceremonial handwringing over projections! Baseball Prospectus released its 2017 PECOTA projections, and, as always, there are some interesting quirks that deserve some cursory inspection. So, let’s get right to it. You can access the Cubs’ full projections on Baseball Prospectus’ main […]
Just how elite is Anthony Rizzo?
It’s been widely observed that the trade with the San Diego Padres that netted the Cubs Anthony Rizzo back in January of 2012 was the move that really set the organization on course towards becoming the perennial contender that they have since become. While there are, of course, other elements of the rebuild that could stake […]
PLAYER PROFILE: ANTHONY RIZZO
Position: First Base, first in Cubs fans’ hearts. 2016 Stats: .292/.385/.544, .334 TAV, 7.o WARP Year in Review: How do you review something that Hollywood couldn’t do justice to in a movie script? A century of futility artfully ending as the dashing leading man slips as he fires the ball into the trustworthy mitt of his affable […]
Second City October: Rizzo’s Woes, In Detail
She arrived at the Sphinx—the mythical beast posted on an outcropping, guarding the bridge to the World Series—anticipating the riddle of legend. The Sphinx spoke. “What creatures walk on four balls in the regular season, but strike out on three pitches in the playoffs?” — The cold randomness of the playoffs was the only legitimate […]
Rizzo vs. Bryant for MVP and Comparing Apples to Oranges
They’re best friends. They’re baseball superstars. They have a satirical souvenir company named after them. They are one of baseball’s best and favorite tandems. And they are currently up against each other in the NL MVP race. They are Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant. Though it was just over a year ago, it’s hard to remember […]
Game 139 Recap: Brewers 2 Cubs 1
It is probably best, after a 2-1 loss to Milwaukee in which Jonathan Villar single-handedly outslugged the entire Cubs offense, to remember that the games carry little real weight for either team by now. And that the Cardinals lost, so the Cubs’ inevitable conquest of the NL Central is no farther away. Tonight Matt Garza […]