I gather box score information on a daily basis and use this process as my primary means of keeping up with what’s going on in baseball. I’m always looking for the weird or quirky—a bunt that gets stretched to a triple, a passed ball on strike three where the runners advances to second, stuff like […]
Tag: Chicago Cubs
Pitchers Laying Low Against Bryant
I was playing golf with a friend of mine who’s a Cubs fan and knows I write about baseball. A couple weeks ago, he said, “Man, that uppercut swing of Kris Bryant drives me nuts. How does he ever plan on making contact?” Since my friend is a normal person, he’s unaware of sites like […]
The 2015 Cubs Are the Most Talented Cubs Team at the Break Since 2008
Abstraction is an analytical tool that, almost by definition, is very bad at explaining individual events but very good at explaining the big picture. Meanwhile, talent—and specifically, talent which is related to playing baseball—is almost certainly something best understood at the macro level. It makes sense, then, that the more you abstract from actual results […]
Can Participating in the Derby Hurt a Player’s Offensive Production?
Last week, it was announced that both Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant would participate in the Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game, and since they’re both going to be in Cincinnati anyway, why not? Almost immediately, consternation materialized as concerns mounted as to whether there might be deleterious effects by participating. With the explosion […]
The Myth of the Kris Bryant Call-Up
As the Cubs pass the halfway mark of the season, it’s completely reasonable to look ahead and see how they might finish out the year. They have a four-game lead in the race for the final NL wild card spot, a race that in all likelihood will stay tight. As such, a story that had […]
Cubs Draft History
The 2015 MLB draft occurred a couple weeks ago, and at this point everything is pure speculation. Cubs first-round pick Ian Happ is already fueling hype by hitting two home runs in his first five games through Tuesday at Eugene in the short-season Northwest League, but I’ll leave that to others to dream about what […]
How Rare Is That?: The Cubs Late and Close in 2015
When you write about baseball, especially for an analytically-minded site like Baseball Prospectus, you have to be quite clear about what question you’re attempting to answer for the reader in each piece you write. For a game recap, the question might be as simple as “What happened in today’s game?”. For an analysis post, the question […]
The Cubs Fifth Starter
Just as the swallows return to Capistrano every March 19th, there are tropes in sports that won’t go away. When the Bears preseason camp opens this summer, people will breathlessly wonder who the backup quarterback will be, conveniently ignoring the fact that if he actually has to play, the Bears season will be over (see […]
A Look at the Past, Present, and Future of Junior Lake and the Cubs
Lost in the wealth of young Cubs talent like Kris Bryant, Jorge Soler, Javier Baez, and Arismendy Alcantara are some of the other players of their generation. Junior Lake typifies this crowd, which also included former Cubs Brett Jackson and Josh Vitters—players best left forgotten. What shouldn’t be readily forgotten is how hot Lake’s 2013 […]
The Cubs at 50 Games
As the Cubs has passed the 50-game mark, they’re approaching the point where questions begin to be answered, and not always in a positive manner. With a 27-23 record after Tuesday, the Cubs would be right in the thick of the playoffs if they were to begin now. It’s not too soon to wonder if the […]