Last Saturday, Willson Contreras hit this opposite-field homer off an Anthony DeSclafani slider. Thanks to the soft skin of home plate umpire Gary Gibson and the Cubs ultimately falling for the third straight time to the last-place Reds, Contreras’s second-inning shot was nowhere near the most newsworthy thing that happened in that game. But the […]
Tag: Home Runs
Kyle Hendricks Can’t Keep the Ball in the Park
If you’ve watched a lot of Kyle Hendricks this year (and let’s be honest – if you’re reading this, you have), and if you’ve thought he seems a little off, don’t worry; you’re not alone. Hendricks himself has noticed, as he explained after last Sunday’s loss to the Pirates: “I’m just fighting myself on some […]
The Thing About Matt Szczur’s First Pitch Home Run
Last night, Matt Szczur hit a home run on the first pitch he saw in the third inning (and, indeed, in the game). Here’s what it looked like: There’s any number of interesting angles to talk about here. You could draw a parallel between Szczur’s alma mater (Villanova) and what happened in Houston on Monday […]
The Cubs Go Boom: The Top Playoff Homers so Far
WPA, short for Win Probability Added, is a stat we use often here at BP Wrigleyville. It’s really a cool little number, and for the sake of not leaving anyone in the dark, I’ll briefly explain it. WPA is a measurement of the degree to which every play that happens throughout a game changes the team’s […]