Thanksgiving is over, Christmas is gone, and the New Year has begun, yet none of the top-tier free agent starting pitchers or position players have been signed. Many around the game believed that after the Giancarlo Stanton and Shohei Otani sweepstakes resolved the market would open up and some of these players would come off […]
Tag: Jake Arrieta
Yu Darvish: 2500 Leagues (and Innings) Under The Sea
After a brief spasm of activity where the Cubs filled out a spot in the rotation with Tyler Chatwood and a couple spots in the bullpen, we’re all sitting around watching the water boil again. Or not boil, however that phrase goes. I guess not boil, which is even more boring than watching it boil. […]
Second City October: NLCS Game Four, The Snake Makes His Exit
Jake Arrieta has inspired awe and poetic rhapsodizing more than any other Cubs player in the past few years. With his bushy beard, stolid physique, and no-hit stuff, it was hard to resist Arrieta’s allure as a pitcher—on any given evening, Arrieta could crossfire his way to a complete game shutout with a dozen strikeouts. […]
Jake Arrieta: Great Again?
Last Friday, Jake Arrieta rode an effective “slutter” to another quality start, lowering his ERA to 3.63, and earning a victory over the visiting Blue Jays. His six strikeouts, two walks, six hits allowed, and one run allowed over 6 ⅔ innings lengthened a solid streak of quality starts to seven games, and he is […]
Making the case for keeping Jake Arrieta past 2017
Prior to the start of the 2017 season, one of the many topics of discussion revolving around the defending World Series champions was the contract situation of starter Jake Arrieta. Arrieta, who is represented by baseball mega-agent Scott Boras, has not been able to come to terms on an agreement and has been eyeing the […]
Game 100 Recap: Cubs 8, White Sox 3
What you need to know: The Cubs jumped on James Shields for five runs relatively early in the game. Anthony Rizzo’s double in the 5th inning was the source of most of those runs, making the White Sox and manager Rick Renteria pay for allowing Shields to face just one more batter with the bags […]
Game 82 Recap: Cubs 6, Reds 2
What you need to know: The season is halfway over. I do not know whether to be excited by that or humbled at the results. At 40-41 heading into the game, the Cubs have underwhelmed the masses with poor starting pitching, shoddy defense, and a lack of offense with runners in scoring position. Can it […]
Game 62 Recap: Cubs 7, Rockies 5
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 […]
The Rotation’s Biggest Sequencing Changes
It’s no secret that the Cubs rotation has been different in 2017. Many would be quick to suggest that “different” is a nicer way of saying “bad”. While it’s certainly true that the results for the rotation have not been as good as in 2016, that does not in itself mean anything, nor does it […]
Where Should Cubs’ Starting Pitching Concerns Be Focused?
The Chicago Cubs are not in a good place right now. They’re under .500, and there isn’t an area of the game in which anyone can declare that they’re actually excelling at this point. Despite some solid individual offensive and defensive performance, they haven’t put things together as a group in either respect. Same goes […]