Whether tuned into the game’s various intricacies, no matter how subtle, or merely a casual observer, everyone has different reasons for watching Major League Baseball. For me, it’s stellar defense through and through. A love of defense is the reason that I openly advocated for Nick Ahmed to have a starting gig on a real life […]
Tag: Javier Baez
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 […]
The Case For Baez To Lead Off… Sometimes… Maybe
One of the things Dexter Fowler left in his wake with his departure to West East St. Louis, along with a shortage in the “handsome” and “really cute kid” department, is a question of who the Cubs bat leadoff on a day-to-day basis. We’ve all been part of debates on whether your leadoff hitter is […]
How the Cubs Will Find Places for Javier Baez to Play in 2017
When Javy Baez exploded into the national consciousness in the 2016 MLB playoffs, many Cubs fans chuckled. We had blissfully marinated in Baez’s sensational defensive play for the better parts of 2014, 2015, and 2016. My favorite play? When Baez deked the Dodgers’ baserunners by letting the soft liner drop in front of him for […]
Player Profile: Javier Baez
Position: 2B, 3B, SS, 1B, C, CF, SP 2016 Stats: .273/.314/.423, .275 TAv, 2.5 WARP Year in Review: Some people think that a little intoxication reveals your true personality. It isn’t that drinking turns you into a jerk per se, you just become more of who you really are. If that theory is true, then we’re all […]
Second City October: The Beauty of Belief, And Those Who’d Take It Away
Javier Baez, Most Valuable Player of the 2016 NLCS, has fourteen postseason hits for seven RBIs through Game One of the World Series. That’s better than Kris Bryant. It’s better than every other Cub. And it says nothing of his dazzling defense. Willson Contreras has knocked a cool .409 in his October attempts, which is […]
Playoff Prospectus: The Bold and the Beautiful
The piece previewed here, written by BP Wrigleyvilles Editor-in-Chief Rian Watt, forms part of the main site’s comprehensive coverage of the playoffs, “Playoff Prospectus.” Additional Game Two coverage, exclusive to BP Wrigleyville, can be found here, under the name “Second City October”. The last time two starting pitchers with ERAs this low faced off in […]
Second City October: The State of the Series
This piece, written by BP Wrigleyville’s Zack Moser, forms part of our in-house coverage of the Cubs in the playoffs, “Second City October.” For more on Game Two, read Nate Greabe’s recap. Additional playoff coverage will be found on BP Wrigleyville throughout the week. “He shall from time to time give to the Cubs Faithful information to the […]
Javier Baez, Refined
The prospect of some positional comfort going into his mid-30s, after years of being moved all over the diamond, helped lure Ben Zobrist to the Cubs this past offseason. He had been promised the starting second base job and a reunion with his old skipper, a situation in which he was poised to succeed, but […]
Game 100 Recap: Cubs 8 White Sox 1
The Cubs are in a weird place right now. On one hand, they’re looking much improved after the break and taking series wins against the Rangers, Mets, and Brewers has calmed much of the angst that had so defined the month of July for Cubs fans. But on the other hand, there’s a swirl of […]