Oftentimes, it’s hard to really pinpoint when a team became great, that moment when the players, the fans, basically anyone following the team accepted the team isn’t just pretending, they legitimately are good. But for the 2015, it’s hard to deny when that stretch came. Kris Bryant certainly didn’t hesitate. “I think in early August […]
Tag: joe maddon
The Beer List: Maddon ’15 Edition
This is The Beer List. It’s an opportunity, once every two weeks, for the staff here at BP Wrigleyville to get together (virtually, of course) and respond briefly to one small, usually quite open-ended, question. Despite the strenuous efforts of certain members of the writing crew to make it so, it has nothing to do […]
Joe Maddon on Winter Ball: Go Play
For the past few seasons, the end of the regular season mean the end of Cubs baseball for the year as well. Though the postseason is great and shows the game’s stars in the biggest of moments, I couldn’t help but feel detached by the lack of Cubs. Usually, that would lead to excitement for winter […]
Day and Night: The Cubs’ Odd Home and Away Splits
Through Monday, the Cubs are 27-24 at home and 30-23 on the road. I try not to get too carried away over split data, but while this portrays a positive development, there are intriguing undertones. This table shows the difference in OPS for the Cubs since 2000 for home and away games (hOPS and aOPS), […]
What History Says When You Start Four Rookies
I was listening to 670 The Score on Monday afternoon when Dan Bernstein asked whether a team that started four rookies had ever made the playoffs. I enjoy researching these types of questions, and Dan did leave quite a bit to the imagination. I chose to define “rookie” using the filter in the Baseball-Reference Play […]
The Cubs Have Holes to Fill… and the Right People to Decide How to Fill Them
The Cubs are entering a very crucial part of the season. They’ve wrapped up one of the tougher stretches of play that they’ll likely face all season, and despite entering Tuesday on a five-game losing skid, things aren’t as bad as they appear. Yes, the losing stretch exposed some of their holes, but that may […]
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 […]
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 […]
Checking in on the Bottom of the Cubs’ Lineup
Photo courtesy of Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports The Cubs have used the pitcher in the eighth slot in each of their first 49 games. This was one of the (minor) innovations new manager Joe Maddon promised when he arrived from Tampa Bay. For Maddon, doing things differently than other managers is a point of pride, […]
Cubbie Ks a Concern?
Photo courtesy of Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports I was doing research for a piece on the difference in strikeout rates depending on whether there were runners in scoring position or if the bases were empty, and I was struck by a number that leaped off the page at me. In addition to the Cubs bucking […]