Position: 2B/3B 2015 Stats: 33 G, 75 PA, .269/.324/.403, .269 TAv, 0.2 WARP 2015 in Review: Acquired last winter from the Braves as middle-infield depth with a shot to compete for the starting second base job, Tommy La Stella quickly found himself ensconced in the team’s 60-day disabled list due to a strained oblique. Jonathan […]
Tag: Offseason
Cubs Player Profile: Justin Grimm
Position: Relief Pitcher 2015 Stats: 49 2/3 IP, 3.53 DRA, 1.99 ERA, 32.8 K%, 12.8 BB%, 0.7 WARP Year In Review: This past summer was Justin Grimm’s second full year pitching out of the Cubs’ bullpen, and he played a vital part in solidifying what was the eighth-best bullpen in baseball by ERA. Grimm, 27, started 2015 on the […]
On Eve of 2016, Weakness Is a Relative Term for Cubs
A few days after the 2015 season ended—while I could still smell beer and peanuts on my jacket—Sahadev Sharma and I collaborated on a series of articles for this site. You can find them here and here. In those articles, we laid out the weaknesses of the 2015 club as we saw them, and identified […]
Maintaining Financial Flexibility: A New Market Inefficiency? – Part One
As the fallout of Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist signing with the Cubs settles around us, the idea of creating a team spilling over with flexibility on the field has been crystallized in our minds. My late-night lineup doodling revealed a dizzying array of possibilities, with as many as six players having the ability to provide excellent […]
Cubs Player Profile: Pedro Strop
Position: Relief Pitcher 2015 Stats: 68 IP, 2.67 DRA, 2.91 ERA, 30.0 K%, 10.7 BB%, 1.6 WARP Year In Review: Nobody seems to take it too seriously, but the Cubs actually had an excellent bullpen in 2015—their 3.38 ‘pen ERA was fourth in the National League, behind the Cardinals, Pirates, and Giants—and Strop was a major contributor to […]
Cubs Player Profile: Chris Coghlan
Position: OF/2B 2015 Stats: 148 G, 503 PA, .250/.341/.443, .279 TAv, 2.3 WARP What Happened in 2015: Chris Coghlan has qualified for the batting title twice in his seven-year career. The first time, in 2009, he won the Rookie of the Year award. The second time, in 2015, he was probably a better hitter and […]
Cubs Player Profile: Anthony Rizzo
Position: First Base 2015 Stats: 160 G, 701 PA, .278/.387/.512, .328 TAv, 5.2 WARP Year in Review: This February, Rizzo came into spring training hoping to build upon a breakout 2014 season in which he slashed .286/.386/.527 over 616 brilliant plate appearances, slugging 32 home runs to go alongside a .335 TAv and 5.5 WARP, good for the 15th-best WARP […]
Cubs Player Profile: Kris Bryant
Kris Bryant Position: Third base, with a little outfield sprinkled in for good measure 2015 Stats: 151 G, 650 PA, .275/.369/.488, .317 TAv, 6.2 WARP Year in Review: My father likes to tell stories. Tales of when he was he was in the army, medical school, his cricket-playing days, and how he developed a love of baseball when […]
From BP: Transaction Analysis—No Laughing Matter
This piece, written by BP Wrigleyville’s Editor-in-Chief Sahadev Sharma, originally appeared on Baseball Prospectus and is available exclusively to BP subscribers. We hope you enjoy this preview here. Signed OF Jason Heyward to an eight-year deal worth $184 million. [12/11] Outside the organization, outside the city, around baseball, the story is the Cubs are coming […]
The Path We Walked with Him
I remember where I was when Starlin Castro made his big-league debut. I’m guessing you do, too. In amongst the jumble of hazy memories and half-begun hopes that are all that remain of the dark years between 2008 and 2011, just a few moments stand out. Castro’s debut, on the road against Cincinnati, is one of them. […]