This piece, by BP Wrigleyville’s Editor-in-Chief Sahadev Sharma, first appeared at the Baseball Prospectus main site and is available free for all to enjoy. We’ve posted a sneak preview here. Do I have to say it? Are you really going to make me say it? Fine, I’ll say it: These are not the same Mets that […]
Tag: Playoffs
This Cubs-Mets Series Is Different
This piece, by friend of the site Alex Walsh (@ajwalshCubs), features some great analysis of Jon Lester’s performance against the Mets, past and present. We hope you enjoy. If the announcers for this 2015 NLCS implore you to “throw out the regular season stats” at any point during the broadcast of Game 1, take heed—it’ll be […]
Maddon Throwing Cubs into Stark Relief after NLDS Success
Last week, I made some predictions about how Joe Maddon might manage his bench and bullpen in the Wild Card Game and Division Series, drawing upon his history in Tampa Bay and the composition of the Cubs’ roster in order to do so. With the Cubs now moving on to the NLCS for the first time in 12 years, I thought […]
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 […]
Jake Arrieta Is the Right Choice for Game One
Yesterday, my colleague Matthew Trueblood laid out a compelling argument in support of Joe Maddon’s decision to start Jon Lester in Game One of the NLCS. The central argument he made in that piece was that Arrieta (and all modern pitchers) are more accustomed to a fifth day of rest, and that, because Arrieta would be on […]
Russell Rests as Cubs Consider Arms Race
It wasn’t quite on the order of the sword of Damocles—the Cubs are too happy right now to feel anything approaching anxiety—but it was certainly an open question heading into the workout day on Thursday: What was Addison Russell’s status? The last anyone had heard of his health was on Tuesday night, manager Joe Maddon was […]
Loose and Deadly Calm, Cubs Celebrate a Leap Forward
Spend any time around this Chicago Cubs club, and you’ll know that they’re a special group. The national media can write all they want about how their youthful inexperience gets in the way of postseason success, but that story gets less convincing with every new team the Cubs leave sullen-faced in the visiting dugout. And […]
Playoff Prospectus: Party Time in Wrigleyville — NLDS Game Four
This piece, by BP Wrigleyville’s Editor-in-Chief Sahadev Sharma, first appeared at the Baseball Prospectus main site and is available to everyone for free. We’ve posted a sneak preview here. The plan all along was for this Cubs team to be built on offense. After clinching a trip to the club’s first NLCS in a dozen years, […]
NLDS Game Four Recap: Cubs 6 Cardinals 4
Top Play (WPA): 2015 has not been an easy year for Javier Baez. After struggling through a cup of coffee in the already-sacrificed 2014 season, adversity found him time-and-again this year. That much is well-documented. Through it all, there was never a doubt that the stoic young man from Bayamon—the man with the MLB logo tattooed on his […]
Playoff Prospectus: Homers, Homers, Homers, Homers — NLDS Game 3 ($)
This piece, by BP’s Mike Gianella, first appeared at the Baseball Prospectus main site and is exclusively available to BP subscribers. We’ve posted a sneak preview here. Game Three of the NLDS between the Cardinals and the Cubs shifted to Wrigley Field on Monday night, with the advantage tilting to the Cubs not only because […]