This recap, written by Baseball Prospectus’s Jarrett Seidler, forms part of the main site’s comprehensive coverage of the postseason, “Playoff Prospectus”. Cleveland acquired Coco Crisp on August 31 in a trade so low profile that the phrase “under the radar” might be charitable. Going back to Oakland was Colt Hynes, a 31-year-old minor-league reliever whom […]
Tag: Postseason
Playoff Prospectus: Assessing the Managers’ Moves in Game 3
This recap, written by Baseball Prospectus’s Rian Watt, forms part of the main site’s comprehensive coverage of the postseason, “Playoff Prospectus”. Sometimes, a universe turns on a single moment, and sometimes that moment doesn’t matter. Two such moments of interest from last night’s game, which the Indians ended up winning 1-0. With one out in […]
Second City October: “30 Pitches of Hell”
“The Cubs put Clayton Kershaw through 30 pitches of hell in the first inning.” – Andy McCullough, Los Angeles Times There could not have been a more formidable opponent than Clayton Kershaw for the Cubs to have to get past on their way to their first World Series berth since pre-integration baseball. There’s a lot […]
Second City October: Blanked Again
This piece, written by BP Wrigleyville’s Jared Wyllys, forms part of our in-house coverage of the Cubs in the playoffs, “Second City October.” Additional Game Three coverage can be found here. “Just rearrange the deck chairs and see how it plays.” — Joe Maddon In hindsight, probably a poorly chosen allusion for Maddon, though it’s provided a […]
Second City October: NLCS Series Preview
This piece, written by BP Wrigleyville’s Jared Wyllys, forms part of our in-house coverage of the Cubs in the playoffs, “Second City October”. Additional NLDS coverage, written by Aaron Gleeman and originally run on the main site’s series “Playoff Prospectus,” can be found here. Fortune has not been kind to the Cubs when they travel to the west coast, and especially so in […]
Second City October: NLDS Game Three Preview, Cubs (2-0) at Giants (0-2)
It has become something of a perverse given to grant the Giants this game. Not because the numbers play out in San Francisco’s favor particularly heavily, but because the playoffs inspire such a concentrated focus on intangibles, so it is assumed that Madison Bumgarner will simply toss another complete game shutout and salvage his team’s season for at […]
Hot at the Right Time, Montero Ready for October
Success in the playoffs generally has as much to do with being hot at the right time as it does with fielding the best team on paper. The Cubs will certainly have the latter, but the former will be in question as the NLDS starts on Friday night. This “being hot” is a difficult thing to […]
Jason Hammel’s Tenuous Hold on a Postseason Future
Jason Hammel’s 2016 season has had its ups and downs — more downs, lately, than ups — but on the whole it hasn’t been helped by the fact that he’s been part of what has been a historically good starting rotation. Hammel currently ranks 40th in ERA (minimum 100.0 IP) for starting pitchers across all of […]
Cubs Win!: A History of Cubs Playoff Clinchers
It’s undeniable that some of the fun—nay, a big part of the fun of watching a good baseball team is counting down toward that special day when they clinch their playoff spot. The Cubs have now done it! So pop the champagne bottles and cover your favorite media member from head to toe in plastic. […]
Ghosts of 2008? Probably Not For These Cubs
One of the most bizarre aspects of being a Cub fan is that the better the team performs during the regular season, the more neurotic we get when we think about October. While the stereotype of Wrigley Field is that of a gigantic frat party, the reality is that postseason Cubs baseball is like watching […]