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 […]
Tag: Postseason
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 ($)
This piece, by BP’s Mike Gianella, first appeared at the Baseball Prospectus main site and is exclusively available to BP subscribers. We’ve posted a sneak preview here. Game Three of the NLDS between the Cardinals and the Cubs shifted to Wrigley Field on Monday night, with the advantage tilting to the Cubs not only because […]
NLDS Game Three Recap: Cubs 8 Cardinals 6
Top Play (WPA): Think anyone is busy writing Kris Bryant service time stories now? The Cubs’ superstar third baseman hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning (+0.252) off of Cardinals starter Michael Wacha—one of six the Cubs hit on the night, setting a new major-league record—and helped the Cubs go up two games to one in […]
Playoff Prospectus: Cubs Do Simple Better — NLDS Game 2 ($)
This piece, by BP Wrigleyville’s Rian Watt, first appeared at the Baseball Prospectus main site and is exclusively available to BP subscribers. We’ve posted a sneak preview here. It was 54 degrees on October 3rd in Milwaukee, and the Cubs were bunched around the batting cages, working on their bunting. Manager Joe Maddon, who spent […]
On Eve of History, Momentum on the North Side
Editor’s Note: This piece, by BP Wrigleyville’s Stan Croussett, isn’t the kind of thing you’ll usually find on the site—you’ll see no numbers here. But we think it captures this moment in a way that numbers can’t, and we hope you enjoy. Look up your favorite Cardinals blogger or columnist and take a deep breath. Now […]
Breaking down the NLDS Roster Decisions
Now that the we know that the Cubs are headed to the NLDS to face the Cardinals, we asked some of our BP Wrigleyville writers to put together their ideal roster for that series. There was quite a bit of consensus with regards to the lineups, with Chris Denorfia and Quintin Berry battling for the last […]
Grounded: Coghlan Might Be Neutralized Throughout Playoffs
At the beginning of this season, I was a staunch advocate of accelerating Kyle Schwarber’s ascendance to the Cubs’ big-league roster and everyday lineup. Schwarber put up monster numbers in the minor leagues, making even Kris Bryant’s dominance look pedestrian at certain developmental mile markers, and while there was an argument for allowing his defensive […]
Playoff Prospectus: NLDS Preview—Cubs vs. Cardinals ($)
This piece, by BP Wrigleyville’s Editor-in-Chief Sahadev Sharma, first appeared at the Baseball Prospectus main site and is exclusively available to BP subscribers. We’ve posted a sneak preview here. The Cubs knocked Pirates ace Gerrit Cole out of the Wild Card game after just five innings, while their own dominating ace did what he’s done for […]