As this winter interminably dragged on with not much happening other than more and more people complaining–and you’ll never convince me a lot the noise this winter was generated simply by writers having nothing to write about and angry about it, as hell hath no fury like a sportswriter scorned–one drum that kept getting beat […]
Tag: Spring Training
Cubs looking to Spring Training with offseason in the rearview
It’s crazy how one move can change the perspective of an entire offseason, yet here we are. If you were to write the Cubs’ needs on paper and listed them when the offseason began, how many holes needed to be addressed? They needed a frontline starter, rotation depth, bullpen help, a closer, a lead-off man […]
CACTUS CATCHUP: CUBS REV THEIR ENGINES BEFORE FIRST SPRING GAME
As the sun beats down in Mesa, Arizona, the baby bears are about to embark on their journey to repeat as World Champions when spring games officially kick off tomorrow. Yes, real, live action baseball, is almost back. Oh, what a lovely day. Waiting for the first “play ball!” has seemed to take forever, but […]
Cactus Catchup: All Quiet on the Mesa Front
In to every life a little rain must fall, even in the valley of the sun. The Cubs finished their first weekend of full squad workouts with a few days of rain, moving hitters indoors and limiting outdoor activities to playing catch. Here at BP Wrigleyville’s Worcester (MA) Bureau, where we are staring out the windows at […]
The NRI Watch List
Everyone’s thinking it when they look at the Cubs roster: This is a team that could sure use a surprise contribution from a non-roster invitee. There’s so little depth, and plenty of room on the roster to fit in one of the 24 NRIs that were announced at the end of January. Anyone buying it? […]
Cactus Catchup: This Is It
Mercifully, the games that count will start in just a matter of days, and while the official Cactus League season wrapped up on Wednesday at Sloan Park, there are still a pair of exhibition games in Las Vegas left before the Cubs start their season on Monday night in Anaheim. True to form, the last […]
Cubbie Springs: A Brief History of Spring Training Stats
Spring Training stats don’t matter, right? Well, sure, they don’t count. But that’s not the same as not mattering. For players that aren’t expected to make the roster or are seeing Major League competition for the first time, it most definitely matters. It’s a chance to build up some confidence that they can indeed play […]
Cactus Catchup: Bee-lieving in the Cubs
We’re nearing the last few days of Spring Training, and the Cubs are gearing up for the regular season. A couple of mild (and freak of nature) injuries aside, the Cubs look healthy, and, despite a recent streak of Spring Training losses and ties, it’s all about figuring out who goes where. Here’s a recap […]
Getting to Know Kyle Hendricks Through Google
Editor’s Note: Usually, we try to stick to hard-hitting analysis of baseball here on the site. Given the incredible tedium of Spring Training, though, we’ve decided to shift gears slightly to some hard-hitting analysis of Google search results. We hope you enjoy. Here’s Carlos Portocarrero … Kyle Hendricks is having a great spring. All those rumblings […]
Cactus Catchup: Smokeless(less) in Chicago
Some of the luster of spring training starts to wear off at this point, I think. The initial excitement of the first games is two weeks behind us, and the two weeks until Opening Day can seem long. Eno Sarris actually speculated recently that spring training might be too long, but for now we still have […]