Whew. If you’re reading this, the Cubs (somehow, barely, and very questionably) did what they needed to do against a great, great Nationals team after a great, great series. And now it’s Friday, and we’re all guzzling coffee, rubbing our eyes, and wondering what’s next. For the Los Angeles Dodgers, once again the Cubs’ NLCS […]
Tag: starting pitching
A Meditiation on the Futility of Trade Speculation, Redux: Speculating Futilely
Ian Happ is good, and the Cubs are… kind of bad. The Cubs’ status quo as of the beginning of July is frustrating, and the rest-of-season prognosis is troubling, and possibly bleak. Between injuries to Kyle Hendricks, Jason Heyward, and Ben Zobrist; poor pitching from John Lackey and uneven pitching from the rest of the […]
Cubs Won’t Bolster Rotation At The Trade Deadline
When looking at the big picture for the Chicago Cubs moving forward, it’s pretty obvious that they will need to supplement their pitching staff relatively soon. While they have a lot of talented options on the team right now—top-tier starters and quality depth in the bullpen and down on the farm—losing three-fifths of their rotation […]
I Don’t Believe in the Cubs’ Starting Pitching Depth
There weren’t many things that the Cubs needed to address this offseason: figure out how to replace Dexter Fowler in center field and at leadoff, sort out the back end of the bullpen, pick a fifth starter, find playing time for a surfeit of position players, and shore up pitching depth. A relatively short list, […]
Going Long: Mike Montgomery, Starter
Mike Montgomery made his first career start in the majors on June 2, 2015 against the New York Yankees. His box score from the night is innocuous—six innings, 24 batters, four hits, a run, a walk, and four strikeouts. That he would be, just sixteen months later, pitching the final out of Game Seven of the […]
Game 87 Recap: Pirates 12 Cubs 6
The Cubs’ pitching staff is an abject mess right now. It’s roughly that simple. Okay, it isn’t, but we’ll get into why soon enough. For now, that first sentence is a sufficient explanation of the team’s 15th loss in 20 games. Top Play (WPA): Things began so promisingly. A one-out Kris Bryant walk begat a two-out, two-run, […]