Dexter Fowler has had arguably his best season in the big leagues in the year prior to becoming a free agent. The Cubs acquired Fowler from the Astros in January for Luis Valbuena and Dan Straily. Valbuena was surprisingly productive as a Cub from 2012-2014, but hasn’t been quite as successful this season with the Astros in large part because …
Cubs 2, Cleveland 1 (8/24/15)
OSS: Kris Bryant picks up Jon Lester with a walkoff blast. Three up 1. After a week where the Cubs seemed to have scored roughly 217 runs, it was jarring to see them shut down for a game. The Cubs finally got through to Kluber with a RBI triple by Rizzo in the seventh, though Ross had just missed a …
Pirates 7, Cubs 5 (8/5/15)
OSS: Cubs make a comeback, but then realize it was ahead of schedule. Three up 1. Kyle Schwarber hit a two run bomb in the fourth inning to pull the lead within one. It’s been great seeing him crush the ball, especially with Bryant scuffling a bit of late. It was the second highest WPA play of the game for either …
Cubs 4, Brewers 3 (8/2/15)
OSS: Cubs pull off a repeat of a sweep I recently enjoyed. Four up 1. Addison Russell hit his seventh homer of the year, a bomb to near dead-center. The tweak he made to his swing around the ASB has been showing some dividends with a .299/.339/.385 line, not including today’s game. It’s not like he’s blowing the doors down with a …
Cubs acquire Dan Haren ***UPDATED***
The Cubs have acquired Dan Haren from the Florida Marlins. No word yet on who was sent to Miami. Source: Haren to Cubs from Marlins. — Gordon Wittenmyer (@GDubCub) July 31, 2015 Haren has given up a ton of fly balls this season and his fastball is not very good. He hasn’t walked many batters and has been a little …
Cubs 5, Brewers 2 (7/30/15)
OSS: Rizzo hit a home run into Lake Michigan, basically. Three up 1. Brewers starter Jimmy Nelson shut down the Cubs for the first seven innings on only two hits, but the Cubs jumped all over his relief, capped off by a Rizzo three-run blast off Will Smith. That has to have been one of the fastest line drive homers …
Cubs 1, Kyle Schwarber 4, Reds 4 (7/21/15)
OSS: The Kyle Schwarber Game? Three up 1. Kyle Schwarber had a hell of a game, going 4-7 with a game tying and game winning home run. He posted a .860 WPA on the day, which seems safe to be in the top 10 across all MLB on the season. They were two completely different types of home runs – …
Cubs 4, Braves 1 (7/19/15)
OSS: Cubs cruise to another win behind Jay Carrieta Three up 1. Jake Arrieta had another dominating performance, striking out ten in seven innings. Over his last six starts, he’s pitched 46.2 innings, giving up five runs and seven walks, striking out 54. Since we saw so much of Samardzija with the Cubs, his Transformation seems more baffling, but Arrieta …
2008 Cubs vs 2015 Cubs (UPDATE: vs 2007 Cubs too)
Back in the heady days when the Cubs offense was clicking, I was starting to wonder about my belief that the 2008 Cubs was the best Cubs team I’ll ever see in my lifetime. I’m feeling pretty confident that’s still the case, but thought it would be interesting to see how the squads stack up. Hitters Rate stats only here, since I’m …
Where We Stand Now: ASB 2015
I figured the All Star break was as good a time as any to break out a new Where We Stand Now post. The Cubs sit in 3rd place in the NL Central, but 3rd place isn’t as bad as it sounds. They’re still a game up for the final Wild Card spot, but they’ve been a bit unlucky while …