The NL Central's been pretty good this year. That is, the upper 60% of the division. The Cubs have been demolished by division opponents, going 7-18 against their divisional foes. The fun week that was the two teams, one cup series already feels like it was a month ago after three offensively futile games against the Pirates, Team Overviews …
Series Preview: Arizona Diamondbacks (30-23) at Chicago Cubs (22-30)
The DBacks lead the NL West division with a record of 30-23, which would be good for fourth place in the surprisingly competitive NL Central. The Cubs are movin' on up, and now have a comfortable three game lead on the Brewers for fourth place. We're not Number Five! Let's see if they can continue to promote the ephemeral momentum …
Daily Facepalm 5.30.13 : It’s Dioner Navarro’s World, We’re Just Living In It
"The Dioner Navarro Game?" Navarro demolished White Sox pitching to the tune of 3 HR and 6 RBI yesterday. In his only PA in which he didn't hit the ball into the stands, he drew a walk and later came aroudn to score with the help of a Matt Lindstrom wild pitch and a single by pinch hitter Ryan Sweeney. …
Series Preview: Cubs (19-30) vs White Sox (24-24) – Two Teams, One Cup
Tim did a good job recapping his feelings about the so-called "Crosstown Classic" on Friday. I don't have much more to add, except that the Barrett-Pierzynski fight is one of my top ten favorite moments in the past decade or so of Cubs fandom (also making the list – Zambrano ejecting an umpire, Cubs four game sweep of the Brewers …
Matt Garza Debut game thread and mini series preview
Here's a preview of today's game. I'll add info on the rest of the series later tonight. Pitching Matchup Matt Garza, RHP (-,-,-,3.63) vs Wandy Rodriguez, LHP (3.25, 125, 3.99, 3.73), 6:05 PM CT Garza is finally back! He looked sharp in his rehab outings, capping it off with a six strikeout, zero walk six-inning shutout in Iowa his last …
Cubs under contract for 2015
With the Anthony Rizzo signing, I thought it'd be sweet to show you the "Cubs Core;" players under team control for 2015 (when we should EXPECT a competitive team instead of just hoping). Anthony Rizzo: 2021 Starlin Castro: 2020 Welington Castillo: 2017 Edwin Jackson: 2016 Luis Valbuena: 2016 Travis Wood: 2016 Darwin Barney: 2016 Jeff Samardzija: 2015 James Russell: 2015 …
Series Preview: Chicago Cubs (13-21) at Washington Nationals (19-15)
The Nats have had a bit of a streaky season so far. They've swept the Mets, White Sox, and Tigers and have been swept by the Braves and Cardinals. They're currently riding a four game winning streak. Inconsistent offense has plagued the team this year (sounds familiar). I'm wishing I was back home this weekend, as just about everyone I …
Series Preview: Cincinnati Reds (15-14) at Chicago Cubs (11-17)
The Reds got off to a hot start, but have been scuffling a bit recently. A big reason is the lack of production from their two best players. Ace Johnny Cueto hit the DL with a lat strain in mid-April, and Joey Votto is hitting .231/.273/.357 dating back to the last series with the Cubs. Team Overviews 2013 NL Ranks …
Cubs Games Scores #1 (April 2013)
At the beginning of the season, I made a post with a new take on Game Score. That was the DiPS Game Score, found here. Tom Tango, a consultant for the Cubs, did similar work along these lines. He showed up in the comments (I still can't believe how cool that is, by the way) and pointed me towards his …
Cubs Groundball Rate: Snorting Bosio’s Magic Sinker Dust
Prior to the season, I was set to write about how the Cubs were gradually amassing a bunch of fly-ball heavy pitchers. I never ended up getting around to it, but I'm not one to let a mediocre (or wrong) idea die, so I'll give you the condensed version: From 2010 to 2012, among pitchers with at least 280 innings pitched, …