We all know the story by now. This is the fourth April in a row that Kosuke Fukudome has treated pitchers like they insulted his sister. In the previous three years, he would fall off the cliff in such a Wile E. Coyote-esque manner, you’d want to make sure he isn’t purchasing his bats from ACME, Inc. The key, obviously, …
There’s nothing wrong with Ryan Dempster
Ryan Dempster has gotten off to the worst start of his Cubs career. It’s led to some wondering what is wrong or whether or not he’s done. If we look at his ERA it’s gone from 2.96 in 2008 to 3.65, 3.85 and now 7.63. Obviously something isn’t right. We see a similar trend with his FIP (3.41, 3.87, 3.99 …
Colorado Rockies @ Chicago Cubs
GamedayB-Ref Preview Rockies wOBA wRC RS Cubs wOBA wRC RS Dexter Fowler .347 .58 -.03 Kosuke Fukudome .342 .56 -.06 Jonathan Herrera .298 .38 .02 Darwin Barney .293 .36 .03 Carlos Gonzalez .381 .67 .00 Starlin Castro .332 .50 -.03 Troy Tulowitzki .382 .66 .04 Jeff Baker .312 .41 -.01 Todd Helton .345 .51 -.01 Carlos Pena .378 .62 -.01 …
Is this year’s team different?
On at least two occasions Alvin Yellon has commented on how different this year’s team is compared to last year. After Saturday’s win he said it for at least the second time that I’m aware of. The Cubs were down 8-5 and came back to win, which prompted Alvin to say this: It’s absolutely clear to me that this team …
Series Preview: Colorado Rockies (14-7) at Chicago Cubs (10-11)
After hosting the Cubs last week, the Rockies dropped a series at home vs the Giants and lost 2 of 3 against the Marlins, where they were nearly no-hit on Friday by Anibal Sanchez. They no longer have the best record in baseball (that belongs to the Phillies) but they’re one game off the pace. Team Overview Team stats and …
Measuring Heart: A Scale of 1 to Santo
Executive Chairperson-in-Chief via Proxy cum Laude slash Editor’s note: I offered the chance to pick a post topic in exchange for American Idol results. Emily came through for me and picked the topic “Santo!” I found it to be a perfectly timed suggestion. Thanks, Emily, for not forcing me to compromise my already discredited journablogistic integrity. I’ve heard it said …
Los Angeles Dodgers @ Chicago Cubs
GamedayB-Ref PreviewWeather Dodgers wOBA wRC RS Cubs wOBA wRC RS Jamey Carroll .306 .42 -.02 Kosuke Fukudome .342 .56 -.06 Casey Blake .321 .47 -.01 Darwin Barney .293 .36 .03 Andre Ethier .368 .62 -.01 Starlin Castro .332 .50 -.03 Matt Kemp .342 .52 -.02 Aramis Ramirez .350 .54 -.03 Juan Uribe .326 .45 .01 Carlos Pena .378 .62 -.01 …
Expand the Playoffs ASAP
Major League Baseball should add more playoff teams. Now. And they shouldn’t stop at just one more wild card team. They might as well add two and force one of the division winners to prove themselves with an extra postseason round. Bud Selig reiterated this week his belief that the playoff field would expand to ten teams as early as …
Cubs compared to their projections
I wrote this on Friday morning so it’s updated through Thursday’s games. I’m too lazy to update it to include Friday’s blowout loss. This is something I’ll try to update once a month just so we can see where players are at compared to their projections. It’s something SG has done on RLYW a few times over the last couple …
Should Brett Jackson be starting for the Cubs?
Brett Jackson was the Cubs first round pick in 2009 and the 31st pick overall. It was the first time that I could remember that the Cubs selected someone who knew how to get on base. Jackson took a lot of walks on college and there was never any doubt as to his ability to reach base. He also had …