This is Obstructed View’s 4th interview with an NL Central blogger that we’re posting this week. Steve Sommer of Gashouse Graphs has taken some time to answer these questions and I’m most appreciative. We’ll have our final interview (Pirates) tomorrow evening after the Cubs/Pirates game. Obstructed View: Cubs fans are all too familiar with Ryan Theriot. Aside from the 2008 …
Opening Day in the Time of Cholera
It’s Opening Day in Major League Baseball, one day before the Cubs officially begin to toy with our hopes in earnest. So I thought I’d take this opportunity to brace myself for the plunge into denial with a look at the reasons we keep coming back to this team, reasons that really aren’t unique to the Cubs at all. Contrary …
Obstructed View Opening Day Roundtable – part 1
Your fearless Obstructed View Executive Chairmen got together to discuss various topics related to the 2011 Cubs season. Here’s part one of our roundtable, that focuses on the offseason and specific players/figures. Part 2 will focus on our predictions for the 2011 season. Mike Quade [mb21] : Should we start with Quade?[aisle 424] : Sounds as good as anything.[berselius] : …
NL Central Preview: St. Louis Cardinals
Last Year: Most thought that the Cardinals had all the pieces to run away with the NL Central, but somehow it never came together. Their offense dipped by 4 points from their 2009 rate to a .321 wOBA, good for 7th in the NL. Their pitchers posted an excellent 3.57 ERA (4th) and a 3.85 FIP (7th), and their defensive …
NL Central Questions & Answers: Cincinnati Reds
Here at Obstructed View we’re publishing team projections for the NL Central teams as well as interview with someone who blogs about that team. This time we have Justin Inaz. If you’re not familiar with Justin, he’s one of the smarter people that blogs about a specific team. He’s written for Beyond the Box Score and is currently writing for …
How bad is Koyie Hill?
Over the last two seasons Koyie Hill has posted a 51 wRC+ (weighted runs created, adjusted so that 100 is average like ERA+ and OPS+). wRC+, you may remember, uses wOBA. Oddly enough, it’s only 11th worst over those two seasons among players with 200 or more PA. It’s bad. It’s downright terrible, but he is a catcher so he’s …
NL Central Preview: Cincinnati Reds
Last Year: The Reds surprised many by winning the division over the heavily favored Cardinals. My memory stinks, but from what I remember BPro had them as a slight favorite going into the season and I thought they were insane. The Reds vindicated BP, posting the best offense in the NL (.339 wOBA) with below-average pitching (4.29 FIP, 12th in …
Tom Ricketts’ Easiest Interview Ever
I don’t read a ton of articles by Toni Ginnetti, so I can’t say whether she was just having a bad day or if this is the result of Tom Ricketts being particularly oily, but I had a hard time reading her interview with Tom today. Tom Ricketts smiles at the question: Would winning the World Series help the Cubs accelerate …
11 Scandalous Predictions for the 2011 Cubs
By scandalous, of course I mean stupid. Earlier in the offseason I made 103 predictions that won’t happen in 2011. That was pure nonsense whereas this is pure speculation. Huge difference. Some of these could actually come true. And they’re not all optimistic. 11. Brett Jackson will see the majors by June. I don’t know why. I only added this at …
Quade realizes the Cubs have no speed, backs off aggressive baserunning talk
It’s nice to see the team back off from another dumb policy. At the beginning of spring training (and IIRC the offseason) Quade said that the Cubs were going to be more aggressive on the basepaths. Via the hobbit: “I almost feel like we’re forcing something that we shouldn’t,” Quade said. “It goes against everything (I believe) — ‘We’re going …