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 …
Series Preview: Texas Rangers (8-5) at Chicago Cubs (4-8)
Team Overviews Here are how the teams stacked up in 2012. Respective league ranks in parentheses. Rangers Cubs wRC+ 105 (4th) 80 (16th) BSR 1.0 (8th) -8.1 (14th) UZR 13.7 (5th) 30.5 (2nd) DRS -6 (10th) -7 (7th) SP FIP- 90 (2nd) 108 (13th) RP FIP- 83 (2nd) 116 (16th) The Rangers are a great team. They lost a …
JoT: Cubs Minor League Recap 4-14-13
Alburquerque Isotops 1 @ Iowa Cubs 4 Chris Rusin made his 3rd start of the season for the I-Cubs on Sunday. He had his best start of the year. He had allowed 7 runs (6 earned) over his previous 11 innings of work while striking out only 6 and walking 6. On Sunday he threw 7 innings, allowed just 4 …
Series Preview: Chicago Cubs (0-0) at Pittsburgh Pirates (0-0)
Well, here we go with another season of Cubs baseball. The Cubs open the season in what is probably the most beautiful ballpark in baseball (it's certainly one of the top 30). At least, beautiful when the weather forecast isn't 40s and raining. The Pirates aren't the punching bag they used to be – they've finally gotten over the hump …
Starlin Castro to bat 2nd
You know that news is rather light when you're writing about what you figured would happen all along: Starlin Castro will bat 2nd. If everybody lives up to their capabilities, hopefully we don't have to do anything [different]," Cubs manager Dale Sveum said Sunday of his projected lineup in which David DeJesus will lead off and be followed by Castro, …
Carrie Muskat: Prospect Jackson takes hitting session to heart
Best shape of his life? An intense week of hitting in November may help Brett Jackson become the hitter the Cubs think he can be. Jackson and teammate Darwin Barney spent time with Cubs manager Dale Sveum, hitting coach James Rowson and assistant hitting coach Rob Deer at Fitch Park. After striking out 59 times in 120 big league at-bats …
2013 Cubs Projections: Darwin Barney
Continuing our series, it's time to look at the 2013 Cubs Projections for Darwin Barney. Last spring Barney talked about hitting for more power. We knew he wouldn't be a power hitter or anything, but it was clear he and the Cubs wanted him to hit for a little more than he had. He did to some extent. He hit …
2013 PECOTA Projections
The 2013 PECOTA projections are out and I thought I'd post some of the Cubs below. Since you have to be a subscriber in order to download the spreadsheet, I'm only going to include PA and wOBA, which I calculated using the basic formula. For pitchers I'll only show IP and FIP (I calculated this too). 2013 PECOTA Projections for …
It’s time to get excited about the 2013 Cubs
Spring training is just around the corner and the 2013 Cubs are set to kick off their Cactus League schedule on February 23rd. It's a split squad game and the game against the Angels will even be televised on WGN. It's not until April 1st that non-practice games will be played, but it's time to get excited. They might be …
Darwin Barney: regresssion candidate
Darwin Barney was among the 9 candidates Baseball Prospectus highlighted today in their Regression Candidates article. I think it goes without saying that Barney is likely to regress, but I'm sure a lot of Cubs fans don't agree with that. I really don't know that I actually think Barney will decline this season, but I do think he'll be one …