The Cubs have not played particularly well over the last week or two. The offense has been rather quiet. Other than the 8-run game in the opener in San Francisco, the Giants pretty much shut down the Cubs offense. The Brewers beat them 2 of 3 also and they’ve lost 7 of their last 11. To their credit, they have managed …
The Ghosts of Free Agency Future
In the aftermath of the recently announced deal with the city to renovate Wrigley Field, Theo Epstein spoke to the media about its potential benefits to the team: Our payroll now is third in the division. That’s fine. But it should be first in the division. So this is one of the ways that we’re going to get there. It …
NLCS Series Preview: San Francisco Giants (94-68) vs St. Louis Cardinals (ugh)
I guess I really should title this SF (3-2) vs StL (4-2), since all regular season stats somehow don't matter anymore. It drives me nuts that all the graphics in the postseason are basically just what a player has done in his last 5 games. It's even more laughable with pitchers. The Giants got a dose of good luck in …
Series Preview: St. Louis Cardinals (11-5) at Chicago Cubs (4-12)
Well, at least the Cubs aren't the worst team in baseball right now. That honor goes to the Royals, who are 3-12 and have lost ten games in a row. But at least they have a farm system percolating its way into the bigs, provided they're not blocked by the multi-year-dealed Jeff Francouers of the world. The Cardinals are coming …
World Series Preview: Texas Rangers (96-66) vs St. Louis Cardinals (90-72)
Before we get started, let’s just get this out of the way GUYS, did you know that the World Series isn’t really all that worldy? A bunch of literal people on the Internet are ON IT. (@bkabak) Just another one of those annoying things that pops up at the same point every year, just like the handwringing of national writers …
Series Preview: St. Louis Cardinals (90-72) vs Philadelphia Phillies (102-60)
St. Louis squeaked its way into the playoffs thanks to a late-season collapse by the Braves. Again, I find it crazy that there are 2 NL Central teams in the playoffs. Team Overviews Team stats, with NL rank in parentheses Cardinals Phillies wOBA .332 (1st) .316 (6th) UBR 4.0 (5th) -5.7 (14th) UZR -29.8 (15th) -10 (9th) DRS -13 (11th) …
Series Preview: Iowa Cubs (23-31) at St. Louis Cardinals (33-24)
Team overview Team stats and NL ranks Cubs Cardinals wOBA .323 (5th) .344 (1st) UBR -7.3 (16th) -1.7 (12th) UZR -12.1 (14th) 6.9 (4th) SP FIP 4.07 (11th) 3.74 (4th) RP FIP 4.08 (16th) 3.78 (11th) I’m too lazy to breakdown the individual player stats. Blame the Cubs shittiness (laughing). I’ll hit the highlights. “RF” Lance Berkman is still hitting …
Series Preview: St. Louis Cardinals (20-15) at Chicago Cubs (15-18)
The Cubs stranded approximately 215 baserunners in the last series against the Reds, and I don’t know if I should be encouraged by the numbers of batters who got on base or discouraged by the fact that the only win the Cubs got in the series was on a 9th inning, down by one rally on Saturday that almost fell …
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 …