The sweet smell of Provel and magically sticky baseballs is behind us, and the Cubs move from the home of one crappy beer to another. The Brewers could be a really fun team in a few years, but they are not there yet. Team Leaders (projected) Cubs OBP: Anthony Rizzo (.382) SLG: Rizzo (.529) HR: Rizzo / Kris Bryant (33) …
The 25: Jake Arrieta
Previous programming note from Myles: Now that the season is fast approaching, and I've started to get the itch to talk baseball again, I'm hoping to pick up the pace. Hopefully I can convince the other writers to do the same. I'm going to take a look at the 2017 Cubs, starting with the best players and taking a descending …
Kris Bryant is good at sports
A little over 3 years ago the Cubs drafted Kris Bryant with the 2nd pick of the 2013 First Year Player Draft*. He was considered either the top prospect or close enough to the top that few teams, if any, would have passed on him given the chance to take him that high. It was somewhat surprising to see the Houston …
Series Preview: Chicago Cubs (41-17) @ Atlanta Braves (17-42)
The league's best team vs the worst. The Cubs run differential is +149, which is more twice as much as the next best (Red Sox, +70). The Braves are -97, which is only one run worse than the Reds. This series is about as lopsides as it gets on paper. The Braves snapped a 6-game losing streak with a 4-2 …
The Cubs historic start part 2
A month ago I looked at the Cubs historic start to the 2016 season by using Baseball Prospectus's 3rd order winning percentage.The Cubs didn't have any comparables at the time and today I set out to find the top team in 3rd order winning percentage each season going back 50 years. I looked for the top team as of games …
Cubs 5, Diamondbacks 3
OSS: Jason Hammel dominates on the mound and has the biggest hit of the game. The Cubs improve to 8-1 on this 10-game homestand and they have Jake Arrieta going tomorrow. Three up: Jason Hammel returned from his abbreviated start last time with 7 excellent innings. He only allowed 1 hit, though that hit was a 1st inning home run to …
Series Preview: Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles (27-24) at Chicago Cubs (34-14)
These were the top two teams going into the season by projections, but since then their paths have diverged. We all know about how great the Cubs have been both at the plate and on the mound, but I at least didn't really haev a clue what has been happening with the Dodgers aside from remembering injury problems in the …
Chicago Cubs (29-13) @ St. Louis Cardinals (23-21)
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 …
Series Preview: Chicago Cubs (27-9) vs Milwaukee Brewers (16-22)
The Brewers find themselves neck and neck with the Reds for the worst record in the NL central division. Their offense has been middle of the pack in the NL so far, and in fact they are second only to the Cubs in walk rate (11.0% to the Cubs 12.6%). But the pitching, particularly the starting pitching, has been putrid. …
Where We Stand Now (4-18-16)
Week 2 (April 11 – April 16) Monday, April 11 vs Reds: W 5-3 (Box, OV Recap) Wednesday, April 13 vs Reds: W 9-2 (Box, OV Recap) Thursday, April 14 vs Reds: W 8-1 (Box, OV Recap) Friday, April 15 vs Rockies: L 1-6 (Box, OV Recap) Saturday, April 16 vs Rockies: W 6-2 (Box, OV Recap) Sunday, April 17 vs …