By the time this publishes the Cubs might decide to finally designate Jason Heyward for assignment, but for now he’s safe on the 40-man roster, which will likely also be updated soon: Per the prior status check, the roster should be at 36, but for some reason I’m counting 37, and if we remove Esteban Quiroz and Jared Young as …
Cubs 7, Brewers 4 (4.9.17)
OSS: The bats are waking up. Three up The box score had Heyward at 2-5 on the day, but it could just easily have been 5-5. He was hitting the cover off the ball today, which is certianly a great sign for a guy who struggled so much last season. He knocked in three of the Cubs runs. Kris Bryant …
Cubs 5, Brewers 2 (7.22.16)
Baseball predictions are silly up to a point, but I’m going to predict the Cubs are about to go on a run that’s similar to what they did in the first half. The Cardinals have pulled within 6.5 games, which is still a mile away in baseball terms, but I do miss the double digit lead they enjoyed for awhile. The …
Nationals 4, Cubs 1
OSS: Max Scherzer tries to strike everybody out. Three up: Addison Russell tied this game at 1 despite Max Scherzer's outstanding start. It was easily the Cubs top WPA play of the game and the second best on the day. It was a great at-bat for Russell against Scherzer before he hit the home run to break up the perfect game, …
Cubs 13, Braves 2
OSS: Jon Lester was too dominating and the Cubs singled the Braves to death. Three up: Jon Lester threw 7 dominating innings in this win. He allowed 5 hits, walked nobody and struckout 7. Lester has allowed 1 run or less in 9 of his 13 starts this year. In another, he allowed 2, but one of the runs was …
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 beat Phillies 6-4, but could lose Jorge Soler
Soler Injury: Jorge Soler singled to the left field wall in his 2nd at-bat and as he was getting ready to round 1st base, he began limping and returned the bag. He grabbed his left hamstring and left immediately when Joe and the trainer came out to see him. Soler has had hamstring issues so they weren't going to take any …
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 …
Cubs 6, Diamondbacks 0 (6.3.16)
OSS: John Lackey was quite good and it seemed like everyone in the lineup had a double. Three up: John Lackey is efficient with his pitches. He struggled in the 2nd and threw 26 pitches, but other than that and a small jam in the 7th that Warren bailed him out of, he was outstanding. He struckout 9 and walked 2 …
Cubs 4, Phillies 1 (5.28.16)
OSS: Kyle Hendricks threw a Maddux in my heart Three up Kyle Hendricks had his best start of the season, going the distance with seven strikeouts, no walks and six baserunners. He probably should have got the Maddux, but some miscommunication between Heyward and Zobrist in the ninth turned a lazy pop fly into a leadoff double for the Phils. …