A little over 2 weeks ago, I wrote an article with Uncle Dave's help about a different way to rate prospects. Dave got the idea from Hockey's Future. Dave's explanations of what each number grade (ceiling) represented was so awesome that I used it word for word. I did want to clarify something on the letter grades (floor). An A …
That revamped Cubs rotation
Much has been written here in the last few days about the Cubs rotation injuries and what it means for the overall strength of the rotation. Most, or actually all of that has been negative. Sure, losing Garza can't be spun as a positive so I'm not going to do that. As the resident optimist, I am here to assure …
Random crap
I've had a very sore neck, back and shoulders for the last couple of weeks so I haven't written much over that time. It's still not 100% and I'm beginning to feel as though it never will be. But I am good enough that I can spread my infinite wisdom to our readers. You're welcome. Jeff Samardzija was named the …
Has Junior Lake passed Josh Vitters on the depth chart?
Ian Stewart is injured. It's not his wrist this time, but he'll be out a few weeks. Luis Valbuena has already made the team. Josh Vitters is also out an other 2-3 weeks, but I thought this was interesting. The Cubs do face some decisions regarding Stewart. His $2 million contract is non-guaranteed, which is not unusual for an arbitration-level …
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 …
A closer look at Josh Vitters
We've already taken a closer look at Brett Jackson so let's now take a closer look at Josh Vitters. He had about the worst imaginable start to his big league career in 2012. Vitters hit .121/.193/.202 over 109 plate appearances. His wRC+ late in the year had dipped to something like -12 and after a hot stretch Vitters managed to …
A closer look at Brett Jackson
A lot of things have been said and written about him over the last year so I thought a closer look at Brett Jackson was appropriate. We'll also take a closer look at Josh Vitters later on. Brett Jackson has come to be defined by his strikeouts and will continue to be defined that way until he shows he can …
The Next Generation of Cub Players and Plate Discipline
The Cubs Convention took place this past weekend. OV's own Aisle424 was present and will summarize his thoughts on it shortly (I think). In the meantime, Josh has already weighed in. Bruce Miles was all over the goings-on, as well, and his twitter feed is well worth checking out. A couple of highlights: Sveum: Campana "has a really hard time …
Dale Sveum on Brett Jackson
Dale Sveum on Brett Jackson and his issues with making contact. CHICAGO — Cubs manager Dale Sveum and hitting coach James Rowson were happy Brett Jackson accepted the drastic changes they suggested to the young outfielder's swing during a workout in November in Mesa, Ariz. Jackson was promoted to the big leagues Aug. 5 despite leading the Pacific Coast League …
Rethinking Pitching Philosophies, Derek Johnson, and Carlos Gomez
Cubs Den has a post up drawing attention to a Baseball America article on changes in the Cubs’ organizational philosophy related to developing pitching talent. The BA piece focuses on new pitching coordinator Derek Johnson, formerly the pitching coach at Vanderbilt, which famously produced David Price, Mike Minor, Sonny Gray, and many others on his watch. Johnson is of the …