Kerry Wood: Portrait of Cubness
Kerry Wood isn't the greatest pitcher ever to take the mound at Wrigley Field. Well, for one day (just over two hours, really) he was. But now that his career is over, it's impossible to look at his final statistical tally and consider him a truly great pitcher. He sure did give us reason to hope he would be . …
The Highs And Lows of Kerry Wood's Career
Chris Jaffe does an excellent job highlighting the best and worst of Kerry Wood's career on The Hardball Times. It's a long list and a fun read. I'll quote one here. May 11, 1998: Following up his 20-K game, Wood fans 13 batters, giving him a record-tying 33 strikeouts in two consecutive appearances. I was at this game in Arizona. …
Geovany Soto to the DL, Chris Volstad Option to AAA
Geovany Soto has a tear in the meniscus in his left knee and will or already has undergone arthroscopic knee surgery. He'll be out at least 3 weeks. Blake Lalli was called up to fill his spot on the roster. The Cubs entered the season having a great deal of depth behind the plate. Soto was to be the starting …
Series Preview: Chicago White Sox (18-21) at Chicago Cubs (15-23)
Last I checked, the White Sox were doing pretty well in the AL central and there was talk of contention. They have a losing record now, but it's only a half game back from the heavily favorited Tigers and the surprising Indigenous Peoples. Much like the Cubs they have a solid rotation with a shaky bullpen and a bunch …
10 Best Games By A Cubs Player So Far
We're only 31 games into the season, but I was curious for some unkown reason who had the best game of any player on the team. Win Probability Added (WPA) is the perfect stat for this. Below are the top 10 WPA's of the season for the Cubs. 10. Matt Garza, April 29th @ Phillies: The Cubs won 5-1 behind …
Projecting the 2012 Cubs: Michael Bowden
Yesterday the Cubs traded Marlon Byrd to the Red Sox for Michael Bowden and a player to be named later. Bowden was drafted in the 1st round (47th overall) in 2005. He was the last of the 5 draft picks the Red Sox had in the 1st round that year. In 2006 Bowden established himself as one of the best …
Wood to the DL, Dempster had an MRI, Sveum concerned about lack of home runs
I really don't know why this is news at this point, but Kerry Wood has returned to his home on the disabled list. Here's a news headline for you: Kerry Wood is healthy. Seriously, it's like his 97th time on the DL. Below is a pie chart showing the amount of time Wood has spent "healthy" compared to days on …
Minor League Update 4-7-12
I'm really liking that the minor league season has begun at the same time as the MLB season this year. It's usually a week after MLB starts. Iowa Cubs Josh Vitters was 1-3 again. He also walked again. I'm not holding my breath, but if Vitters could learn to become more patient he'd suddenly have quite a bit of value. …