Mike Olt is a strong man. He's a patient man. He's a man with a good glove. And he is a man almost wholly written off in some parts. He's a man with undeniable warts and undeniable talents; this is a quality he shares with everyone in baseball not named Mike Trout. Most importantly to me, he's a man who …
2013 Cubs Prospects in Review: Kyle Hendricks
Kyle Hendricks is a 6-3, 190 pound right-handed starting pitcher. He turns 24 on December 7th and was drafted 8th round of the 2011 Draft out of Dartmouth College. Here's what Baseball America wrote at the time of the draft. An economics major at Dartmouth, Hendricks brings a heady presence to the mound. He does more than just outsmart hitters, …
Cubs Prospects on the Rise, June edition
Myles already posted the Cubs prospects who have fallen so now it's time to look at the ones who have risen. We'll also have an updated Cubs top prospects list for you. 3. Pierce Johnson – The 22 year old supplemental first round pick from 2012 is probably a little too old for his level, but he's been dominating. He …
JOT: Cubs Minor League Recap 4-23-13
Iowa Cubs 1 @ Memphis Redbirds 4 This will be short since the I-Cubs barely hit the ball last night. Nick Struck went 6 innings, allowed 5 hits and 2 runs. He walked 2 and struckout none. Casey Coleman struckout the side in the 7th. Yoanner Negrin gave up 3 hits and 2 runs in an inning of work. Logan …
2013 Cubs Prospects Ratings
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 …
Walking someone when it doesn't matter (as much)
For each pitcher from 1993-2011 with at least 5,000 Batters Faced, I've added up the average growth in run expectancy per NIBB. The average increase in RE for an NIBB over that period was .323 runs, which jives with Tango's findings here. There were 175 pitchers in the sample, with a standard deviation of .013. The pitcher who gave up …
Rant Sports: The Chicago Cubs Continue To Prove They’re a Joke In Failed Anibal Sanchez Signing
If blogs could be designated for assignment, Rant Sports, along with Bleacher Report, would have been DFA'd a long time ago. They're not even replacement level blogs worthy of the minimal amount of attention, but here we are: paying attention to them because there isn't anything else to write about. So why not make fun of the less intelligent among …
How much ass could this Cubs team suck if this Cubs team could suck ass?
Short answer: probably not much more ass than they sucked last year. After all, the Cubs have lost 101 or more games only 2 other times in franchise history. It's not easy being as bad as the 2012 Cubs were. Long answer? The 2012 Cubs joined the 1962 and 1966 teams as the only ones in franchise history to lose …
Winter Meetings Facepalm ***UPDATED***
The Winter Meetings are underway and even though the Cubs won't be that active, I wanted to keep up with what's going on with them. Kyuji Fujikawa It still appears as though the Cubs have signed Fujikawa to a 2-year deal worth $9.5 million plus an option. However, the Cubs have not yet confirmed this. Early arriving scouts at the …