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 …
NLCS: Cubs and Mets Series Preview Part 1
I thought I’d break this into at least 2 parts. The first part will focus on the pitching, particularly the Mets pitching. We’re all familiar enough with the Cubs pitching. In short, the Mets starting pitching is good. The first game is going to be started by Matt Harvey, but he’s their 3rd starter. And Matt Harvey is good at …
Tommy John Surgery, The Hardball Times Annual and Scott Baker
I got the Kindle version of The Hardball Times annual for my birthday and the first thing I wanted to read was the article about Tommy John surgery. It looked at whether pitchers get back to the level they were at pre-surgery and when that is. They also looked at what the shelf life is for a pitcher who had …