I had to stop and ask myself if the Cubs had even played the Cardinals yet this year. Two and a half months into the season, the Cubs and Cardinals have only played a two game series back in May that they split. This is probably a good thing for the Cubs win-loss record (or a bad thing, depending on …
Daily Facepalm 6.10.13 – Welcome to the Cubs, Edwin Jackson
Edwin Jackson finally arrives The 'real' Edwin Jackson showed up for the first time this season, striking out eight while allowing one run, one walk, and four hits in seven innings. More importantly, his fastball averaged 94.78 on the day, much closer to his career avg of 95 mph than the paltry low 93.x mph he had been throwing earlier …
Series Preview: Cubs (19-30) vs White Sox (24-24) – Two Teams, One Cup
Tim did a good job recapping his feelings about the so-called "Crosstown Classic" on Friday. I don't have much more to add, except that the Barrett-Pierzynski fight is one of my top ten favorite moments in the past decade or so of Cubs fandom (also making the list – Zambrano ejecting an umpire, Cubs four game sweep of the Brewers …
Series Preview: Cubs (18-28) at Reds (29-18)
The Cubs are back in the basement of the NL Central following their winless series against the Pirates. If the season ended today, they would have the fourth pick in the 2014 draft. The Reds, meanwhile, are coming off a sweep of the Mets and get their ace back this week. Team Overviews Cubs Reds wRC+ 90 (11th) 99 …
Series Preview: New York Mets (15-23) at Chicago Cubs (17-23)
The Mets have lost seven of their last ten games, including a sweep by the Pirates and a near-sweep by the Cardinals. Luckily for the Mets, they have the Marlins in their division so it will be difficult to drop into last place. I was surprised to read that they've placed foruth in the division for four straight years – …
Cubs under contract for 2015
With the Anthony Rizzo signing, I thought it'd be sweet to show you the "Cubs Core;" players under team control for 2015 (when we should EXPECT a competitive team instead of just hoping). Anthony Rizzo: 2021 Starlin Castro: 2020 Welington Castillo: 2017 Edwin Jackson: 2016 Luis Valbuena: 2016 Travis Wood: 2016 Darwin Barney: 2016 Jeff Samardzija: 2015 James Russell: 2015 …
Is Travis Wood “outstanding?”
On Bleacher Nation, Brett had some very kind words to say about Travis Wood: "I’m not sure I’d say he’s even the best starter on the Cubs at this point, but Wood’s ridiculous start to the year can’t be ignored. And, as I pointed out previously in the Bullets, it isn’t just the start of this season: Wood has been outstanding …
Cubs Groundball Rate: Snorting Bosio’s Magic Sinker Dust
Prior to the season, I was set to write about how the Cubs were gradually amassing a bunch of fly-ball heavy pitchers. I never ended up getting around to it, but I'm not one to let a mediocre (or wrong) idea die, so I'll give you the condensed version: From 2010 to 2012, among pitchers with at least 280 innings pitched, …
Series Preview: Chicago Cubs (9-15) vs San Diego Padres (9-15)
It was nice to see the Cubs beating up on another team for once this year. They get to face another team that may be worse than they are in the Padres. The Padres have had a weird season so far. They opened the year with a series loss of the Mets, and have been swept by the Giants and …
Series Preview: Cubs (6-14) at Marlins (5-16)
The Cubs get a double-breather in this matchup with the Marlins. Not only do they get to face one of the rosters in the majors that’s in even worse shape than theirs, but they escape the frigid midwest and head to balmy Miami. The Cubs dropped two of three to the vastly superior Reds, but could easily have won all three of them with an extra bounce or two their way. After a snow-out and sub-freezing doubleheader up in Minneapolis, the Marlins are happy to be back home themselves, even though team/Loria protestors likely outnumber the fans right now. They have not won a single series all year, unlike the Cubs who have an intimidating one series win.