The offesason obviously isn't over yet, but I thought I'd take a look over what everyone in the division has been up to. Before the Heyward signing my baseball-related focus was pretty much on what the Cubs would do (and bafflement at what they were doing), after it's pretty much just been lining up plans for spring training. I'll list …
Cubs sign 37 year old pitcher coming off best season since 2007
The Cubs and Lackey have agreed to a 2/32 deal, paying Lackey $16m each season. Lackey is coming off his best season since 2007, posting a 2.77 ERA with a 3.57 FIP, along with a ludicrous 82.6% strand rate. If only the Cubs played in a large market and could afford the likes of David Price or Zack Grienke, but alas. …
OV Sesquiannual Facepalm 11.18.15: Cubs opening a hardware store
Cubs pulling in some serious hardware In a move that shocked no one outside a few BFIB and Edinson Volquez backers, Kris Bryant was the unanimous winner of the NL Rookie of the Year award. Joe Maddon won the Manager of the Year award, and the only disappointment was that he was live at his bar for the announcement rather than …
NLCS Game 2 Thread
To-day's base ball squadrons Cubs Fowler Scwharber Bryant Rizzo Castro Coghlan Montero Baez Arrieta Metropolitans Granderson Wright Murphy Cespedes Duda d'Arnaud Conforto Flores Thor Sadly, I am going to be at 39,000 feet for the start of this game.
NLCS: Cubs and Mets Series Preview Part 2 + Game Thread
Part one dealt with the pitchers. This part will focus on the position players, primarily the Mets, though I'll come back around to look at some splits and stuff for the Cubs batters at the end. I'll rank the likely position players in decreasing wOBA: OF Yoenis Cespedes (.287/.337/.604, .394): The Mets picked up Cespedes at the trade deadline, and …
Cubs 6, Cardinals 4 (10/13/15)
Thousand word summary: Three Eight up: 1. I am not sure which Cubs rookie is having a more amazing playoff run, Schwarber or Soler. This is probably recency bias talking, but Scwharber's bomb is probably the most memorable moment in the playoffs so far. Here is a shot that captured where it landed: Seriously though, the ball must have just missed clearing …
Series Preview: Chicago Cubs (97-65) vs St. Louis Cardinals (100-62)
Welp, here we go. Time to see how much devil magic is left. Position player team leaders Cubs R+RBI: Rizzo (195) CERA: Ross (2.68) H: Rizzo (163) HR: Rizzo (31) OBP: Rizzo (.387) SLG: Rizzo (.512) wOBA: Rizzo (.384) BSR: Bryant (7.1) Defense: Russell (17.1) Helmet Rubs: Herrera fWAR: Bryant (6.5) Cardinals R+RBI: Carpenter (185) CERA: Molina (2.80) H: Heyward …
NLWC: Cubs 4, Pirates 0
OSS: As I watched Jake Arrieta mow down the Pirates, I was reminded of the line from the Bhagavad Gita: I am become death, destroyer of worlds. Three Six up (it's the playoffs!) ​1. This Jake Arrieta guy might be pretty good. A complete game shutout with 11 strikeouts, and he didn't even seem to have his best stuff tonight. I don't …
Staying off the 2015 Cubs roller coaster + how I’ve changed as a Cubs fan
Adam wrote a great post that I recently enjoyed about how it’s become World Series or Bust for him and many other Cubs fans as this year has unfolded. It’s a fantastic read, but my main feeling at this point in season is almost exactly the opposite. IIRC, we discussed whether or not our views as fans/writers have changed at some …
Cubs 2, Cleveland 1 (8/24/15)
OSS: Kris Bryant picks up Jon Lester with a walkoff blast. Three up 1. After a week where the Cubs seemed to have scored roughly 217 runs, it was jarring to see them shut down for a game. The Cubs finally got through to Kluber with a RBI triple by Rizzo in the seventh, though Ross had just missed a …