The Cubs will get a whiff of success this weekend, and it will probably be coming from the other dugout. (Blatantly plagarized from Brett's preview blurb at Bleacher Nation, because it's too funny. Take that, Paul Sullivan. Or something.) The Cubs are on a roll, not having lost for two straight days. The Giants, meanwhile, have crushed all before them and are coming off a sweep of the Rockies. I've been more down on the Giants this year than most, but they're a team that I always seem to underrate.

Team Overviews

2012 NL rank listed for each stat

Injury news

The Giants have no significant injuries to speak of. Pablo Sandoval had some nerve irritation in his elbow in March that the Giants are being careful with, but that's about it.

Darwin Barney starts a rehab assignment with Kane County tomorrow.

Fun with small sample sizes

Welington Castillo has been the Cubs hottest hitter so far this year. He has a .381/.409/.619 slash line, good for a .440 wOBA. Castillo has looked pretty good at the plate in general, making solid contact. I like his throwing arm behind the plate, though his throws have not been as accurate as in the first few games. It seems like a lot of runners have been stealing off the pitchers. Nate Schierholtz is right behind Castillo, with .304/.385/.565 and .406. I'm finding myself liking the RF platoon a lot more than I thought I would in the offseason. One nice thing about Schierholtz is that he's not a big enough name that a manager is likely to keep him out there vs lefties since he's had a hot start to the year. There's still time yet.

Jeff Samardzija has a K% of 40.7%.

Brent Lillibridge is 0 for 17 with no walks. Marlon Byrd must be his role model.

Tim Lincecum has walked 11 batters in 11 innings.

Pitching matchups

I list each pitcher's 2012 ERA, FIP-, xFIP, and their 2013 ZiPS projection

Thursday: Ryan Vogelsong, RHP (3.37, 99, 4.15, 3.87) vs Scott Feldman, RHP (5.09, 86, 3.87, 4.08), 1:20 PM CT

Vogelsong was so bad that the Wandy Rodriguez HOF might as well be renamed in his honor. I'm still kind of baffled by how good he's been since joining the Giants (see also: Samardzija, Jeff). He's not a guy who strikes too many batters out, and his big problem in his Pirates career was walks. It dropped by one and a half walkers per nine in his second career, and has showed no signs of inching up. He was hit hard by the Cardinals in his first start, giving up five runs in five innings and change. The Cards big inning doesn't necessarily reflect badly on him though – it was an infield single, a walk, and a couple more singles and suddenly it was three runs. He has a decent fastball, but his best pitch is his curveball.

Feldman (and everyone else) was pushed back a day due to the rainout. I'm lazy, so I'll just repeat what I wrote in my last preview.

Feldman was awful in his first start. He gave up four runs in four innings and change, and was lucky that he didn't give up even more. His control was all over the place. I'm really hoping that he's the one who gets squeezed out of the rotation when Garza gets back. Villaneuva seems like the obvious choice for that though, and I wouldn't put Travis Wood out of the question either since the Cubs are likely planning to try and trade Feldman and Villanueva.

Friday: Matt Cain, RHP (2.79, 61, 3.82, 3.30) vs Carlos Villanueva, RHP (4.16, 114, 4.09, 4.22), 1:20 PM CT

I guess Cain has earned the right not to be referred to as Ricky Nolasco around here. Cain's best pitch is all of them, but especially his slider, which he throws equally likely on any count. Cain shut out the Dodgers for six innings on opening day, but was absolutely shelled by the Cardinals in his following start. He gave up nine runs in 3.2 innings and struck out only two.

I thought Villaneueva looked pretty good in his last start, and that's no even considering his excellent mustache. He worked into the seventh, striking out six and allowing only a solo HR to Justin Upton. Carlos Marmol apparently decided to one-up him by allowing homers to both Uptons in the ninth.

Saturday: Madison Bumgarner, LHP (3.37, 94, 3.45, 3.24) vs Jeff Samardzija, RHP (3.81, 89, 3.38, 3.39), 12:05 PM CT

Bumgarner went eight innings in his first start shutting out the Dodgers on two hits, striking out six, and walking no one. He struggled in his next start against the Rockies, walking five in 5.2 innings but only yielding two runs. He'll get to face the vaunted Cubs RHH lineup that looked so awful against the likes of Wandy and Mike Minor.

Shark was electric for the first four innings of Sunday's game, striking out ten batters. Things started getting wild for him when he had to pitch out of the stretch later in the game though. He walked two batters and threw two wild pitches in the fifth, then had a walk and a HBP on his way out in the sixth. But those first four innings, wow. Kerry Wood was on everyone's mind. He had everything going to start that game.

Sunday: The Collapsing Remains of Tim Lincecum's Career, RHP (5.18, 98, 3.82, 3.70), vs Edwin Jackson, RHP (4.03, 99, 3.79, 3.68), 1:20 PM CT

Lincecum fell off a cliff after signing his giant extension at the beginning of 2012. His strikeout rate was much steadier than I thought, but he started walking a lot more batters, and coughed up some more gopherballs. Some of that could be bad luck, but the concerning thing is that he lost 2 mph off his fastball last year, and it looks like it had a detrimental effect on the rest of his pitches too. His changeup velocity did not drop, for example. Still, I don't know how much of a difference a 7mph vs a 9mph gap between those pitches would make. He's walked 11 batters already this year.

Jackson got rocked early in his last start, but the coaching staff noticed something was up with his grip and he pitched fine after that. He's still hoping to put together his first solid start in a Cubs uniform. Also that the Chicago Police weren't so zealous about parking violations.

Lineups for today's game

Giants

1. CF Angel Pagan
2. SS Brandon Crawford
3. 3B Pablo Sandoval
4. C Buster Posey
5. RF Hunter Pence
6. 1B Brandon Belt
7. LF Gregor Blanco
8. 2B Nick Noonan
9. P Vogelsong

Cubs

1. CF David DeJesus
2. SS Starlin Castro
3. 1B Anthony Rizzo
4. LF Alfonso Soriano
5. RF Nate Schierholtz
6. C Welington Castillo
7. 3B Luis Valbuena
8. 2B Hide your kids
9. P Feldman

The post Series Preview (and game thread): Giants (6-3) at Cubs (3-5) appeared first on Obstructed View.

(With ZiPS projected wOBA or FIP)

Cubs

• CF Dave Sappelt (.304)
• SS Starlin Castro (.334)
• 1B Anthony Rizzo (.365)
• LF Alfonso Soriano (.328)
• RF Scott Hairston (.322)
• C Welington Castillo (.308)
• 3B Brent Lillibridge (.282)
• 2B Alberto Gonzalez (.266)
• P Scott Feldman (3.83)

Braves

• SS Andrelton Simmons (.306)
• RF Jason Heyward (.350)
• LF Justin Upton (.342)
• 1B Freddie Freeman (.355)
• CF B.J. Upton (.335)
• 2B Dan Uggla (.328)
• 3B Juan Francisco (.315)
• C Evan Gattis (.324)
• P Mike Minor (4.01)

Beer Status

• Real Ale Brewing : Devil's Backbone Belgian-style Trippel

The post 4/5 Game Thread – Cubs at Braves appeared first on Obstructed View.

Cubs

David DeJesus, CF
Starlin Castro, SS
Anthony Rizzo, 1B
Alfonso Soriano, LF
Nate Schierholtz, RF
Dioner Navarro, C
Luis Valbuena, 3B
Hide your kids, 2B
Travis Wood, P

Pirates

Starling Marte, LF
Russell Martin, C
Andrew McCutchen, CF
Gaby Sanchez, 1B
Pedro Alvarez, 3B
Neil Walker, 2B
Jose Tabata, RF
Clint Barmes, SS
James McDonald, P

Boxscore: Chi Cubs vs. Pittsburgh

The post Cubs @ Pirates Game Chat appeared first on Obstructed View.

LF Tony Campana
2B Adrian Cardenas
SS Starlin Castro
1B Bryan LaHair
RF Dave Sappelt
3B Josh Vitters
CF Brett Jackkkson
C Something Recker
P Travis Wood

You can see how bright the future is in Chicago with this very deep lineup. I mean, consider this: the 8th hitter is probably as good as the leadoff hitter. You aren't going to find many MLB lineups in which that is true. Up and down the lineup you have guys who are roughly equal on offense with an exception or two. It does not get any better than this. This is what October baseball is about.

The post Astros @ Cubs Game Thread appeared first on Obstructed View.

Mostly we needed a new thread.

The Cubs are already up 3-1 and Dave Sappelt is a triple and single short of the cycle.  I missed the beginning because there was a new New Girl and I prefer looking at this:

… than what the Cubs and Rockies are capable of doing on a baseball diamond.

The post Cubs vs. Rockies – Something to Pass the Time Until the Next Football Game appeared first on Obstructed View.

In case you hadn't heard, Anthony Rizzo is making his debut with the Cubs today. Since this is probably the lone highlight of the season, let's do a live chat!

In case you weren't around last time, or your memory is as bad as mine, let me remind you

Mini post about posting:

IF YOUR COMMENT DOES NOT APPEAR RIGHT AWAY, DON'T PANIC

CoverItLive kind of sucks in that the chat moderator has to approve any commenters as legit before their comments can appear without moderation.

Today's lineups. Projected wOBA listed for each batter, projected FIP for the pitchers

Mets

1. Kirk Nieuwenhuis, CF (.316)
2. Ruben Tejada, SS (.301)
3. David Wright, 3B (.368)
4. Lucas Duda, RF (.335)
5. Ike Davis, 1B (.316)
6. Scott Hairston, LF (.331)
7. David Murphy, 2B (.318)
8. Josh Thole, C (.308)
9. Dillon Gee, RHP (4.61)

Cubs

1. David DeJesus, CF (.329)
2. Starlin Castro, SS (.332)
3. Anthony Rizzo, 1B (.346)
4. Alfonso Soriano, LF (.327)
5. Bryan LaHair, RF (.348)
6. Luis Valbuena, 3B (.306)
7. Darwin Barney, 2B (.294)
8. Steve Clevenger, C (.296)
9. Randy Wells, RHP (4.64)

The post Anthony Rizzo Debut game thread and live chat appeared first on Obstructed View.

Tuesday: Travis Wood, LHP (4.50, 5.30, 4.28, 4.02) vs J. A. Happ, LHP (4.96, 4.60, 3.91, 4.57), 7:05 PM CT

Wood was penciled into the rotation by most people after being picked up in the Sean Marshall deal, but following the Transformation of Jeff Samardzija and a truly terrible spring, he found himself in Iowa instead. ERA-wise he's been pretty pedestrian there (4.57) but his peripherals (3.76 FIP, 3+ K/BB) suggest that he figured something out, hopefully. His .358 BABIP could explain that ERA-FIP split. He made one fill-in start earlier this month when Matt Garza skipped a turn due to a nasty flu bug and turned in a solidly adequate start against the Dodgers (6 IP, 3 R), though three runs is often an insurmountable lead for this offense.

Happ was acquired from the Phillies for Roy Oswalt in one of many facepalm-worthy Ed Lynch moves during his tenure as GM. Happ put up great ERAs in his time with thie Phillies, while posting merely meh FIPs. In his three seasons with the Phillies, mostly as a starter, he posted BABIPs of .266, .262, and .250, while it regressed back up to .300 not long after he joined the Astros. He's got a pretty good strikeout rate for a lefty starter but he can't find the plate worth a damn.

The Cubs hit lefties pretty well so I'm thinking they win tonight. 

The post Cubs go for 8 in a row appeared first on Obstructed View.

The post Postgame thread – non David DeJesus editon appeared first on Obstructed View.

1. Campana CF
2. Barney 2B
3. Castro SS
4. LaHair 1B
5. Baker RF
6. Stewart 3B
7. Mather LF
8. Castillo C
9. Garza P

Meanwhile, the Iowa Cubs' lineup today against Nashville is:

1. B. Jackson CF
2. Amezaga RF
3. Valbuena SS
4. Rizzo 1B
5. Wright LF
6. Cardenas 2B
7. Vitters 3B
8. Apodaca C
9. J. Jackson P

Is it me, or is the Iowa lineup more imposing?

The post Cubs vs. Phillies vs. Iowa Cubs appeared first on Obstructed View.

SS Rafael Furcal
2B Skip Schumaker
LF Matt Holliday
RF Carlos Beltran
3B David Freese
C Yadier Molina
1B Matt Carpenter
CF Shane Robinson
P Adam Wainwright

Cubs lineup

RF David DeJesus
CF Tony Campana
SS Starlin Castro
1B Bryan LaHair
LF Alfonso Soriano
3B Ian Stewart
2B Darwin Barney
C Geovany Soto
P Ironhide

The post Game thread – Cardinals at Cubs 4/24 appeared first on Obstructed View.