Well, at least Chatwood didn’t start after all. The Cubs take a brief break from their homestand for a three game series with the Marlins, who seem to be on track to be a new calibration point for the concept of replacement level. Still, it always seems like weird things happen in Miami, even when you leave their home run …
Cubs 2, Pirates 0 and mini-preview: Anaheim Trouts of Disneyland (7-6) at Chicago Cubs (4-8)
OSS: Cubs eke one out in the rain Three up: Jose Quintana had one of his best starts as a Cub, striking out eleven batters in seven shutout innings. It’s especially good to see given how much of a disaster his last start was. Even better, he only issued one walk. Daniel Descalso had the big hit of the night, …
Series Preview: Pittsburgh Pirates (5-3) at Chicago Cubs (2-7)
Well, that road trip is over with. Hopefully the Cubs can get a fresh start now that they are finally at their homes for the first time in two months. At least the Brewers final felt like a regular loss instead of yet another back-breaking loss. Team Leaders I’ll use the teams’ 2018 numbers here (excluding injured/departed players), since looking …
Series Preview: Chicago Dumpster Fire (1-5) at Milwaukee Brewers (6-1)
Well that sucked. I’m not even jazzed enough to joke about this being the real Cubs home opener. The Brewers have gotten off to a hot start, full of dramatic walk off hits/catches and all the other fun things that the 2016 Cubs seemed to have from the get go. The Cubs meanwhile have gone from a team that certain …
Series Preview: Chicago Cubs (0-0) at Texas Rangers (0-0)
The crack of the bat! the roar of the crowd! Baseball’s back at WYNX WSCR. *waves tiny flag* It will be great to have Pat Hughes back in my earballs, no matter how ambivalent I feel about the upcoming season. At least with my win prediction in the podcast that ones of you likely listened to, I have seized the …
Wild Card Preview: Colorado Rockies (91-72) at Chicago Cubs (95-68)
At least the Cubs didn’t draw the Dodgers in this one, Kershaw or no Kershaw, and they don’t have to travel yet again. We can only hope the Cubs don’t feel the same frustration and cynicism about being stuck in this position that many of us do at home. I guess we can always point to the 2006 Cardinals. It’s …
Game 163 Preview: Brewers at Cubs
Welp, here we are at game 163. As frustrated as some of us are, it’s good to remember that this team was somehow both kind of disappointing/had all sorts of crap/injuries/scheduling thrown at it and still won 95 games. It would be nice if, say, the Cubs didn’t get swept by the Reds earlier this year, but the fact that …
Series Preview: Minnesota Twins (35-42) at Chicago Cubs (44-35)
As much of a disaster as that last road trip was, coming away with a split and an overall season series win over the Dodgers despite all the roster setbacks still found a way to thaw my cold cynical heart. The bats finally broke out, and we’ll see if that continues or if things sputter yet again over the next …
Series Preview: Los Angeles Dodgers (37-32) @ Chicago Cubs (40-27)
The best two teams in the National League in 2016 and 2017 were the Cubs and Dodgers. The best two teams this year probably would have been the Cubs and Dodgers if it wasn’t for some injuries to the Dodgers. The Dodgers have rebounded and are one of the hottest teams in the league so it might turn out that …
Series Preview: Chicago Cubs (38-27) at St Louis Cardinals (36-30)
Another day, another big NL Central series. It’s still only the middle of June, but just like the last series both teams are probably just wanting to get out of this series without getting swept. And to at least score more than three runs in regulation. Team Leaders Cubs OBP: Kris Bryant (.391) ISO: Javier Baez (.264) HR: Baez (14) R+RBI: …