The Brewers find themselves neck and neck with the Reds for the worst record in the NL central division. Their offense has been middle of the pack in the NL so far, and in fact they are second only to the Cubs in walk rate (11.0% to the Cubs 12.6%). But the pitching, particularly the starting pitching, has been putrid. …
The 2015 Cubs (with ZIPS projections)
Position Player wOBA Pos Avg pwRC+ C Montero 0.304 0.305 100 1B Rizzo 0.367 0.328 112 2B Baez 0.319 0.298 107 SS Castro 0.33 0.297 111 3B Bryant 0.364 0.316 115 LF Coghlan 0.307 0.318 97 CF Fowler 0.345 0.32 108 RF Soler 0.335 0.316 106 – – – – – C2 Ross 0.277 0.259 107 IF La Stella 0.313 …
The Crosstown Classic: Two Teams, One Cup, Zero Fucks Given
From what I'm seeing on Twitter, we're talking about the Crosstown Cup already. Oh goody. To borrow from the late, great Roger Ebert: I hate this series. I hate hate hate hate hate this series. Hate it. Hate every simpering stupid vacant fan-insulting moment of it. Hate the sensibility that thought anyone would still like it. Hate the implied insult to the fans by the belief that …
A Two-Week Season: The Dale Sveum Chicago Cubs
I know the numbers don't mean a ton at this point in the season; eleven games does not a representative sample make, especially not for any one player. And as a team, there's still far too little to effectively evaluate how good bad the 2013 Cubs will be . . . as a team. But if you combined all the Cubs' offensive …
Assume the Position: First Base
First base looks to be quite a bit rosier for the Cubs than catcher does. They Cubs have a budding star at the top and some very intriguing options at the bottom. Last Year 2013 Career Name Age AVG OBP SLG wOBA pwOBA AVG OBP SLG wOBA MLB Rizzo 22 0.285 0.342 0.463 0.349 0.368 0.245 …
Garza and Cubs vs. Lilly and Dodgers (for 3 innings or so)
The Cubs are taking on the Dodgers today in the latest practice game. You can watch on WGN-TV, keep track on Gameday, or listen to the MLB broadcast in Gameday Audio. The game begins at 2pm Central Time. Probably. We really can't be sure. Cubs lineup: Kim DeJesus' husband – RF Asshair Burner – 2B The Chosen One – SS …
Series Preview: Zambranoless Cubs (53-68) Bournless and Penceless Astros (38-83)
This is the hardest series preview I’ve ever had to write. It’s also the third series preview I’ve ever had to write, but even if it were the 287th, I’m pretty sure it would trump all others in difficulty. You can throw all the previous stats out the window, because they mean nothing. The Cubs have won a lot of …
Series Preview: Philadelphia Phillies (59-35) at Whitney Young Dolphins (38-58)
Technically, the Phillies have the best record in MLB. And technically, the Cubs have the second worst. So technically, the Phillies should slaughter the Cubs. But on artistic merit, the Cubs have a clear advantage and should dominate the series. Paul McCartney is playing Wrigley at the end of the month, so I really don’t know what can stop the …