1000 word recap of Paul Maholm's Cubs debut last night Other comments on last night's game You'd think that conditions like last night's (freezing, wind howling in) would be conducive to pitching, But when you can't locate multiple pitches, you're going to get hammered. Maholm walked two and hit two batters in the first inning, as well as a double, …
Series Preview: Milwaukee Brewers (1-2) at Chicago Cubs (1-2)
The Brewers dropped their opening series to the Cardinals, losing to Jaime Garcia and Lance Lynn in three relatively high-scoring games. The Cubs, meanwhile, did their best to try to have the bullpen/defense blow late leads in all three games against the Washington Nationals. This will be Aramis Ramirez's first appearance in Wrigley not wearing a Cubs or Pirates uniform. …
Series Preview: Arizona Diamondbacks (94-68) vs Milwaukee Brewers (96-66)
Milwaukee is already up 1-0 in this series but these things take too damn long for me to write to have this up before that happened (laughing). It’s hard to believe that there are two teams from the NL Central in the playoffs this year. Team overviews Team stats, with NL rank in parentheses DBacks Brewers wOBA .321 (4th) .327 …
Congratulations to the Milwaukee Brewers
With the Cubs 5-1 win over the Cardinals yesterday, the Milwaukee Brewers won their first division title since the days of Harvey’s Wallbangers. Kudos to the Brewers front office for going all in for this season when it was clear their window was closing. Congratulations to everyone on that team. Except Ryan Braun. Hopefully Prince Fielder will bring a World …
OV Pic of the Day: Is It Friday Friday Yet?
It’s two Pics of the Day in a row for Blake Dewitt. I’m sure he would be honored if he had any idea this part of the interwebz existed. Anyway, the Cubs lost and Prince Fielder inched closer to Mike Schmidt as all-time Cubs killer extraordinaire. But Blakey has even more problems. (Photo by Scott Boehm/Getty Images) We-we-we such a …
OV Pic of the Day: Thus Endeth the Winning Streak
So that was fun. The Cubs won three games in a row just when nobody thought they could. But then they played an actual major league team. They had a chance in the ninth inning, but Blake DeWitt struck out on what would have been ball four. OV, using advanced technology that we have developed in our secret underground labs, …
Series Preview: Iowa Cubs of Chicago (42-60) at Milwaukee Brewers (54-49)
Team Matchups NL ranks in parens Cubs Brewers wOBA .316 (7th) .322 (6th) UBR -11.6 (16th) -3.6 (13th) UZR -17.7 (13th) 4.7 (5th) SP FIP 4.07 (10th) 3.71 (7th) RP FIP 4.05 (14th) 3.65 (5th) It’s almost comical how bad the Cubs are at baserunning. There’s almost a win’s difference separating them from the Brewers, who are the 4th worst …
Series Preview: Milwaukee Brewers (38-28) at Iowa Cubs of Chicago (25-39)
I blinked, and suddenly the Brewers are on top of the NL Central. They’ve won eight of their last ten games and should win a few more in this series. Team Overviews As always, team stats with NL ranks in parentheses Brewers Cubs wOBA .327 (4th) .311 (7th) UBR -0.4 (8th) -7.9 (16th) UZR 2.9 (6th) -15.5 (15th) SP FIP …
Evaluating the Braun Deal (UPDATED)
Today, Ryan Braun signed a 5 year extension to his current deal with the Brewers, which already ran to 2015. It covers the 2016-2020 seasons and there is a mutual option that could be worth up to $20 million for 2021, with a $4m buyout. My gut reaction is that it’s not a great deal for the Brewers, given his …
Series Preview: Chicago Cubs (3-3) at Milwaukee Brewers (3-4)
The Cubs won the Arizona series but came away less two members of the rotation. They head to Milwaukee, who are coming off three straight wins against the Atlanta Braves. Ryan Braun and Rickie Weeks have gotten off to hot starts but the rest of the lineup hasn’t started hitting yet. Here’s a look at their (small sample size) team …