OSS: The Aprilists wear down a great pitcher and hang on to win. Three up: The top two of the Cubs order set the tone for the day, reaching base six out of six times against Marlins ace Jose Fernandez. Fowler led all Cubs hitters with a .183 WPA, and he and Contreras combined to go 5-7 with a walk, …
Cubs 5, Marlins 0 (8.1.16)
OSS: I just checked the calendar to see if it is April again somehow. Three up: Kyle Hendricks threw a complete game shutout, his second CG of the season and first shutout. The last one was against the Phillies, so it was especially nice to see him shut down an actual major league offense. Even more so considering just how …
Series Preview: Miami Marlins (57-48) at Chicago Cubs (63-41)
The bafflingly good-again Marlins took three of four from the Cubs back in late June, smack in the middle of their ice cold streak. It’s even stranger to see them succeeding despite a bad year for Giancarlo Stanton in every category other than HR. Team Leaders Marlins OBP: Ichiro Suzuki (.397) ISO: Justin Bour (.258) HR: Stanton (22) R+RBI: Marcell Ozuna …
Cubs 7, Mariners 6 (7.31.16)
OSS: Three up The Cubs won this game on a walkoff bunt by Jon Lester which was set up by a booming double to lead off the inning by Jason Heyward. That is a sentence I wasn’t planning to write any time in my life (dying laughing). Addison Russell went 1-5 with three strikeouts, but he was the WPA leader …
Cubs 12, Mariners 1
OSS: The April Cubs are back, and they’ll never lose another game etc etc Three Four up: We all laughed at Chris Coghlan getting the nod at the leadoff spot on the day he was reactivated from the DL, and he rewarded said laughter by leading the team in WPA. This was mostly due to the two run single that …
Cubs 4, Sox 5 (7.25.16)
OSS: TOOTBLAN’d Three up: Javy Baez provided most of the spark for the Cubs offense today, hitting a two run homer in the seventh to answer a shot by Todd Frazier in the previous half inning. He also doubled to lead off the Cubs rally in the ninth inning and stole third. The Cubs biggest WPA play of the day …
Cubs 6, Rangers 0 (7.15.16)
OSS: Now that’s more like it Three up The Cubs offense hung some runs on a crappy pitcher, a hallmark of good teams and something that they were failing to do during their recent funk. This wasn’t just Bryzzo blasting their way to the lead, it was a team effort with no particular player sticking out WPA-wise. They got some …
Series Preview: Texas Rangers (54-36) at Chicago Cubs (53-35)
If you just look at the records and have been living in a cave for the past month, you would think that this is an exciting matchup with both fanbases eagerly awaiting the return to baseball to watch two possible championship teams sizing each other up. Instead, both fanbases find themselves cautiously peeking over the edge of their dumpster, hoping …
Cubs 6, Pirates 5 (7.10.16)
OSS: The marathon mercifully ends with a win Three up: Bryzzo combined to go 7-9 with a walk today, and Bryant drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning. As bad as this stretch has been for the Cubs, at least these two guys have been producing. As Matt Clapp pointed out on twitter today, Bryant leads the NL …
Cubs 5, Reds 9 (6.5.16)
OSS: Four homers not enough to overcome a lackluster Lackey. Three up Addison Muscle had a big day, hitting two home runs and raising his slash line to .242/.338/.416 with a wOBA of .323, not too shabby from the shortstop position. He might not be the best choice to start for the NL in the ASG, but at least he’s …