The Cubs got a good start from Carlos Villaneuva, who struck out 6 and gave up one run in 6.2 innings. Rizzo and Valbuena homered off of Braves starter Julio Teheran, and Nate Schierholtz was inches from adding one of his own. The Cubs were prepared to pour even more on, loading the bases in the top of the eighth …
Daily Facepalm 4.6.13
Cubs lose The Cubs dropped the first game of their series against the Braves. Scott Feldman gave up four runs in 4 2/3 innings, and is lucky he didn't give up more than that. He allowed 4 hits, walked four, hit a batter, had two wild pitches, and topped it off with a fielding error. Behind him, Alberto Gonzalez attemped to tag out …
4/5 Game Thread – Cubs at Braves
Lineups (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) …
Series Preview: Cubs (2-1) at Braves (2-1)
The Cubs somehow managed to scratch together enough runs to take a series from the Pirates. Now they head to relatively warm Atlanta for another three game set. Atlanta beat up on their aging divisional rivals, the Phillies in their opening series. Team Overviews Here's how the teams looked in 2012. NL Ranks in parentheses. Cubs Braves wRC+ 80 (16th) …
Daily Facepalm 4.3.13
Draft bonus pools announced Not shockingly, the Cubs have the second largest bonus pool at ~$10.5m. The Nats have the lowest at ~$2.5m due to their low draft position and losing their pick for signing Rafael Soriano. Cubs sign Ryan Sweeney The Cubs signed OF Ryan Sweeney to a minor league deal and have him stashed in Iowa. He could see …
Opening Day postgame thread – Cubs 3, Pirates 1
Cubs win! The Cubs took an early lead on a first inning home run by Anthony Rizzo that still hasn't landed. Combine that with eight strong innings by Jeff Samardzija (two hits, one walk, 9 strikeouts) and it's a recipe for a Cubs win. Carlos Marmol made the end of the game interesting by doing Carlos Marmol things at the …
Series Preview: Chicago Cubs (0-0) at Pittsburgh Pirates (0-0)
Well, here we go with another season of Cubs baseball. The Cubs open the season in what is probably the most beautiful ballpark in baseball (it's certainly one of the top 30). At least, beautiful when the weather forecast isn't 40s and raining. The Pirates aren't the punching bag they used to be – they've finally gotten over the hump …
2013 Cubs overview at The Outside Corner
I wrote a piece breaking down the state of the organization for non-Cubs fans over at The Outside Corner, part of our old network Blogiun. Check it out. Or don't. Or give me a yacht. All of those things would be okay with me.
Are ground balls overrated by Sabermetrics?
I can't see the original Bill James piece (behind a paywall), but Rob Neyer posted a big excerpt from it at his site. My instant reaction to the title was that it's a preposterous hypothesis, as I'm someone who thinks that groundballs are underrated by the standard tools of internet sabermetrics, especially FIP. Saber types have tried to factor batted ball percentages in …
Poz on Theo and “The Cubs Way”
Great article by Joe Posnanski on Theo and changing the culture of the Cubs organization http://www.nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/51282651