Rob Arthur has a really good article up on fivethirtyeight.com on Jake Arrieta's emergence as an ace and it discusses the change in his release point at length. Most of the time, the horizontal and vertical coordinates of a pitcher’s release point are fairly constant, determined largely by mechanics learned long before he made the majors. In Arrieta’s case, however, his …
Jake Arrieta’s Innings Increase
Jake Arrieta has had a fantastic season this year. Actually, he's been fantastic since he joined the Cubs, but I find myself being a little bit scared about his workload right now. He's thrown 191 innings so far and has about 5 starts left this regular season. He's averaged roughly 6.8 innings per start. That puts him on pace to throw …
Cubs 9, Cardinals 0 (9/7/15)
OSS: Haren dominates the best team in the National League. Three Up 1. Dan Haren probably doesn't have another performance like the one he spun against the Cardinals in his entire career, but it was nice to see one last masterclass in soft contact. Haren allowed 7 hits and 2 walks, with maybe 4 really well-hit balls by St. Lou. …
Cubs acquire Dan Haren ***UPDATED***
The Cubs have acquired Dan Haren from the Florida Marlins. No word yet on who was sent to Miami. Source: Haren to Cubs from Marlins. — Gordon Wittenmyer (@GDubCub) July 31, 2015 Haren has given up a ton of fly balls this season and his fastball is not very good. He hasn’t walked many batters and has been a little …
Spring training pics
Fun in the sun from the last 2.5 days Cool stuff outside the park. The park in general was quite nice, and I can confirm that the toilets flushed extremely properly. Baseball is coming. Arrieta and Bosio, warming up before the game. Arrieta warming up with long toss. The Cubs take the field. Solid ballpark music in both games, including …
Soler ————> Cubs
Per David Kaplan on CSN, Jorge Soler is being called up and will join the team for this week’s series in Cincinnati. I’m guessing Justin Ruggiano will be put on the DL in the corresponding roster move. It’s been a given for some time that Soler was going to be called up in September anyway, since he’s already both on …
Cubs Acquire Felix Doubront and Jonathan Martinez
The Cubs have been surprisingly active today, completing the Darwin Barney trade with the Dodgers, acquiring Felix Doubront from the Red Sox, and reportedly nearing a deal that would ship Emilio Bonifacio to… well, somewhere. Jonathan Martinez Martinez is a 20 year-old righty out of Venezuela who has now been named as the Barney return. In 2011 and 2012, he …
Neil Ramirez placed on DL
Neil Ramirez was placed on the 15 day DL with sore triceps yesterday and I only have a few words (a few more than I’ve had in awhile). People need to relax on Neil Ramirez. I just spoke with him and he said it is simply to give his arm a rest. Very important part of Cubs. — David Kaplan …
Cubs Trade Samardzija, Hammel to the A’s
Well, that escalated quickly. The Cubs have traded Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel to the Athletics for Addison Russell, Billy McKinney, Dan Straily and a player to be named later. Ken Rosenthal was the first to report discussions about an hour ago, and was the first to call it done. Tom Loxas has been all over these discussions, as well, …
IFA: Cubs Sign Four Players; Video and Potential Trade Partner Updates
Cubs Summary I was wrong, there was one Cubs signing today: Panamanian SS Francisco Garay. Has to be below $250k as penalty for last year’s spending. — Kiley McDaniel (@kileymcd) July 3, 2014 There seem to be some questions about his birthday. Cubs Sign Dominican LHP Wander Cabrera For $250,000 (via @iplbaseball_rd). Story at Baseball America: http://t.co/FMOF3f9sxP — Ben Badler …