Evaluating pitchers is tough. Most of the traditonal batting stats are based on discrete, context-free events that mostly have to do with the offensive player’s skill – Home Runs, hits, stolen bases, batting eye, etc. There are still stats like RBI and R that depend on the players around the batter, but generally the quick and dirty thing that were …
Pitcher Usage
The table below shows the number of pitches thrown in each outing. SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT Ryan Dempster 103 Carlos Zambrano 85 Matt Garza 102 114 Randy Wells* Casey Coleman 90 Andrew Cashner* Carlos Marmol 24 17 Sean Marshall 24 25 Kerry Wood 16 James Russell 74 John Grabow 23 11 21 Jeff Samardzija …
Cubs Officially Won’t Lose Them All
What have we learned so far in the two games the Cubs have played? Not a ton, but there are some things about how the games have gone so far that stuck out to me. 1) Scoring runs is going to be an ordeal more often than we’d like. The Cubs have scored four earned runs in two games and …
Ten Things I Shouldn’t Have to Tell Cubs Fans (But I Do)
I had the pleasure of seeing the Cubs on Opening Day yesterday along with Julie and Deb of Aerys Sports and Ana from Accidentally Sexy, and a lot of cool people* willing to get soaked and chilled in order to show us a good time. But along the way I came into contact with more than a few Cubs fans who, apparently, haven’t …
NL Central Questions & Answers: Pittsburgh Pirates
This is our final NL Central Questions & Answers and this time Pat Lackey from Where Have You Gone Andy Van Slyke answers our questions. Obstruced View: Neal Huntington – yea or nay? WHYGAVS: I think Huntington's done a pretty good job thus far for the Pirates; far better than his two predecessors at the very least. The Pirates last …
Probably something about nothing
Prior to tomorrow's game we'll be posting the final NL Central interview. I had planned to post it this evening, but I thought I'd throw something else together. Anyone who has read much of anything of mine over the years knows that I'm not one of those people who goes nuts over pitch counts. That doesn't mean I don't pay …
Series (and NL Central Team) Preview: Pittsburgh Pirates (0-0) at Chicago Cubs (0-0)
Site Update: The login on the menu has been replaced by a login at the top of the screen as it was annoying having to scroll over the login to actually login. It’s baseball time! Since the Pirates are the last team we have left to do and the first team the Cubs play, we’re going to combine my usual …
Obstructed View Opening Day Roundtable – part 2
Your fearless Obstructed View Executive Chairmen got together to discuss various topics related to the 2011 Cubs season. We looked at the offseason and the new additions to the club in part one. Here’s part two, which focuses on our predictions for the 2011 season. Ryan Theriot [mb21] : How many times will Theriot get a standing ovation when the …
NL Central Questions & Answers: St. Louis Cardinals
This is Obstructed View’s 4th interview with an NL Central blogger that we’re posting this week. Steve Sommer of Gashouse Graphs has taken some time to answer these questions and I’m most appreciative. We’ll have our final interview (Pirates) tomorrow evening after the Cubs/Pirates game. Obstructed View: Cubs fans are all too familiar with Ryan Theriot. Aside from the 2008 …
Opening Day in the Time of Cholera
It’s Opening Day in Major League Baseball, one day before the Cubs officially begin to toy with our hopes in earnest. So I thought I’d take this opportunity to brace myself for the plunge into denial with a look at the reasons we keep coming back to this team, reasons that really aren’t unique to the Cubs at all. Contrary …