The Cubs promoted 20-year old Javier Baez to AA Tennessee this past weekend after a scorching half-season or so in Daytona. Baez's power output in the Florida State League was pretty incredible, as he hit 17 homers in a very pitcher-friendly league despite his young age. Last season, he hit 16 homers in 80 games spread between Peoria (in the …
Rethinking Pitching Philosophies, Derek Johnson, and Carlos Gomez
Cubs Den has a post up drawing attention to a Baseball America article on changes in the Cubs’ organizational philosophy related to developing pitching talent. The BA piece focuses on new pitching coordinator Derek Johnson, formerly the pitching coach at Vanderbilt, which famously produced David Price, Mike Minor, Sonny Gray, and many others on his watch. Johnson is of the …
Series Preview – Chicago Cubs (13-18) vs Milwaukee Brewers (13-18)
I liked the Brewers chances of winning the NL Central this year, even without Fielder, given the loss of Pujols and Carpenters injuries and my general distrust of the Reds pitching staff. They've had some awful luck so far though, and it looks like it's not going to happen. They've lost three of their key contributers (SP Chris Narveson, SS …
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 …
Series Preview: Iowa Cubs of Chicago (29-42) at Chicago White Sox (35-38)
I’m surprised to see the White Sox with a near-.500 record. Last I remember seeing any news of them, they were mired in a crappy start to the season, and new acquisition Adam Dunn was redefining the definition of a disappointing free agent signing. They were 10-18 in April, and were completely overmatched by their competition in the second half …
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 …
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 …
NL Central Preview: Milwaukee Brewers
Last Year: The Brewers finished in third place in the NL Central with a 77-85 record. They had the second-best offense in the NL with a team .334 wOBA, trailing only the surprising Cincinnati Reds. However, it was their pitching and defense that proved to be their downfall. Brewers pitchers posted a 4.21 FIP and 4.59 ERA on the season, …