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With a day off on Thursday, I felt like it was time to look into the future.
“The future, Conan?”
Sorry, but there will be no Jeff Goldblum or Andy Richter appearances today.
But in all seriousness, off-days bum me out, so let’s take this time to look at some questions facing the Cubs’ pitching staff.
Closer: I figured, why not? Let’s just go straight to the fireworks.
Everyone’s been talking about the Cubs’ closer woes recently, and with good cause.
In the past week (seven games for those counting), the bullpen has given up 16 runs, and that’s not including the run charged ...
As of last night’s games, the Chicago Cubs stand in a percentage points lead for first place in the National League Central, and subsequently two games out of the Wild Card race.
Based on head-to-head schedules, as well as remaining schedules for both the Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals, it is my prediction that the Cardinals will come out on top of the division victorious.
Despite the two teams being stuck together in the standings, the Cardinals’ sailing has been much smoother on their way to a 59-51 record. They have been consistent all year in a division that has not seen any ...
If you are familiar with the excellent work done by The Hardball Times’ Chris Dutton and Peter Bendix, you are likely familiar with their creation of an expected Batting Average on Balls in Play metric (xBABIP).
BABIP—Batting average on balls in play: the rate at which batted balls other than home runs become hits has been mainly used to judge pitchers. That is, until the metric was improved by the creation of xBABIP, which has turned out to be a very strong predictor of future performance.
The idea is to separate skill from variance. They’ve isolated a batter’s skill at getting hits ...
Many writers, both those of the professional variety and those of us that write for sites like Bleacher Report, have put words on paper to release some of our frustration with the winter plan Chicago Cubs General Manager Jim Hendry put into action before the current season.
I'd like to take a moment to examine two players, one on the Cubs and one playing elsewhere, to highlight some differences between an organization that can, and actively does, evaluate talent and the opposite, the Chicago Cubs.
Player A
27 years old; 6'1", 195 lbs
Bats/Throws: right
Plays second and third base
Batting average: .319
On-base percentage: .367
At-bats: 182
Home runs: 9
Runs batted ...
Of all people, it was Justin Lehr who stepped up and put a stop to the Reds’ eight-game skid. Lehr dazzled the Cubs with his 89 mph fastball rendering them only four hits. He really does have a pretty nice curveball.
Lehr, in only his second major league start, pitched a complete game shutout against the stupid Cubs. This automatically places him in my “hero” category.
The savior of the Reds, Scott Rolen, finally got a chance to hit and did so, belting a two-run homer.
Perhaps what’s more amazing is the fact that Willy Taveras got a hit and actually stole two bases ...
Taking control of the NL Central this year hasn’t been easy. Four teams out of the six are still in contention for a division title, and things could just be heating up.
1. St. Louis Cardinals—The division leader for most of the season has just recently been tested by the Chicago Cubs. The acquisition of Matt Holliday has paid off. With Ankiel and Ludwick not performing like last year, Holliday was a must pick-up to add offense to the outfield.The return of Carpenter has also helped the Cardinals stay atop of the the division. Pitching hasn’t been the problem for the ...
What do you call a guy hitting under .200 with zero home runs and four RBI after playing just 47 games in the baseball season's first four months?
Jim Hendry would call him a millionaire.
He should call him unemployed.
Aaron Miles, the "versatile" midget replacement for Mark DeRosa, was signed during the across-the-board failure that was the Cubs' 2008-2009 offseason, yet he is somehow still on the Cubs' roster.
In fact, I would argue that the best contribution Miles has made to the 2009 Chicago Cubs was his time on the disabled list; by being hurt, he wasn't available to underachieve.
His on-base percentage, as of Aug. 5, is .235; if ...
Where's Borat when you want to proclaim, "Not so much"?
After a couple weeks of getting a tan in Arizona on the Cubs' payroll, BJ Ryan is yet again unemployed.
The one-time closer of the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays was waived in July by the Jays when his arm didn't produce what his salary demanded from the left-hander, and he got a shot to join the Cubs with a minor league deal.
However, when the Cubs acquired two lefties, Tom Gorzelanny and John Grabow, at the non-waiver trade deadline, Ryan's potential to be a second lefty in the Cubs bullpen wasn't ...
The newest member of the Cubs, Tom Gorzelanny, threw a gem on Tuesday night versus the Reds.
When Gorezelanny was pulled in the eighth inning, the Cubs fans in the crowd of over 17,000 at The Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati gave Gorzelanny a well deserved standing ovation. A little unusual for on the road if you ask me.
"It was great," Gorzelanny told cubs.com. "It shows how big this team is, having more fans here than the home team. It's definitely a different feeling coming from where I came from. It was something I'll probably remember for a while."
Gorzelanny was ...
Every once in awhile, I get to be truly impressed, and well, even surprised.
That might be how I'd best describe my impression of the performance of Tom Gorzelanny on Tuesday, as the Cubs used a solid performance by him to beat the Reds 6-3 at Great American Ballpark. Seven plus innings of one-run ball, to be exact.
I figured when the Cubs picked him that he'd be someone useful; no issues there. But after seeing Gorzelanny three times in person this season alone, I didn't think there was much to see right now.
He needed work as recently as a few weeks ...
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