For a team that hasn't won a World Series in over 100 years and came into 2015 off a string of five straight losing seasons, it's remarkable just how much hype the Chicago Cubs are generating.
Quite a lot of that is due to the emergence of top prospects Kris Bryant, Jorge Soler and Addison Russell. But while that's perfectly OK—seriously, they're awesome—they're overshadowing another young talent whose efforts should actually be pushing the Cubs hype meter even higher.
His name is Anthony Rizzo, and you must know of his stupendousness.
If you haven't been keeping up with current affairs, the 25-year-old first ...
This past offseason was a busy one for the Chicago Cubs. They signed ace pitcher Jon Lester to a six-year, $155 million contract, and they lured manager Joe Maddon to the North Side with a five-year, $25 million offer.
High expectations understandably followed.
"I'm gonna be talking playoffs next year, I'll tell you that right now," Maddon told the Chicago Tribune in November. "I can't go to spring training and say anything else. You have to set your goals high, because if you don't set them high enough you might hit your mark, and that's not a good thing. We're gonna talk World Series ...
Thank god the NL Central is a weak division.
Despite being just a .500 ballclub through their first 30 games, the Chicago Cubs find themselves in second place in the division and 6.5 games behind the strongest team in baseball, the St. Louis Cardinals.
Though they've shown some positives throughout the season, the Cubs have struggled as of late. After a winning month to begin the year, the Cubs have dropped eight of their last 11 games, all against division rivals.
The Cubs have a long ways to go if they still intend to live up to Anthony Rizzo's prediction of an NL ...
When the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets kick off a four-game series Monday, it'll be a clash of clubs with their eyes on the 2015 postseason.
But it'll be something else, too: a meeting of teams with the potential to be National League powerhouses for years to come.
Both the Mets and Cubs are on the rise, blessed with loaded farm systems and laden with nascent MLB talent. The question is this: Which team is better positioned to succeed long term?
That obviously hinges on an array of unknowns; injuries, trades, signings and twists of fate can (and inevitably will) shape the ...
The Chicago Cubs have hit a rough patch over the past week or so, but they're still right around the .500 mark. That's better than they've been in the past seven years or so, and it's thanks to several improvements the team has already made in 2015.
While they still have plenty to work on if they want to be playing long into October this year, here are five things the Cubs have already managed to improve in 2015.Begin Slideshow
One month through the season, expectations are as high as ever on the North Side of Chicago. The Cubs are looking like a competitive team, and that's a breath of fresh air for baseball in the Windy City.
While it's still early, here are five takeaways from the beginning of the 2015 season for the Cubs.
All stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.Begin Slideshow
The Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals kick off a four-game series in Missouri on Monday, and the stakes are about as high as they get in early May.
No, nothing will be settled between the longstanding foes. But there's an opportunity to make a statement, particularly for the Cubs.
You know all about this much-hyped young Chicago team, which made headlines over the winter by luring manager Joe Maddon away from the Tampa Bay Rays and inking left-hander Jon Lester to join a roster populated by burgeoning blue-chip talent.
The question now is whether the Cubbies can deliver on their promise.
After a ...
There are some pieces of baseball history that a responsible baseball writer needs to think twice about invoking. Then there are the "Murderers' Row" New York Yankees lineups of the 1920s, which require at least 1.21 gigawatts of thinking energy before the "invoke" button can be pressed.
So believe you me, it is with some trepidation that I propose the following...
Might the Chicago Cubs be brewing up a Murderers' Row lineup of their own?
It's not going to be easy. That much is certain. But all the same...maybe it's possible.
We're thinking about this, of course, because what was an incomplete Cubs lineup ...
The Chicago Cubs are officially in the clear after Major League Baseball announced Wednesday that an investigation found no evidence of tampering in the hiring of manager Joe Maddon this past offseason.
Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com passed along the good news for the Cubs, while MLB Communications shared a statement from the league:
Comcast SportsNet Chicago's Patrick Mooney reported Cubs executives gave their phones and laptops to investigators as part of the investigation. Mooney also provided comments from Cubs GM Jed Hoyer:
The Cubs hired Maddon about a week after he resigned from the Tampa Bay Rays' managing job. Maddon had an opt-out ...
For the first time in a very long time, the Cubs were active in free agency and the trade market (from the buying end) this offseason. That meant a lot of roster turnover and a lot of questions going into this season.
Some of those questions have begun to be answered, while others remain unanswered. Whatever the case may be, here are grades through the first two-and-a-half weeks of the season for the team's seven key new additions for 2015.
All stats used are courtesy of Baseball-Reference.Begin Slideshow
« Previous Page — Next Page »
