https://northsidebaseball.com/chicago-cubs-news/cubs/page/159/?d=7enhttps://northsidebaseball.com/chicago-cubs-news/cubs/a-report-card-on-kyle-hendrickss-first-start-of-2024-r695/Somehow, the second Cubs pitching start of the season almost brought more discouraging returns than the first. Let's mine it a bit, anyway, though, because the news isn't all bad. Desperately looking for something to feel good about after a frustrating loss on Thursday, compounded with the n...695Sun, 31 Mar 2024 15:43:54 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/chicago-cubs-news/cubs/miles-mastrobuoni-foul-tip-jonah-heim-karma/By now, everyone has seen the play that allowed the Cubs to take the lead in the top of the ninth inning against the Texas Rangers in the season opener. It was on a wild pitch, except that it wasn’t a wild pitch because Miles Mastrobuoni swung and got the most fractional foul ball in baseball hi...693Sat, 30 Mar 2024 19:30:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/chicago-cubs-news/cubs/its-ben-brown-season-cubs-call-up-brown-to-replace-injured-justin-steele-r694/Despite losing the game, the Cubs' biggest loss on Opening Day was watching their de facto ace, Justin Steele, injure his hamstring. Speculation was rampant about who would take the opening spot, but reports are that that has been answered. Enter Ben Brown. When Justin Steele awkwardly field...694Sat, 30 Mar 2024 18:20:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/chicago-cubs-news/cubs/justin-steele-injury-update-hamstring-strain-timeline-ben-brown-drew-smyly/The Chicago Cubs' ace southpaw was forced from his Opening Day start with a strained left hamstring, and Craig Counsell is already forecasting a stint on the injured list. How can the team weather this massive blow? Though the team has insisted otherwise, and proved their faith by refusing t...692Fri, 29 Mar 2024 11:29:44 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/chicago-cubs-news/cubs/yikes-justin-steele-leaves-opening-day-game-with-hamstring-injury-r691/Justin Steele had to leave his first start of the season early with an apparent hamstring injury. We aren't even a game into the season, and Cubs fans are already stressing over a massive injury. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Leody Taveras laid down an excellent bunt down the first base...691Fri, 29 Mar 2024 02:04:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/chicago-cubs-news/cubs/the-necessity-and-tantalizing-possibility-of-a-michael-busch-breakout-r688/The big bat the Cubs brought in this winter happens to be a 26-year-old who's not yet established in the big leagues. Can he still deliver like a bigger-name, bigger-money slugger? The contrasting reactions to the 2023-24 Chicago Cubs offseason are not mutually exclusive. While it’s true tha...688Thu, 28 Mar 2024 15:18:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/chicago-cubs-news/cubs/north-side-baseballs-2024-chicago-cubs-season-preview-r684/Counsell. Busch. Belli. They're all here. So is baseball. So what do we think of the 2024 Chicago Cubs? More of the same, but better! Let me explain... Every day, my school days get further into the past. I may not be old enough to be phrasing this in such a manner, but I'm sure the structur...684Thu, 28 Mar 2024 13:10:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/chicago-cubs-news/cubs/2024-nl-east-preview-two-playoff-spots-spoken-for-r682/Here on Opening Day, we complete our preview of the rest of the National League by looking at the NL East. While the Braves are the presumptive favorites, teams just below them could create trouble for the Cubs in the Wild Card race, if they fail to grab the NL Central title. In 2023, the po...682Thu, 28 Mar 2024 12:21:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/chicago-cubs-news/cubs/the-cubs-and-the-promise-of-a-new-baseball-season-r679/On the morning of Opening Day, the Chicago Cubs are but one of 30 teams trying to do the impossible. Ever since 2016, Opening Day has felt a little more liberating, hasn’t it? The pressure that once came with having the longest championship drought in professional sports is now gone; in its...679Thu, 28 Mar 2024 11:22:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/chicago-cubs-news/cubs/behind-enemy-lines-previewing-the-2024-pittsburgh-pirates-r680/The NL Central projects to be a competitive (albeit mediocre) division this season. Though loaded with young talent, the Pittsburgh Pirates have the look of the worst team among the five. The Pittsburgh Pirates finished in fourth place in the NL Central last season, posting a 76-86 record....680Wed, 27 Mar 2024 16:17:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/chicago-cubs-news/cubs/2024-chicago-cubs-positional-preview-left-field-r678/With Ian Happ entrenched as the starter in left field, do the 2024 Chicago Cubs have the necessary reinforcements to help him make it through the trials and tribulations of a 162-game schedule? Ian Happ has been the Cubs’ everyday starter in left field since mid-2021. He’s posted an above-av...678Wed, 27 Mar 2024 13:05:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/chicago-cubs-news/cubs/previewing-the-2024-chicago-cubs-probable-opening-day-lineup-r677/With Opening Day tomorrow, I figured it would be a perfect time to look at the Cubs' potential lineup, and how they match up with the Rangers’ Opening Day starter, Nathan Eovaldi (who was announced last week). Visiting the defending World Series champions is a tough way to open the season, b...677Wed, 27 Mar 2024 11:15:01 +0000