https://northsidebaseball.com/chicago-cubs-news/cubs/page/195/?d=7enhttps://northsidebaseball.com/chicago-cubs-news/cubs/nico-hoerner-needs-to-bat-sixth-for-a-while-r127/The Cubs offense is, as it has seemed to be more often than not over the last half-decade, utterly broken. Since May 1, the team is batting .222/.311/.357. Their leadoff hitter has, alas, been part of the problem, and it's time to shake up the lineup in a more substantial way. While many fan...127Fri, 09 Jun 2023 11:27:39 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/chicago-cubs-news/cubs/draft-preview-five-outfielders-im-watching-r126/We’ve covered all the positions in this series, so we’re going to circle back and look at three under-the-radar outfielders as well as two outfielders that are very much on the radar. The term “personal cheeseball” (better represented by #personalcheeseball) originated over twenty years ago...126Thu, 08 Jun 2023 15:11:37 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/chicago-cubs-news/cubs/where-do-the-cubs-project-in-the-nl-central-over-the-next-five-years-r125/After losing a third straight game Wednesday night in Anaheim, the Cubs are now 26-35. They lag the division-leading Brewers by 7.5 games and have a 7.9-percent chance of reaching the postseason, according to FanGraphs. Worse news, though, might be coming from Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. The...125Thu, 08 Jun 2023 11:45:23 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/chicago-cubs-news/cubs/learning-from-failure-with-jameson-taillon-r124/On Wednesday night, the Cubs turn to Jameson Taillon and ask him to help save their sinking season. Last time out, the right-hander won his first game as a Cub, thanks to (for now) giving up on some changes he and the team tried to make after he signed this winter. What can we learn from that?...124Wed, 07 Jun 2023 11:23:27 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/chicago-cubs-news/cubs/five-pitchers-the-cubs-could-target-with-the-number-13-overall-pick-r121/In the coming weeks, we’ll spend some time going in-depth on players whom the Cubs could target with their first pick in next month's MLB Draft, at No. 13. This week, we’re looking at pitchers. For these pieces, we’ll use the positions of players on the Consensus Board as a proxy for who they mi...121Tue, 06 Jun 2023 16:10:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/chicago-cubs-news/cubs/the-cubs-have-to-fight-over-the-strike-zone-because-they-cant-dominate-it-themselves-r123/Monday night found Cubs pitchers struggling to miss bats and paying both an actual and a psychological price for it. Meanwhile, their hitters struck out 12 times and were similarly compromised. Unfortunately, that's nothing new, for a team that still lags the league in generating whiffs on the m...123Tue, 06 Jun 2023 11:55:07 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/chicago-cubs-news/cubs/can-dansby-swanson-stay-this-good-all-season-r122/Whatever else has gone on in this mixed bag of a season, the Cubs have to be thrilled with what they've gotten from Dansby Swanson. The biggest thing they did this winter appears to be the thing they did best, and it's paying off in a huge way. With Swanson, however, it's worth asking: Can it la...122Mon, 05 Jun 2023 11:21:16 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/chicago-cubs-news/cubs/miguel-amaya-and-the-near-future-of-the-cubs-roster-r120/The Cubs offense failed to score Saturday night, as Yu Darvish and the Padres steamrolled through a lineup that reflected David Ross's sense of helplessness in that matchup with his hitters going the way they are. Is yet another miniature shakeup in the cards? Though it sounds like Justin St...120Sun, 04 Jun 2023 12:35:11 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/chicago-cubs-news/cubs/accepting-some-failure-has-to-be-part-of-the-plan-for-matt-mervis-r119/On Friday night, the Padres had right-handed starter Michael Wacha on the mound. Nonetheless, Matt Mervis was not in the lineup, and Trey Mancini struck out in all four plate appearances. This needs to be nipped in the bud. In the first few weeks after his call-up, Matt Mervis was in the Cub...119Sat, 03 Jun 2023 14:23:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/chicago-cubs-news/cubs/how-adbert-alzolay-has-morphed-into-a-relief-ace-and-hype-machine-r118/"We need to work on his high fives, because they're starting to hurt," said Cubs catcher Yan Gomes. If that's the biggest problem the Cubs have with regard to Adbert Alzolay, they've come a long way. The Cubs just might have a reinvented star reliever. It feels as though it took forever for...118Sat, 03 Jun 2023 12:20:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/chicago-cubs-news/cubs/the-2023-cubs-cant-win-without-an-elite-defense-and-they-dont-have-one-r117/In an absolute sense, the most disappointing performances of the young season for the Cubs belong to veteran signees in each segment of the roster: Jameson Taillon, Eric Hosmer, Trey Mancini, Michael Fulmer. In an absolute sense, it's the bullpen where they've struggled most. Taking into account...117Fri, 02 Jun 2023 12:20:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/chicago-cubs-news/cubs/personal-cheeseballs-first-basemen-r116/After taking a week off of the Personal Cheeseball series to post our first mock draft of the season, we’re back to look at some first basemen.  Drafting a first baseman - especially early - can be one of the most polarizing decisions in all of sports.   It’s not that it never works o...116Thu, 01 Jun 2023 15:18:51 +0000