https://northsidebaseball.com/legacy-nsbb-1/cubs-articles/?d=2Joomla Posts 1: Joomla Posts 1enhttps://northsidebaseball.com/legacy-nsbb-1/cubs-articles/attention-tom-ricketts-r39/Here's a quote from today's edition of The Athletic: “You know what happened to me?” Tom Ricketts told The Score’s morning team of Mike Mulligan and David Haugh on Thursday. “We had the lowest-rated panel last year so the guys cut us. (loud laughter from the hosts) It’s true. I think people would ra...39Thu, 17 Jan 2019 23:14:24 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/legacy-nsbb-1/cubs-articles/is-jason-heyward-fixed-r38/It's become a yearly tradition. Some blustery winter day a couple months after the baseball season is over, we see new footage of the swing changes Jason Heyward has been working on. Everyone argues over if the swing looks any better, what's wrong with it, and, actually, if it's changed at all. The...38Tue, 24 Apr 2018 20:38:27 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/legacy-nsbb-1/cubs-articles/910-game-preview-r37/The Cubs no longer exist. They are now the Cobs. And they are in free fall. They still lead the division by three games, but that won't last. We know where this is going. The only saving grace is that this is the last game against the Brewers for a couple weeks, so the lead might last a few days lon...37Sun, 10 Sep 2017 14:29:52 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/legacy-nsbb-1/cubs-articles/the-gang-gets-a-new-ace-r36/There was a time not long ago when Jake Arrieta was the undisputed ace of the Cubs' pitching staff. In 2015, he won 22 games, posted a 1.77 ERA, won the Cy Young award, pitched a no-hitter, shut out the Pirates in the Wild Card Game, and set a major league record for the lowest second-half ERA in hi...36Fri, 01 Sep 2017 02:04:09 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/legacy-nsbb-1/cubs-articles/justin-wilson-is-a-bad-pitcher-r35/It's true. He really sucks.35Wed, 16 Aug 2017 03:49:34 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/legacy-nsbb-1/cubs-articles/how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-kyle-hendricks-84-mph-fastball-r34/Kyle Hendricks' velocity, or lack thereof, has caused a lot of panic in Wrigleyville. This isn't quite a doomsday scenario, though. Perhaps I've deluded myself, but I'm ready to take the jump and ride that 84 mph fastball all the way back to the World Series. I'll admit, when I first saw Kyle throwi...34Sat, 05 Aug 2017 19:48:04 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/legacy-nsbb-1/cubs-articles/jon-lesters-cutter-is-a-cut-above-the-rest-r33/After bouncing back-and-forth between the majors and the minors in 2006 and 2007, Jon Lester finally stuck in the Red Sox's rotation full-time in 2008. He quickly became one of the best pitchers in the league. From 2008 through 2011, Lester was worth well over 4 wins per season, as measured by fWAR....33Sat, 29 Jul 2017 18:42:37 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/legacy-nsbb-1/cubs-articles/have-i-cursed-kyle-schwarber-r32/On April 17, I wrote an article titled "Kyle Schwarber is Breaking Out."  At the time, Schwarber was hitting .244/.393/.444.  Since then, Schwarber has hit .151/.270/.302 in 100 PA.  Real ground-breaking analysis I'm providing here at NSBB.  You'd be well within your rights to call this Fake News. T...32Sun, 14 May 2017 09:25:21 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/legacy-nsbb-1/cubs-articles/dont-freak-out-about-the-cubs-rotation-just-yet-r31/The Cubs head into a Sunday night matchup with the Red Sox with a 13-10 record, sitting in first place in the NL Central, having won six of seven series.  Things are going pretty well on the Northside, even if, perhaps, not as well as we'd expected.  One area of concern for most fans is probably the...31Sun, 30 Apr 2017 18:48:46 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/legacy-nsbb-1/cubs-articles/kyle-schwarber-is-breaking-out-r30/Kyle Schwarber is back playing baseball this year after missing nearly all of 2016.  The last thing you probably remember about Schwarber is his superhero performance in the 2016 World Series.  You may have forgotten about the strikeouts, though.  Strikeouts have been a bit of a problem for Schwarbe...30Mon, 17 Apr 2017 23:08:40 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/legacy-nsbb-1/cubs-articles/what-javy-baez-isnt-doing-r29/It's been awhile since we've posted an article here at NSBB.  In the meantime, if you haven't heard, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series.  It's true:  The Chicago Cubs are defending World Series champions.  One of the contributing factors to the Cubs' championship run was Javy Baez's stellar play...29Mon, 20 Mar 2017 22:46:27 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/legacy-nsbb-1/cubs-articles/kyle-hendricks-ace-r26/Kyle Hendricks has been really good this year.  You don't need me to tell you that.  But, I am going to tell you about it anyway.  What is to follow is the first in a two-part series about Kyle Hendricks' incredible season.  This article will focus on why Hendricks is so good this year.  My next art...26Sat, 13 Aug 2016 14:16:55 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/legacy-nsbb-1/cubs-articles/why-the-cubs-traded-for-aroldis-chapman-r25/Yesterday, the Cubs completed a trade for Aroldis Chapman.  The Cubs' bullpen has been the weak spot for an otherwise excellent ball club.  The Cubs' bullpen ranks 20th in the majors in FIP and 14th in ERA.  There's no question that Chapman immediately makes the Cubs bullpen better.  Chapman has a c...25Tue, 26 Jul 2016 13:27:20 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/legacy-nsbb-1/cubs-articles/yes-kyle-schwarber-is-worth-more-than-a-relief-pitcher-r24/If you've been paying attention, you've probably seen Kyle Schwarber's name come up a lot recently.  It's that time of the year; the trade deadline is near.  The Cubs would like to strengthen their bullpen.  The Yankees are overflowing with excellent pitchers in their bullpen.  It seems like a logic...24Fri, 22 Jul 2016 21:03:16 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/legacy-nsbb-1/cubs-articles/cubs-trade-deadline-preview-al-worst-teams-r23/In the first two installments, I looked at what the Cubs could use to strengthen the team. The short answer is: a reliever for sure and a starter would be really good. Under perfect circumstances, a hitter could be added, too. In this article, we'll look at the AL team by team to see how likely they...23Mon, 11 Jul 2016 06:53:29 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/legacy-nsbb-1/cubs-articles/cubs-trade-deadline-preview-pitching-needs-r21/With 22 days remaining until the deadline, trades are beginning to happen around major league baseball. Yesterday, the Red Sox made a move for reliever Brad Ziegler from Arizona to bolster their pen in the wake of the injury to closer Craig Kimbrel. This series of articles is going to look at the Cu...21Sat, 09 Jul 2016 20:31:09 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/legacy-nsbb-1/cubs-articles/cubs-trade-deadline-preview-offensive-needs-r20/With 22 days remaining until the deadline, trades are beginning to happen around major league baseball. Yesterday, the Red Sox made a move for reliever Brad Ziegler from Arizona to bolster their pen in the wake of the injury to closer Craig Kimbrel. This series of articles is going to look at the Cu...20Sat, 09 Jul 2016 19:41:57 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/legacy-nsbb-1/cubs-articles/disregard-arrietas-performance-last-night-r19/Jake Arrieta gave up 6 earned runs last night, the most he's given up in a game since 2014.  That's a lot of runs to give up in one game.  Arrieta only gave up 6 earned runs total in a span of 15 regular season stats, stretching from the middle of August last year into May this year.  Giving up runs...19Sat, 09 Jul 2016 13:28:36 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/legacy-nsbb-1/cubs-articles/is-there-hope-for-justin-grimm-r18/A little past the halfway mark of the season, the Cubs have very few areas of real concern. The offense is one of the very best in baseball. The starting pitching has been healthy and extraordinary (with a few bumps in the road lately). The biggest concern throughout the first half has been with the...18Wed, 06 Jul 2016 16:40:17 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/legacy-nsbb-1/cubs-articles/why-is-the-offense-struggling-r17/This is a question I've heard asked a lot over the past few days. The first question to ask: is the offense really struggling? I'm going to look at the splits by month to see how much the offense has really tanked during June when compared to the glory days of the first couple months when the Cubs w...17Mon, 04 Jul 2016 18:08:35 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/legacy-nsbb-1/cubs-articles/whats-wrong-with-jake-r16/I've been holding off on writing this article.  There have been some signs that something's off with Jake Arrieta.  I figured he would suddenly snap out of his funk, unfurl a complete game shutout and make me look silly in the process.  And he still might do just that.  But, I can't keep sitting idl...16Sun, 03 Jul 2016 12:35:29 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/legacy-nsbb-1/cubs-articles/why-does-addison-russell-suck-against-lefties-r13/As we all know, Addison Russell is an exciting young shortstop for the Chicago Cubs. At only 22 years of age, he is already a key component to the best team in baseball. Dating back to his days as a prospect, he has often been compared to Barry Larkin. So why does he suck against left handed pitchin...13Thu, 30 Jun 2016 20:16:21 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/legacy-nsbb-1/cubs-articles/kris-bryant-is-good-at-baseball-r12/You might have heard that Kris Bryant had a pretty good game last night.  He became the first player in baseball history to hit three home runs and two doubles in the same game.  His 16 total bases are the most ever by a Chicago Cub in a single game.  He became the youngest Cub to hit three home run...12Wed, 29 Jun 2016 08:56:41 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/legacy-nsbb-1/cubs-articles/what-can-we-tell-about-contreras-so-far-r11/Willson Contreras has taken MLB by storm. It would be fair to say that if he could keep up the hitting pace of his first seven games (.412/.474/.941) that he would be the greatest player in the history of baseball. That won't happen, of course, but there are reasons to believe that Willson Contreras...11Sat, 25 Jun 2016 16:29:05 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/legacy-nsbb-1/cubs-articles/an-improved-javier-baez-r10/In my last article and the one before it, we discussed Javier Baez's approach at the plate.  We're going to discuss the same things again today.  Yes, this my third consecutive article that is about Javier Baez.  Deal with it.  I swear I will write something about another player at some point.  Ther...10Thu, 23 Jun 2016 13:31:09 +0000