https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/page/113/?d=7enhttps://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/shota-imanaga-needs-to-make-his-curveball-more-of-a-true-weapon-r907/It's fair to characterize Shota Imanaga's pitch usage this season as overwhelmingly reliant on two pitches: his good, high-ride, high-spin, flat-VAA fastball, and his unique lefty splitter. It's no surprise that he would lean on those offerings; he's been extremely effective that way. As recentl...907Thu, 27 Jun 2024 22:12:54 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/are-the-cubs-even-in-a-position-to-sell-at-the-deadline-r906/The Cubs continue to plummet down the standings page of the NL Central, with each game feeling like a worse loss than the last. After Monday’s game, they were 37-42, the same record as last year at this time. In 2023, they were able to turn it around, and missed the playoffs by one game. At firs...906Thu, 27 Jun 2024 16:20:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/pete-crow-armstrong-makes-plays-you-can-dream-on-its-turning-into-a-nightmare-r905/It was, all in all, a pretty good night at the plate for Pete Crow-Armstrong. He snuck a ground ball through the right side for a second-inning RBI single, and in the fourth, he drew a leadoff walk, then raced around to score on a single after taking off on a steal attempt with the pitch. Even i...905Thu, 27 Jun 2024 11:34:56 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/cubs-catcher-trade-blue-jays-alejandro-kirk-danny-jansen/Still, context does matter. The Cubs, ideally, are a team on the upswing. No matter how you feel about the current major league roster, they have what FanGraphs rates as the best farm system in baseball. In a perfect world, the future is brighter, perhaps as soon as next season.  Maybe that...904Wed, 26 Jun 2024 23:12:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/which-cubs-prospects-could-come-up-from-the-minors-to-help-the-2024-cubs-r903/Should things continue at their current pace, the Chicago Cubs are going to find themselves in a weird sort of purgatory as the trade deadline approaches. They're not necessarily bad enough to sell. They're certainly not good enough to buy. With the former, you wonder which of their underperform...903Wed, 26 Jun 2024 11:49:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/the-cubs-must-trade-one-of-ian-happ-and-seiya-suzuki-next-month-r900/There's just too much redundancy between the profiles of Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki. Their contracts speak to the degree of similarity between them. Each is playing for $20 million in 2024, and the Cubs owe $36 million to Suzuki through 2026, while they're due to pay Happ $38 million over the sam...900Tue, 25 Jun 2024 23:02:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/while-the-cubs-search-for-consistency-ian-happ-provides-stability-r899/Despite our reasonable frustrations with the erratic nature of the Cubs’ 2024 campaign, the club seems adamant, if not determined, to remain a threat for postseason contention. When the Cubs are good, they’re great, using a lethal combination of slugging and shutdown pitching to put opponents aw...899Tue, 25 Jun 2024 14:39:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/how-real-is-the-jameson-taillon-turnaround-r898/Over his first 12 starts of 2024, Jameson Taillon has a sterling 2.90 ERA. In 68 1/3 innings, he's struck out 53 batters and walked 16. The Cubs have gotten a lot of disappointing or as-expected performances this year, but Taillon's stands out as one that exceeds the expectations most people hel...898Tue, 25 Jun 2024 12:40:10 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/dear-cubs-please-please-just-be-more-interesting-r897/First, a disclaimer: I’m going to take off my objectivity hat to which I typically try to cling and instead take more of a personal approach here. I am not oblivious to the trajectory of the Chicago Cubs, as currently constructed. They were never a legitimate title contender, even if a Nati...897Mon, 24 Jun 2024 23:07:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/the-closest-comps-to-cody-bellinger-in-terms-of-production-identity-might-surprise-you-r895/Twice, in mid-April, Cody Bellinger batted second for the 2024 Chicago Cubs. In all other games, when he's been healthy and in there, he's batted third. Bellinger is the player Craig Counsell trusts most with the job traditionally treated as most important to scoring runs--the spot where Babe Ru...895Mon, 24 Jun 2024 11:54:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/craig-counsells-calm-may-frustrate-fans-but-its-how-good-managers-approach-the-game-r894/People want what they can’t have at the moment. The Cubs don’t have what they want in the moment, namely a better record and a general sense of upward trajectory. At least in recent games, Cubs fans want more fire from well-compensated skipper Craig Counsell. Translation: We want him to get ejec...894Sat, 22 Jun 2024 11:54:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/is-dansby-swanson-fixed-and-how-did-he-get-so-broken-r893/When the Chicago Cubs signed Dansby Swanson in the 2022-23 offseason, they did so knowing that he didn’t possess the offensive upside of his free agent counterparts. However negligent pursuing defense and unquantifiable character traits over clearly (and, probably, vastly) superior hitters might...893Fri, 21 Jun 2024 11:08:01 +0000