https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/page/125/?d=7enhttps://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/week-in-review-cubs-need-a-clean-slate-r979/We had a slim week, so strap in for a slim recap. I’m in. Let’s sell whatever we can and get back the cornerstone building blocks to secure the next great Cubs team. Cubs fans deserve it. The city of Chicago deserves it. And whatever current players remain with the club after the trade deadline...979Sun, 21 Jul 2024 22:36:17 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/sundays-performance-was-just-a-glimpse-into-who-pete-crow-armstrong-can-be-r969/Pete Crow-Armstrong hit two home runs off of Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas Sunday, traveling a total of 814 feet. They were both on breaking pitches low and below the zone. This is important because it’s his first multi-homer game in the big leagues, but also because the double-tap was a droug...969Sun, 21 Jul 2024 11:49:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/the-cubs-improved-bullpen-is-due-to-the-emergence-of-porter-hodge-r978/From the beginning of the season through the end of May, the Cubs’ bullpen ERA of 4.61 was 27th in baseball. Since then, however, their 2.92 ERA is fourth. It feels like this has gone mostly unrecognized, probably because it hasn’t resulted in more wins, save for that nice little stretch to end...978Sat, 20 Jul 2024 19:47:27 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/the-cubs-rotation-is-wildly-successful-everyone-will-be-back-for-2025-if-the-cubs-choose-to-do-so-r977/Boasting three pitchers in the top ten in ERA in the National League and a fourth in 11th place, the vaunted pitching lab has churned out an excellent rotation. Even better, four of the five key rotation members are under control for two or more seasons beyond 2024. It’s been a rare success for...977Sat, 20 Jul 2024 11:50:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/if-the-cubs-want-to-win-in-the-future-they-need-justin-steele-r976/Justin Steele is the top “bulldog” of the rotation and the best in all of Major League Baseball. No, not Paul Skenes or anyone else; it’s our “Man of Steele.” After reading this article to the last sentence, you’ll be convinced this statement is fact, not fiction. I’d go so far as to say his tal...976Fri, 19 Jul 2024 13:34:36 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/nico-hoerner-trade-candidate-red-sox-mariners-royals-braves/It's been without power, but in the first half of July, Nico Hoerner has appeared to come around a bit at the plate. He's not ever likely to blossom into a powerful hitter, and he seems to be at his best when he understands and embraces that reality, using the whole field and keeping a sound pla...975Thu, 18 Jul 2024 17:18:19 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/justin-steele-trade-candidates-mayo-kjerstad-rushing-rodriguez/After this season, the Cubs will still control the rights of Justin Steele for three more years, assuming they don't trade him first. Steele reached arbitration as a Super Two player last winter, and is making $4 million this season. He's going to get expensive over the next few years, but every...974Thu, 18 Jul 2024 11:49:11 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/in-michael-busch-cubs-have-their-first-baseman-of-the-present-and-future-r973/  While the Chicago Cubs were able to cap off the first half of the 2024 season on a largely positive note, truly encouraging narratives around the team remain fairly sparse. The bullpen cost them games early in the year, and the lineup was pinned down by a number of underperforming and/or...973Wed, 17 Jul 2024 23:08:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/5-impending-free-agents-who-should-shape-cubs-trade-deadline-plans-r972/The particular shape of the Cubs' frustrating first half has closed some doors for Jed Hoyer and company. At the outset of the season, names like Pete Alonso (a free agent at season's end) and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.(a costly potential trade target) were high on the wish lists of many Cubs fans. N...972Wed, 17 Jul 2024 15:06:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/jim-edmonds-can-go-soak-his-toasted-raviolis-but-yes-christopher-morel-is-a-problem-r971/Allow me to get one thing clear before I really jump into this article: I love Christopher Morel. I firmly believe that having professional baseball players act in a manner that clearly shows that they are having fun is important for the growth of the game. Frankly, I wish I derived even 20 perc...971Wed, 17 Jul 2024 11:12:06 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/is-kyle-hendrickss-cut-change-unique-r966/It's not just that Kyle Hendricks throws two distinct versions of his changeup. It's also extremely unusual that he throws one of them the way he does. Changeups come in all shapes and velocities, and some cut toward the glove side, in an absolute sense, while others have a crazy amount of arm-s...966Tue, 16 Jul 2024 16:38:55 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/how-shota-imanaga-became-a-2024-all-star-and-what-he-means-to-the-cubs-r965/To be sure, a few players on the roster have done good work thus far, even as the Cubs have trudged out to a NL Central-worst 47-51 record to start the season. Three everyday hitters (Michael Busch, Seiya Suzuki, Ian Happ) have an OPS above .800. Tyson Miller has been electric out of the bullpen...965Tue, 16 Jul 2024 11:36:02 +0000