https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/page/125/?d=7enhttps://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/analyzing-shota-imanagas-first-two-mlb-starts-r724/  Shota Imanaga is off to a very strong start, but how long will it last? Imanaga has appeared in two games so far this season, both being at Wrigley Field. I’ve been present for both, and they were an absolute joy to watch. The first game was the Cubs' home opener, a 1:20 game against...724Fri, 12 Apr 2024 15:24:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/diving-into-nico-hoerners-new-approach-and-assessing-its-value-r725/It’s no secret that Nico Hoerner has had a relatively disappointing start to the 2024 season. He didn’t play in the last game of the Padres series, giving him two consecutive days off. I assume he’ll be back in the lineup on Friday when we start the Mariners series, and hopefully, a couple of da...725Fri, 12 Apr 2024 11:11:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/how-christopher-morel-has-gotten-on-plane-and-achieved-liftoff-r721/The more we come to understand hitting, the more clearly we come to see that it's not just about timing, the way the first guardians of the craft told us it was. It is, as the iconoclastic but utterly brilliant Ted Williams started telling people 75 years ago, about getting on plane with the inc...721Thu, 11 Apr 2024 11:07:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/jose-cuas-bullpen-roster-spot-optioned-to-minors-or-cut/José Cuas was expected to be a key part of the Cubs bullpen this year, after coming over from Kansas City in July 2023. In return, the Cubs surrendered slugging outfielder Nelson Velázquez, who hit 14 home runs while getting full playing time in the Royals’ outfield in the second half of last se...719Wed, 10 Apr 2024 13:14:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/dansby-swanson-is-feasting-on-heat-and-spitting-on-spin-r720/Earlier this week, I raved about the Chicago Cubs’ offensive approach to start 2024. From top to bottom, the lineup looks like a group of professional hitters, ready to wear down opposing starters and chew through their bullpens. After doing it against the Los Angeles Dodgers throughout the week...720Wed, 10 Apr 2024 11:25:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/tonight-ben-brown-brings-his-death-ball-to-the-starting-rotation-r718/In his first big-league appearance, Ben Brown wasn't quite ready for the robustness of the Texas Rangers, and to spare the rest of the Cubs' bullpen, Craig Counsell had to let his rookie wear it. Brown got his revenge in his sensational stint against the Rockies Wednesday night, though, and now,...718Tue, 09 Apr 2024 18:29:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/bullpen-depth-implosion-craig-counsell-mistakes/You could see it in Craig Counsell's body language. Oddly, that's sort of comforting. Amid a first week and a half that saw the Cubs win six of nine, score runs by the fistful, and establish some real optimism in a half-wary fan base, Counsell always knew Monday night was coming, and that's a te...716Tue, 09 Apr 2024 11:22:26 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/pitches-per-plate-appearance-walk-rate-dansby-happ-suzuki-counsell/You can’t glean a ton from a three-game series early in the year. You can glean even less when the series finale is plagued by the field conditions that the weather wrought on a Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Nevertheless, it’s difficult to look at the outcomes of the weekend set against the...714Mon, 08 Apr 2024 16:47:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/monday-morning-north-sider-rockies-sweep-dodgers-imanaga-the-room-and-more-r713/It was an impressive showing from the Cubs this week. They looked dominant for all but one inning against the lowly Colorado Rockies, and they competed fiercely all weekend with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Were it not for the heart of the order blowing a couple of bases-loaded opportunities against...713Mon, 08 Apr 2024 11:51:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/cubs-week-in-review-morel-seiya-suzuki-shota-imanaga/Summary for the Chicago Cubs' Week in Review for the week starting April 1st.  Record Last Week: 5-1 (6-3 overall) Runs Scored: 44 Runs Surrendered: 22 Standing: 3rd in NL Central *** Game Results Game 4 | Cubs 5, Rockies 0 Game 5 | Cubs 12, Rockies 2 Game 6 | Cubs 9,...712Mon, 08 Apr 2024 01:37:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/the-tragedy-of-the-oakland-as-through-the-lens-of-a-cubs-fan-r710/Let’s get one thing straight: what is happening to the Athletics and their fanbase is a tragedy. It’s an abject failure on the part of Major League Baseball, and a disgusting display of greed from a billionaire who long ago forgot what it means to own a sports team that is beloved by millions. T...710Sun, 07 Apr 2024 14:12:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/the-3-key-changes-jordan-wicks-has-made-for-2024-r711/It was an awfully tall order, asking Jordan Wicks to go after the lineups of the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Dodgers in the first two outings of his 2024 season. They were two of the top three teams in baseball in runs last year, and two of the top four in wRC+. That was before the Dodgers add...711Sun, 07 Apr 2024 11:06:02 +0000