https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/page/125/?d=7enhttps://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/nick-madrigals-roster-utility-just-keeps-dwindling-alongside-his-skill-set-r835/I’ve written about Nick Madrigal – and the Cubs’ third-base situation, at large – several times over the past several months. With Madrigal, in particular, I’ve been on different ends of the spectrum. From generous about his future to questioning his purpose on the roster, I’ve been willing to m...835Wed, 29 May 2024 13:11:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/a-new-manager-hasnt-yet-solved-the-same-old-problems-facing-the-cubs-r834/With the Chicago Cubs making their first trip of the season to Milwaukee this week to face the Brewers, there has been much discussion about Craig Counsell and his decision to leave the Brewers to manage the Cubs last offseason. In firing David Ross and making Counsell the highest-paid manager i...834Wed, 29 May 2024 11:35:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/the-dansby-swanson-contract-looks-like-both-a-mistake-and-an-error-r833/The Chicago Cubs signed Dansby Swanson for seven years and $177 million prior to the 2023 season. By that time, they had already watched Xander Bogaerts, Carlos Correa, and Trea Turner sign elsewhere, all for at least $100 million more than that. They targeted and courted Swanson, both because o...833Tue, 28 May 2024 17:09:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/the-cubs-month-of-offensive-misery-is-maddening-but-not-shocking-r832/832Tue, 28 May 2024 13:28:07 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/pete-crow-armstrongs-awesome-floor-and-tantalizing-ceiling-r831/After Pete Crow-Armstrong's hitless 19-plate appearance debut for the Chicago Cubs last season, it was evident to everyone that he had some work to do. Specifically, the top prospect looked overmatched against fastballs: he made contact just 47.4 percent of the time when he swung at four-seam fa...831Tue, 28 May 2024 11:19:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/monday-morning-north-sider-offensive-offense-ben-browns-heater-ronald-acuna-and-more-r830/The Cubs won just one game last week, which included an off day on Monday and a rainout on Friday. The Braves proved to be demonstrably better than the Cubs this year in their two series this month, mostly because the Cubs’ offense has been downright offensive (or inoffensive, perhaps? You get t...830Mon, 27 May 2024 18:02:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/why-hasnt-seiya-suzuki-taken-a-step-forward-r829/Seiya Suzuki's first two seasons were good. Maybe even above average. His second half of 2023 (149 wRC+, .254 ISO) was supposed to indicate another level to be reached. The front office appeared confident enough in such a breakout that they neglected to add much of anything on offense this past...829Mon, 27 May 2024 16:17:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/happy-40th-anniversary-to-the-craziest-argument-in-baseball-history-r827/There's no adequate way for me to fully render, in words, what happened at Wrigley Field on May 27, 1984. We're going to discuss some key highlights, but for both the benefit of your understanding and the sheer entertainment, you should watch the video in full. Fair warning, though: this video i...827Mon, 27 May 2024 15:10:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/double-plays-are-drying-up-even-or-especially-for-defense-focused-cubs-infield-r828/When the Chicago Cubs ruled the National League at the dawn of the 20th century, it was thanks (in some part) to their famous infield, immortalized in the florid language of a New York sports editor: Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers, and Frank Chance. As we now know, they didn't turn double plays at an...828Mon, 27 May 2024 11:19:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/a-bad-day-a-bad-week-and-a-bad-trend-for-miguel-amaya-and-the-cubs-r826/With two outs in the eighth inning, the Cubs held a 4-3 lead. St. Louis had runners on first and second. A Matt Carpenter single scored Alec Burleson from second--but that probably should not have happened, if it were not for the continued shortcomings of Cubs backstop Miguel Amaya manifesting i...826Sun, 26 May 2024 13:14:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/cubs-schedule-takes-a-dramatic-and-important-turn-this-week-r822/As of this writing, the Cubs have only played 10 of their 51 games against their rivals from the National League Central. None of those were in April. May has seen three against Milwaukee and seven against Pittsburgh. They’re an even 5-5 in those games, with two wins against the Brewers and thre...822Fri, 24 May 2024 14:06:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/cubs-hitters-have-been-helped-more-by-ball-strike-calls-than-any-other-team-r821/  Generally speaking, when we talk about pitch framing (that is, the value gained and lost by either team because of influences that distort the umpire's judgment of the strike zone), we think about three actors: the pitcher, the catcher, and the umpire himself. Catchers, research has taugh...821Fri, 24 May 2024 11:23:02 +0000