https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/page/130/?d=7enhttps://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/a-first-bad-stretch-for-michael-busch-r761/A stretch like this was always inevitable. Of course, to even call this a stretch would be, in fact, a stretch. But Michael Busch has gone four consecutive games without recording a hit. He’s struck out nine times across those four games, including eight in this three-game set against Houston. ...761Fri, 26 Apr 2024 14:05:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/a-tough-2023-taught-hayden-wesneski-how-to-best-manage-his-routines-r760/Entering Spring Training, 2024 was just another season for Hayden Wesneski, but this year, he’s a lot more comfortable with his dual role in the Cubs organization as both a starter and reliever.  Wesneski started the 2023 season in the starting rotation, but after a fistful of poor starts,...760Fri, 26 Apr 2024 12:08:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/despite-diminished-velocity-jameson-taillon-showing-good-stuff-so-far-r759/No longer a spring chicken, the 32-year-old Jameson Taillon returned to the Chicago Cubs a bit less dynamic a pitcher than the team hoped they signed in late 2022. It's only been two starts, but Taillon seems not to have the same velocity with which he pitched most of last year. It's possible th...759Thu, 25 Apr 2024 12:04:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/pete-crow-armstrong-is-coming-back-to-the-cubs-but-for-the-worst-possible-reason-r758/This is not the news any Cubs fan was hoping for. It didn't look like Cody Bellinger took the full force of his collision with the wall in left-center field Tuesday night, but he displayed visible discomfort for the rest of the evening and left the Cubs' 7-2 win early. After a CT scan Wednesday...758Wed, 24 Apr 2024 19:52:10 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/cutting-garrett-cooper-brings-greater-clarity-broader-opportunity-to-cubs-lineup-and-bench-r757/Going back to early in the spring, I’ve spent more time than I care to admit thinking about the Chicago Cubs’ roster construction at the infield corners and on the bench, as the two seemed inextricably linked. As the third base picture became clearer and Garrett Cooper earned a roster spot, I wo...757Wed, 24 Apr 2024 12:08:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/cubs-pitching-staff-loses-two-veterans-gains-much-needed-clarity-r756/It's bittersweet to see Kyle Hendricks land on the injured list for the Cubs, and just bitter to see Drew Smyly accompany him there. Hendricks was overdue to be taken out of the rotation based on the way he's pitched so far in 2024, but probably does have some real physical issues with which to...756Tue, 23 Apr 2024 21:54:26 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/cubs-make-a-surprising-roster-move-dfa-garrett-cooper-in-favor-of-matt-mervis-r755/This was not akin to the abortive Luis Torrens stint last April, or to the Cubs' doomed effort to resurrect the hype around Clint Frazier in 2022. Garrett Cooper didn't blow any doors off, but in 41 plate appearances distributed raggedly across the first 22 games of the season, he batted a respe...755Tue, 23 Apr 2024 19:35:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/matt-mervis-returns-to-the-cubs-will-he-mash-this-time-r754/On Tuesday afternoon, the Cubs recalled first baseman Matt Mervis to Wrigley Field. Long rumored to be on the trade block (especially after the Michael Busch acquisition), the Cubs held onto the lefty masher throughout the offseason and are giving him his second shot at MLB relevance. I wrote ea...754Tue, 23 Apr 2024 18:10:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/hayden-wesneskis-new-arsenal-looks-good-but-will-it-work-long-term-r747/The book on Hayden Wesneski is well-known by now: he completely owns opposing righties, but he gets owned by lefties. In 134 at-bats against opposite-handed batters in 2023, he gave up a .313/.374/.649 slash line. That’s a 1.023 OPS. In other words, lefties facing Wesneski had a higher OPS than...747Tue, 23 Apr 2024 14:39:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/the-march-of-michael-busch-continues-r752/I’m still waiting for Michael Busch to come back to Earth. I don’t think that even the biggest Busch optimist, coming into the 2024 season, could claim to have predicted the level of production that he has given the Chicago Cubs to this point. He has a glowing .309/.385/.618 batting line, good f...752Tue, 23 Apr 2024 12:11:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/with-long-season-left-craig-counsell-has-learned-a-lot-about-his-pitching-staff-r750/Just as a prison bid only lasts two days, a baseball season only lasts 90. The problem is, you have to earn the right to cross off each of those 90 days. Every win draws a contending team more than 1% closer to its goal, but every loss is a day lost, without progress. A hot start is a wonderful...750Mon, 22 Apr 2024 14:22:09 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/wesneski-taillon-path-of-two-minds-trailer-mmns-cubs/The Chicago Cubs won their series against the Arizona Diamondbacks to finish a long road trip, before splitting a four-game set with the Miami Marlins at home. It was a promising result (against the defending NL pennant winners), followed by a disappointing one (against the National League’s wor...748Mon, 22 Apr 2024 11:15:01 +0000