https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/page/137/?d=7enhttps://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/is-ian-happ-in-a-power-outage-driven-by-too-much-patience-r797/I wrote last month about my inability to determine the quality of Ian Happ as a professional baseball player. That struggle resided mainly on the offensive side, where Happ has proven to be varying levels of fine throughout his career. Early this season, his plate discipline was translating to s...797Fri, 10 May 2024 12:19:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/why-pete-crow-armstrong-should-stay-when-seiya-suzuki-returns-r795/  Pete Crow-Armstrong’s assignment to Triple-A from the season’s outset had more to do with the roster composition of the Chicago Cubs than it did with him. Despite struggling massively at the plate during his 2023 cup of coffee, Crow-Armstrong hasn't fallen into disfavor. The club was simp...795Thu, 09 May 2024 15:49:04 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/make-it-a-long-slow-day-off-cubs-resume-hard-fast-schedule-friday-r794/On Wednesday, the Pittsburgh Pirates announced that Paul Skenes (the No. 1 overall pick in last year's MLB Draft and the best pitching prospect in baseball) will make his debut for them on Saturday. They didn't announce the corollary, but any simple reader of the schedule can see it: Skenes is a...794Thu, 09 May 2024 12:53:57 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/michael-busch-had-a-hole-in-his-swing-now-we-have-a-moment-to-remember-it-by-r792/It has been an uncomfortable, sometimes infuriating few weeks for the Cubs' rookie first baseman. After an early stretch during which the league didn't quite know what to do with Michael Busch, and during which he was able to play hero for a first-place team to which he's a newcomer, he fell int...792Wed, 08 May 2024 11:13:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/why-nico-hoerner-cant-hit-for-even-doubles-power-and-whether-that-can-change-r791/It's no secret that Nico Hoerner has been a hit-over-power, speed-over-power, defense-over-power guy during his Cubs tenure. He's only managed 23 home runs in 1,736 career plate appearances, and if we're honest, that overstates the extent of the power he's displayed. Fourteen of those 23 homers...791Tue, 07 May 2024 15:26:09 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/amid-bullpen-chaos-is-it-time-to-declare-mark-leiter-jr-the-closer-r786/Frankly, I am starved for a normal 7-3 loss in which the Cubs went down early; I could simply chalk it up as a loss early on and then enjoy a game without a constantly elevated heart rate.  Talk to a fan of any professional baseball team, and they’ll likely think their team’s bullpen is bad...786Tue, 07 May 2024 13:18:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/christopher-morel-offensive-profile-approach-changes/Christopher Morel's defensive evolution at third base has been one of the most consistently discussed aspects of the 2024 Chicago Cubs. That’s a logical trend, given his transition to the spot after a winter of uncertainty and false starts. While we’ve discussed the hot-and-cold nature of his de...788Tue, 07 May 2024 12:18:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/dealing-with-the-whatever-three-things-true-in-cubs-woeful-bullpen-showing-monday-r789/Some fans have sharply criticized Craig Counsell's deployment of his new team's relief corps this season, even as they have acknowledged that the talent with which he's been asked to work might be insufficient, and even with the understanding that the ultimate responsibility for massive failures...789Tue, 07 May 2024 11:10:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/how-the-cubs-less-heralded-starting-pitchers-shut-down-their-top-rivals-r787/The Chicago Cubs pitching staff has had a rather cumbersome past couple of weeks. Already a team with a slim margin for error, injuries have conspired to remove that margin altogether. Without Cody Bellinger and Seiya Suzuki, it's an uphill battle on the offensive end. With multiple regulars see...787Mon, 06 May 2024 16:26:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/monday-morning-north-sider-beating-the-brewers-closer-shenanigans-cade-horton-and-more-r785/Welcome back all! Sorry for missing last week. NFL Draft coverage completely consumed me for the better part of a week, and then pre-production on my next film began… suffice to say, the life schedule hasn’t jived with the work schedule lately. We’re back now, though, and this week, I’ll be impl...785Mon, 06 May 2024 14:11:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/how-much-of-a-two-pitch-pitcher-is-justin-steele-exactly-r784/By and large, Justin Steele is a two-pitch pitcher. He has a fastball (a cutter, really, but some sources label it as a four-seamer), and he has a slider, and those two offerings account for nearly 97 percent of all the pitches he throws. The tendency, when analyzing pitchers who lean so heavily...784Mon, 06 May 2024 12:24:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/cade-horton-might-very-well-be-a-right-handed-justin-steele-r783/The results were mixed in Cade Horton's first start with the Iowa Cubs. There were also some things to monitor, though not outright causes for concern. Most of all, though, there were indications of what kind of pitcher Horton is, rather than just how good he is. The similarities to Cubs ace Jus...783Sun, 05 May 2024 17:01:12 +0000