https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/page/149/?d=7enhttps://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/the-cubs-have-at-least-three-legitimate-defensive-award-candidates-r339/This week’s promotion of Pete Crow-Armstrong generated a positive buzz, amid a stretch of inconsistent play by the playoff-hopeful Chicago Cubs. Any club’s top prospect arriving at the highest level will do that. Perhaps more notably at present, though, it continues to enhance a defensive group...339Fri, 15 Sep 2023 11:34:23 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/lets-look-at-the-cubs-rotation-options-the-rest-of-the-way-r338/It feels as though injuries are threatening the depth of the Chicago roster almost everywhere, with Adbert Alzolay and Jeimer Candelario hitting the injured list this week. At the moment, though, the team has established a certain level of stability in their starting rotation. This weekend, they...338Thu, 14 Sep 2023 12:19:46 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/hayden-wesneski-and-the-lefty-problem-r335/The career of Hayden Wesneski has been a rollercoaster since the Cubs acquired him for Scott Effross at the 2022 Trade Deadline. He struggled against Triple-A hitters, to the tune of a 5.66 ERA in 20 ⅔ innings at Iowa, before getting called up in September and catching a heater, throwing 33 inni...335Wed, 13 Sep 2023 12:15:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/is-the-stro-show-about-to-become-a-bullpen-production-r334/Assuming you haven’t been living under a rock since the Trade Deadline this year, you know that Marcus Stroman has been on the Injured List since early August with what was originally hip inflammation, which turned into a much more problematic issue of fractured rib cartilage. It’s a “non-baseba...334Tue, 12 Sep 2023 18:04:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/say-hello-to-drew-smyly-relief-ace-and-curveball-monster-r336/  After a hot start to the season, the wheels came off for the starting version of Drew Smyly. His stuff was not nearly intense enough to get outs, once he lost the perfect command he seemed to have over most of his first 10 starts. By August, he was being shelled so severely that there was...336Tue, 12 Sep 2023 14:03:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/next-starts-now-pete-crow-armstrongs-strengths-weaknesses-and-role-r333/In case you somehow missed the news, yes, that Pete Crow-Armstrong (he of the 80-grade center field glove and 70-grade speed) is going to be playing in Chicago. He slots right into the roster spot formerly given over to Alexander Canario, who saw no playing time of note during his brief stint....333Tue, 12 Sep 2023 12:30:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/jordan-wicks-could-yet-earn-a-playoff-start-r330/Monday will mark the next big test for Jordan Wicks. The slate of opponents over his first three starts in MLB (Pirates, injury-depleted Reds, Giants) has mixed in various ingredients of difficulty, but ultimately, it's been fairly soft. Wicks has mowed down all three lineups he's faced, but the...330Mon, 11 Sep 2023 17:07:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/news-pete-crow-armstrong-is-joining-the-chicago-cubs-tuesday-r331/Jeff Passan dropped the bomb on Twitter. Pete Crow-Armstrong is really, truly being added to the Cubs roster, right in the thick of a playoff race. Presumably, the move will happen Tuesday because the Cubs face lefty Kyle Freeland Monday night. That underscores a key difference between...331Mon, 11 Sep 2023 14:08:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/the-diamondbacks-exposed-a-lurking-cubs-weakness-this-weekend-r329/When the Chicago Cubs decided to go a different direction with the catcher position and let Willson Contreras walk in free agency this past offseason, it became clear that there were skills that they valued at the catcher position that Contreras did not offer. Framing, game-calling, and an abili...329Mon, 11 Sep 2023 12:32:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/jos%C3%A9-cuas-has-a-new-slider-but-hes-not-ready-for-high-leverage-work-yet-r328/When the Cubs acquired José Cuas, many were quick to notice and discuss what the team saw in him. Cuas not only brought an extreme release point and valuable movement characteristics on his fastball to the table, but had the potential to tweak his breaking ball and unlock something he never quit...328Sun, 10 Sep 2023 12:29:53 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/whats-the-deal-with-alexander-canario-r326/As one of the people banging the drum for Alexander Canario to get called up when he went on his recent heater at Triple-A Iowa, I was ecstatic to see the Cubs opt for the high-risk, high-reward outfielder when the September roster expansions came. He fills a void on this team--namely, monstrous...326Sat, 09 Sep 2023 14:13:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/however-you-slice-it-david-ross-mismanaged-his-pitchers-friday-r327/As I've documented recently, David Ross doesn't run a bullpen quite the way most other managers do in MLB in 2023. He seems to have a flatter hierarchy and less bifurcated mentality about his relief corps, and it can be difficult to tell (from the outside) in whom he truly has faith at a given t...327Sat, 09 Sep 2023 12:36:01 +0000