https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/page/170/?d=7enhttps://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/the-third-54-report-cubs-drop-another-winnable-contest-r23/If it’s true that every team will win 54 games and lose 54, and that seasons hinge on the 54 games that could break either way, it’s tempting to conclude that we need not worry much about the games that belong to those first two buckets. In one sense, that’s true. That the Cubs lost Sunday doesn...23Tue, 04 Apr 2023 12:58:13 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/and-they-said-dansby-swanson-couldnt-hit-r22/Compared to the trio of Trea Turner, Xander Bogaerts, and Carlos Correa, Swanson was less desirable and less marketable. But at his peak, he’s probably part of the second tier of Major League shortstops (we can litigate tiers later). Elite defensively. Probably already punched above his weight o...22Tue, 04 Apr 2023 12:51:14 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/this-is-what-cubs-losses-will-look-like-in-2023-r21/I’m not a purist, but I can at least enjoy the idea that the type of baseball which the Cubs will need to employ often is close to baseball at its purest. The wins are going to look like that. Clean. Efficient. A dash of aggression. That’s fun baseball when it works. Since Thursday, though,...21Tue, 04 Apr 2023 09:13:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/the-best-bullpen-version-of-javier-assad-r20/Having seen him add velocity in successive seasons via diligent training, the Cubs know that Javier Assad has the raw stuff to be a solid big-league pitcher. Assad showed poise and tenacity in his appearances for México in the World Baseball Classic, too, so there’s little question that he can h...20Mon, 03 Apr 2023 11:15:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/the-third-54-report-cubs-fall-to-0-1-in-a-way-r19/My favorite baseball truism is that every team wins 54 games, and every team loses 54 games. It’s what you do with the other 54 games that matters. That framework can be the best way to balance the twin dangers of a long baseball season, which are either minimizing the impact of a single game an...19Sun, 02 Apr 2023 12:25:26 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/the-cubs-new-identity-was-on-full-display-on-opening-day-r18/There’s a little extra anxiety in following a team built on run prevention. On some level, one always knows that there will be moments, innings, and entire games in which the luck dragons will roar and even the best defense in baseball can’t vanquish them. Baseball is unlike every other major Am...18Sat, 01 Apr 2023 11:11:23 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/cubs-4-brewers-0-stroman-swanson-lead-cubs-to-opening-day-win-r17/Box Score SP: Marcus Stroman: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 8 K (69 pitches, 41 strikes (59.4%) Home Runs: None Top 3 WPA: Marcus Stroman (.248), Dansby Swanson (.137), Trey Mancini (.104).  Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Stro Starts Strong!   Opening Day is a lot of things, but on...17Thu, 30 Mar 2023 21:57:30 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/podcast-this-is-not-a-rebuild-episode-24-bill-james-was-just-dead-wrong-r16/  In the Jerry Morales Episode of the podcast, Matt Trueblood, Todd Trueblood, and Tom Nurse discuss the 2023 Cubs, but also Manny Alexander; whether Bill James's whole career was an accident, basically; a fake Kyle Hendricks trade story that freaked us out; and the dearly departed (to the...16Thu, 30 Mar 2023 15:06:07 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/grizzled-veteran-joins-new-team-r15/It’s been a minute since I referred to a Chicago Cubs website as a writing basecamp. Long enough, anyway, that recalling the last time–when I was a freshman in college–made me feel very sad about my age. In any case, I’ve been around. I’ve spent time at RotoGraphs, FanSided, Beyond the Box Score...15Thu, 30 Mar 2023 13:50:57 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/5-bold-predictions-for-the-2023-chicago-cubs-r14/Hopefully, these five predictions balance being interesting with being plausible. If you think I’ve wandered too far off that narrow path with any of them, let me know in the comments. 1. Seiya Suzuki will be a five-win player. By far, the biggest bummer of the spring was the oblique stra...14Thu, 30 Mar 2023 13:06:05 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/what-luis-torrens-can-do-for-the-cubs-r13/  As Spring Training came to a close, the Cubs were uncharacteristically late in determining the final roster. After years with more locks than holes around the diamond, the 2023 Chicago Cubs came into Spring Training with only a handful of positions—namely, the middle infield and the corne...13Thu, 30 Mar 2023 12:08:27 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/how-marcus-stroman-explains-the-2023-cubs-we-hope-r12/One of the game’s smartest and most ardent craftsmen, Marcus Stroman has engineered every pitch in his arsenal through careful calibration. He guards his secrets, but you can see the way he’s worked to refine certain pitches, reshape others, and execute everything more consistently. He is, inarg...12Wed, 29 Mar 2023 12:32:07 +0000