https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/page/170/?d=7enhttps://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/4-prospects-the-cubs-might-focus-on-with-the-81-pick-r138/The Cubs are in an interesting position entering the 2023 MLB Draft. They have $8.9 million to spend, and three top 100 picks (they forfeited their second-round draft pick after signing Dansby Swanson). The 2023 Draft class is loaded with talent, one of the strongest in years. In the buildup to...138Tue, 20 Jun 2023 15:10:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/youve-never-seen-anything-quite-like-marcus-stromans-2023-sinker-r139/According to Baseball Savant, no sinker thrown at least 200 times this year has had as big a differential between its expected, spin-based movement and its actual movement as has Marcus Stroman's. That's notable on its own, but it's only part of the story. The site has spin direction data back t...139Tue, 20 Jun 2023 12:20:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/unlocking-julian-merryweather-is-a-huge-milestone-for-the-cubs-r137/In mid-January, the Cubs claimed Julian Merryweather on waivers. He'd spent the previous four-plus years in the Blue Jays organization, after just about an equal amount of time with Cleveland after they drafted him in 2014. He was intriguing, because he throws hard, but it was easy to view him a...137Mon, 19 Jun 2023 17:10:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/there-were-2003-vibes-at-wrigley-field-this-weekend-r136/  After the sweep of the Pirates that fully restored the Cubs to contention in the underwhelming NL Central. Wrigley Field filled up for the weekend series against the Orioles. The holiday helped, and so did the fact that Baltimore fans travel well in both numbers and enthusiasm, but the en...136Mon, 19 Jun 2023 12:20:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/is-nico-hoerner-back-in-the-groove-r135/Quietly, one of the biggest problems with the problematic Cubs offense throughout May was the fact that Nico Hoerner fell off a cliff. His hamstring injury surely contributed, and coming back as quickly as possible from it might have come at some cost in effectiveness, but the results care nothi...135Sun, 18 Jun 2023 12:20:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/were-starting-over-r134/The 2023 Cubs dug themselves a deep hole, in one regard. When they finished limping out of Los Angeles after a sweep at the hands of the Angels, the team was 26-36, and they were losing contact even with the unimposing leaders of the NL Central. The Wild Card was even further from their reach. A...134Sat, 17 Jun 2023 12:23:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/draft-preview-five-pitchers-to-watch-r133/The term “personal cheeseball” (better represented by #personalcheeseball) originated over twenty years ago in the Baseball America offices when former writer and current Twins scout John Manuel started using it as “shorthand for a personal favorite that does not reflect the popular consensus.” ...133Thu, 15 Jun 2023 15:23:39 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/5-prospects-the-cubs-might-focus-on-with-the-68-overall-mlb-draft-pick-r130/The Cubs are in an interesting position entering the 2023 MLB Draft. They have $8.9 million to spend, and three top 100 picks (they forfeited their second-round draft pick after signing Dansby Swanson). The 2023 Draft class is loaded with talent, one of the strongest in years. In the buildup to...130Wed, 14 Jun 2023 12:50:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/do-we-need-to-account-more-for-the-schedule-when-assessing-the-cubs-r132/We can’t make any meaningful predictions about the balance of the season based on those games, though, because the Cubs are now done with that division. They’ve also played the Dodgers, Padres, Marlins. Twins, and Rays for the last time. Entering Tuesday, though, they still haven’t tested themse...132Tue, 13 Jun 2023 12:20:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/mike-tauchman-is-why-everyone-is-careful-with-injuries-anymore-r131/Ok, wait. That's mean. It's not Mike Tauchman's fault that Cody Bellinger isn't back with the Cubs yet. It's not, that is, the corporeal, actual Mike Tauchman. Rather, it's the idea of Mike Tauchman, and the bountiful conceptions of Mike Tauchman throughout professional baseball right now. ...131Mon, 12 Jun 2023 12:29:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/kyle-hendrickss-two-changeups-have-finalized-their-divorce-r129/No pitcher in the last decade has better embodied the archetype of the touch-and-feel, command-over-stuff starter than Kyle Hendricks. He's an outlier in the modern game, with a fastball that sits in the 80s and no devastating breaking ball. His changeup has always made up for that. It's always...129Sun, 11 Jun 2023 12:25:21 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/a-new-level-of-self-awareness-has-pushed-marcus-stroman-to-new-heights-r128/By now, it's clear to everyone that Marcus Stroman is not a typical modern frontline starter. Mostly, he just doesn't miss bats the way most such pitchers do. He lacks elite velocity, and the only pitch with which he gets whiffs with any regularity is his slider--but even that doesn't generate t...128Sat, 10 Jun 2023 11:54:26 +0000