https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/page/29/?d=7enhttps://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/was-monday-night-shota-imanagas-last-start-in-a-cubs-uniform-r2242/Unless the Cubs force a decisive Game 5 in their National League Division Series showdown with the Milwaukee Brewers, they won't give the ball to Shota Imanaga again this season. It's been an uneven second season on the North Side for Imanaga, who was their ace for much of 2024 and was shaping u...2242Tue, 07 Oct 2025 22:08:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/chicago-cubs-hitters-were-always-a-poor-match-for-their-own-pitching-staff-r2241/After another loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday, the Chicago Cubs stand with the classic Avengers: Endgame protagonists; it feels like they have a 1-in-roughly-14-million chance of claiming victory. Such dire odds are not the result of being down 2-0 in a best-of-five series. They're also...2241Tue, 07 Oct 2025 18:16:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/how-much-will-javier-assads-absence-from-nlds-roster-haunt-the-north-siders-r2238/On the brink of elimination, it feels trivial at best to dissect the starting pitching choices Craig Counsell and his staff could have made. But, if this is coming to you postmortem, and you're looking to start your long offseason with more mental duress, take time here to consider the options o...2238Tue, 07 Oct 2025 16:13:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/can-cubs-trust-matthew-boyd-to-make-another-nlds-start-r2233/It was evident from just about the first pitch of Saturday's Game 1 against the Milwaukee Brewers that Matthew Boyd did not have "it." His sequence—double, double, double, groundout, walk, error, strikeout, single—was perhaps the worst way things could have started for the Chicago Cubs in the fi...2233Tue, 07 Oct 2025 13:50:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/like-chess-with-a-set-of-checkers-craig-counsell-tries-and-fails-to-outfox-pat-murphy-with-lesser-pieces-r2239/When Pat Murphy slated Aaron Ashby to start Game 2 of the National League Division Series, Craig Counsell's best move seemed clear: start Justin Turner at first base, and let Michael Busch come in only once Milwaukee goes away from Ashby in favor of a right-handed hurler. He did that. Meanwhile,...2239Tue, 07 Oct 2025 11:36:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/if-cubs-stretch-out-shota-imanaga-monday-night-heres-how-theyll-do-it-r2235/Game 2 of the National League Division Series is a crucial matchup for the Chicago Cubs. Lose this one, and the squad will have to rattle off three consecutive wins. But if it results in a win, the Cubs can fly high into Wrigley in a best-of-three situation. Longtime Cubs fans will remember Ted...2235Mon, 06 Oct 2025 20:06:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/what-should-cubs-pitching-plan-look-like-for-game-2-against-milwaukee-brewers-r2236/It's been a long stretch of tough outcomes for Shota Imanaga. He's a smart, adaptable and wonderfully human southpaw, but recently, he's running into too many barrels and craning his neck to watch too many balls sail over the outfield wall. He's allowed at least one home run in 10 straight start...2236Mon, 06 Oct 2025 18:02:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/cubs-brewers-nlds-game-two-matchup-by-the-numbers-r2237/Milwaukee will open Monday's game with Aaron Ashby on the mound, followed by a to-be-determined bulk plan. Ashby has worked as a reliever this season and is expected to face the top of Chicago’s order before turning it over to, in all likelihood, Quinn Priester. Chicago counters with left-hander...2237Mon, 06 Oct 2025 17:21:36 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/cubs-week-in-review-north-siders-win-first-playoff-series-since-2017-r2232/Draped in red, white, and Cubby blue, with the neighborhood abuzz with postseason festivities and tales of old, Wrigleyville was rocking at the outset of their playoff tilt with the San Diego Padres. And they deserved to be, with the Cubs proving that they belong as one of the remaining squads i...2232Mon, 06 Oct 2025 14:33:03 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/the-justin-turner-gambit-how-cubs-should-answer-brewers-game-2-opener-plan-r2234/Rather than hand the ball directly to Quinn Priester (who will still, in all likelihood, pitch the majority of the game) Monday, the Brewers announced on Sunday's off day in Milwaukee that they intend to start left-handed reliever Aaron Ashby in Game 2 of the NLDS. It's a wrinkle made not only p...2234Mon, 06 Oct 2025 11:33:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/how-little-a-difference-game-1-got-away-from-cubs-on-play-that-could-have-flipped-momentum-r2230/In the flow of a game, amid the thunder and bluster of a raucous crowd and a playoff series, the play looks normal. Sal Frelick hit a slow, looping grounder to the right side of the infield. Nico Hoerner charged it. If Hoerner had made the play cleanly, it would have been an easy out, and the Cu...2230Sun, 05 Oct 2025 11:36:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/nico-hoerner-is-the-cubs-most-dangerous-man-in-nlds-r2226/In Major League Baseball's postseason, nothing happens in a vacuum. You can win individual games during the regular season on the strength of just one phase of the roster. The offense pops off to a point where pitching and defense have to merely show up. The pitching might do its job to carry a...2226Sat, 04 Oct 2025 17:31:33 +0000