https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/page/69/?d=7enhttps://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/is-matt-shaws-plate-discipline-purposeful-or-a-symptom-of-a-larger-issue-r1670/The 2025 Chicago Cubs have, thus far, proven to be a much more offensively-adept team than their predecessors from last year. Even with cold temperatures attempting to pin down the offense, they still sit 10th in ISO (.163), are walking at the league's second-highest rate (12.4 percent), and mig...1670Sat, 12 Apr 2025 11:50:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/justin-steeles-injury-highlights-cubs-razor-thin-margin-for-error-r1667/Despite having a deeper bench, the Cubs have several positions that lack adequate replacements if injury strikes. The bullpen has been shaky. The rotation is down two projected starters. The offense to this point has carried the team, of course, and the outlook of the season continues to be posi...1667Fri, 11 Apr 2025 14:06:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/pete-crow-armstrong-is-a-scintilla-of-plate-discipline-from-superstardom-r1669/It's rarely this simple, even for the exceptionally talented big-league ballplayer. Baseball is complicated, and the interaction between the best hitters and pitchers alive is endlessly complex, heaped with layers of adjustments and counter-adjustments; cues and red herrings; incredibly fast and...1669Fri, 11 Apr 2025 11:11:35 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/the-cubs-are-the-best-baserunning-team-in-baseball-r1665/The 2024 Chicago Cubs weren't a bad offensive baseball team. They were 12th in the league in runs scored (736), eighth in steals (143), and were top 10 in on-base percentage (.317). But they also lacked impact. Their team ISO (.151) sat 21st, while they made contact at the league's 16th-best rat...1665Thu, 10 Apr 2025 15:14:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/jameson-taillons-kick-change-is-kind-of-awesome-r1666/An early season peak at some of Jameson Taillon’s pitch data suggests a different, more effective pitcher. His overall Stuff+, a metric that evaluates the quality of a pitch based on its physical characteristics like velocity and movement, has bumped from 93 to 97, with 100 being average, accord...1666Thu, 10 Apr 2025 11:54:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/is-it-time-to-press-the-panic-button-on-ryan-pressly-r1660/Chicago made a pair of deals with Houston in the offseason. One landed the Cubs Kyle Tucker, who has been sensational so far this season. The other saw the Cubs scoop up Ryan Pressly, and he was quickly anointed as the closer in Chicago. The Cubs rode a roller coaster every time Hector Neri...1660Wed, 09 Apr 2025 22:33:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/chicago-cubs-bench-guys-aura-rankings-april-9-edition-r1658/1. Jon Berti: After the Monday night game, can there be anyone else in the top spot? Berti scored a run by himself. He was hit by a pitch, stole second, stole third, and scored ahead of Jake Burger's throw against a drawn-in infield. That's truly game-changing stuff.  Berti can play every i...1658Wed, 09 Apr 2025 17:07:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/justin-steele-lands-on-the-il-with-elbow-trouble-again-leaving-cubs-in-rotation-danger-r1664/  The Cubs placed lefthander Justin Steele on the 15-day injured list Wednesday, with elbow tendinitis. It's the second time in seven months that he's landed there with that very ailment, after he missed the first half of September 2024. Steele was also shelved with a forearm strain in June...1664Wed, 09 Apr 2025 15:57:50 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/the-cubs-bullpen-could-be-their-achilles-heel-who-will-step-up-r1662/Since dropping both games in the Tokyo Series, the Cubs are an exciting 9-3. The club leads the league in most offensive categories, including runs scored (94). What's more, the squad has a blistering combined OPS of .788. In the most simple terms: the batting is making up for the pitching....1662Wed, 09 Apr 2025 11:51:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/can-kyle-tucker-break-the-cubs-record-for-statcast-recorded-barrels-r1659/I still chuckle a little bit each time I type "the Statcast Era," but there's a bit less irony in it than before. We're up to 10 full seasons over which every (or very nearly every) batted and pitched ball has been tracked by Statcast. We have 10 years of exit velocities, launch angles, spin rat...1659Tue, 08 Apr 2025 16:29:51 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/mondays-win-sent-a-clear-message-the-cubs-will-take-what-you-cant-keep-from-them-r1657/With the air heavy and cold and the wind rushing down Kenmore Avenue to defend the left-field wall like a relief battalion in battle, the Cubs knew no one was hitting the ball out of the park Monday night. Justin Steele let the visiting Rangers take the mightiest swings they could muster, and Te...1657Tue, 08 Apr 2025 10:34:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/updating-kyle-tuckers-contract-expectations-following-vladimir-guerrero-jrs-500-million-extension-r1656/Had you consulted any aggregate list of the "Top 2025 MLB Free Agents" prior to this past weekend, you would have invariably seen two names at the top: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Kyle Tucker. Well, you can consider Tucker the last man standing, now that Guerrero and the Toronto Blue Jays hav...1656Tue, 08 Apr 2025 00:08:01 +0000