https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/page/76/?d=7enhttps://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/on-the-very-real-possibility-that-caleb-kilian-is-just-a-casing-into-which-new-pitches-are-poured-every-year-r1559/Countless times, it seems, Caleb Kilian has had enough success in the upper minors to get the Cubs organization or its fans intrigued. Then, he comes up to the majors and is a major disappointment, or he gets hurt, and he ends up in the minors again, having done nothing to actually help the Chic...1559Wed, 05 Mar 2025 14:03:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/chicago-cubs-2025-position-analysis-second-base-r1542/Note that we're operating under the assumption in this piece that Matt Shaw will not be making the trip to Japan. If he's healthy, he'll certainly be the starter at second base. With news that Nico Hoerner will not be making the trip overseas and will stay back in the states and continue to...1542Wed, 05 Mar 2025 12:56:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/are-the-cubs-better-prepared-to-withstand-slow-starts-from-key-hitters-in-2025-r1558/The calendar has just barely flipped over to March, but we’ve long known the shape of the Chicago Cubs’ lineup to start 2025. The bench still needs to be sorted, sure. But assuming Matt Shaw latches onto the third base gig (and we have no reason to think otherwise at this point), the starting ni...1558Wed, 05 Mar 2025 00:05:03 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/chicago-cubs-2025-position-analysis-right-field-r1546/Kyle Tucker is, in no uncertain terms, the superstar that the Cubs have needed. In just 78 games in 2024, Tucker hit 23 home runs and drove in 49 runs. He finished with a .993 OPS, which would have been first among right fielders if Tucker had enough at-bats to qualify. He will now head into 202...1546Wed, 05 Mar 2025 00:05:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/colin-reas-success-in-cubs-starting-rotation-will-depend-on-the-defense-living-up-to-its-potential-r1557/For the last two seasons, the Cubs' theory—their plan and design for getting to the postseason—has been that they would have an elite team defense. They signed Dansby Swanson and slid Nico Hoerner to second base for 2023 to create an exceptional middle infield. They extended Ian Happ on the same...1557Tue, 04 Mar 2025 15:15:48 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/how-long-can-you-last-without-caring-about-kyle-tuckers-spring-struggles-r1556/In his first 15 plate appearances in the Cactus League, Kyle Tucker is 0-for-12, with three walks and five strikeouts. It's just a fistful of looks to start the season, and the games don't count, but Tucker hasn't hit anything especially hard, or looked especially good, even for a guy on an 0-fe...1556Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:08:05 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/gage-workman-is-looking-too-good-to-let-go-for-cubs-r1555/Twice in three trips to the plate Monday, Gage Workman took one of the hardest swings anyone managed all day against a good big-league pitcher—and connected fairly cleanly. In the first inning, he worked a full count against Corbin Burnes of the Diamondbacks. Then, he cracked a one-hop grounder...1555Tue, 04 Mar 2025 00:03:35 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/brace-yourselves-this-cubs-team-could-be-special-r1550/It's easy to get lost in the fun of a hot start, even in the Cactus League. While this team will eventually hit brief slides, they've shown (even at this stage) that they'll never be out of a game. And that's what makes the 2025 Chicago Cubs a club with championship DNA. The true ceiling of a ba...1550Mon, 03 Mar 2025 16:05:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/after-adding-strength-this-winter-michael-busch-might-become-an-all-star-in-2025-r1554/It's just spring training. The competition is extremely uneven, and everyone is tinkering with things. Michael Busch has been more eager than most to rack up early reps, but even he only has 19 plate appearances in the Cactus League so far. However, in those 19 trips to the dish, he's not only c...1554Mon, 03 Mar 2025 12:53:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/cubs-week-in-review-the-winning-continues-while-starters-get-more-work-r1549/As in the regular season, new storylines emerge each week for the Cubs and, of course, the rest of Major League Baseball. In week one, it was the staggeringly short ramp-up time to the regular season, how Kyle Tucker would look and feel, and who, if anyone, would become a clear favorite at third...1549Sun, 02 Mar 2025 19:14:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/if-a-new-set-of-angles-makes-seiya-suzuki-a-viable-outfielder-everything-changes-for-cubs-r1548/The 2025 Cubs have a whole lot of talent. At the moment, the big question about their position-player group is not the amount of talent, but how to align it in a way that makes it fully functional. Craig Counsell is the creative problem solver tasked with finding answers to that question, and he...1548Sun, 02 Mar 2025 12:12:42 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/did-we-see-cubs-opening-day-lineup-thursday-in-mesa-r1543/When the Cubs took the field against the Angels at Sloan Park on Thursday, their batting order looked like this: Ian Happ - LF Kyle Tucker - RF Seiya Suzuki - DH Michael Busch - 1B Dansby Swanson - SS Pete Crow-Armstrong - CF Carson Kelly - C...1543Fri, 28 Feb 2025 12:04:02 +0000