https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/page/8/?d=7enhttps://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/two-bad-challenge-decisions-cost-the-cubs-in-series-opener-against-padres-r2779/In defense of Matthew Boyd and Moisés Ballesteros, neither was put in a position to succeed on Monday night. Craig Counsell tried to force-fit his young designated hitter into the extremely valuable defensive position he played in the minors, but Ballesteros is a poor receiver—a poor defender be...2779Tue, 28 Apr 2026 10:18:27 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/defense-wins-games-how-the-2026-cubs-are-proving-an-old-sports-adage-true-r2775/Despite dropping two of three games to the Los Angeles Dodgers over the weekend, things look much better for the Chicago Cubs now than they did a couple of weeks ago. The offense has experienced positive regression, and the pitching staff has held together in the wake of an abnormal number of in...2775Mon, 27 Apr 2026 20:04:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/cubs-week-in-review-historic-run-reveals-clubs-muscle-resolve-r2774/Fair or not, the 2026 version of the Chicago Cubs came preloaded with comparisons to the revered 2016 World Series championship club, as the 10th anniversary of their historic accomplishment arrived. The frustrations of the opening weeks of this season made any real comparison between the two ve...2774Mon, 27 Apr 2026 14:30:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/edward-cabrera-is-a-curveball-away-from-brilliance-r2773/Much was said over the offseason about the Chicago Cubs adding more strikeouts to their pitching staff. A lot of this even came from president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer himself: “I felt like we had a very contact oriented pitching staff. Our defense helps that, but, you know, we don’...2773Mon, 27 Apr 2026 11:52:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/hoby-milner-is-wildly-outperforming-his-expected-stats-can-the-cubs-southpaw-keep-it-up-r2771/The Chicago Cubs signed left-handed pitcher Hoby Milner in the offseason to pair with Caleb Thielbar as the team's primary two southpaws in the pen. Milner had many years of service with the Milwaukee Brewers and his time overlapped with manager Craig Counsell, meaning there was (and is) a famil...2771Sat, 25 Apr 2026 18:36:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/the-annual-cubs-bullpen-reckoning-is-here-r2769/By mid-May 2024, the Cubs were in trouble. They'd built their bullpen plans around three right-handed pitchers: flamethrower Julian Merryweather, coming off a 2023 season in which he'd gone from an unnoticed waiver claim to a relief ace; analytics darling Yency Almonte, part of the Michael Busch...2769Fri, 24 Apr 2026 11:52:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/for-cubs-run-production-will-hinge-on-being-productive-with-runners-in-scoring-position%E2%80%94all-year-r2757/It's not just you. The Cubs' offense has been boom-or-bust this season. The offense is completely dependent on sequential hitting, which leads to some frustrating nights in front of the TV. The Cubs, who lack a reliable 40-homer hitter to anchor the lineup, rely on clusters of hits to score. The...2757Thu, 23 Apr 2026 11:37:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/dansby-swanson-abs-power-production-rob-deer-smaller-strike-zone/Have you seen the new Peacock show "The Miniature Wife"? Yeah, me neither. It's baseball season. The NBA playoffs are here. My nephew played the lead in his high school's production of Anastasia last weekend, and I have a new niece and a new nephew to fawn over, and I really should clean out the...2765Wed, 22 Apr 2026 22:05:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/edward-cabreras-cubs-legacy-is-only-getting-started-r2760/A filthy, lockdown starting pitcher changes the fortunes and the perception of a Major League Baseball team. He can make a fringe club competitive and a contender close to unstoppable. Look no further than the likes of the back-to-back American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal, Paul Ske...2760Wed, 22 Apr 2026 21:02:12 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/nico-hoerner-and-the-power-of-the-pulled-line-drive-approach-r2763/If you want to play with some selective endpoints, you can end up pretty deeply impressed by Nico Hoerner these days. He blasted his fourth home run of the season in the Cubs' seventh straight win on Tuesday night, and since last August 24—I did warn you the endpoints would be selective—he's bat...2763Wed, 22 Apr 2026 16:57:20 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/outfield-defense-is-a-rising-tide-pete-crow-armstrong-is-an-airplane-r2758/Pete Crow-Armstrong is the best defensive center fielder in baseball. As recently as last season, there was at least a modicum of debate about that—Ceddanne Rafaela of the Red Sox won the prestigious Fielding Bible Award for center field, and might even have deserved it. Now, though, Crow-Armstr...2758Tue, 21 Apr 2026 16:40:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/baseballs-best-division-cubs-staring-down-unfriendly-gauntlet-in-nl-central-r2756/With roughly a week and change left in April, and roughly 90% of the MLB regular season left to go, it’s time to check in on how the rest of the NL Central is doing. As of 4/21, here are the current standings:  Reds: 15-8 Pirates: 13-9 Cubs: 13-9 Cardinals: 13-9 Brewers:...2756Tue, 21 Apr 2026 15:00:03 +0000