Jason Ross

BA posted an article on 50 prospects who impressed during ST. Cristian Hernandez got on the 50-man-list proper, with a nice write up about how he's turning into a late bloomer and he's looking better and better against both velo and spin. Defensively looks like he should stick at SS. Also has blurbs about two in the "honorable mentions" section: JP Wheat, 2022 draftee, has returned from TJS and is hitting 100mph Ronny Cruz, 2024 draftee, praised for plus raw power, swing plane and ability to hit fastball. Notes he's too aggressive still against spin and arm strength may move him from the left side of the infield to the right side later.

In their defense, when they let them all go, they weren't wrong in the sense none of them have been particularly great. Baez had all sorts of red flags. Rizzo had a bad back. Bryant had been battling injuries. I understand the argument that the Cubs may not have paid them regardless (though reports are they offered good money to two of them) but it can't be ignored that none have been strong, either. Tucker, as of now, is probably in a very different tier than any of them were in 2021. Hopefully this time the org recognizes his ability.

I know there is some worry that he could simply price himself out of the Cubs range (and others who think the Cubs will never consider his price range, which, I understand the fear). But if he just keeps being awesome, there is an argument to be made that you simply can't imagine a lineup with out him. At least that's my hope. I'm already attached to him. I refuse to let him go.

I won't say it's likely, but I think there's a non-zero chance Wiggins gets innings with the Cubs in the BP this summer. There's enough stuff there that as the season goes on, and with attrition, it could happen.

Makes Tennessee more interesting for sure with Armstrong, Gray, Wiggins and Sanders as all (varying degrees, mind you) MLB upside arms

This is a matchup that should favor the Cubs LHH's - Tucker, Busch, Happ, PCA. Severino was not good last year against lefties, with a much worse FIP, xFIP, and HR/FB% against them. Might be a good day to get Gage Workman a second start if you'd like, as well. Severino isn't so good against RHP that anyone should feel it necessary, but stocking lefties is probably not a bad plan.

It's actually why I liked his decision to try to stretch that single. We can talk game flow and whatever, but for Shaw it was an instinctive play and I don't think he's been instinctive very much. Instead, he's been reactionary. I think that's normal, as you get used to the speed of the game, the environment, etc. He's been behind low 90's fastballs and he crushes fastballs usually. And yeah, it resulted in an out, but it felt natural from him. I want more of that.

Here's a name I'm starting to really like: SS, Wehiwa Aloy. I like the swing. He's been moving up boards. Coincidentally, BP just added him as a name they like a bunch as well. Great data on EV, and his patience. Probably a little too passive against the FB...but I like this one.

Brown looks good today.

When researching all of the Arizona heartbreaking losses, I got time a point where it just went to a place of "oh? The pircher got a hit? Yeah." And you just started laughing.

Conversely, a single bad outing when a RP just doesn't have it that day, can make it appear another. With that said, analyzing relievers full seasons isn't so susceptible to a 10 PA sample size that it throws that entire season off. And the reality when it comes to Morgan last season is that he showed a real ability to create chase and limit hard contact. Even the lucky parts (his high LOB%) wasn't so lucky that it effected his xData to a point of worry. I think that's the best indicator as of today as to what we should see until last night becomes more than a single data point. Morgan isn't someone the Cubs should want to rely on in an 8th inning role often. And many nights the Cubs may have options when someone falls apart. As a 6th/7th inning guy, I still feel the same about him as I did Sunday at 3pm in that he's fine in that role.

There are aspects of luck to Eli Morgan's last season, however, lucky does not always mean that he will regress to being bad either. So, while Morgan's 85% LOB% is much too high, and we should probably not expect an ERA of 1.93 from him, it isn't like he wasn't good. Morgan still posted a 3.46 FIP, and had an xERA of 2.51. The good about Eli Morgan is that he limits hard contact because he induces a lot of chase. He's not a stuff+ monster so the way he induces that soft contact is because hitters chase his pitches and end up hitting it poorly. Part of Morgan's issue yesterday is that he didn't get the chase he normally does. Here is his swinging strikes t the Dodgers compared to last night: Notice how on the left, the Dodgers chased him to death where as on the right, the Diamondbacks...didn't. He was also far too much in the zone. Morgan can't do that and survive. If Morgan acts like he did on the left, he should be fine. Sadly, with someone like Morgan, if he's not getting guys to chase him, he doesn't have the stuff to fall back on to generate good outcomes in the zone. It's the push and pull here.

Per the Weather Channel looks like there will be rain, but should be clear for the game. Rain drops after 5pm local time.

I think the Cubs are pretty sold on the idea that the kids are going to be "next man up" at almost any position, but it's assumption there. I think Turner will get a crack at it, but I also think he's limited. His age is getting up there, his bat speed is slowing down...I think he's more suited to be a part of the 1b solution as opposed to the solution. So then you're left trying to figure out...with whom? Ballesteros is probably best served playing C in Iowa and learning the position. I really like Long, but he's only just gotten to Triple-A, I doubt he's ready. Caissie is left handed, and it's first base, not short stop. I'm really spitballing here, but the Cubs have appeared to be pretty high on Caissie. It seems like any time he comes up in trade talks the Cubs walk out of that deal. So I think the team will be interested in giving him a route to the MLB beyond simply RF. Then again, I've been known to be wrong! In which case I'll just delete this post

Oh they traded him! Damnit! I sorted their bullpen data from 2024 the other day and compared it to their starters entirely forgetting trades happen. Fine, just don't pitch to Jason Giambi and we're all good.

Last night sucked, but in a 162 game year, sometimes that horsefeathers happens. It's infuriating, but it's baseball. Joey Estes was super not good last year. He doesn't throw hard, he doesn't limit contact. Don't let last night bleed into today and go beat up on an uninspiring arm. Don't find yourself down late and see Erceg and Miller. Do that and we can all move forward.

Thanks! And welcome to NSBB! Glad you found us

Baseball is a 162-game slog that starts in March, ends in November, and allows for all sorts of odd outcomes and occurrences in between. For some reason, when it comes to the Cubs, regardless of the year, those odd things seem to happen in Arizona. It can't just be bad luck... can it? Image courtesy of © Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images Entering the eighth inning Sunday with what felt like a fairly comfortable 6-2 lead, new Cubs reliever Eli Morgan imploded on the mound, surrendering the Cubs' hard-earned effort (and then some). Morgan ended up wasting home runs from Dansby Swanson, Seiya Suzuki and Kyle Tucker by giving up an impressive six runs in total. The cherry on top of his performance? Pitcher Ryne Nelson got a hit. Yes, the Arizona Diamondbacks, who lost their ability to use a designated hitter when they moved Ketel Marte (the starting DH in a day game to close out their season-opening series) to second, had run out of bench players. This forced the rare event in which a pitcher has to hit in the era of the league wide DH. And of course, the pitcher picked up a base knock, and an RBI, to boot. You shouldn't have expected anything else. This is what happens when the Cubs play in Arizona. It explains that feeling of deja vu you probably feel right now, that you've seen this happen before; because you have. The Cubs have history with Arizona in this ballfield of horrors. It's hard to pinpoint when exactly the mojo of the field changed, but perhaps it started during October 2007, when the Cubs visited Arizona for the NL Division Series. Those Cubs were a pretty fun team, winning 85 games. They had finally recovered from their historic 2004 collapse, with a bunch of new faces. Alfonso Soriano had signed a record deal; Ted Lilly and Mark DeRosa were more complementary but equally crucial free-agent additions. Rookie pitcher Rich Hill was a fun infusion of youth to the rotation. The Cubs were pretty good! Then the desert struck back; it won't allow the Cubs any happiness. No, just when the Cubs were poised to take the lead in the sixth inning behind a strong performance from Carlos Zambrano, everything changed. With the bases loaded, Cubs shortstop Ryan Theriot laced a single that tied the game with two outs, but it was all the team could muster. It was time for heartbreak, as immediately after entering the game in the seventh, Cubs reliever Carlos Marmol served up a home run, and the Cubs would never tie the game. They went on to lose a second game in Arizona, all but sealing their fate in the 2007 playoffs. Along the way, they squandered an early lead when Lilly gave up a two-strike, two-out grand slam, and he immediately provided the lasting visual image of that era's playoff ineptitude. After the disappointments of 2007 (and then in 2008, when the 97-win Cubs fell to the Dodgers in similar fashion), Chicago hoped that 2009 would be the year they finally won a World Series. As April came to a close, the 10-9 Cubs had scuffled a bit out of the gate, but it was still early. On April 29th, Chase Field would rear its ugly head once again. The Cubs sent Ryan Dempster to the hill against Doug Davis. If you looked just at their final numbers, you'd have thought that this was advantage Cubs. Dempster finished the year with a sparkling 2.96 ERA, while Doug Davis was merely "okay". Yet, the final score on April 29 did not reflect this at all. When the final out was recorded, the Cubs had lost 10-0, recording just two hits. The Cubs were the better team, but Chase Field was just too damn powerful. The next competitive Cubs window was from 2015-2020, and the trouble would continue. In the first year of that window, the Cubs swept Arizona at Wrigley, but they lost a pair of one-run games in Phoenix. The standout in the set was on May 22nd. In a time before the ghost runner was a glimmer in Rob Manfred's eye, the game entered the 10th inning tied 2-2. Kris Bryant and Starlin Castro both singled to give the Cubs a two-run lead. Cubs closer Héctor Rondón quickly got two outs, and the game looked all but won. Then, like the strike and snap of a rattlesnake: an AJ Pollock single, followed by a Paul Goldschmidt home run. The game was back to being tied. In the top of the 13th, the Cubs once again threatened, only to come up short Miguel Montero flied out with two on, and a Jorge Soler groundout let the Snakes off the hook. Chase Field then summoned an unlikely hero; to drive the dagger home: career 29 wRC+ hitter, Tuffy Gosewisch. Gosewisch wangled a double (one of just 23 career extra-base hits, in 447 trips to the plate), putting the Cubs in danger. Nick Ahmed, who in all but this scenario would be among the weakest hitters in the game, brought Gosewisch home to steal the game. Chase Field works in mysterious ways, The following year, the Cubs had an early-season trip to Arizona, but this time, the team was even stronger. After adding Ben Zobrist, Jason Heyward and other big free agents, the Cubs were favorites to win the division and were poised to maybe even win an elusive World Series. They would go on to do just that, winning 103 games in the regular season on their way. Arizona, conversely, would only win 69 games. April 8th, 2016, would be on one of the 69. The Cubs built an early two-run lead that Friday, as new addition Heyward walked with the bases loaded and Zobrist hit into a fielder's choice that brought Cubs starter Jason Hammel home. Hammel would keep the Snakes scoreless through six, until Goldschmidt put the D'Backs on the board in the seventh. He wasn't done, however, as he came up again in the 8th and hit a single off Cubs setup man Pedro Strop, to tie the game. With two down and a runner on second in the next frame, Yasmany Thomas singled home Chris Owings for another walk-off win. It happened again. I'm burying the lede there, of course. The real sacrifice the Cubs had to make to the godless heathen monster of Chase FIeld that year wasn't a gut-punch loss; it was Kyle Schwarber's entire knee. It was in deep left-center there that Schwarber and Dexter Fowler collided, resulting in the catastrophic injury that set up Schwarber to be an unlikely playoff hero but also altered his career. In 2018, the two-time defending NL Central champs were on the verge of securing their third straight crown and cruising into the Division Series. By mid-September, though, they were also three weeks into what became six during which they practically lived without an off day. They won the first two games in Arizona that month, but their loss on getaway day—a 9-0 shellacking in which their only hit was a third-inning single by Addison Russell—became emblematic of the fatigue that overtook them as the season wound to an end. It's astounding, still, to remember that the eventual NL pennant-winning 2023 Diamondbacks only got to the postseason (with 84 wins) by beating the Cubs (83 wins) six times in seven September meetings. The signature game of that stretch was the Saturday affair in Arizona on Sept. 16. That was the game that featured a madcap three-run Cubs rally in the fifth, as the amuse bouche for an orgiastic buffet of baseball torture. In a tie game, the Cubs put three runners on in the seventh, but one was erased on a caught stealing and they never did collect a hit. No runs. There were two overturned replays (one for each team) and one failed one (by the Cubs) even before the game reached extra innings. Then: The Cubs started the 10th inning with Nico Hoerner on second. They got an infield single, a double-steal, a throwing error, and two walks, but came away with only Hoerner's run. In the middle of that: a ball hitting the knob of Cody Bellinger's bat as he tried to avoid being hit by a pitch, and going right back to the mound for an out. (The Cubs challenged again, to no avail.) The Diamondbacks tied the game back up on the very first at-bat of the bottom of the 10th (this was the beginning of the desperate attempt to bring Marcus Stroman back from his injury as a reliever, to save an injury-ravaged bullpen), but the Cubs held them at bay. The automatic runner and two more hits only netted the Cubs one run in the 11th, as another runner was tagged out between third and home on an ill-timed comebacker to the pitcher. The Diamondbacks again tied the score very easily in the 11th. The Diamondbacks loaded the bases in the bottom of the 12th, but couldn't score. Another bad call (this one non-reviewable) gave the Cubs a run in the top of the 13th, but only by turning what should have been a foul ball into an awkward double play. The Cubs would have been better off with the foul. With runners on the corners, two strikes and two outs, a line drive back up the middle hit Hayden Wesneski and popped harmlessly to the spot at shallow shortstop where Dansby Swanson made such a brilliant play this weekend. That time, though, Swanson couldn't get to the ricochet in time, and the tying run trotted home. The Diamondbacks then won on a breathtakingly close play at the plate, with the ancient Evan Longoria beating the even older (in baseball age, if not actual years) Yan Gomes on a great slide. That play, too, was reviewed, but it was upheld. That game, in hindsight, encapsulated the Cubs' failure to hold onto their playoff position that September. They tried everything, and it wasn't enough. Typical, when they're in Arizona. You can even look at last year, once again in April. That time, the affair saw a mammoth 23 runs scored in a crazy, back-and-forth slugfest. First, it was Arizona taking a quick 4-1 lead behind Lourdes Guerriel Jr. and Joc Pederson home runs. The Cubs countered with a Miguel Amaya triple, an Alexander Canario double and a Bellinger triple—only for them to find themselves down 8-5 again, entering the seventh. The Cubs once again exploded, scoring six runs, capped by an Ian Happ home run putting the Cubs up once again, 11-8. Arizona would go on to score in the seventh, the eighth and the ninth to tie the game. In the 10th inning, it took just two pitches for Randal Grichuk to hit a double off Drew Smyly to bring home the 12th and final run of the game. This cannot be a coincidence. If you still need some proof that this not just anecdotal, that there's something larger at play here, perhaps the all-time records against each other would drive that home. Since the Arizona Diamondbacks have joined the league, the Cubs are a lowly 88-101 against them. Where things get weird, however, is in looking at the home/road record. When playing Arizona in the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field, the Cubs are two games over .500, with a 47-45 record. Once you send the Cubs out West, things change, as they are whopping 15 games in the red, with a total record of 41-56. This isn't a story of one-off heartbreaks, the Cubs just fall under a hex when they play at Chase. Morgan blowing up in the eighth was destined to happen, it was written in the scrolls long before the game even started. Chase Field and the Chicago Cubs have beef; there's no question. When the Cubs travel to Arizona, something happens, and I am not entirely sure what it is. A rational person would tell you that it's just a bunch of coincidence—that baseball is a long battle of attrition, and within that, you're bound to find oddities. Normally, I'm that rational human being. But, just this once, after looking at every little thing... I think, instead, I side with a famous line from Steve Carell's character from The Office. I'm not superstitious, but I am a little -stitious. At least when it comes to Chase Field. Do you remember any devastating losses to Arizona we missed? Which one was your—ahem—favorite? Let us know in the comment section below! View full article

Give him all the money.

I doubt it. They've done the challenge system in Triple-A. It works well and runs quickly. You barely notice it. And it's probably a lot easier to implement that than try to fight the umpire union to go full bot-zone.

Never say never and all that jazz, but Id guess it's incredibly unlikely they do a fully automated zone next year. Challenge system feels like the way they will go.

Seiya!