Brandon Glick

Happ actually played a touch of third base in college and high school, so this idea isn't totally out of left field (pun completely intended). I have a very hard time believing the Cubs would sacrifice a Gold Glove at one spot just to get average play at two spots (assuming Morel can even handle LF on a full time basis), but part of Happ's prospect profile was his versatility. I think it would take a lot of things going wrong at 3B to see Happ there though.

100%. Having those 2-4 WAR guys with super high floors is a very valuable thing. The Cubs' issue that most of their roster is filled with those kinds of guys rather than the Betts/Freeman/Ohtani level of star, but there's no reason to see Happ as anything other a valuable piece of the team.

My thoughts exactly. If Busch stinks (or Morel can't handle third, pushing Busch back there), Belli is the obvious next guy up at 1B. But for now, my guess would be Bellinger handling LF in the short-term if Happ is out.

Watch as Brandon and Ethan discuss the announcement of the Cubs' starting five pitchers for Opening Day. View full video

The NL Central projects to be a competitive (albeit mediocre) division this season. Though loaded with young talent, the Pittsburgh Pirates have the look of the worst team among the five. Image courtesy of © Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports The Pittsburgh Pirates finished in fourth place in the NL Central last season, posting a 76-86 record. Their -98 run differential was third-worst in the National League, and the fourth-worst in all of baseball. Pittsburgh’s biggest issue was on the mound, where they posted a 4.60 ERA (21st in MLB) and 1,363 strikeouts (20th). That’s not to say the Pirates were any better at the plate, where they hit just 159 home runs (28th) and batted just .239 as a team (24th). The team had a relatively quiet offseason, outside of re-signing outfielder Andrew McCutchen to a one-year, $5 million deal and handing ace Mitch Keller a four-year, $71.5 million extension. As always, the team mostly sat out the free agent market, making a few notable moves around the margins while barely losing anyone of note. (They didn't really have anyone to lose.) As such, the team will be mostly banking on major internal improvements to take the next step forward in 2024. Projected Record FanGraphs (ZiPS): 77-85 (5th in NL Central) Baseball Prospectus (PECOTA): 73-89 (5th in NL Central) Key Additions LHP Aroldis Chapman LHP Martín Pérez LHP Marco Gonzales OF Michael A. Taylor 1B Rowdy Tellez C Yasmani Grandal Key Losses RHP Vince Velasquez RHP Duane Underwood Jr. RHP Chase DeJong IF Miguel Andújar RHP Johan Oviedo (Tommy John Surgery) C Endy Rodriguez (UCL Surgery) Projected Opening Day Lineup C Henry Davis 1B Rowdy Tellez 2B Jared Triolo SS Oneil Cruz 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes LF Jack Suwinski CF Michael A. Taylor RF Bryan Reynolds DH Andrew McCutchen Projected Opening Day Pitching Staff: Rotation RHP Mitch Keller LHP Martín Pérez LHP Marco Gonzales LHP Bailey Falter RHP Jared Jones Projected Opening Day Pitching Staff: Key Relievers LHP Josh Fleming (Long Relief) LHP Aroldis Chapman (Setup) LHP Ryan Borucki RHP David Bednar (Closer) Scouting Report While the Pirates went 76-86 last season, they played like a 71-91 team according to Pythagorean Win-Loss. They started last season on a scintillating 20-9 run, but they ran out of gas quickly and didn’t have another winning month until September. However, they did play well in the second half of 2023, finishing their post-All-Star break schedule with a 35-37 record. Most of the Pirates’ upside currently exists in their farm system. Last year, McCutchen led the team with a 115 wRC+, which was tied for lowest leading mark on any team in baseball last season (Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals). Their best players on the major-league roster are catcher Henry Davis, a former first overall selection; third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, who finally ended Nolan Arenado’s Gold Glove hegemony at the hot corner in the National League last season; shortstop Oneil Cruz, a 6-7 behemoth with a true five-tool profile but massive swing-and-miss issues; left fielder Jack Suwinski, who was a big-time three-true-outcomes guy with 26 homers, a 32.2% K%, and a 14% BB% in 2023; and right fielder Bryan Reynolds, a one-time All Star who’s posted a 113 OPS+ or better in every season of his career (besides the pandemic-shortened 2020 season). Of all those guys, though, only Cruz has true star potential. He hit 17 home runs in just 361 plate appearances in his rookie season, but he struck out 35% of the time and only posted a 105 wRC+. After missing nearly all of last season with a broken leg, he returned to Spring Training this year in mid-season form, hitting seven home runs but striking out 14 times in 49 plate appearances. If he can get his contact issues under control, he’ll be a force to be reckoned with and a perennial MVP candidate. If not, he’ll be a Patrick Wisdom-esque shortstop, though his floor is higher because of his rocket arm and blazing speed. On the pitching side of things, the team is patiently awaiting the arrival of franchise savior Paul Skenes, who will pitch for Triple-A Indianapolis out of Spring Training this year despite being selected first overall in the 2023 MLB Draft just nine months ago. Jared Jones, FanGraphs’s 62nd overall prospect, made the team after not allowing a run in the Grapefruit League. He’s got a high-90s fastball and good command up in the zone, though his secondaries need a lot of refining. As such, Jones will likely see some inflated ERA and home run totals in his rookie season, but he should also rack up plenty of strikeouts. The team’s ace, Mitch Keller, signed the aforementioned extension early in the spring, securing his spot atop the rotation as the team waits out Skenes’s ascendence to the majors. Keller is coming off a career year with 3.3 fWAR, and though his 4.21 ERA and 4.18 xERA aren’t much to gawk over, his 3.80 FIP is suggestive of a better pitcher than the results showed. A couple notable splits to look out for: Keller’s struggles on the road (5.35 ERA in 104 road innings; 2.90 ERA in 90 home innings) and in the second half (5.59 ERA in 77 second-half innings; 3.31 ERA in 117 first-half innings). He can be a valuable innings eater in the Pirates rotation for years to come, but he’ll have to maintain his performance across a full 162-game slate to be worth the team's investment. Other than them, though, the Pirates don’t have many pitchers to speak of. David Bednar remains one of the best closers in the game, and Aroldis Chapman had a bounce-back year last season with the Royals and Texas Rangers, but this team is lacking impact arms for now. This will probably be another “retooling” year for the Bucs, as they hope for some internal improvements from their young bats and try to flip some veteran arms at the trade deadline for prospects. Skenes is on his way, and when that day comes, the division will quiver with fear. Until then, though, the Pirates remain on the periphery of the Wild Card and NL Central races. View full article

It's amazing how much of a "high-floor" player Happ is. Even some of his worst traits are 50th percentile. He's, as Joe Maddon would say, a "pro's pro".

With Ian Happ entrenched as the starter in left field, do the 2024 Chicago Cubs have the necessary reinforcements to help him make it through the trials and tribulations of a 162-game schedule? Image courtesy of © Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports Ian Happ has been the Cubs’ everyday starter in left field since mid-2021. He’s posted an above-average OPS+ in every season of his career, and his OPS has never fallen below .750. He’s as consistent as they come at the plate, and he’s improved dramatically as a switch-hitter over the last few seasons. In his career, Happ bats .244 as a righty, and .250 as a lefty. 2021: 148 G, 465 ABs, .226/.323/.434, 103 OPS+, 1.7 WAR, -2 DRS 2022: 158 G, 573 ABs, .271/.342/.440, 117 OPS+, 4.4 WAR, 14 DRS 2023: 158 G, 580 ABs, .248/.360/.431, 112 OPS+, 3.0 WAR, 2 DRS Happ has just two hits in 22 at-bats in the Cactus League this year, but fretting over his slow start isn’t worth our time. He’s been on the mend from a hamstring injury that manager Craig Counsell said won’t impact his status for Opening Day, and he returned to the lineup over the weekend looking fresh. And, for what it’s worth, Happ has a history of turning bad Spring Training performances into strong regular seasons: in 2022, he batted .190 in Arizona, and went on to earn his first All Star appearance a few months later. Beyond his impact at the plate, Happ has also turned himself into a premier defender. Though left field isn’t as demanding a position as most of the others on the diamond, Happ posted a career-high 14 Defensive Runs Saved in 2022 before following it up with a 2 DRS season last year. In both years, he was awarded with the NL Gold Glove Award for left fielders. Happ still presents some of the defensive versatility that defined his prospect profile, but the Cubs appear content to keep him stationed out in left field next to a pair of strong defenders, Cody Bellinger and Seiya Suzuki. The North Siders’ rotation this year, once again, is made up of hurlers who adopt a “pitch to contact” approach, and most of the starters are particularly adept at coaxing fly balls out of opposing hitters. Having a strong outfield defense is paramount to making the entire run-prevention operation work this year, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a better trio of gloves than the Cubs will run out beyond the infield on a daily basis. Happ’s strongest skill remains his on-base percentage. Last season, Happ finished first among all Cubs who had at least 350 at-bats with a .360 OBP, which followed up his second-place finish in 2022 (behind only Willson Contreras). Thanks to his blend of power and patience, he can be a credible option almost anywhere in the lineup, though Counsell has gone on record saying that Happ will bat ahead of the Cubs’ sluggers, namely Bellinger and Christopher Morel. It remains to be seen if that sticks for all of 2024, but No. 8 lengthens the lineup from any spot just by working counts and making pitchers labor during his plate appearances. Beyond Happ, the Cubs have Mike Tauchman currently slated as the fourth outfielder. He’s played 60-plus career games in each of the three outfield spots, including 134 in left field, his most of any position. He was worth 2.1 WAR in 401 plate appearances last year, including a perfectly average 100 OPS+. Tauchman is at his best as a reserve outfielder who can fill in at any of the three outfield spots on any given day, though he did fill in admirably in center field for Cody Bellinger in the middle of last season after Bellinger suffered a knee injury. The Cubs also have Miles Mastrobuoni and Morel, who are capable of playing the outfield corners in a pinch. Non-roster invitee David Peralta, who has appeared in 854 career games in left field, could be a quick Band-Aid in the event that Happ can’t gut it out for a few days. Even Garrett Cooper, who locked down the final bench spot on the Opening Day roster following Patrick Wisdom’s injury, has played 615 innings in the corners of the outfield. Nevertheless, should Happ be forced to miss significant time, the Cubs’ best bet for reinforcements lies in their farm system. Pete Crow-Armstrong is knocking on the door of Wrigley Field, and his arrival in the majors could push Bellinger to left field if the Cubs want to keep PCA’s speed and glove in center field. Also at Triple-A Iowa are Alexander Canario and Brennen Davis, who each have experience in left field and come equipped with very strong throwing arms. The 2024 Chicago Cubs will rely on Ian Happ to be a consistent contributor at the plate and in the field. He’s an on-base machine who’s capable of hitting well from both sides of the plate, and he also happens to be the National League’s reigning two-time Gold Glover in left field. That kind of presence might be hard to replace in an extended absence, but the Cubs are surprisingly well-equipped to handle a Happ-less period. Let's hope it doesn't come to that, anyway. View full article

Ethan and Brandon analyze the Cubs' three young starters and their trajectories after the Opening Day rotation announcement. View full video

Opening Day is around the corner. The Cubs look ready for what’s to come, in their most important season in years. Also, Samford was robbed, so was Shohei Ohtani, and Invincible is still a good show. Image courtesy of © Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports We’ll just jump right into the baseball side of things this week, since Spring Training is all but over now. As of today, Seiya Suzuki leads all Cubs on the 40-man roster with three home runs this Spring. We spoke about his terrific performance last week in this space, and it’s encouraging to see him look so tuned in after a scorching-hot final six weeks in 2023. However, do you know who leads all Cubs in home runs in Spring Training? Why, it’s none other than David Bote, he of the ill-fated five-year, $15 million extension. That contract with Bote ends this year, though he’s no longer on the 40-man roster. Since being designated for assignment at the end of the 2022 season, Bote’s been with the Cubs as a non-roster minor leaguer. He spent all of 2023 in Triple-A Iowa, and after being reassigned to minor-league camp earlier this week, odds are he’ll remain there until and unless major injury issues crop up on the major-league team. Owen Caissie’s torrid spring continued on Sunday against the Seattle Mariners, including a titanic blast off of Mauricio Llovera: Nick Madrigal also made his return to the lineup on Sunday, after dealing with a hamstring issue for most of camp. With so much time missed, the Cubs could send him to Triple-A Iowa to begin the year just to get him some more reps to help his timing at the plate, but it appears the organization prefers to have him available, all else equal. Ian Happ is dealing with a hamstring strain of his own--one that kept him out of the lineup for a few days even during this week of returning to action. According to manager Craig Counsell, it shouldn’t threaten his status for Opening Day. The final two bullpen spots look like they’ll come down to Luke Little, Hayden Wesneski, and José Cuas, now that Carl Edwards Jr. has opted out of his deal. For my money, I think the team would be smart to keep Little and Cuas, while giving Wesneski one more chance to figure it out as a starter in the minors. Little was tremendous in his cup of coffee last September, and Cuas has been among the team’s best relievers this spring. Of course, keeping Little is not a necessity, since it was announced that Drew Smyly would start the season in the bullpen as Jordan Wicks and Javier Assad won the 4th and 5th starter gigs (pending Jameson Taillon’s health). Now that Mark Leiter Jr.’s splitter appears to be functional again, the Cubs could have three guys that match up favorably against opposing left-handed batters. Dominic Smith also opted out of his contract earlier this week, which is a real shame considering just how dominant he was in the Cactus League. Alas, it never really looked like there was going to be an available bench spot for him. He’ll almost certainly latch on with another team soon. David Peralta, a late-offseason minor-league signing, will be sticking with the Cubs as he rehabs from an offseason surgery. We started previewing the Cubs’ NL Central competition this week, starting with the Cincinnati Reds. The Pittsburgh Pirates, Milwaukee Brewers, and St. Louis Cardinals will follow this upcoming week. According to USA Today, the Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers will open the 2025 MLB season in Japan. It should be a fun series that draws a ton of international attention, even if the early morning start times here make it a pain to watch for American fans. Beyond the world of the Cubs, MLB is having no shortage of news stories recently. Before we get to that, though, there are a few administrative notes on the agenda this week: The volume of video content on the site will increase in spades once the season starts. If you have any ideas, requests, or suggestions for a format or topic for a video, let us know! We’ll be experimenting with different ideas over the next few months. Check out all the newest NSBB videos on the site’s homepage or videos tab. Go follow us on Twitter & Facebook (or “X” and “Meta” now, I suppose) for the latest updates, articles and general announcements at NSBB. It’s going to be a busy season, y’all! Lastly, our very own @Sean Chapin and @CandidCubs have started a podcast called “Bricks Behind the Ivy”. Go check it out! You may even be able win some free Cubs tickets… Now, elsewhere in the baseball world, there’s some major storylines going down: There’s been a ton of discontent in the MLBPA recently, with warring factions of players either defending current Executive Director Tony Clark or seeking his ouster. The last CBA negotiation led to an extended and arduous lockout, and with the current deal set to expire in 2026, it won’t be long until those talks start again. It isn’t surprising to hear that some sides want new leadership, but it is disheartening to hear how contentious the topic has become between players. Though “Opening Day” is technically on March 28th, the first two games of the season already happened between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres in the “Seoul Series”. They split the series 1-1, and the big stories were the Dodgers' two major offseason acquisitions, though not in the way L.A. hoped. The 325-Million Dollar Man, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, made his first MLB start in Game 2 of the series, and he was blown up in his sole inning of work: five earned runs, four hits and a walk. It was a bad debut for a supremely talented player. The big talk in the baseball world, though, was the breaking news story on Shohei Ohtani. Reportedly, his interpreter and best friend, Ippei Mizuhara, stole millions of dollars of funds from him for gambling debts. It’s a wild story that has changed multiple times since being initially leaked. There’s surely going to be more fallout than just Mizuhara being fired by the Dodgers (which has already happened), but the league has every incentive to protect its most popular player. It’ll be fascinating to see how it all plays out. Speaking of getting robbed (too soon?), March Madness began this week on Thursday. It’s the best weekend of the year, and Day One got off to a bang with some major upsets, highlighted by Oakland’s stunning victory over Kentucky. However, the biggest story was Samford’s 22-point comeback that wasn’t, because of an egregious blown foul call in the final minute of the game. That is just an outright whiff by the ref. In a game where it felt like there was a review every 20 seconds, the biggest call of the night stood, despite being obviously and hilariously incorrect. Some are comparing it to Jim Joyce’s botched call on Armando Galarraga’s non-perfect perfect game, and it does feel eerily similar, given the stakes and the clear sightline the ref had on the play. Other big first weekend upsets included Yale knocking off 4th-seeded Auburn (who was in my Final Four…) and Clemson over Baylor in the Round of 32. That’s about it for the big stories in sports right now. With the NFL Draft a month away and the NBA and NHL playoffs also not for another four weeks, all eyes will be on baseball with Opening Day right around the corner. Now, for some brief film and television discussion. Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024) came out a few weeks ago, and I’ve had a few weeks to mull it over. Yes, I saw it on opening night, and I admit that shamelessly. It doesn’t pander to kids under the age of ten as hard as Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016), but it hardly matches the mature tones and themes of the first two films. At the end of the day, it’s a mediocre film that doesn’t flop as hard as other recent Dreamworks projects, but it comes nowhere near the heights of Puss and Boots: The Last Wish (2022). However, the movie commits a heinous sin against prior entries in the series: it brings back characters from previous movies to serve as voiceless, hollow husks of the dynamic figures they once were. It’s a slap in the face to fans, fails in what it tries to be (fan service) and harms the plot and sincerity of the film. Also, for a franchise known for its sinister, introspective villains, the Chameleon is an incredibly flat, one-note antagonist. Elsewhere in the animation world, Amazon’s Invincible has returned for Season 2: Part 2, which… obviously, an eight-episode season does not need a fourth month-long mid-season break. It has tarnished the hype for a show that had so much momentum after its debut season. That being said, the second half of Season 2 has been excellent through two episodes, and the show appears to be finding its footing again after an underwhelming start to its second season. Hopefully, they can end the season on a high note and keep the momentum going in Season 3. Alright, we’ll wrap it up there, folks. The Cubs and Rangers will play the MLB “Opening Night” game, exclusively on ESPN, at 6:30 PM CST. The Rangers will hold their ring ceremony beforehand, so let’s hope the Cubs can spoil an otherwise festive and celebratory night in Arlington, Texas. Have a great week, everyone! Go, Cubs, Go! View full article

Would like to think Hendricks still has some magic in him. He was up to ~90 last year for the first time since 2020, which makes all the difference for a guy like him. I just think I'd feel more confident in Hendricks if he was the team's 4th starter, rather than the no. 2.

I'm very happy with how productive (and, generally, healthy) the team has been in ST. I've always been high on Wicks, but I'm expecting huge things from him this year (perhaps a fallacy after Wesneski's smoke-and-mirrors show last Spring). The rotation definitely doesn't have a ton of swing-and-miss, and no Stroman means practically everyone is a fly-ball pitcher. It's a dangerous game to play, but at least the Cubs outfield defense is good, right?

Brandon & Ethan dive further into the stats and pitch mix of the Cubs’ newest starting pitcher. View full video

Another week of Chicago Cubs spring training is in the books. Seiya Suzuki looks ready for a breakout season. I finally saw Dune II. There’s so much to discuss. Image courtesy of © Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports Welcome back to Volume II of the Monday Morning North Sider. If you missed last week’s edition, feel free to check it out for some introductions, Cubs chatter, and general administrative notes. Today, let’s just get right into the swing of things. The Cubs are up to 15-8 in Cactus League play. Technically, that’s the most wins in the league, but because of the wonky spring training schedules, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Colorado Rockies are ahead of them in the standings by percentage points. Seiya Suzuki is having a monster spring: he’s slashing .444/.483/.926, with three home runs. Perhaps even more importantly, he's struck out just four times in 29 plate appearances. If he can keep the strikeout rate below 20% in the regular season, watch out. Speaking of hot springs, have you all been keeping up with what Dominic Smith’s been doing? He’s up to a 1.029 OPS through 20 at-bats, and even as a non-roster invitee, he has a shot to make the Opening Day roster. (If he doesn't, he's at least auditioned well for other teams throughout the league, with whom he might latch on instead.) In 2019 and 2020, Smith finished with an OPS above .880. He hasn’t quite reached the same level of productivity since that pandemic-shortened season, but he did hit 34 extra-base hits in 153 games with the Washington Nationals last year. As a lefty bench bat who can play first base or the outfield corners in a pinch, he’d fit this iteration of the Cubs roster pretty well. Of course, if Smith does make it, two of Patrick Wisdom, Garrett Cooper and Miles Mastrobuoni won’t make the Opening Day roster. With Mike Tauchman already guaranteed the fourth outfielder gig by manager Craig Counsell, the Cubs may not have the appetite to hang onto too many more lefty hitters for their bench. The Cubs' bench is one of the few camp battles still ongoing. Check out a full primer on the situation from Sean Chapin this weekend. One of the bench spots that is locked in is for Yan Gomes, the Cubs’ backup catcher. I say backup, because the team appears prepared to put a much larger workload on Miguel Amaya’s plate as he heads into his sophomore season. Amaya is hitting just .231/.259/.346 in 26 at-bats this spring, though he won’t need to hit much better than that to be a league-average contributor at an offensively bereft position. He’s been lauded for his work behind the plate and with the pitching staff, and if he can introduce some more power, Amaya will immediately enter the higher echelons of the catcher ranks in MLB. The pitching side of things has seen a number of interesting developments this spring, though perhaps the most important is Jordan Wicks’ dominance. In a team-leading 17 1/3 innings, Wicks has pitched to a 2.60 ERA and 12/2 K/BB ratio. He’s looked the part this preseason, and at this point, he’s all but secured the fifth starter spot in the rotation. Speaking of the rotation, Kyle Hendricks hasn’t been great in the Cactus League this year. He’s posted a 6.00 ERA and he’s been uncharacteristically wild, giving up five walks in 12 innings pitched. With Jameson Taillon set to miss at least the first turn through the rotation with back troubles, the Cubs will need Hendricks to right the ship quickly. If things play out as expected, he’ll start game two of the regular season against the Texas Rangers on Mar. 30. A lot of Cubs pitchers on the cusp of the roster are struggling this preseason. Drew Smyly has a 7.71 ERA, Hayden Wesneski’s ERA is 8.00, Daniel Palencia is up to a 5.40 ERA, and Richard Lovelady has posted an unsightly 9.64 ERA. On the bright side, all of Ben Brown (0.90), Thomas Pannone (1.13), Cam Sanders (1.42), Luke Little (0.00), and Adbert Alzolay (0.00) have ERAs below 1.50 through March 17th. Lastly, if your fantasy baseball draft is coming up and you need to know which Cubs players are worth drafting, our Josh Illes has you covered. Okay, that’s it for the baseball chatter for now. Come discuss these points in further detail in the comments with me, or bring up something else that’s exciting or concerning you. Before we get into the entertainment section, a few bullets on the administrative side of things. If you missed it, Ethan Staple and I posted our first video for NSBB this week about Shota Imanaga. Part two is coming soon (it’s a more in-depth analysis on him as a pitcher). Feel free to keep checking the home page and/or videos tab to see new content as it’s uploaded! If you’ve been keeping track of who is writing the articles for NSBB, you’ve probably seen quite a few new names over the last month. There are too many contributors to list here, but the readership isn’t the only thing that’s growing! We’re very excited with the writers we have aboard, from old heads to the newbies. It’s going to be a great year of Cubs coverage around here! As promised, a brief administrative section. There’s a lot of happenings going on around North Side Baseball, both on the backend and the front page, so keep an eye out on the site and our socials for updates. Let’s get into a bit of general sports talk. I was DMed by multiple people about my failure to cover the NHL in last week’s column. Full disclosure: I don’t follow hockey until the Stanley Cup Playoffs. I will take a peek at the Blackhawks’ record though and… yikes. Uh, at least Connor Bedard crossed the 50 points threshold? The NBA churn continues as well, and the Bulls are as mediocre as ever. They’re currently ninth place in the lesser conference, and odds are they’ll bow out in the play-in. Speaking about the Bulls, if you were watching the broadcast on Saturday, you’d think Derrick Rose retired this weekend. Turns out, the announcers were duped by a fake tweet. It was hilarious and a little heart-palpitating. NFL free agency began this week, and the Bears made it as interesting as ever. There were some great moves (Kennan Allen for a fourth-round pick!) and some not-so-great moves (Justin Fields for a conditional sixth-round pick?). The Fields trade all but guarantees the Bears will select a quarterback with the first overall pick in April. The odds-on favorite is Caleb Williams (USC), but Jayden Daniels (LSU) is receiving some major prospect helium these days. That about covers it for the other major sports. TLDR: the Blackhawks stink, the Bulls can’t get off their mediocrity treadmill, and the Bears are making moves that make it seem like they’re straddling multiple timelines. So, all in all, pretty usual stuff for Chicago sports. Now, time for a brief discussion on the biggest movie of the year. I finally saw Dune II (2024). I’ll refrain from spoilers in this section, but you should know: it’s a pretty good movie. I’m not the biggest sci-fi fan on the planet, so these kinds of movies rarely sink their hooks into me. The performances are solid, the cinematography is stunning, and the score is brilliant. All the ingredients are in place for an excellent film, but I still came away with the sentiment that it’s just a “pretty good movie”. One thing I’ll note about the performances: Javier Bardem can do no wrong. He’s brilliant in everything he’s in - his performance as Anton Chigurh in No Country For Old Men (2007) remains one of the most exceptional acting displays ever - and he steals the show as Stilgar in Dune II. Unfortunately, Christopher Walken kinda phones in his role as one of the main baddies. I’m excited to see how they adapt the book in the finale to Dennis Villeneuve’s trilogy. I never actually read the novels (they’ve been on my list forever), so whatever happens will be fresh for my eyes, even if the genre as a whole remains as predictable as ever (yes, I realize the irony in calling Dune “by the book” when it is the book). Alright, we’ll wrap it up there, folks. One more full week of spring games before we get to the real deal on March 28th. I’m antsy and nervous for this season, but mostly just excited to get back to watching Cubs baseball. I imagine most of you feel the same way. Have a great week, everyone! Go, Cubs, Go! View full article

Yea I've heard enough. #TruebloodforCubshittingcoach.

In their first Spring Training video, Brandon & Ethan break down the Cubs’ biggest offseason acquisition, Shota Imanaga. View full video

A new weekly series at North Side Baseball begins! Let’s take a look at the Cubs’ past week (and some other fun topics). Image courtesy of © Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports I hope this will be the genesis of a weekly column here at North Side Baseball. Peter King - he of Monday Morning Quarterback fame - just retired from doing his weekly column at NBC. He was a huge inspiration to me, and his tightrope act of informal tidbits and excessively niche insider information was and still is unlike anything else in the sports journalism space. Now, these columns won’t be the same as King’s: I do not have the necessary connections to discuss the game of baseball at the level King spoke about the NFL, nor do I have the time to pump out 10,000+ words a week in this space. I imagine that’s just dandy with most of you since 1,500 or so words of my rambling tend to be enough in most cases. I will use the Spring Training period to trial-and-err precisely what I want this column to look like so that when Opening Day hits, we can go right at it. I hope this becomes a collaborative environment, and I’ll try to implement the feedback I get from the editors and the readers (you) throughout the year. I can’t promise this will be the best Cubs-related blog out there, but I’ll try to ensure the weekly articles provide some value or nugget of knowledge that makes it worth reading. As a first go, I will start with bullet-point formatting since that seems the easiest way to rattle off scatterbrained thoughts in a rapid-fire manner. Generally, the column will begin with a discussion of the Cubs’ previous week at the top, followed by any administrative news/announcements, and we’ll conclude with some other entertainment-related topics (other sports, movies/television shows, music, etc.). Sound good? Let’s dive right into it. Discuss the Cubs and their Spring Training performance. The North Siders are currently 9-7-2 (tied with the Reds twice), good for sixth in the Cactus League. Owen Caissie has been the best hitter in Cubs camp all Spring, as he’s now slashing .440/.517/.680 through 25 at-bats. He’s flown a little under the radar due to Pete Crow-Armstrong’s proximity to the big leagues and the Cubs’ suddenly burgeoning farm system around him, but Caissie is a legitimate top prospect. Don’t be surprised if he’s batting between Nico Hoerner and Christopher Morel at some point in 2025. I was working on a Brennen Davis piece after his scorching start to the Spring, and then he went and suffered yet another fluke injury, this time a concussion after being hit by a pitch in the head. It’s frustrating to see Davis routinely miss time with these bogus injury issues. It wasn’t too long ago that he was considered the top prospect in the farm system, and most outlets had him among the top 25 prospects in all of baseball. His long-term spot in Chicago is now a giant question mark, with Pete Crow-Armstrong knocking on the door of Wrigley Field, but Davis is still a wildly talented player when he is healthy. Speaking of wildly talented players, Christopher Morel plays third base daily and has been in Spring Training. It’s been hit-and-miss, but the team is ready to ride it out with his mistakes. The 5th starter competition is in full swing, with Jordan Wicks seemingly jumping out in front on the back of his 2.25 ERA through eight innings. He hasn’t been striking anyone out (just three Ks so far), but he isn’t walking anyone (just one BB). It looks like Wicks will get the first crack at being the fifth starter, but don’t be surprised if the Cubs let Javier Assad assume some of the workload after his terrific performance down the stretch in 2023. If you missed it, Kris Bryant interviewed with The Athletic a few weeks ago. Bryant offers some pretty introspective insight into the pressures of being “The Chosen One” in Chicago and why he went to Colorado, even going so far as admitting that he misjudged the Rockies’ proximity to "contender" status. It’s a worthwhile read on a Cubs player's most jarring rise and fall in recent memory. It's time for some administrative fun (I can hear your cheers through the screen). As some of you know, this March marks the one-year anniversary of North Side Baseball’s relaunch. We’re now part of the same club as Brewer Fanatic and Twins Daily, which have grown tremendously in the last few years. Because the new NSBB is so… new, it’s hard to accurately compare the site’s performance to previous years. That being said, as I’m sure most of you have realized, there have been a ton of new users joining us recently. It makes for a better and more lively community, and hopefully, that trend will continue throughout the 2024 season. If you frequent BF or TD, you’ve likely seen a lot of video content from various writers and creators. At NSBB, that video content has been infrequent at best. With that in mind, I’m thrilled and excited to announce that I, in partnership with Maryland PBS Associate Producer Ethan Staple, will be taking over as the predominant video creator for North Side Baseball. Ethan’s credentials are obvious from his previous work. For those of you who don’t know, I’m a writer, director, and producer in the film world when I’m not writing about sports. Here’s a teaser for my directorial debut, which is coming out later this year. None of that means Ethan and I will automatically be good at producing Cubs-related video content, but hopefully, it isn’t a total train wreck. We’ll post videos on the NSBB homepage sporadically throughout March before getting into a consistent schedule (i.e., two or three videos a week) when the regular season starts. Lastly, if you happen to be perusing NSBB socials on the weekends, feel free to say hi… the admin and I are pretty tight. I will keep this entertainment section short this week since there were numerous administrative bullet points, but I want to jam out this part of the column in the coming months. By the time you’re reading this, NFL Free Agency has begun (at least the legal tampering period has). Many exciting things are happening in the football hemisphere, especially in the Bears’ world. That first overall pick will be the subject of A LOT of rumors over the next ~six weeks. And as I’m typing this out, the Bears just signed safety Kevin Byard. He struggled last year after a midseason swap from the Titans to the Eagles, but he is a multi-time All-Pro who’s long been one of the best cover safeties in the league. The NBA and NHL’s regular seasons are continuing in earnest. I have no idea how anyone will beat the Celtics in a seven-game series in the East, and I have zero clue how they will beat Nikola Jokic in a seven-game series in the NBA Finals. I haven’t seen Dune 2 (2024) yet (no spoilers in the comments, please!), but I did get to see Christopher Nolan’s Tenet (2020) in 70mm IMAX, which was re-released in theaters after initially being dropped during the height of the pandemic in 2020. My basic thoughts: what an insane movie. The rules and guidelines around the fragile, temporal loops in the movie’s universe are left purposefully ambiguous, and Nolan’s tergiversative attitude serves the plot well. However, the editing, performances, and writing are all as sloppy as any film in Nolan’s filmography. No wonder he cleaned up his act for Oppenheimer (2023). The 2024 Oscars just wrapped up. It mainly went to chalk, though Emma Stone's beating out Lily Gladstone for Best Actress was a surprise. Also, Oppenheimer practically swept every category it was nominated for, following in the footsteps of last year’s tour de force, Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022). If you want to discuss movies in greater detail, hang out with me on Letterboxd. Alright, folks. I think that’s where we’ll call it a wrap for now. Like I said, this space's content and formatting will change as I get feedback. Hopefully, these first few attempts at a weekly column will tide us over until I can get it in a place we all are happy with. Have a great week, everyone! Go, Cubs, Go! View full article