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Every successful team needs a middle infield to keep opposing offenses off the base pads and off the scoreboard. Image courtesy of © Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports What’s better than winning? Winning in style, and that’s what, along with intangible leadership, Cubs’ Middle infielders Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson provide. Every time you watch a game on Marquee, Jim Deshaies breaks down the defensive alignment for the Cubs. If you notice, and I know you do, this duo has gold glove icons next to their names, signifying being awarded that honor for their defensive prowess at their respective positions. Despite some extreme fielding woes this year, both players easily rank in the 90th percentile for their positions. Will they win them again this season? No, but when they’re at their best, this dazzling tandem is the two best in the majors, not just for the reasons you might think. The best teams in the business have a middle infield, making it tougher to get a ball to the outfield than getting into Wakanda in the first Black Panther movie. It hasn’t necessarily equated to wins, but the Cubs’ dynamic pair is that kind of middle infield. As incomprehensible as it sounds, given the team’s station, the team’s middle infield tandem as leaders are indispensable to the Cubs organization. When things are rolling, the party is on. You can picture what I’m talking about: As early as this past Sunday, when the Cubs’ offense fires on all cylinders, it creates an atmosphere unlike anything else in baseball. The hit count rises, and so do the vibes. But, when things go wrong, and they often do, the club needs a voice or voices of reason to make sense of the hardships and keep things steady. Hoerner and Swanson provide that through their demeanor and perseverance, yet are two of the most chastised players on the team. No one is beyond criticism, and this tandem certainly absorbs their fair share of it on social media, blogs, and other media outlets, claiming that their offensive droughts hurt the team’s performance more than other factors. The critique that aligns with this sentiment is fair, but it fails to consider their defensive mastery. At 14 OAA, Swanson ranks just outside the Top 5 in the majors in outs above average. His colleague at second base ranks in the Top 30 in this category, and 7 OAA through that elite defense stopped six runs from scoring. Scant few are on par with what these two do, and if their counterparts on other clubs get more praise, like Anthony Volpe (13 OAA, NYY) and Andres Gimenez (12 OAA, CLE), they have better records. Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson, on some nights, sink the Cubs’ chances of winning through their meager offensive output. However, their elite defensive play cements them as fixtures in the squad’s lineup now and in the long term. They get to baseballs, make spectacular defensive plays, stop the other team from scoring, and are fun to watch. This year, we’ve talked a lot about this team’s identity and being a Chicago Cub. Through grit and top-tier play, the Cubs’ duo of middle infielders provides about as good a template as you’re likely to find. They’re great players, and they deserve to be on this team for years to come. View full article

It's not that this Cubs team is terrible, they're just uninspiring. Image courtesy of © David Banks-USA TODAY Sports The game of baseball is loaded with rituals and superstitions. Most famous is the collective effort made by teams, fans, and broadcasters when one of their own is tossing a no-hitter or perfect game. There are probably several good reasons for this, but one simple one: We don’t want to screw it up. Regarding the 2024 Chicago Cubs, a similarly mute strategy is employable for this team’s enduring mediocrity; in other words, don’t ask if things can get worse. They can, and they did. With some new faces and familiar ones on board, this week was undeniable proof of this supernatural rule. As tough as this season is to stomach at times, this week was even tougher. Let’s look at how it went down… The week they commenced at the house Skyline Chili built as the Cubs took on division foe Cincinnati for three games. The guy people thought wouldn’t be a Cub anymore, Jameson Taillon, took the bump opposite the Reds’ right-hander Carson Spiers. Jamo was dead on arrival, surrendering six earned runs, one walk, and two round-trippers in 4.1 innings pitched. With the Cubs’ offense floundering from the start, Spiers didn’t need to be too sharp, but was anyway, going 5.0 innings pitched, allowing just one hit and no runs. If, for some reason, you were waiting for proof that ejections don’t mean anything, this one was for you as the Cubs’ new reliever Nate Pearson and his skipper both got ejected after Pearson drilled Reds’ batter Tyler Stephenson with an errant pitch in the eighth inning. Final Score: 7-1 Reds The aces of your staff are supposed to calm things down and right the ship after a tough loss. Unfortunately for Justin Steele, that was not the case in this one. All season long, run support has plagued the Cubs’ former All-Star. Though he managed to get through five innings of work, Steele struggled to induce the soft-hit ground balls he’s known for, getting hit hard early and often by Reds’ batters. For their part, the Cubs’ offense continued to come up empty when it mattered most, going 1-9 with RISP. Their futility handed the series win to the Reds and raised even more red flags regarding whether or not Chicago did enough of the right things at the trade deadline. Final Score: 6-3 Reds Proving they’re quite possibly the league’s most prolific team in not getting swept, the Cubs didn’t get swept in the series finale. The Cubs’ bats temporarily arose from their slumber, delivering a pleasantly productive day. With the much-maligned Kyle Hendricks getting the start in this one, it’s probably what the team needed. Hendo looked vintage sharp and rode his club’s offensive tidal wave to five strong innings in the victory. On a day when the Cubbies raked, Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki, outstanding of late, went a combined 5-9 and drove in five runs between them. As a team, and this is as far-fetched as it gets, the Cubs went 9-16 with RISP. Let’s start doing that more often. Final Score: 13-4 Cubs After salvaging a win at Great American Ballpark, the Cubs kicked off the take it or leave it (I wish to leave it) Motorola patch era with a four-game mega series versus the Saint Louis Cardinals. Lollapalooza was in town this weekend, and game one of this showdown was worth putting on repeat. In arguably the Cubs’ best and most thrilling win of the season, the team played with a touch of magic in their bats. Trailing the Cards 4-2 heading in the bottom of the 9th, the Cubbies rallied in a way we’ve rarely seen this year. 0-41 in games trailing by more than one run in the 9th, Cody Bellinger started the improbable rally with a two-out, two-strike solo shot to right field, cutting the deficit to one. Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson kept the momentum going with a couple of two-strike knocks. The stage was set for Mike Tauchman to deliver the dramatic walk-off win in front of his home crowd, and he did, lacing a two-run walk-off double down the left field line to complete the comeback. The Palatine Pounder pulled through again. Final Score: 5-4 Cubs Continuing a trend in which the Cubs seem to play up to superior opponents and down to weaker ones, the North Side club gave its fans who decided to skip work this past Friday the validation they needed. Javier Assad got the call as a starter, and he is still trying to find his groove. Assad made it through just four innings and gave way to a pretty stellar bullpen day. Drew Smyly, Tyson Miller, and even Hector Neris picked up the slack to keep Paul Goldschmidt and other dangerous Cardinals in check. Michael Busch and Christian Bethancourt did the bulk of the damage for the Cubs, cashing in game-changing homers. With it, the Cubs’ winning streak stretched to three on about as feel-good a day as you can ask for at Wrigley Field. Could the Cubs run their win streak to four with the energy building and take the series from their bitter rival? No. Crashing back down to earth after achieving a euphoric high the day prior, the Cubs’ worst habits, specifically the shaky bullpen, were on full display in a game they let get away. Jameson encouragingly erased the stench of his previous outing, clocking in six innings of one-run ball. Quality at-bats from Michael Busch, Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Miguel Amaya gave the Cubs an early 4-1 lead, which should have held up but didn’t. Hector Neris’ unreliability aside, poor communication between the outfield and infield, namely Nico Hoerner and Crow-Armstrong, blew the game for the Cubbies—lost opportunity. This was the perfect week for the Chicago Cubs: They showed flashes of brilliance pointing towards what the club could be and had the warts of who they are and why things need to change, exposed in grand fashion. Up next, the Cubs get to play at both major league ballparks in the city of Chicago. First, they welcome the Minnesota Twins to town for three games. They’ll then use an off-day Thursday to travel to the south side and face off against the worst team in baseball, the Chicago White Sox. With the book on this season drawing morosely near its end, the objective of the remainder of this club’s schedule is clear: Try some things out, hit the drawing board, and enjoy summertime in Chicago while you can. View full article

A common sentiment echoed by millions is that you can’t truly appreciate the sweet things in life until you’ve endured the sour. If that’s true, I feel Cubs fans deserve a little more sugar by now. Image courtesy of © Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports The 2024 trade deadline has come and gone, and with it, the Cubs’ front office has set a course, albeit a confusing one, for this club’s future. Though several were pining for the team to do more, Isaac Paredes and a batch of prospects are in, and Christopher Morel and Mark Leiter Jr. are out. Regarding the latter, his absence will more terminally impact the direction of this ball club. The North Side of Chicago is where, once a player earns a nickname, his departure, or even the notion of his departure, hurts a little bit more. I don’t need to rehash this club’s recent past to prove this point. Make no mistake about it: On their climb back up, the Cubs will need to uncover another reliever like Mark “Leit Show” Leiter Jr. I know some of you are here for stats, so I won’t make you wait any longer: In this season as a Cub, Mark Leiter Jr. clocked in 36.1 innings of work with over 50 strikeouts. For those uninitiated in the ways of relief pitching, that’s quite good. An often unspoken but no less true rule of relief pitching is that you absolutely must throw strikes to be effective. Before switching from Cubs pinstripes to Yankees pinstripes, Leiter did exactly that with a nasty combination of his sinker and split-finger fastball. By comparison, a reliever like, say, Hector Neris walks a ton of batters and often loses control early, leading to blown saves and heartbreak in the myriad of close games the Cubs have been in this year. Throw strikes and get batters out. That’s the formula for relief pitching, even in extended situations, which the Cubs’ have experienced plenty of this season. Leiter now brings that efficiency and a clean-shaven mug to the Yankees, who look destined for postseason glory with their acquisition of Jazz Chisholm. I’m not saying that the Cubs let one get away; Leiter is 33 years old and was on a team going nowhere, but I will say that the Cubbies need a strike-throwing, shutdown guy. You’d be hard-pressed to identify that guy in the Cubs’ bullpen right now. The Leit is out in Chicago, now, with things in a state of transition in Chicago. Who will shed light on the path forward? View full article

As one of his most prominent supporters, this sentence brings me no great joy: Christopher Morel is a Tampa Bay Ray, and power-hitting third baseman Isaac Paredes is a Chicago Cub. Image courtesy of © Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports Considering the calm before the July 30th trade deadline storm, Jed Hoyer and Carter Hawkins are orchestrating the old switcheroo from their earlier proclaimed “seller” status. In scooping up the career .734 OPS slugger Isaac Paredes, the Cubs’ brass boldly reneged on packing it in for this season, holding only an eye for the future. The Cubs are going for it, even though Paredes factors into the team’s long-term future at twenty-five years old. The second great sell-off since the franchise-changing 2021 season is (probably) nothing more than an educated guess now that Isaac Paredes and former Blue Jays reliever Nate Pearson are en route to the North Side of Chicago to boost the team’s postseason hopes. I can’t believe this is happening, but I guess the powers that be were as disgusted by last season's ending as I was. And with all that, Craig Counsell’s team still had pivotal games to play on the field, producing mixed, if not eyebrow-raising results. Let’s dive in… This week, the on-field action kicked off with the Cubbies notching what at the time was a heartening victory versus division rival Milwaukee. Still settling in after a lengthy stay on the IL, Javier Assad labored through 3.1 innings of one-hit baseball. Though he managed to keep the Crew off the board, Assad racked up a high pitch count early, issuing six walks and tiptoeing through some serious traffic on the base pads. The recently resurgent bullpen sparkled in relief of Assad, delivering quick innings and frustrating the Brewers’ frequently potent lineup. With key at-bats from Ian Happ, Michael Busch, and Mike Tauchhman, the Cubbies did enough of the little things to earn a win in the series opener. Final Score: 3-1 Cubs Game two in the series brought back the familiar sinking feeling the Cubs and their fans have come to know all season long: a one-run loss. What lingered about this defeat was the brilliant performance from Cubs’ starter Jameson Taillon. He dealt 7.1 efficient innings of work in which he would allow just one run on four hits and three free passes, striking out three batters as well. It's something to remember him by, should he be hurling for a new team next week. If Paredes had brought the power and offensive charge he’d promised to have, the Cubbies could have used it in this one. Zero runs won’t win you too many ball games, and it didn’t in this case. Scattering seven hits (the same as the Brewers), the Cubs went a putrid 0-5 with RISP. Final Score: 1-0 Brewers After getting blanked the previous day, could the Cubs tally a series win against their division rival before hitting the road to Kansas City? No. This one hurt a little extra in a season teeming with one-run losses. Justin Steele often yields nearly unimpeachable results on the mound for his squad, but not on this day. Going 5.1 shaky innings, the Cubs’ offense once again left their starting pitcher with almost zero margin for error. It’s hard to be worse than nothing, but the Cubs stranded five base runners in this one, going one for four with RISP. They wasted opportunities and a devastating series loss. Final Score: 3-2 Brewers. After a day off for travel, the Cubs arrived in Kansas City to take on the respectable Royals of the AL Central. The wildly inconsistent veteran Kyle Hendricks took the mound for the Cubs in this one. Decent through four innings of work, the Professor got shelled in the fifth inning, getting touched up for a staggering six runs. That would be more than enough as the Cubs again got shut out, and though they collected only four hits, they left five on base and went 0-7 with RISP. On this night, in this game, it looked as if the team had given up for the year. Final Score: 6-0 Royals They all count as one, and in game two of the series, the Cubs proved this fact. Scoring consistently throughout, the Cubs’ offense somehow resurrected itself and, in doing so, made a statement that they’re not done with this season yet. Pinch-hitter Patrick Wisdom was anything but conventional in the seventh inning, in which he absolutely obliterated a game-changing grand slam to left field at Kauffman Stadium. Julian Merryweather recorded the win in relief after valiant efforts from fellow bullpen arms Porter Hodge and Hector Neris. Shota Imanaga recorded 5.1 innings of work as the starter. Final Score: 9-4 Cubs After an improbable bounce-back win, the Cubbies set their sights on dethroning the Royals again to earn the series win. And they did. I love it when a starting pitcher can bookend a let-down performance with a redemptive one. That’s exactly what Javier Assad managed to do in this rubber match. The Cubs’ new Javy sparkled in 6.0 innings of work in which he allowed only three runs and punched out five batters. Offensively, the Cubs got clutch hits from Pete Crow-Armstrong and the Boat Show himself, David Bote. It’s games like this that urge me to keep watching for what this soon-to-be new-look Cubs team can do when they play to their potential. Hope sprang eternal on an emotional swan song day for Christopher Morel. Final Score: 7-3 Cubs So here we go: The new-look Cubs, who could be even newer-look Cubs by the time you read this, are set for a critical week of games that could vastly change their fortunes in the division. First up, the North Side ball club takes to Great American Ballpark to battle Elly De La Cruz and the Cincinnati Reds for three games. They’ll start August back at Wrigley, welcoming the Saint Louis Cardinals to town for a four-game set. With the dust settling on moves geared to shake things up for the Cubs’ organization, the team figures to keep our attention, if not thrill us, as the season's final two months get underway. View full article

There’s nothing like a day at Wrigley. But the Cubs experience could be better. Image courtesy of © Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports Whether driving in from Lombard or stepping off the 22 bus at Clark and Waveland, a Cubs baseball game harnesses the power to change your mood, maybe even your life. And that’s even in a year like this, with the product on the field as bad as it is. Estimated at over $4.2 billion, The Chicago Cubs are one of the most valuable franchises in all sports. Represented worldwide, the blue pinstripe jersey, or the blue cap with a red “C” emblazoned on it, unites a global fan base and brand. From a business standpoint, Tom Ricketts finds himself at the helm of an absolute money-printing factory. But, with the performance on the field so lackluster, careening toward another finish without postseason baseball, what does it all mean? What is the state of the Cubs brand? Don’t take my or Bill Murray’s word for it, but Wrigley Field possesses a classic baseball beauty you must see in person to appreciate truly. Around every turn, from the iconic marquee to the even more iconic ivy that adorns the outfield walls. It truly is a magnificent place and offers an experience that should be for everyone, but dig just a bit under the surface, and you’ll find that it’s becoming less so. In the days of P.K. Wrigley, when the baseball played on the diamond was similarly underwhelming to what we’re witnessing today, the experience at the stadium was all about entertainment value. I don’t even P.K. could’ve imagined the entertainment brand the Cubs would blossom into. With quality competition certainly removed from the equation (hopefully just for now), amusement and spectacle reign supreme inside the Friendly Confines. I attended the game where Anthony Rizzo hit his last home run as a Chicago Cub. “Whoomp! (There It Is)” blared over the speakers, high fives abounded, and the place shook more than an earthquake brought on by the San Andreas Fault. Short of having yet attended a playoff game at Wrigley, that was the finest example of what the park can be at its best: good entertainment AND good baseball. Nowadays, fans still erupt in such a fashion, but more so for beer bats filled to the brim with Michelob Ultra, AI-generated artwork for kids, and the smooth voice of public address announcer Jeremiah Paprocki. The brand is in great shape. What’s more, it’s as widespread as it has ever been. Just last season, the Cubs participated in the “MLB World Tour” London Series, squaring off against the Saint Louis Cardinals. It led to great exposure and a gathering of both franchises, Mount Rushmores of legendary players. Next spring that global expansion will continue as the Cubbies face off against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Tokyo, Japan, in the league’s opening series. It’s exciting; it’s a mammoth opportunity to feature the club at its best, but it’s also a prime example of the vast chasm between the Cubs as a brand and the Cubs as a baseball team. The time to marry brand health and e-baseball is now. People scan their tickets in droves because of the history, ranking in the top ten in attendance, Wrigley is routine. However, with experiences veering more towards premium clubs and suites, the typical fan is threatened to be priced out of enjoying the game and the team they love. Conceding that the cost of almost everything comes at a premium these days, Cubs baseball is too beloved a brand to price out real fans, chomping down on the hand that feeds in the process. Whatever this team looks like on August 1st, they need to improve. Bring in power bats, supercharge this offense, and start doing things the right way from the perspective of baseball operations. Is the Cubs brand too big to fail? Probably. But, for things to get going, we need better baseball. View full article

Can we go back to the All Star break? We had a slim week, so strap in for a slim recap. I’m in. Let’s sell whatever we can and get back the cornerstone building blocks to secure the next great Cubs team. Cubs fans deserve it. The city of Chicago deserves it. And whatever current players remain with the club after the trade deadline deserve it. There is not much to say, but what went down in one weekend series versus fellow Wild Card hopeful Arizona spoke volumes about who the Cubs are. This team possesses a litany of issues, most of which are on offense. Let’s jump in. Hoping to get scorching hot in a hurry, the Cubs kicked off the second half from the Friendly Confines with what was on paper, some very favorable pitching match-ups. In game one of this three-game contest, staff ace Justin Steele was snake-bitten by the D-Backs. The often untouchable Cubs’ starter got roughed in this one, giving up five earned runs on nine hits. He walked two batters and struck out six before getting pulled after four and two-thirds innings of work. The Cubs put up a fight late but again succumbed to their penchant for stranding base runners in scoring position. Final Score: 5-2 Diamondbacks. Kyle Hendricks assumed starting pitching duties for game two, and the fading veteran showed why his services are best suited to a bullpen capacity. Not that his offense did the 34-year-old pitcher any favors, failing to score even one run, but a pair of fifth-inning homers for the Snakes sealed the Cubs’ fate. We know that for many reasons, not the least of which is the eventual return of Ben Brown, Hendricks is not long for this starting rotation, but this performance further emphasized that notion. Final Score: 3-0 Diamondbacks With designs on salvaging one in front of 40,000+ Wrigley faithful, Shota “Sho Time” Imanaga was magnificent on Sunday afternoon. Easily looking the part of an MLB All-Star, Imanaga took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning before giving up a ground ball single into center field off the bat of Arizona’s Randal Grichuk. The pitching Philosopher went seven strong and struck out a career-high ten batters, but it took a ninth-inning rally to set up extra innings drama for the Cubs. The tenth inning would see the Cubbies take the series finale in the most thrilling fashion: a walk-off walk to Nico Hoerner. Final Score: 2-1 Cubs After seemingly being the last to jump on board, I am ready for the Cubs to sell. This team needs a shot in the arm more than Jeff Tweedy and Wilco. I just want to see winning baseball. With the month of July drawing to a close, the Cubs host the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers for a three-game set that should all but close the book on any faint postseason hopes this team possessed. The Cubs need to get back to winning ways. It’s time for a clean slate. View full article

There’s a lot that the Chicago Cubs don’t have, but they do have this: elite starting pitching. Image courtesy of © Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports Justin Steele is the top “bulldog” of the rotation and the best in all of Major League Baseball. No, not Paul Skenes or anyone else; it’s our “Man of Steele.” After reading this article to the last sentence, you’ll be convinced this statement is fact, not fiction. I’d go so far as to say his talents are underrated, but the threat of his possible trade in a couple of weeks suggests otherwise. As long and painful as this season has been, moving this Cubs’ hurler seriously hurt the team and led to an arduous rebuild that no one wanted or expected. The Cubs can make a bold statement about their plans for success and create some goodwill in the process by extending Justin Steele. Starting pitcher is the most important position on the diamond. Working sometimes only once a week, the starting pitcher is charged with performing his role with poise, confidence, and a certain measure of stubbornness. He sets the tone and, if inadequate, shifts a manager’s whole approach to winning a nine-inning game. Due to his skill set, tenacity, and coveted intangibles, Justin Steele is currently the best one going in the majors. What are you looking for in a starting pitcher? A lethal fastball? Check. He throws it a lot and gets batters out with it a lot (22.0%). How about a sterling WHIP? Yes. For his career, Steele boasts a 1.20. And then, lastly, how about longevity? Got that one, too. This year, especially, Steele goes at least six innings more often than the shake machine at McDonald’s breaks down. So there you have it: he checks the boxes that are there but also the boxes that aren’t there. To be a great pitcher, one must care about winning and his team. Steele is one of the only true leaders on this team, behaving with a sense of urgency and an understanding of what this game and this team mean to the city. I don’t believe in coincidence, so there’s no question that the Cubbies’ mini-run they had before the first half ended was ignited when Steele laid into his teammates and started demanding more. Without turning it into a shtick or counterproductive measure, Steele’s passion and strive for success is something every clubhouse needs, especially on the North Side of Chicago. Listen, I’m not naive enough to think that Steele will be in anything but another team’s uniform by the start of August, but it’s a move that will haunt Tom Ricketts’ organization for years to come. An undeniable truism of the game is this: “You can never have enough pitching.” This is one department, at least from a starting pitching rotation perspective, where the Cubs enjoy tremendous wealth. With the potential departure of Steele and his leadership, that wealth could soon turn into poverty. View full article

While the 2024 season has been a disappointment, Cody Bellinger's time in Chicago has left its mark on fans. Image courtesy of © Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports I keep my phone face down on my nightstand overnight to help me sleep better. Less distraction and less unnecessary light beaming out of my device like a walk sign on Michigan Avenue. But then, one night, I left it face up, and at around 2:00 AM, I got the same alert I’m sure many of you did as well. ESPN Breaking News: Per Jeff Passan, Cody Bellinger signed a three-year deal with the Cubs. Player opt-outs are after each of the first two seasons, essentially making it three consecutive one-year deals. It was the first move from this past off-season since the hiring of Craig Counsell as manager that got me truly excited and hopeful for the season ahead. Without belaboring how wrong I was about where this club would be at this point of the season, the Bellinger signing was still an encouraging development at the time, both from the perspective of the front office delivering a player the fan base wanted and cementing a certified superstar in the Cubs’ everyday lineup. You might argue that his past droughts exclude him from the superstar moniker (they don’t), and you might even think he’s a tad too expensive (he is), but one thing you should do unequivocally is this: remember his time here fondly. Many professional sports cities have local legends addressed by first or last name only, and Chicago is no exception; here are a few that come to mind: Ditka, Jordan, Rizzo, and, yes, Belli. Switch-hitting Cubs’ stalwart Ian Happ was on 670 The Score the other day for one of his regular interviews and alluded to this idea that players don’t simply show up in the majors and set the world on fire. There’s a natural and expected gestation process for a player to become great, even intriguing. Looking at what Cody Bellinger has done in his time in Chicago, answer these questions: Who has been a more exciting player? Which player poses more of a problem for opposing pitchers? The answer is not many. For every Gunnar Henderson and Julio Rodriguez, countless other players are standing in the shadows of anonymity, hoping to impact a big league ball club in a major way. Belli doesn’t live in anonymity; he’s what we call “a dude,” and he ignites the kind of magic that Jed Hoyer and every other GM in the game pine for, search for, and often never find. View full article

When identifying what’s wrong with the 2024 version of the Cubs, it’s like walking into the Museum of Science and Industry for the first time: you don’t know where to start. From sparse offense in crucial moments to a slew of catastrophic injuries, Chicago’s North Side club has found ways to lose all year. But that’s not what this piece is about; instead, I’m imploring you to consider this Cub's “Big Three” of starting pitchers as imperative to the Cubs’ return to meaningful and competitive baseball. If the Cubs are serious about competing next season and beyond, Justin Steele, Shota Imanaga, and Javier Assad must remain on the team long-term. How’s that for a thesis statement? And if you’re still reading, you will soon find out why these three Cubby hurlers are worth keeping around, not just from a statistical standpoint but also from a cultural standpoint. In 2024, the game of baseball is so embedded in statistics and analytics, both on the field and off, that I sometimes forget if I’m creating a Microsoft Word document or an Excel spreadsheet. The first guy I will tell you about, Justin Steele, makes both diehards and casual fans forget about software programs and get locked into baseball. Steele has been with the organization for over six years and was effective almost immediately. In 2017, he was selected as an All-Star with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. The 2023 season saw Steele rack up 16 wins, good enough to finish top five in the National League. Due to an early-season injury and the team’s weak offensive production, Steele’s wins have dropped off in 2024, yet he still boasts a 2.95 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. I am neither Bill James nor Billy Beane, but those seem like the numbers of a guy you’d want to keep around. Every five days, usually at around 1:20 PM, “Shotamaina” takes over the North Side of Chicago. After going largely overlooked in free agency, thanks to the blockbuster presence of Yoshinobu Yamamoto and his now fellow Dodger Shohei Ohtani, Imanaga burst onto the scene. To say Shota Imanaga has been a pleasant surprise would be like calling the cinematography in a Christopher Nolan movie “adequate.” Imanaga is not adequate; he’s elite, and until the Cubs began this excruciating spiral into mediocrity, he was considered a top candidate to win the National League Cy Young Award. He’s been called “The Throwing Philosopher,” which makes plenty of sense the more you see him pitch. Imanaga claims to be working on a more varied arsenal of pitches, but he delivers dazzling numbers with a fastball that, when on, is virtually untouchable. Per Baseball Savant, his fastball ranks in the 89th percentile for value. Moreover, he ranks in the 95th percentile for both fastball chase rate and walks allowed. What that translates to for the less statistically inclined: Shota Imanaga keeps guys off base. With a team experiencing a stark decline in defensive proficiency this season, limiting the opposition’s base runners is more critical than ever. Regardless of what the front office might yield from moving Imanaga, the loss of goodwill from a public perspective would be detrimental. The least of Jed Hoyer’s concerns should be how to get rid of the types of players that help this team win. The final piece of this starting pitching core we’ll talk about is Javier Assad. Through a striking level of consistency, Javier Assad has cemented himself as an underrated commodity in 2024. To me, his vitality to the Cubs’ rotation is non-negotiable. Like pretty much every other player on the team, Assad is injured right now, but Assad impresses nevertheless. Although Assad leads the league in songs written about him, he has a smaller sample size of games to analyze his work on. Over three seasons, Assad boasts a sub-4 ERA, and this season delivers surprisingly clutch performances with RISP. Unlike his colleagues we spoke about earlier, the 26-year-old right-hander gets by with a steady diet of his sinker, thrown 36.5% of the time. Again, it's a small sample size, but if a cornerstone of your game plan as a team is to stop the other guys from scoring runs, he excels in that category. No matter what words I put down here, the likelihood of all three of these starters being on the team by the end of the month is, unfortunately, slim. But good pitching has to come from somewhere, and every contending team has it. I get that the Cubs have it and aren’t contenders, but moving these guys will ensure we won’t be for a while. View full article

Well, if you had grown tired of the Cubs losing one-run games, this was the week for you. Image courtesy of © David Banks-USA TODAY Sports But, if you were hoping for the start of a miracle run that pulls the club out of the seller cellar, this was not the week for you. The Cubs returned to Wrigley this week for a unique six-game home stand against one of MLB’s best teams and one of MLB’s worst teams. After an off day last Monday, The Cubs hosted the NL East-leading Phillies, and while the contests weren’t as one-sided as you’d expect, given how each squad’s respective seasons have gone, the Cubs still dropped two out of three to Kyle Shwarber’s current squad. The first game in the series saw two young pitchers square off as the Phils’ newly acquired Michael Mercado took the mound opposite the Cubs’ Hayden Wesneski. Wesneski has been imbalanced at best this season, and this start was no different; he went five innings, gave up five hits, five earned runs, walked three, and struck out seven. Mercado, on the other hand, was razor sharp. His final line for this early-July match: five innings pitched, two hits allowed, one earned run, two walks surrendered, and struck out four. The Cubs stayed close early, drawing to within one after notching a run in the third inning, but did not score again until the ninth with a three-run rally that fell short, ending in a 6-4 loss. Game two in the series was as frustrating as any game this year for the Cubbies. They sent staff ace Shota Imanaga to the bump, and he did not disappoint, putting his team in position to win, going six full innings and allowing three runs. The Cubs’ scant offense did them in once again, pushing across only three runs on nine hits. Pete Crow-Armstrong swiped yet another base, though his struggles at the plate continue to be a major concern for Craig Counsell’s club. Final score: 5-3 Philadelphia. Chicago went with Jameson Taillon in the series finale, and he continued what’s been an impressive stretch, surrendering a meager two runs on four hits over seven frames of baseball. Ian Happ led an offensive barrage for his squad, cashing in two monstrous 3-run home runs, one from each side of the plate, the second of which he launched over the wall in right field and onto Waveland Avenue. In arguably their most impressive appearances of the season, Drew Smyly and Hector Neris came on in relief, both recording an inning of scoreless baseball as the Cubs rolled to a 10-2 victory. Next up, the Cubbies welcomed the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim into the Friendly Confines. Though the Cubs failed to sweep the lowly Halos, they did earn a series win, taking two of three, and what stood out was not that they did it but how they did it. In game one, we were treated to one of perhaps the best pitching performances of the season in professional baseball as Justin Steele, the Mississippi Bulldog himself, dazzled, going all nine innings and enjoying his first-ever complete-game victory. He was the story of the day in what proved to be an almost perfect performance for the Cubs, both offensively and defensively. Starting at third base, Miles Mastrobuoni put on a defensive clinic and set the tone early with an extra base-stealing snag on an absolute line rocket off the bat of Angels’ lead-off man Taylor Ward. The Cubs cruised to a 5-1 win, and if anything comes up this season, then this one will certainly go down as “The Justin Steele Game.” Maybe it still will. Coming off of the emotional high from the previous game, the Cubs delivered a resoundingly flat performance in game two. Kyle Hendricks etched the start Cubs fans have come to fear this season, getting knocked around early and often. In his only two innings of work, Hendricks surrendered four hits, allowed two earned runs, walked two, and only struck out one batter. Though his viability as a starter and how his presence in the Cubs’ starting rotation plagues the club’s overall chances of a resurgence were already in question, the calls for his removal are now louder than ever. The Cubs managed nothing offensively, scattering four hits and going 0-1 with RISP. In the series' rubber match, Hayden Wesneski looked to quell concerns about his weak performance earlier in the week. And he did. Notching 6.1 innings of work, Wesneski sparkled with the one-hit ball, no earned runs, walking one, and striking out two. He stepped up when his team desperately needed it and helped the Cubbies return the favor of the previous game’s shutout, delivering one of their own to the Angels on Sunday afternoon, 5-0 in Wrigleyville. Now, after another off day Monday, the Cubs will hit the road, continuing the fight for their lives with a brutal seven-game stretch versus the Baltimore Orioles for three and a four-game series against the rival Cardinals in St. Louis. To paraphrase Tom Morello, “Nobody said it would be easy,” and it won’t be. But as we hurdle toward the All-Star break and the official end to the first half of the season, in winning a few games comfortably, the Cubs may be doing just enough to keep us invested just a bit longer. View full article

Let’s get one thing out of the way: The Cubs are a bad baseball team. From their 40-48 record to their strikeout percentage in potentially game-changing at-bats, they are a failure. I’m not here to tell you anything to the contrary, but I will propose this question: What if they weren’t? Image courtesy of © David Banks-USA TODAY Sports As the last firework embers cascade down towards the grounds of Navy Pier, and we steamroll closer and closer to the MLB trade deadline like a Metra train on its way to Naperville, we still have an awful lot of baseball left to play. An awful lot of baseball and a rising tide of trade talks regarding the team’s most valuable assets are the expectations, if not hard to ignore. By the end of this month, names like Jameson Taillon, Cody Bellinger, Nico Hoerner, and even Justin Steele could be wearing different teams’ uniforms. Even though I’m awake, that’s a nightmare scenario, and here’s why: When you empty your cupboard, you’ve got nothing left to eat. Suppose hunger is a familiar feeling striking you right in the bones at this very moment. Consider this: We did the same thing in 2021: sold off every asset of value, wound up with Alfonso Rivas playing first base, and worst of all, it didn’t work. Now, I’ll grant you that even if we sent all of the aforementioned players on their way to other cities, we’ve still got some dudes: Michael Busch, Shota Imanaga, and the currently injured Javier Assad spring to mind, but which of those guys do you want to build a team around? Which one of those guys plays the role of catalyst sparking “The next great Cubs team”? Busch is a revelation at first base, and though Shota Imanaga has taken the league by storm, he’s not only shown some serious vulnerabilities with his fastball command, he’s thirty years old. Do not misconstrue what I’ve said or will say as blind sunshine optimism, but understand that grass is not always greener. Create a green screen in your mind for a moment and imagine on it the backdrop to one of Disney’s iconic sports films, now that you’ve gone and done that, I’m sure you’ve envisioned the leader of that team giving an impassioned speech, rallying the other players to a dramatic comeback victory. Given their record and how they claim victory, the Brewers are the only real-life Disney movie this year, but that role player, the leader, the one who delivers the speech, is something the Cubs still need and would be devoid of if this next great sell-off occurs. Regarding the leaders on this team, two names stand out above the rest in recent games and the long haul: Justin Steele and Ian Happ. Should that manifest, I can’t think of a player’s departure that would hurt more than Justin Steele. He’s only twenty-eight, has a 3.28 ERA, was a Cy Young finalist last season, and treats playing in front of the fans at Wrigley Field like the privilege it is. Players like Steele help the bleacher beer snake grow ever elongated. We’ll discuss at great length precisely who the Cubs should build around in a later piece, but whoever that may be, Justin Steele needs to be there to compliment him. He’s a leader. Ian Happ is a leader, too. Now you know I’ve been on board for every stop along the Ian Happ train, but what you’re seeing in him right now is not just morale, it’s not just stability, it’s resolve. Watching him slug his team out of a potential sweep and, instead, into a resounding 10-2 victory over the Phillies on Independence Day was all the validation I needed to see in cementing his role as a cornerstone to the Cubs’ future success. The team we saw take the field on our nation’s birthday could plausibly win, say, 12 out of 14 of its next games. That’s just it, isn’t it? The Cubs’ shortcomings and near-misses never seem to be that far in proximity to their triumphs. They lost the series to Philadelphia; yes, they’ve lost all kinds of series to superior teams and far inferior ones. The Northsiders might be a bad team, but one with a few great players worth keeping around to help realize the club’s future aspirations. What will another haul of minor league prospects yield for this team? We supposedly already have an elite farm system loaded with the next heir apparent regime. So the question is, what do you want from this club? And, now that we’ve accepted failure as the inevitable outcome, what happens if we don’t fail? View full article

It won't be like this forever... will it? Image courtesy of © Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK Perhaps one of the more reassuring aspects of Cubs fandom is this: there are many of us. Indeed, when you think of the most prominent and storyline-intensive franchises in all sports, our baseball team finds itself on a short list with the likes of the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, and the Los Angeles Dodgers. With that said, you can bet that the whole world is watching when the Cubs move. I watched Kris Bryant throw the ball to first baseman Anthony Rizzo, recording the final out of the 2016 World Series, erupting into jubilation as the sins of a 108-year curse were washed away before my eyes and the eyes of record-breaking millions around the nation. Or so we thought… Back in 2017, a year I would later dub “The Hangover Year,” after most of the confetti on Sheffield outside of Murphy’s Bleachers had been swept up, Glencoe native Rich Cohen published a book called “The Chicago Cubs: Story Of A Curse.” We’ll delve into specifics momentarily, but I’m here to tell you unequivocally: the curse is alive, and the story is still being written. If the current outcomes of the 2024 season aren’t proof enough, stick around while I get you caught up on why the curse is still with us and what chapter we’re on. Rewinding the clock before a World Series championship was a legitimate proposition. We zoomed in on 2009, the year the Ricketts family took ownership of our beloved baseball club. According to Cohen’s book (If you haven’t read it, do so), Tom Ricketts and his trusted cohorts imposed an immediate shift in trajectory. For as much critique as Ricketts is due for his team’s performance on the field, spend a few minutes with the guy, and it’s clear: the guy cares, and he knows his stuff. Speaking with Rich Cohen at the outset of his acquisition of the Cubs, he had this to say about the curse: “The people you’d want to ask are the players because the only way the curse has any real meaning or impact is if the players felt pressure in a way that affected their performance on the field.” Heard, Tom. And a nice first name, by the way. It goes without saying that these comments were made before Chicago eradicated a 108-year championship drought with the fearless Theo Epstein at the helm. Epstein operated with a sense of confidence and maybe a little arrogance that was enough to ignore our club’s very real curse and win in defiance of it. This aura of confidence, this recognition of the Chicago Cubs as a beloved brand that scores of other humans count on, is why Jed Hoyer and Carter Hawkins underachieve: they aren’t arrogant enough about it and don’t act in defiance of the curse. Maybe it’s because they think one World Series was enough or because they treat their business too much like a business. Regardless of how you want to view their approach, one thing is painfully clear: they’re not producing results worthy of Cubs baseball. Losing is, without a doubt, not the most important component of a loss; it’s how you lose that sticks with a team more than anything. Look no further than the Cubs’ flame thrower Justin Steele’s reaction to his team’s latest tilt with the Milwaukee Brewers for proof of this theory. He had his release, pleading with his team to “wake the (expletive) up!” after the offense failed to break the game open with another pack of stranded base runners. Piling up more one-run losses than any other team in the majors is a cruel manifestation of the curse; Steele, though he hasn’t been around here long, understands that a touch of well-timed fire is needed to ward off both curses and a lost season. “I know how good we can be; I love every guy in that locker room.” Could Steele’s pleas be enough to win this chapter of the Chicago Cubs’ curse? Will Michael Busch and Ian Happ stay as hot as the griddle serving hot dogs at the Wiener’s Circle? Probably not. But the possibility will keep me, and I’m sure at least a few other fans will return to find out. Maybe that’s why we remain devout followers; yes, watching our team lose is gut-wrenching and excruciating at times, but “knowing how good. we can be” isn’t just what keeps use going; it’s what makes being a part of the Cubs family special. View full article