Over the past couple weeks, I’ve watched two more shows on Amazon – each just had its first season in 2014 – and they were both excellent in different ways. ‘Broad City’ is a Comedy Central show, and I found it to be funny, but mostly just fun. It was silly and stupid, but the two leading ladies are magnetic. ‘Transparent’ is an Amazon original, and it was incredibly well done, thoughtful, and weighty. The quality easily matched anything you could find on any other premium network, which I also found impressive. I highly recommend both shows.
I also highly recommend using Amazon for getting things and stuff. When you do, use this link to support BN in the process. Heck, just make that link your Amazon bookmark.
Since I gave Pedro Strop some love behind Hector Rondon and Neil Ramirez yesterday, it’s only fair to give some love to the fourth guy in the pen who had a great year: Justin Grimm. On July 23, it looked like Justin Grimm’s season was in the tank. He’d just imploded against the Padres, allowing three earned runs on two hits and three walks in an inning of work, and his ERA/FIP/xFIP slash line had sunk to an ugly 4.98/4.19/4.31. After early flashes, he was no longer striking guys out at a prodigious rate (it had sunk to 21.5% – barely over league average), and he was walking guys with reckless abandon (12.3% at that point, almost twice the league average rate). Maybe it just wasn’t working out. But then Grimm went on a tear. From that point through the end of the season, he posted a ridiculous 1.75 ERA, 1.53 FIP, and 2.50 xFIP. His strikeout rate shot up to 28.9%, his walk rate dropped to a microscopic 3.1%, and he didn’t give up a single homer. For those two and a half months, Grimm was among the best relievers in baseball.
So, what in the world happened to turn things around? Well, I don’t know if it was a mechanical adjustment or a physical improvement, but Grimm’s velocity from that July 23 appearance forward increased on all of his pitches across the board. Significantly. His four-seam fastball was right around 94mph in mid-July, but it climbed steadily to 96/97mph by September. His breaking pitches added several clicks as well. It looks like this isn’t an arbitration cut-off situation: Grimm was struggling, fixed something, and then took the heck off. I can’t wait to see what he can do in 2015.
Sacrifice bunting sometimes helps you win a game. Even I’ll concede that. But the amount it helps is pretty minimal, and the downside risk is considerable. Check out this FanGraphs chart on Win Probability Added for sac bunts this year, with pitcher bunt attempts removed (because they’re kind of a different animal). The Royals are on top with a whopping 1.0 WPA (sac bunting all year got them one more win than they otherwise would have gotten – that’s fine, but it’s not exactly a huge benefit). The very bottom? You guessed it: the Cubs, at -0.9 WPA. They lost nearly an entire game because of the sac bunting. STOP. BUNTING.
This is a fascinating, detailed read on plate discipline – specifically, the rates at which a player swings at pitches in and out of the strike zone – and how difficult it is to dramatically improve discipline in the big leagues. It can happen a little bit over the course of several years, but it’s rare.
If you missed this week’s live stream, I talked about a crazy Edwin Jackson/Jonathan Papelbon swap, about what the Phillies are doing with Cole Hamels, about Junior Lake’s future, about the attractiveness of Dexter Fowler as a one-year option, and much more:
Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here.
Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.
Meaning no offense to Kyle Hendricks, but if you had to choose a veteran right-handed in the Cubs' rotation to face the Atlanta Braves this week, you're probably going with Jameson Taillon. We may never know if that was part...
There is something about seeing Cubs players homer with pink bats that makes me smile extra wide. I suppose it's PROBABLY at least a little because this is one of my favorite Cubs memories: https://twitter.com/ChiSportsDay/status/1788291377333170611 Javy Báez, with the pink...
It's Mother's Day. I'm hanging with the family. I don't feel like being as pissed off as a game like that threatened to make me. So I am QUITE relieved by that 10th inning (and the fact that the Cubs...
I'll just presume he was sending this one out for mom. And I'll also presume that the knee is indeed feeling good. Home run number nine on the season for Christopher Morel: https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1789713524052087082
CUBS LINEUP — The Cubs have played thirteen series so far this season, and this is already their eighth rubber match. Let's see if Kyle Hendricks and the Cubs can bring this one in. Chicago Cubs Lineup: Nico Hoerner, SS...
No surprises here, as the decision to start Kyle Hendricks this afternoon against the Pirates was made yesterday, but the news has officially hit the wire, and here it is. Kyle Hendricks Activated Kyle Hendricks is returning from his short...
Happy Mother's Day to the mothers among you, and to the mothers in my life! I'll be doing some extra family stuff today, so I'm gonna cruise through these Bullets ... Up front, because this was certainly the thing most...
The Sunday TBD has been D'd, and it's going to be Kyle Hendricks coming back an outing early. Instead of making another rehab start at Iowa, Hendricks is going to be activated from the IL to rejoin the rotation tomorrow:...
The Cubs came within 90 feet of keeping that ridiculous game going. No dice. Stupid game. Early on, it just kinda seemed like the Cubs might lose a perfectly normal - bad, but normal - game. Justin Steele did not...
CUBS LINEUP — After a little tease yesterday, Seiya Suzuki is actually, officially in the Cubs lineup today. And he'll be greeted with a tough matchup against the top pitching prospect in Major League Baseball. Welcome back! Chicago Cubs Lineup:...
The Baltimore Orioles (26-13) are favorites (-170) on the moneyline when they take on the Toronto Blue Jays (18-22) Monday at 6:35 PM ET, live on SNET.Baltimore's Corbin Burnes and Toronto's Jose Berrios have been named the starters for this...
The Detroit Tigers (20-20) are favorites (-173) on the moneyline when they take on the Miami Marlins (11-31) Monday at 6:40 PM ET, live on BSDET.Matt Manning will get the ball for Detroit while Miami will counter with Sixto Sanchez.Tigers...
The Chicago Cubs (24-17) enter Monday's matchup with the Atlanta Braves (24-13) following their 2-1 series victory over the Pirates. The Braves, coming off of a series win against the Mets, are listed as -146 favorites for Game 1. The...
The Philadelphia Phillies (28-13) are favorites (-128) on the moneyline when they take on the New York Mets (19-20) Monday at 7:10 PM ET, live on NBCS-PH.Philadelphia's Cristopher Sanchez gets the start, and he'll go against New York's Sean Manaea.Phillies...
The Tampa Bay Rays (20-21) are the underdogs on the moneyline (-101) in Monday's contest against the Boston Red Sox (21-19). Game time is set for 7:10 PM ET on NESN. The Rays are favored against the spread in this...
The Chicago White Sox (12-29) start a three-game series against the Washington Nationals (19-20) on Monday at Guaranteed Rate Field. First pitch is at 7:40 PM.The probable pitchers are Trevor Williams (4-0) for the Nationals and Chris Flexen (2-3) for...
The Texas Rangers (22-20) look to end a stretch of three losses as they play the Cleveland Guardians (25-16) on Monday at 8:05 PM ET.The probable pitchers are Michael Lorenzen (2-2) for the Rangers and Tanner Bibee (2-1) for the...
The Pittsburgh Pirates (18-23) kick off a three-game series on Monday against the Milwaukee Brewers (24-16). The contest starts at 7:40 PM ET at American Family Field.The Brewers will give the nod to Colin Rea (3-0, 3.29 ERA), who is...
The Oakland Athletics (19-23) open a four-game series against the Houston Astros (15-25) with a Monday meeting at Minute Maid Park. First pitch is at 8:10 PM ET.The Astros will give the nod to Spencer Arrighetti (0-4, 8.44 ERA), who...
The Miami Marlins (11-31) kick off a three-game series on Monday against the Detroit Tigers (20-20). The matchup starts at 6:40 PM ET at Comerica Park.This contest's pitching matchup is set, as the Tigers will send Matt Manning to the...
NEWSLETTER
Over the past couple weeks, I’ve watched two more shows on Amazon – each just had its first season in 2014 – and they were both excellent in different ways. ‘Broad City’ is a Comedy Central show, and I found it to be funny, but mostly just fun. It was silly and stupid, but the two leading ladies are magnetic. ‘Transparent’ is an Amazon original, and it was incredibly well done, thoughtful, and weighty. The quality easily matched anything you could find on any other premium network, which I also found impressive. I highly recommend both shows.
