Indulge me the opportunity to remind you of how awesome Amazon.com is, and, for that reason, why I chose to partner BN up with Amazon in a kind of promotional relationship. My latest Amazon purchases include Season Six of Mad Men (gotta rewatch in advance of the new season, duh), a new wrist brace for tennis (yeah, I’m old, apparently), and a six foot extension cord the I only recently learned you can’t use for an appliance (oh, well – I can always use an extension cord for something else, and it’s so darn cheap on Amazon that it’s no big deal! (See what I did there?)).
If you are like me and you love Amazon – or if you haven’t been hooked quite yet – please make sure you head over to Amazon by way of this link, which will help support BN in the process. You could even change your Amazon bookmark to that link so that you don’t have to use your brain every time you want to do some shopping (or you can remember www.bleachernation.com/amazon, which will take you right to Amazon, too).
With the Cubs in New York to face the Yankees, the Alfonso Soriano questions were inevitable. Theo Epstein still believes the Soriano trade was a good one for both sides (ESPN Chicago), and I think it’s pretty hard to disagree. At the time of the trade, given the amount of money the Cubs were eating and the obvious ability still there in Soriano’s bat, you could say the Cubs didn’t get enough. But you’ve got to remember that the Cubs were up against no-trade rights that Soriano seemed intent on exercising with respect to just about any team that wasn’t the Yankees. That the Cubs got a pitching prospect in Corey Black who has mid-rotation upside (and some think his floor is as a big league reliever, which still isn’t bad, when it comes to floor) is pretty amazing. And, of course, all Black has done since the trade is look fantastic at High-A last year, and put together five hitless innings in his first AA start this year. Soriano got a chance to play some meaningful games in a place he was comfortable. The Yankees got a guy who’s done nothing but produce. Win, win, win. The best kind of trade.
(And, when the $13 million the Cubs are paying Soriano to play for the Yankees this year rolls off of the books, the front office will undoubtedly feel even better.)
Jake Arrieta was supposed to make a rehab start yesterday for Tennessee, but the rain washed it away. He’ll try again today, hopefully reaching the 80 pitch mark, and he tells the Tribune that he’ll probably do one more rehab start after that. If so, that would put Arrieta on schedule to make his season debut with the Cubs around April 26 or so. Arrieta will have lost about a month of the season to the shoulder stiffness that slowed him before Spring Training.
In the early going, ESPN’s Mark Simon attributes Anthony Rizzo’s elevated batting average to “softly-hit or medium-hit” balls that have fallen for hits at an elevated rate this year (after falling at a very unlucky rate last year). It’s too early to make anything of it (and, indeed, even over the course of a full season, we might not be able to make much of it), but I will be interested in following Rizzo’s hit placement this year, given the early prevalence of hits to the opposite field against the dramatic shift. You don’t have to hit it all that hard if you can skillfully hit it where they ain’t.
Patrick Mooney on the ready-made storylines for the Cubs/Yankees doubleheader today.
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.
The Cubs did all their scoring in the first, and made it stand up for the win with generally good pitching and generally good defense. Jameson Taillon looked solid again in his second start, locating well, giving up no barrels,...
For the second straight night, the Cubs are jumping all over the Astros in the first inning. After a couple hits from Nico Hoerner and Ian Happ to get things going, Michael Busch hit a sac fly, Christopher Morel walked,...
What a road it's been - continues to be - for Cubs outfield prospect Brennen Davis. The former top prospect was on a rocket ship to Triple-A in 2021, and then mostly lost the last two years to various injuries....
So much for all those words of optimism and negative X-rays. After colliding with the outfield wall last night, Cody Bellinger fractured his rib (Update: It's actually TWO fractured right ribs) and will hit the injured list today. Chicago Cubs...
CUBS LINEUP — The Chicago Cubs took Game 1 against the Houston Astros in convincing fashion last night. So tonight, they'll go for the quick series win against Spencer Arrighetti at Wrigley Field (it'd be a good idea to win...
Ed. Note: Since this article was published, a CT scan revealed a rib fracture for Cody Bellinger, who is now on the Injured List. You can find all the details of that news in our most recent article right here....
With Cody Bellinger headed to the Injured List with a rib fracture, the Cubs are in need of another outfielder: center field prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong is coming back up to the big leagues for the second time. https://twitter.com/670TheScore/status/1783217891195625709 Crow-Armstrong, 22,...
Hey, we're just having some early-season fun. So allow me to present the 'Mike Tauchman Is Clearly Better Than' list. As of this moment, Mike Tauchman has ... ... a higher wRC+ (151) than Pete Alonso, Fernando Tatis Jr., and...
Name a player hotter than Kevin Alcántara right now. Go ahead, I'll wait. (He's already raking again today. Literally as I type this.) More on Alcántara's big day and the Smokies home run parade last night in today's Cubs Farm...
Just three starts into his San Francisco Giants career, Blake Snell is heading to the injured list with a left-adductor strain. Oof. You hate to even say it — and who really knows if this was related — but early...
The Los Angeles Dodgers (15-11) and Will Smith (four hits last time out) are favored (-199) on the moneyline for their matchup with the Washington Nationals (10-13) on Thursday at 4:05 PM ET on MLB Network.Los Angeles' Yoshinobu Yamamoto and...
The Cubs did all their scoring in the first, and made it stand up for the win with generally good pitching and generally good defense. Jameson Taillon looked solid again in his second start, locating well, giving up no barrels,...
The Seattle Mariners (12-12) visit the Texas Rangers (13-12) at 2:35 PM ET Thursday for a sluggers' duel between two of the best home-run hitters in baseball. Caleb Raleigh has racked up six homers this season (No. 9 in the...
The San Diego Padres (14-13) are favorites (-150) on the moneyline when they take on the Colorado Rockies (6-19) Thursday at 3:10 PM ET, live on SDPA.Randy Vasquez will get the ball for San Diego while Colorado will counter with...
After winning three games in a row, the Los Angeles Dodgers (15-11) play on the road against the Washington Nationals (10-13) at 4:05 PM ET on Thursday.The probable starters are Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1-1) for the Dodgers and MacKenzie Gore (2-1)...
The Kansas City Royals (15-10) are favored on the moneyline (-121) in Thursday's contest versus the Toronto Blue Jays (13-12). Game time is at 2:10 PM ET on SNET. The Blue Jays, with +168 odds, are favored against the spread...
The Houston Astros (7-18) visit the Chicago Cubs (15-9) at 2:20 PM ET Thursday for a sluggers' duel between two of the best home-run hitters in baseball. Jose Altuve has racked up six homers this season (No. 9 in the...
The Boston Red Sox versus the Cleveland Guardians is a game to see on a Thursday MLB schedule that features 10 competitive contests.There are typically plenty of MLB player prop bets available for each and every matchup. Scroll down to...
The Colorado Rockies (6-19) face off against the San Diego Padres (14-13) at home on Thursday beginning at 3:10 PM ET.The probable starters are Randy Vasquez (0-1) for the Padres and Dakota Hudson (0-4) for the Rockies.Padres vs. Rockies Pitcher...
The Milwaukee Brewers (15-8) are set to take on the Pittsburgh Pirates (13-12) Thursday at 12:35 PM ET, airing on BSWI. The Brewers are listed as -128 favorites by sportsbooks, while the underdog Pirates have +107 odds for the contest.Freddy...
NEWSLETTER
