And the first sickness of the season has hit the Taylor household. The host? Me. Naturally, it’s the guy who works at home and isn’t exposed to anything, who then also can’t fight anything off, and not the kids/wife who are constantly around a bunch of children. They just bring the pestilence home to me.
I take a jovial tone, of course, because it doesn’t appear to be anything serious. My throat is killing me, however, making speaking for prolonged periods very uncomfortable. That means no BNTV live stream tonight. Hopefully we can reschedule for later in the week, but, if not, I’ll try to fill the space with some extra BNTV videos this week of a shorter variety.
Patrick Mooney writes about Anthony Rizzo’s huge year, and contextualizes it with that 2011/2012 offseason, when the Cubs passed on big money for Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder in favor of swapping Andrew Cashner for Rizzo. As Mooney points out, Rizzo had a better 2014 season than either of Pujols or Fielder. Indeed, even if you subtract Cashner’s 1.9 WAR from Rizzo’s 5.6 WAR, the total is still better than either of Pujols (3.3 WAR) or Fielder (-0.3 WAR). So, yeah, that decision is looking pretty good. Even going ahead, wouldn’t you rather have Rizzo, 25, on his team-friendly deal than Pujols, 34, or Fielder, 30, on their ugly deals plus Cashner, 28, for two more arbitration years? Yeah, I’m taking Rizzo.
Starlin Castro gets a lengthy look in the Tribune. Notable update on his ankle: Castro is expected to return to Mesa, Arizona to do some rehab activities later this month.
Speaking of Castro, Glenn Geffner shared on Twitter some of the Dewan/James defensive evaluation of shortstops this year, and Castro fared strikingly poorly:
I’m really not sure what to make of that. I’d have to think on it for a while. It’s hard to accept any evaluation that has Castro’s defense in 2014 worse than Derek Jeter’s.
Arizona Phil has an intrasquad game write-up from instructionals, which you should read not for the stats, but for the ideas. For example, we knew that Gioskar Amaya was being converted to a catcher … but he also played some third base. Instantly, your mind goes to the possibility that he could emerge as a guy who can catch and play all over the field. That would be an awesome development. (The Cubs could soon have a bunch of versatile catching options like that, including Kyle Schwarber, Victor Caratini, and Mark Zagunis.)
Jeff Zimmerman may have just written what will come to be the seminal piece of research on tall-versus-short pitchers in baseball, and the conclusions are pretty stark: short pitchers are underrepresented, underappreciated, and no worse or less durable than their taller counterparts. There’s a suvivorship bias in there somewhere, I reckon, but that doesn’t change the overall conclusion: if a guy can pitch (stuff, velocity, command, control), stop worrying about his height. Because it’s not going to impact his success or his durability. SIGN ALL THE SHORT PITCHERS!
A Tribune piece on some of the less-discussed historical elements of Wrigley Field. The Cubs are taking the preservation stuff very seriously.
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.
I recently stumbled onto this live cover of Linger by The Cranberries and I can't stop listening to it. Give it a go. I bet you like it. In case you missed it last night, Cody Bellinger exited last night's...
The big league Cubs last night beat the Astros largely on the strength of the long ball, scoring six of their seven runs that way. Cody Bellinger kicked things off with a monster two-run shot, and Mike Tauchman followed with...
The Cubs cannot catch a break this year, man. They've already dealt with injuries to Jameson Taillon, Justin Steele, Kyle Hendricks, Drew Smyly, Julian Merryweather, Seiya Suzuki, and Ian Happ (did I forget anyone?). And tonight, it seems maybe something...
Well there was one big thing not to like about tonight's game - Cody Bellinger was lifted with a right rib contusion after colliding with the outfield wall - and about a million things that were great. And since we...
Nothing like a little insurance late. Mike Tauchman, who already hit his first home run of the season earlier in this game, just hit his second home run in the 8th! Another opposite field blast for Tauchman, who's been hitting...
It really is a Cubs homer party up and down the system. In Chicago, Cody Bellinger and Mike Tauchman have gone deep. At Myrtle Beach, Christian Hernandez and Jefferson Encarnacion each homered. At South Bend, Yohendrick Pinango homered. And at...
Kevin Alcantara wasted no time giving the Tennessee Smokies the lead on Tuesday night (or maybe he just wanted to be a spiritual part of the homer party going on at Wrigley Field). Facing off against the Rocket City Trash...
I don't like to use "ambush" lightly. But what would you call it when the Cubs put five balls in play over 100 MPH, including a single, a double, and two home runs en route to putting five runs on...
Ian Happ was back in the Cubs lineup tonight after missing a few games with a sore hamstring. And in his first at-bat back, he sent one 412 feet to dead-center field for a VERY long double (Statcast says it...
CUBS LINEUP — The Chicago Cubs are back in action tonight for the first of three games against the Houston Astros at Wrigley Field. Here's a look at the Cubs lineup for Game 1. Chicago Cubs Lineup: Nico Hoerner, 2B...
The Milwaukee Brewers (14-8) hope to avoid an upset as -116 favorites when they take on Andrew McCutchen (with homers in two straight contests) and the Pittsburgh Pirates (13-11). First pitch is at 6:40 PM ET Wednesday, live from PNC...
The Tampa Bay Rays (12-13) and Detroit Tigers (14-10) meet Wednesday at Tropicana Field, starting at 6:50 PM ET on BSSUN. The Rays are -121 moneyline favorites for the contest, however, the Tigers are favored against the spread of 1.5...
Led by Shohei Ohtani (two-game homer streak), the Los Angeles Dodgers (14-11) are favorites versus the Washington Nationals (10-12) Wednesday at 6:45 PM ET. Bookmakers have named the Dodgers as -186 favorites for the game, which airs on SportsNet LA.Los...
The Miami Marlins (6-19 look to avoid the sweep when they visit the Atlanta Braves (16-6) in the final game of a three-game set. Bookmakers have listed the Braves as -240 favorites, while the Marlins are +198 underdogs to pick...
The Cincinnati Reds (13-10) and Philadelphia Phillies (15-9) meet Wednesday at Great American Ball Park, starting at 6:40 PM ET on BSOH. The Reds are -114 moneyline favorites for the contest, however, the Phillies are favored against the spread of...
The New York Yankees (16-8) are set to take on the Oakland Athletics (9-15) Wednesday at 7:05 PM ET, airing on Amazon Prime Video. The Yankees are listed as -228 favorites by oddsmakers, while the underdog Athletics have +187 odds...
The Houston Astros (7-17) square off against the Chicago Cubs (14-9) on Wednesday at Wrigley Field after a three-game losing streak. The contest starts at 7:40 PM ET.The probable pitchers are Jameson Taillon (1-0) for the Cubs and Spencer Arrighetti...
The Toronto Blue Jays (13-11) visit Kansas City to face the Kansas City Royals (14-10) at 7:40 PM ET on Wednesday.The Blue Jays will give the nod to Yariel Rodriguez and the Royals will counter with Alec Marsh (3-0, 3.22...
The Chicago White Sox (3-20) bring a five-game losing streak into a road contest against the Minnesota Twins (9-13) at 7:40 PM ET on Wednesday.The probable pitchers are Joe Ryan (0-1) for the Twins and Garrett Crochet (1-3) for the...
The Seattle Mariners (12-11) play on Wednesday in Arlington against the Texas Rangers (12-12). First pitch is at 8:05 PM ET.This contest's pitching matchup is set, as the Rangers will send Jon Gray (0-1) to the mound, while Bryce Miller...
NEWSLETTER
And the first sickness of the season has hit the Taylor household. The host? Me. Naturally, it’s the guy who works at home and isn’t exposed to anything, who then also can’t fight anything off, and not the kids/wife who are constantly around a bunch of children. They just bring the pestilence home to me.
