Today is the first day of the Cubs’ Cactus League slate, and I am nerdily happy about that. I am also nerdily happy that I got so many excellent coffee-making recommendations yesterday – you are all the best. Now I just have to decide if I’m going to go with the single K-cup reusable filter (which meets my desire to stop creating so much waste), or if I’m going to step up to a pour over or french press, since so many of you seem to swear by them.
And since I’m linking to various Amazon products, it’s only fair that I say Amazon is great – I use it daily – and when you shop at Amazon via links you see at BN, it supports the site in the process.
Joe Maddon offers a lot of love for Addison Russell’s surprising power (Tribune). If Russell wasn’t surrounded by these huge, hulking sluggers, I wonder if the power would be less surprising from the comparatively smaller Russell. Power can be a big part of Russell’s game, though, as he showed throughout the minors, and even last year. How about this? His .147 ISO in 2015 was the 5th highest in all of baseball among shortstops with at least 500 plate appearances. And this is the guy who is going to be playing Gold Glove caliber shortstop and probably batting 9th! This team, man!
[adinserter block=”1″]
Jake Arrieta says that if the season started today, he’d already be ready to go (Cubs.com). I guess it’s good, then, that he’s not going to pitch too much in Spring Training! Of his Opening Day start, Arrieta is honored, but not going to build it up to more than it is (CSN). There might be a little extra adrenaline, but Arrieta’s had plenty of practice controlling it and using the energy to his advantage.
Miguel Montero discusses his first season with the Cubs here at ESPN, noting – correctly – that he had a very good defensive year overall. He’d like to have a chance to face more lefties, which may or may not happen, depending on how playing time behind the plate shakes out. It’s not as if he’ll necessarily automatically lose starts against lefties to David Ross or Kyle Schwarber, but Montero does have a very pronounced career split (.234/.300/.359 against lefties, .270/.355/.437 against righties … though last year it didn’t really show up, for what that’s worth).
The nice thing is that, with Kyle Schwarber on the roster all year, Joe Maddon will have the flexibility to insert Montero late into games in which he isn’t starting, which will allow for optimizing match-ups, and to get Montero more action. It’ll be a bit like we envisioned when the Cubs were carrying Montero/Ross/Welington Castillo to start the season in 2015, except in this instance, it’s like Castillo is also able to be the regular left fielder when he’s not catching.
A great interview with Kris Bryant on a range of topics, including making small changes to his swing, mentally dealing with how hard the game is, working on his defense at third.
Not too many people are talking about just how ugly the Pirates’ rotation is right now behind Gerrit Cole and Francisco Liriano. Unless and until a breakthrough youngster like Tyler Glasnow or Jameson Taillon happens, the back three in the rotation project to be Jeff Locke (1.6 WAR last year), Jon Niese (0.9), and Ryan Vogelsong (0.0). I know the Pirates have been able to reclaim some guys in recent years, but woof.
Speaking of Pirates pitchers, Gerrit Cole was unhappy with the Pirates about what they’re paying him this year, but doesn’t sound like that’ll be an issue for the Cubs’ young players:
Cubs apparently are more generous than Pirates: Kyle Hendricks (1+ yr of service time) will make $541K, same as Gerrit Cole (2+, & an ace).
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.
In the top of the seventh inning of today's 8-3 win over the Miami Marlins, Alexander Canario trotted out to left field in place of Ian Happ. At first, we thought (or maybe just hoped) that Craig Counsell was giving...
And just like that the Chicago Cubs are the first team in the NL Central to reach 12 wins! They're not technically in first place yet because the Brewers (11-6) have played fewer games, but we're talking about a matter...
With a lefty Marlins starter on the mound this afternoon, Nico Hoerner lead off today's game for the Chicago Cubs. And he did it in style, ripping a leadoff double to the left-center field wall, before coming into score a...
*The Cubs were rained out yesterday, but today? Today, we've got a Friday 1:20 start at Wrigley Field, and that means all is right in the world. Before you take a look at the Cubs lineup against Miami, check out...
Happy Friday! Well, for everyone except for the pilots who were supposed to be manning the Colorado Rockies flight last week but instead allowed a member of the Rockies coaching staff to hop in the pilot's seat for a fun...
Justin Steele, arguably the single most irreplaceable player on the Chicago Cubs 2024 roster, went down with a hamstring injury just 4.2 innings into his Opening Day start against the Rangers on March 28. In his place, the Cubs sixth...
If you do this job long enough, it's really wild to see the range of topics that can somehow become attached to sports. That is to say, I did not envision myself at some point writing about flight safety, cockpit...
The Iowa Cubs were rained out, but the rest of the farm was in action, and so was Kevin Alcántara, who picked up four hits and now has seven in his last three games as he breaks out of an...
Well, the rain stole one from us yesterday, which is a blessing and a curse. On the bright side, the bullpen gets an extra day of rest (on top of the day Hayden Wesneski bought them). But on the flip...
The Chicago Cubs are against theft. Of bases: https://twitter.com/codifybaseball/status/1781046629103231339 The Chicago Cubs this year have stolen just three bases, the fewest in all of baseball. Dansby Swanson has stolen two bases, Nick Madrigal has stolen one. That's it. I don't...
In Game 1 of the opening round of the NBA Playoffs, the New York Knicks will go up against the Philadelphia 76ers.In their last time out, the Knicks won on Sunday 120-119 against the Bulls in overtime. The 76ers' last...
The New York Mets (11-8) and Harrison Bader, coming off a four-hit game, are underdogs (+157) on the moneyline and will look to upset the Los Angeles Dodgers (12-10) on Saturday at 4:05 PM ET on WPIX.Los Angeles' Gavin Stone...
The Arizona Diamondbacks (10-11) and Ketel Marte (four hits last time out) are favored (-122) on the moneyline for their matchup with the San Francisco Giants (9-12) on Saturday at 4:05 PM ET on ARID.Arizona's Zac Gallen and San Francisco's...
The Houston Astros (7-14) are favorites (-181) on the moneyline when they take on the Washington Nationals (8-11) Saturday at 4:05 PM ET, live on SCHN.Houston's Ronel Blanco and Washington's Trevor Williams have been named the starters for this contest.Astros...
The Pittsburgh Pirates (11-9) stumble into Saturday's matchup with the Boston Red Sox (11-10) looking to break a four-game losing streak. The contest starts at 4:05 PM ET on SportsNet PT with the Pirates listed as -121 favorites to right...
The Houston Astros (7-14) visit the Washington Nationals (8-11) for an away game at Nationals Park on Saturday. First pitch is at 4:05 PM ET.The Astros will give the nod to Ronel Blanco (2-0, 0.86 ERA), who is eyeing win...
The San Francisco Giants (9-12) play at home against the Arizona Diamondbacks (10-11) at Oracle Park. The game is set to begin at 4:05 PM ET on Saturday.The Diamondbacks will give the ball to Zac Gallen (3-0, 1.64 ERA), who...
The New York Mets (11-8) visit the Los Angeles Dodgers (12-10) on Saturday at 4:05 PM ET and look to build on a five-game winning streak.The Dodgers will give the ball to Gavin Stone (1-1, 3.68 ERA), who is eyeing...
The Pittsburgh Pirates (11-9) look to end a stretch of four losses as they match up against the Boston Red Sox (11-10) on Saturday at 4:05 PM ET.The Pirates will call on Mitch Keller (2-1) versus the Red Sox and...
The Chicago Cubs (12-7) hope to avoid an upset as -205 favorites when they take on Bryan De La Cruz (with homers in two straight contests) and the Miami Marlins (4-16). First pitch is at 2:20 PM ET Saturday, live...
NEWSLETTER
Today is the first day of the Cubs’ Cactus League slate, and I am nerdily happy about that. I am also nerdily happy that I got so many excellent coffee-making recommendations yesterday – you are all the best. Now I just have to decide if I’m going to go with the single K-cup reusable filter (which meets my desire to stop creating so much waste), or if I’m going to step up to a pour over or french press, since so many of you seem to swear by them.
