The Cubs Have Actually Been Even Better Than Their 13-4 Record and Other Bullets

Apr 23, 2016

‘Game of Thrones’ returns tomorrow night. I am so very happy and excited. That is all.

After another blowout win last night, the Chicago Cubs have scored 105 runs on the season, by far the most in baseball. The Cardinals come in second at 92 runs, albeit in one fewer game than the Cubs. Even more incredibly, the 38 runs the Cubs have allowed this year are the fewest in baseball, and that’s despite playing in one more game thus far than many other teams. Let me state that again clearly so that the impact is not lost on you: this Cubs team has scored THE MOST RUNS in baseball, and SIMULTANEOUSLY ALLOWED THE FEWEST RUNS in baseball. It might not last all year, but holy wonkers.

Indeed, so strong is the Cubs’ performance thus far that their 13-4 record actually undersells their performance(!). Their Pythagorean record (a way of determining what a team’s record should be based on runs scored and allowed) is actually 15-2! Their second and third order records at BP (another way of trying to strip out random flukes by looking more at underlying player performance) is also 15-2! Their Base Runs record at FanGraphs (again, stripping away luck) is 14-3! The Cubs are 13-4 so far and they’ve been statistically unlucky to have that record![adinserter block=”1″]

(Bonus on the run differential, with a h/t to @dabysnky on Twitter: the Cubs have outscored their opponents by more runs (+67) than 17 teams in baseball have scored all season. Wrap your head around that for a moment. It’s not like we’re talking about six or seven games here. It’s been 17 games.)

Jon Lester’s latest strong outing dropped his ERA under two, and left his pitcher slash line at 1.98/3.33/3.00, more or less where he’s been the last two years. The dude is consistent(ly good).

Javy Baez scored on a David Ross sac fly last night, and, if you were watching, he probably terrified you with an ugly slide at the plate and a facial reaction that looked a lot like pain. But then he got up and laughed with his teammates, apparently at himself, so all was well.

If you missed it this morning, a look at Javy Baez’s usage so far and his laser homer last night. And Luke’s minor league daily looks at Bijan Rademacher’s historic pace.[adinserter block=”2″]

As noted last night in the EBS, Reds broadcaster (and former Cubs broadcaster, back in the day) Thom Brennaman was not happy with Cubs fans – who always turn out in droves in Cincinnati, much to the chagrin of fans there – who were chanting “let’s go, Cubbies” in the 9th inning when the team was already up 7-1. As he was going on about being unhappy with the fans, Kris Bryant drilled a double to score another run, and Brennaman couldn’t hold back an “enough already”. You can listen to his comments here, and I think this is going to be a refrain from Cubs opponents all year, facing such a relentless team:

pic.twitter.com/0MTnfKVj3g

— Brett Taylor (@BleacherNation) April 23, 2016

One of my absolute favorite plays in all of sports is the straight steal of home, and Jacoby Ellsbury pulled it off.

And Yasiel Puig made a throw last night that almost surpasses the words needed to describe just how ridiculous it was. Trust me. It’s one of the best you’ll ever see.

Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks made a great leaping grab in left field in foul territory, but it’s what the fan under the ball did that will be notable to Cubs fans.[adinserter block=”3″]

If you’re gonna be doing any summer travel, plan ahead and check out this luggage deal at Amazon today (50% off a bunch of stuff). I just got my new backpack/travel bag delivered yesterday, and it is still 61% off right now.

I took a walk around Great American Ballpark on the day of Jake Arrieta’s no-hitter, recorded some video, and put it together in (what I think is) a nice, fun package:

written by

Brett Taylor

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.

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