Cubbies Gazette

  Before I begin, I just want to apologize to all you Pirates fans (if there are any reading this article on a Cubs blog?) and let you know that perhaps one day your team won't look so stupid... Anyway, I really enjoyed what happened, and since it involved El Mago, or Javier Baez, which was my favorite player on the Cubs (now it's Schwindel), I really would like to share this past moment with you again.       I got a big laugh about that when it happened, and it also appears that Rizzo did too (holding his chest he was laughing so hard). Here's what happened: Baez hits a groundball to third base. The Pirates' third baseman throws the ball to the pitcher, who was covering first at the moment. The throw wasn't straight on, and the pitcher caught the ball a little in front of the base, with Baez still in the baseline to first. Instead of simply stepping on the bag and getting the out (there was two outs already, so stepping on the base would have ended the inning),...

  A lot can be said on what I think the Cubs should do, or who I think they should target, but in the end, it all comes down to what Hoyer and the Cubs' front office does and who they target. I mean, theoretically, I would love for the Cubs to get Correa, Castellanos and maybe Kyle Seager. But I can't make the Cubs get them, and there's a lot more to "getting" a player than we see. What was the Cubs' front office's plans going into the offseason? A lot has been said about Hoyer's statement from right before the offseason, and I'll put it here: " There’s a reason that the best organizations are generally built from within, and they’ll use free agency to sort of finish off the club,” Hoyer said. “Building a club through free agency is really challenging. So,  when we talk about intelligent spending, that’s ultimately how I see it: You want to bring talent to the organization; there’s only so many pipelines you can do it; you have to be really c...

  Yes, the Cubs season didn't go well. Yes, we are in the middle of a lockout. But, that means it's time to have a little fun and review my favorite Cubs moments from 2021. Number One for me is the Cubs' combined no-hitter for multiple reasons. This is the one redeeming Zach Davies moment. (I just love the fact that a bad pitcher like Davies would no-hit one of baseball's best teams) The fact that the trio of Tepera, Chafin, and Kimbrel would help close the door. (All of them are relief pitchers the Cubs helped succeed) The Cubs literally no-hit the Dodgers. I mean, just take that in for a minute. So take a little bit of time to watch this short video of the Cubs' combined no-hitter. Number Two for me is Wisdom breaking Bryant's rookie homerun record with a grand total of 28 homeruns. Sure, Wisdom has his downsides, but c'mon. The guy has some crazy power. Number Three is Anthony Rizzo striking out fellow first baseman Freddie Freeman. It's a funny ...

 With the addition of Miley and Stroman this offseason, and having Hendricks and Mills already in the rotation, plus the younger pitchers like Alzolay, Steele and Thompson, we can sort the rotation out a little bit more now. How the rotation looks of now: Stroman Miley Hendricks Mills Alzolay/Steele And last year's starting rotation: Hendricks Davies Arrieta Williams Mills/Alzolay So, yeah. Some definite changes from last year to this year, so we'll make some comparisons to evaluate how the Cubs rotation will do in 2022. 2021: Kyle Hendricks. 2021 was a rough year for the Cubs' "ace", as he posted a 4.77 ERA with a 16.7% K rate and a 43.1% GB rate. It's not like his stuff was that much different in 2021 than in 2020, but with a soft-pitching, contact-reliant pitcher like Hendricks, there really isn't that much room for error or slight changes in pitching. K-rate was down from 20-22% average to a low 16.7%, meaning his pitches were more often hit than taken...

 Don't you hate it when you get so busy that you don't even have time to write an article for your own blog? Anyway, I'm making up for it today by doing a longer article on some late Cubs thoughts and news. The MiLB Rule 5 draft usually isn't a big deal, since the MLB Rule 5 draft usually gets most of the focus. But since that has been postponed, and since this lockout isn't giving us much to be excited about, this year it is a highlight event. The Cubs were originally penciled in for the 7th pick, but with a couple teams passing they got the 5th pick instead. With that pick, they selected Conor Menez from the Giants, and then passed in the second round, leaving the Cubs with that one pick. Menez is 26 years old with 0 MiLB options remaining, meaning he'll be with the Cubs MLB team at least some of the time. He's made MLB appearances in 2019, 2020, and 2021, logging a grand total of 42.1 IP.  Overall, in all his MLB appearances, he has a 4.04 ERA, 41.4% GB r...

 The Cubs signed Frazier before the lockout occurred, and while even before that I had mentioned that Frazier would be a good target for the Cubs, it still surprised me when they signed him. In my article on his signing, I made these comments about him: While in 2021 he hit .186/.317/.317 with a 83 wRC, he hit .267/.394/.511 with a 149 wRC in 2020. So, he has a career of good hitting, with being a consistently above-average hitter. His strikeout rates hover between 27% and 30%, so not great, but not terrible. However, he had a 14.7% BB rate in 2021, and has been pretty consistently around there. So, the walks are a definite plus. He had a 41.5% HardH rate in 2021, with a max EV of 111.5 MPH in 2021, so he's a guy that really hits the ball hard. He plays mainly in left field and right field, though he has experience in center as well. He's a solid defender who can hit well, so overall a pretty good signing. That was mostly a stat-based analysis on him, and while I see great upsi...

 It's a very blustery winter day today, howbeit there is no snow on the ground yet, which makes me want a nice snowfall soon. Not when I'm driving, but just a nice snowfall to put a little layer of snow on the browning grass. Anyway, the Hall of Fame results are in, and several have reached the Hall of Fame, including former Cubs scout Buck O'Neil. These were his overall stats:  He played in the Negro Leagues for the Kansas City Monarchs and had a career .258/.315/.358 with three All-Star appearances in 10 years of his career. He was the founder of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in 1990 and served as chairman until his death. He died in 2006 at the age of 94, so he had a long and lasting life. So, great for him, and even more exciting because he was involved in the Cubs' organization. Now, there has been some controversy on the steroid-using players in the 20th century, and while I don't want to get too controversial, I just want to share my opinion. Sosa, A-Rod,...