John Baker spent last season in the Cubs dugout after making the team out of Spring Training. Baker provided a memorable ending to the longest game in franchise history. Not only was Baker the winning pitcher in a 4-3 victory over the Rockies after tossing a scoreless 16th inning, Baker scored the winning on a Starlin Castro sacrifice fly. John Baker was behind the plate when Kyle Hendricks and Dallas Beeler made their first pitch in the big leagues and with assistance from Eli Whiteside … [Read more...]
Cubs’ Kyle Hendricks Found a Formula for Success in Impressive Debut
Kyle Hendricks burst on to the scene and was rather impressive after he was called up last season. I wanted to take a little deeper look into his Major League debut with a statistical analysis and to see if we could expect more of the same in 2015. Hendricks having limited Major League experience is an interesting case for the Cubs. He received a call-up last July and pitched to a 7-2 record in 13 starts. In 80.1 innings, Hendricks registered a 2.46 earned run average to go with a 3.32 FIP … [Read more...]
One Reason the Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo is Quietly Becoming a Perennial All-Star
The first on-base column focused on the regulars last year with above average on base percentages. It’s been a topic for a while now using sabermetrics and wanting players with high on base percentages. The Cubs have completely re-built their roster from the ground up and one of their first acquisitions was Anthony Rizzo. Rizzo has played three seasons with the Cubs since the trade with the Padres. And in his three years with the Cubs he’s showcased a .343 OBP in 2012, 2013 with a .323 and … [Read more...]
