There are no small headlines, only small headlines writers. Except for today, when there really are only small headlines. Allow me to elaborate. In a small way.

• Kameron Loe was sent to Iowa, but decided he’d rather take his chances with free agency. I’m sure his time with the Cubs helped will help that doomed venture tremendously
• Rafael Dolis was also optioned to Iowa, but he’s going to hang out there for a while. I’m sure Ian Stewart will be a great influence on him.

And, uh, let’s see. . . oh! Did you know sabremetrics is playing a bigger role in the Cubs organization this year?

Oh.

You did. Well, here’s a snippet anyway:

Sveum once referred to sabermetrics as “cybermetrics,” but his decisions regarding lineups and the use of his pitching staff late in the game are usually — though not always — predicated on what his printouts say will give him the better chance of succeeding.

I wonder what the printouts say about putting Carlos Marmol in when the game is on the line?

The Cubs are in DC tonight to take on the Nats, so let’s all get ready to either kiss Gravedigger’s feet or to laugh in his face.

Finally, don’t forget that Wrigley Talk Friday comes your way today at 3 pm CT.

I know that days off are supposed to benefit the players, but, in this case, I feel like today is the baseball gods’ way of telling us to set down and take a load off.  And one deserves it more than we do. Not Astros fans, not Royals fans, and certainly not Miami fan, who has apparently stopped showing up for games.

Forget the suffering of the last 105 years, let’s talk about the suffering Cubs fans have endured over the course of the last three seasons. Mike Quade as manager.  Carlos Marmol as closer. Casey Coleman as a starter. Tony Campana as a player. The list goes on and on.

Ian Stewart says you can suck it.

But today, the baseball gods tossed us a bone. For not only have we the day off, but the Cubs waived Ian Stewart.

The Cubs have finally seen enough from Ian Stewart, and it’s hard to picture how he ever gets back into the team’s plans again.

All this had been building toward Wednesday’s announcement that Stewart cleared waivers and was removed from the 40-man roster. The Cubs are still responsible for his $2 million salary while he’s at Triple-A Iowa.

Stewart went off the grid after getting wrist surgery last summer and didn’t rehab with the team. The third baseman made it through one at-bat in an intrasquad scrimmage before injuring his quad muscle in late February. That was essentially his entire body of work in spring training.

All of this, of course, after Stewart decided not to show up for work for three days:

Stewart had been hitting .091 (4-for-44) during his rehab assignment with Iowa when the Cubs officially optioned him last Friday to their Triple-A affiliate. He took the weekend off, using the collective bargaining agreement and the 72 hours players get before they have to report. That couldn’t have impressed the front office.

“We had a lot of discussions with him about it,” general manager Jed Hoyer said earlier this week. “In the end, that was the decision. He has the right. It’s a given right the players have and that was the decision.”

So, on the one hand, I have the entire day off to laugh at Ian Stewart. But, on another, more practical, hand. I’m a little miffed. And here’s why:

» Continue reading “Baseball Gods Take Pity On Cubs Fans. Sorta”

The Chicago Cubs got another good pitching performance Tuesday night. Travis Wood allowed one run in 6.2 innings, Carlos Marmol pitched a scoreless 1.1 and Kevin Gregg threw a 1-2-3 ninth. That combined with a Nate Schierholtz two-run home run was enough for the Cubs to beat the Cardinals, 2-1. Travis Wood has been good this year, but Dale Sveum thinks he’s extra special. 

“He’s the best starter in baseball pretty much,” Sveum said bluntly.

(snip)

“He’s got it, he’s figured it out,” Sveum said. “He can do just about anything he wants with a ball right now.”

That’s high praise, even if a bit hyperbolic. Dale didn’t stop with the gushing.

“That one is the best, because that’s the best right-handed-hitting lineup you’re going to face,” Cubs manager Dale Sveum said of Wood’s outing. “The numbers those guys have against left-handed pitching is about as good as it’s going to get. That was very, very impressive again.”

» Continue reading “Chicago Cubs Wednesday Headlines: Cubs Win And Dale Sveum May Be Insane”

Tonight is the first time this season the Chicago Cubs will see the St. Louis Cardinals.  The Cardinals cruise into Wrigley Field in first place in the NL Central. I don’t think we need to be reminded which place in the Central the Cubs occupy. For two magical games, all thoughts of horror emanating from the 2013 season can be erased, if only our beloved Cubs can beat the evil Redbirds. 

One obstacle standing in the way of a Cubs’ win tonight is Cardinal starter, Lance Lynn. In his last three starts he’s pitched seven innings each game, allowing a total of two runs on eight hits. He’s also struck out 22 in those 21 innings, so we should probably expect to see some spectacular swings and misses. If the Cubs can manage to get Lynn out of the game in a timely manner, they might stand a chance against the Cards’ bullpen, which has a 5.33 ERA.

Starting tonight for the Cubs is Travis Wood. You might recall that he’s been a bright spot on the team this year, with a 2.50 ERA and 0.91 WHIP. You might also recall that he threw five perfect innings in his last start, but wound up losing to the Padres. The hitters in the St. Louis lineup have a combined seven career home runs against Wood, so keeping the ball down will be imperative for him tonight.

Lineup after the jump.

» Continue reading “Cubs Live Game Thread: If You Do Nothing Else This Year, Please Beat The Cardinals”

Raise your hand if you saw that coming. Now put your hand down if you’re a dirty liar. I thought so:

Scott Feldman’s performance was worthy of a standing ovation Monday night.

But when the right-hander came to the plate in the fifth inning of the Cubs’ 9-2 victory over the Rangers, the roar from the Wrigley Field crowd was in response to the Bulls’ upset win over the Heat in Game 1 of the NBA playoffs.

“I thought I was getting a standing (ovation),” Feldman said with a laugh. “I came in the clubhouse and Otis (Hellmann, the clubhouse manager) had to burst my bubble. He said it was because the Bulls won. I thought it was because I was raking or something.”

Indeed, Feldman had been raking, delivering a key RBI single in the Cubs’ five-run fourth inning.

“I was looking to see the ball and put a good swing on it,” Feldman said.

On the mound, Feldman (3-3) threw seven innings of shutout ball, allowing just two hits. He left the game after warming up for the eighth inning because of a cramp in his right hand.

I don’t want to jinx anything, but (knock on wood) Scott Feldman is looking like the off-season acquisition of the year these days.

» Continue reading “Scott Feldman (from across the hall) Leads Bizarro Cubs to Victory”

I’ll be the first to admit that Kameron Loe was especially bad at baseball. I’ll  be the first to admit that I’m happy to see the back end of him (not literally). However, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that Carlos Marmol continues to be employed by the Chicago Cubs. Not that I’m saying that should DFA Marmol (though I can see “they should DFA Marmol” from here), but perhaps this would be a good time to come up with a fake injury that allows Carlos to go somewhere and sit down for 15 days.

The rest of the story today is that Ryan Sweeney has been “selected” from Iowa, Rafael Dolis has been “recalled” from Iowa, and Dave Sappelt, he of the late-night Twitter misogyny, has been “optioned” to Iowa.

Ryan Sweeney is pleased to meet you

All of that wasn’t nearly as interesting as the text from a fan that overheard Jeff Baker screaming at some Wrigley employees who asked him for his name. “I played here for 5 years, you don’t know my name?!?” The only appropriate response, of course, would have been “I’m trying to forget it.” But, I mean, I get it. How would you feel if even the crappy Cubs didn’t want you? Jeff is probably dealing with a lot of rage.

» Continue reading “Chicago Cubs Monday Night Game Thread: Cubs Punish Carlos Marmol By DFAing Kameron Loe”

Heading into 2013, most of us sane Cubs fans expected the team to be as bad as last year or marginally better. So, while losing to the Reds sucks, any of us could have seen it coming. What we didn’t expect this winter was for the Cubs to sign a free agent starting pitcher to a four year, $52 million dollar contract. We also didn’t expect that pitcher, Edwin Jackson, to be the worst of the Cubs’ starters so far this season. He lost again Sunday.

“I couldn’t avoid the big inning,” Jackson said. “I felt like for the most part we were attacking the hitters at a pretty good pace and made them hit the ball.”

(snip)

“I had a different mind frame today,” said Jackson, who made a few mechanical adjustments after his last outing, a loss to the Padres. “I felt I could go out and throw strikes and challenge the hitters and we did that for the most part. They came out in the fourth inning and strung together a few timely hits where there were balls down the line or finding holes in the infield, and they were able to get people on base and score.”

I didn’t watch the game, so I can’t support Jackson’s notion that he was pitching well and done in by a few lucky hits, but Dale Sveum did.

“[Jackson] got three or four fastballs up in the zone right there,” Dale Sveum said. “He was better today. Votto, those guys put good swings on balls and got some ground balls. [Jackson's] ground balls seem to go through every hole. He was OK today. We just had a hard time with the bullpen holding them down. Their bullpen gave up one and ours gave up three and that changed the game around.”

So Jackson was unlucky and the bullpen was stinky.

» Continue reading “Chicago Cubs Monday Headlines: They Are Who We Thought They Were”

After yesterday’s disheartening loss against the Reds (see: Marmol, Carlos), the Chicago Cubs will look to avoid another sweep at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds. Things don’t look to be stacked in our dear Cubs favor today, as they will be facing Mat Latos. He’s currently in the midst of a 17-inning scoreless streak, which included seven scoreless against the Cubs on April 24 in Cincinnati. 

Pitching for the Cubs is Edwin Jackson. You might remember that in his last start, he allowed eight earned runs on 11 hits in 4.2 innings. Those eight runs allowed are the same amount that Latos has allowed in 39.1 innings for the season. But Edwin is working back to win back our hearts and minds.

“It’s a test of character,” Jackson said after his last outing. “Clearly, it hasn’t been what I wanted to do. It’s a long season. I’ll definitely continue to work and get back to where I need to be to finish the season strong.”

I’m not ready to label him a bust after one bad month, but it sure would be nice if he could put together a good start today.

» Continue reading “Chicago Cubs Sunday Game Thread: Another Reds Sweep Imminent”

Before we get to the game thread, let’s take a moment to talk, once again, about how completely obnoxious and rage-inducing the people who live in Wrigleyville are.

Will DeMille, president of the Lake View Citizens’ Council, said it was his understanding the Cubs want to turn the signs on outside the ballpark from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. year round. He wasn’t sure whether the community would accept that. “That’s where you really get the Times Square effect,” he said.

DeMille also is concerned about the effects of the signs at the southeast corner of the hotel.

“Are we lighting up the residential areas?” DeMille said. “We are trying to work to make sure most of the signs are pointing toward Clark and Addison or the triangle property, not the residents.”

Ricketts family spokesman Dennis Culloton said the organization is “about to enter a process of community meetings and public hearings and we’ll able to hear a lot of comments. There’s been great effort that’s been made to do something that’s great for the community.”

 

Look jerks, if you moved into the neighborhood any time after 1914, I’m going to assume you knew there was an existing ballpark there. If you moved into the neighborhood any time after 1988, you had to know that the times, they were a-changing. I’m not sure I completely understand the desire to create 1950′s Mayberry from people who choose to live in the third largest city in America, but it’s getting hella annoying.

If you don’t want bright lights, big city, perhaps Chicago isn’t the place for you. I would suggest trying Springfield (although I’m pretty sure they have LED signs from Cracker Barrell and such there), or maybe even my hometown of Roscoe, Illinois. Although, ever since the McDonald’s moved in, that town has gone to hell in a hand basket. For crying out loud, I lived across the street from the Wiener Circle for a year in law school. If I survived, so will you.

Let’s take a second to think about what your community will be like if the Cubs move out of Wrigleyville. Specifically, think about what will happen to your schools when the Cubs and all the other high-income grossing businesses that depend on Wrigley Field move out or close down. That’s a lot of lost tax revenue. I wouldn’t chance it. In fact, I’d get used to a brighter Wrigley Field or I’d find someplace else to live. And next time, maybe don’t move into a neighborhood with a destination ballpark down the street.

» Continue reading “Chicago Cubs Saturday Game Thread: Wrigleyville and the Shark”

How would you like to own a bloody baseball? Wait! Don’t answer yet! Did I mention the blood used to belong to none-other-than Chicago Cubs “ace” Jeff Samardzija? You think Tiger Blood was a big deal? Imagine what you could do with Shark Blood! Grow more hair? Develop a wicked fastball? Learn how to wear only a truckers hat to a party and still feel confident and sexy? The possibilities are endless!

I really wish I was kidding about this:

On Aug. 24, Cubs starter Jeff Samardzija cut his hand trying to stop a line drive up the middle. The right-hander stayed in the game for a few pitches before having his wound looked at.

The result? A couple of bloody baseballs, one of which the Reds auctioned off for $130.01.

So, to recap, there’s some sicko in Cincinnati running around with a baseball full of our pitcher’s blood. Not only is that not very cool, it’s also not very sanitary.

» Continue reading “Cubs Live Game Thread: You Stay Classy, Cincinnati Reds”