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Things Went Badly The Last Time a Bears Pass Rush Looked This Thin

By
Erik Lambert
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bears defense
Credit: AP

The Chicago Bears defense has high expectations in 2018. That shouldn’t be a surprise. The unit is coming off their best season in six years. They finished 10th overall in the NFL and were playing some of their best football against some really good opponents. Since then they’ve added another young playmaker to the mix in first round pick Roquan Smith. All things considered, they should be even better this year right?

That’s the thing. Becoming a top 10 defense is easy. A lot of teams have had good years like that. Sustaining it though. That’s the real challenge. It’s not easy. Far from it. One of the critical aspects of accomplishing this is being able to put a sustained, consistent rush on the opposing quarterback. Any passer, even average ones can have good days against you if he’s allowed to survey the field without concern.

Looking where things sit now? It’s hard not to feel a sense of angst. The Bears pass rush is in a state of unknown. They have Akiem Hicks and they have Leonard Floyd. That’s about it. They are the only two proven players on defense who can consistently get to the quarterback. Outside of that, it’s nothing but question marks, and that’s not a good thing.

The Bears defense hasn’t looked this thin at pass rush in 20 years

This begs the question. Has the rush ever looked this dicey on paper before? One would have to go all the way back to 1998 to view a depth chart that looks similar in terms of its uncertainties. It was the last year of the Dave Wannstedt era. If people ever wanted an idea of how limited his eye for talent was, they merely need to look at the Bears edge rush that year.

  • John Thierry
  • Shawn Lee
  • Bryan Robinson
  • Mark Thomas
  • Carl Reeves

Hats off to fans who intimately know any of those names. Thierry was a former first round pick of the Bears in 1994 but had already shown he was a bust as a player. Lee was a former sixth round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Robinson came in as an undrafted rookie. Thomas had been drafted by San Francisco in the fourth round in 1993 but spent a journeyman career in the league. Reeves was a former sixth rounder by the Bears who had 1.5 sacks in three seasons for them.

Seeing a lineup like that, it’s not hard to understand the results that followed. The Bears defense had just 28 sacks total in 1998. Not of the defensive ends had more than 3.5. The man who saved it from looking even worse was defensive tackle Jim Flanigan who had 8.5. Thankfully the Bears are a little better off this time around with Floyd and Hicks, but that’s no reason to relax.

Sam Acho? Always been a backup. Aaron Lynch? Hamstring issues. Kasim Edebali? A journeyman. Isaiah Irving? A former undrafted free agent. Kylie Fitts? A sixth round pick with health concerns. Nothing about that group says don’t worry if the worst happens and Floyd goes down. He’s already suffered season-ending injuries two-straight years. This feels like a time bomb just ticking down to the explosion.

It created a disaster for the Bears back in 1998. They finished 4-12. Can Vic Fangio avoid a similar catastrophe? They better hope so.

The Chicago Cubs Have A Top-100 Prospect

By
Aldo Soto
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He turned 19-years-old back in March, started at catcher for the World team in the Futures Game a little more than a week ago and now Miguel Amaya is the first Chicago Cubs prospect ranked in the top-100 in baseball in almost a year.

Starting with Javier Baez and Jorge Soler in 2014, the Cubs have been steadily promoted their highly-ranked prospects to the big leagues and in the case of Gleyber Torres, Eloy Jimenez and Dylan Cease, they’ve also been dealing them.

A minor-league system that was once the envy of MLB no longer has the same star-power, but after a year the Cubs’ farm once again has a top-100 prospect.

Amaya was signed in 2015, as a 16-year-old out of Panama. Last year he played at short season A-Ball with the Eugene Emeralds and as a 19-year-old the catcher is playing in his first full season as a pro in 2018.

The results have been good at South Bend, where Amaya is sporting a .272/.344/.459 slash line. Again, he’s only 19 and Amaya may be the next big prospect for the Cubs, who at this point aren’t willing to trade him for a rental.

Via The Athletic.

Team officials make it sound highly unlikely that the Cubs would be willing to give up top catching prospect Miguel Amaya for a rental relief pitcher like Britton, who’s making $12 million this year and will become a free agent after this season. Amaya is only 19 years old and already excelling at Class-A South Bend, putting him on a trajectory that’s similar to Gleyber Torres and Eloy Jiménez, the uber-prospects traded for Aroldis Chapman and Quintana. Amaya is a different type of talent, but the Cubs don’t want to sell low before the rest of the industry sees what he might become – a two-way catcher with consistent offensive production, presence behind the plate and leadership qualities.

Here’s part of Baseball America’s scouting report on Amaya.

Amaya’s defense ranks ahead of his offense at this point, which helped him make such a jump as a teen catcher. His intangibles fit the position; he has leadership skills, plays with energy and has the desire to catch. He also has catch-and-throw skills, with soft hands and the agility to block balls in the dirt. His arm strength was just fringy when he signed but has improved to above-average with 1.95-second pop times, and he threw out 41 percent of basestealers in 2017.

Obviously the Cubs already have Willson Contreras, but as we’ve seen before, top prospects serve more than one purpose to a team that is contending for World Series titles.

Maybe it won’t be this year, but in a few more seasons you might be hearing Amaya’s name pop up when the trade rumors begin to heat during the summer.

For now, fans can sit back and enjoy tracking the progress of Amaya down in the minors, as he’ll continue to rise in the rankings.

2018 Northwestern Wildcats Football Preview

By
Gabe Salgado
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Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald makes his annual appearance at Big Ten Football Media Days
Northwestern Football head coach Pat Fitzgerald spoke to the media at Big Ten Football Media Days earlier this week (Twitter: @NUFBFamily)

Offseason conditioning workouts are wrapping up, Big Ten Football Media Days have concluded, and now the Northwestern Wildcats are ready to get training camp started in their new practice facility as they continue preparations for what should be a very competitive 2018 college football season. In the last two seasons alone, head coach Pat Fitzgerald has guided this Wildcats program to consecutive 10-win seasons and back-to-back bowl game victories. He’s the first coach in Northwestern history to do so. He’s hoping to make 2018 an encore performance but the question is do the Wildcats have what they need to pull that off?

Here’s a reset on last season…..

W-L: 10-3 (7-2, Big Ten West)

Bowl Game: Defeated Kentucky in the Music City Bowl

Best Win: 39-0 at Minnesota

Worst Loss: 41-17 at Duke

Final Rankings: No. 17 (AP), No. 17 (Coaches), No. 21 (CFP)

Most Outstanding Players: Quarterback Clayton Thorson, running back Justin Jackson, superback Garrett Dickerson, safety Godwin Igwebuike, defensive tackle Tyler Lancaster, and linebackers Paddy Fisher and Warren Long.

After a 2-1 start to the season, Northwestern dropped their conference openers against Wisconsin and Penn State by a combined score of 64-31. From there the Wildcats corrected the errors of those games and finished the regular season by winning seven straight. Those wins included three straight overtime thrillers against Iowa, Michigan State, and Nebraska, along with some blowout victories over Minnesota and arch-rival Illinois. Clayton Thorson threw for 2,844 yards, 15 touchdowns, had a completion percentage of 60.4, and finished with a passer rating of 121.3.

Justin Jackson’s 1,311 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns gave him 5,440 career yards and 41 career scores thus making him the schools all-time leading rusher. Garrett Dickerson was one of NU’s top receivers with 4 touchdown catches, while Igwebuike, Lancaster, Fisher, and Long combined for 250 tackles, 3 sacks, 3 interceptions, and 12 pass deflections.

What a difference a year makes…. The only players on this particular list that are returning this season are Thorson, Long, and Fisher, but they have some challenges ahead. Thorson is coming off a torn ACL he suffered in the Music City Bowl. Coach Fitzgerald is being tight-lipped about whether or not he’ll be ready for opening day (August 30th), plus players coming off of these types of injuries usually wind up changing their style of play.

Long will be asked to take on more responsibility as he’s one of the more experienced defensive players now. He went through some growing pains in his transition from running back to linebacker, but he’s had a full offseason to completely acclimate to his new position. Fisher was Northwestern’s leading tackler last year but he’ll be asked to do even more this year.

Jackson, Dickerson, Lancaster, and Igwebuike are now trying their luck in the NFL. Also gone from last year’s squad are other major contributors such as backup quarterback Matt Alviti (297 total yards, 2 combined touchdowns), some changes on the offensive line, utility player Corey Acker (116 career yards from scrimmage, 19 career special teams tackles), safety Kyle Quiero (59 tackles, 5 interceptions), and linebacker Brett Walsh (67 tackles, 1 sack).

That’s a lot of talent to lose but the “Cardiac Cats” still have some solid players to work with. Junior John Moten IV and sophomore Jeremy Larkin will look to fill the void that Jackson leaves behind. Both men have proven that they can run between the tackles and catch the ball out of the backfield as they combined for 673 total yards and 7 total touchdowns in reserve roles last season. Senior Solomon Vault, fellow senior Flynn Nagel, and junior Ben Skowronek will head the receiving corps this year. Junior Cameron Green (2 touchdown catches last year) is the favorite to win the starting superback job.

Vault returns to the lineup after missing last season with a lower-body injury. He caught 15 passes for 164 yards and two touchdowns while averaging 10.9 yards per catch in 2016. Nagel has been a playmaker since day one. In three years the Lemont, Illinois native has 92 receptions for 983 yards, 4 touchdowns, and he contributes on special teams as evidenced by his 244 kick and punt return yards. As for Skowronek, he led the Wildcats with 714 receiving yards in 2017.

On defense, the Cats’ have some other players that will help out Long and Fisher. Junior Defensive lineman Joe Gaziano (35 tackles, 9 sacks in 2017), junior defensive lineman Alex Miller (4.5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks), junior linebacker Nathan Fox (23 tackles between 2016 and 2017), senior cornerback Montre Hartage (7 career interceptions, 15 career pass deflections), RS-junior cornerback Alonzo Mayo (29 tackles last season), and senior safety Jared McGee (27 tackles, 4 pass deflections) will be called upon relieve last year’s departures.

Aside from plugging in new players, the other challenge will be the schedule for the upcoming year. As usual, the Wildcats scheduled a mix of both tough and mid-major opponents. They open the season with a conference game at Purdue which is rare enough, but this game will be played on a Thursday night (August 30th) which Northwestern has never done in it’s history. Purdue is looking to surprise the Big Ten this season.

After that Northwestern opens up it’s home schedule against Duke (September 8th) where they hope to avenge last years loss, then the Wildcats welcome Akron (September 15th) to Ryan Field the next week. The Zips have gone 0-17 against the Big Ten since 2002. After a bye week NU will host Michigan (September 29th) -with former Mississippi quarterback Shea Patterson in tow- for their first meeting since 2015, hit the road against Michigan State (October 6th) whom they’ve beaten twice in a row, then return home to face the new look Nebraska Cornhuskers (October 13th) led by Huskers’ legend Scott Frost.

Northwestern wraps up October with a trip to Rutgers (October 20th) for a first-ever meeting between the two schools, then finish the month with a home game against Wisconsin (October 27th) in what could decide the Big Ten’s west division champion. November will be the most interesting month for Pat Fitzgerald’s team. It starts when they host Notre Dame in Evanston (November 3rd) for the first time since 1976. It’ll be the first encounter with the Fighting Irish since that memorable game in 2014, and just the second meeting since 1995 (Northwestern won both games in South Bend).

After Notre Dame the Wildcats wrap up the road portion of their schedule with trips to Iowa (November 10th) with whom they own a two-game winning streak against, and Minnesota (November 17th) who could be a very much improved team from last year. And as usual, the Cats’ wrap up the season with the Thanksgiving weekend rivalry game when Illinois comes to Ryan Field (November 24th).

I have no doubt that NU will be bowl eligible again, but winning the Big Ten will be much taller task.

Steve Cishek Says He Owes Steven Souza Breakfast After Hitting Him

By
Aldo Soto
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Steven Souza was pissed off Tuesday night after getting hit on the leg by Chicago Cubs reliever Steve Cishek in the ninth inning. To make up for it, Cishek says he owes his friend breakfast.

With two outs, a runner on and the Cubs trailing 4-1, Cishek had a pitch drift inside to Souza and the Arizona Diamondbacks player was not too happy once he got to first base. He got in a brief shouting match with Anthony Rizzo, the bullpens stepped onto the warning track, but cooler heads prevailed.

Earlier in the game Souza hit Javier Baez’s left knee on a slide into second base. Baez was eventually taken out the next inning and ended up with a giant bruise.

Souza thought the HBP was intentional.

So, he wants to make it clear that his slide wasn’t dirty and that he felt the Cubs were trying to get him back by hitting him.

Joe Maddon Eases Cubs Fans Panic After Javier Baez Leaves Game

Cishek offered up the following explanation.

Cishek and Souza were teammates for a few seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays and remain friends now.

So, there really aren’t any hard feelings coming from the Cubs.

No one on the Cubs thought it was dirty and it wasn’t, so it just seems like Souza was pissed for getting hit and thought it was because of the slide.

Hey, sometimes pitchers lose control.

Don’t think any of this will escalate seeing as Souza and Cishek are friends. Just a misunderstanding.

Yu Darvish Update Is…Actually Good!

By
Aldo Soto
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OK, so baby steps for Yu Darvish, but at this point the Chicago Cubs and fans will take any positive news regarding their big free agent pitcher.

Prior to Tuesday night’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Darvish was at Wrigley Field playing catch.

All right, nothing too big there. But there was more!

Darvish felt good another after that and headed underneath the bleachers to throw a bullpen session. Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer watched Darvish throw 16 pitches in the quick pen session along with the team’s training staff.

The last time Darvish threw a bullpen was back in June in Los Angeles. That’s when the Cubs were hopeful Darvish would feel OK and be ready to return against the Minnesota Twins.

As we know, that bullpen in LA didn’t go well and Darvish ended up going to Dallas, where he got a cortisone shot after being diagnosed with impingement in his elbow.

This time, the bullpen session went well!

Still need to more know Wednesday morning about how Darvish feels, but if the good momentum continues, then Darvish could make a rehab start on Aug. 6. That’s going off the first time he was coming back from the triceps injury.

Remember, last time around Darvish made a rehab start with the South Bend Cubs 13 days after throwing a bullpen session. So, the Aug. 6, date is 13 days after Tuesday’s throwing.

Darvish might need a second rehab start and that could come on Aug. 11, if there are no setbacks going forward. He last pitched for the Cubs on May 20, against the Cincinnati Reds and his rehab start in South Bend was on June 25.

So, we wait for hopefully more good news on Wednesday.

Joe Maddon Eases Cubs Fans Panic After Javier Baez Leaves Game

By
Aldo Soto
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The Chicago Cubs are already giving Kris Bryant extra rest to try and combat his nagging shoulder injury, while closer Brandon Morrow is on the DL and Yu Darvish might be back in the middle of August at the earliest. Add in two horrible losses against the Arizona Diamondbacks at home and the news of Javier Baez leaving Tuesday’s game early definitely didn’t do anything to help ease any of the built up tension this week for fans.

Baez took a direct hit to his left knee in the seventh inning, when Steve Souza tried to stretch a single into a double. Souza had nowhere else to go on the slide to second base and that resulted in the following.

Baez finished the inning on defense, but was then lifted after Ben Zobrist came in to pinch hit as part of a double-switch.

Later in the game, Steve Cishek hit Souza with two outs and a runner on in the ninth. Souza took exception to that and had some words with Anthony Rizzo at first base.

The good news for now is that Joe Maddon believes it’s not a huge deal for Baez, who could be back in the lineup for Wednesday’s afternoon game against Arizona.

So, fingers crossed that’s it’s nothing more than a bruise for Baez.

Could Surgery Be In Kris Bryant’s Future…?

By
Aldo Soto
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The Chicago Cubs have had their fair share of unfortunate injuries this season and that includes Kris Bryant, who continues to deal with a sore shoulder.

The third baseman was scratched from Tuesday night’s lineup against the Arizona Diamondbacks because of his shoulder and Cubs’ manager Joe Maddon is giving the 2016 National League MVP another day off Wednesday.

Bryant missed nearly three weeks with shoulder inflammation in June and early July. One of the most consistent hitters in the game has been bad for more than a month and the shoulder injury obviously has something to do with it.

It’s now evident that the shoulder issue won’t go away any time soon and the plan for now is rest. It begs to wonder why the Cubs aren’t using the 10-day DL for Bryant if the best cure for now is resting, but that’s a different issue.

The question now and for the future is, if the shoulder doesn’t get better with rest, will surgery be needed?

Maddon was asked if Bryant’s shoulder will have to be “dealt with” in the offseason.

Bryant has played in 76 games this season, slashing .276/.380/.474, with 11 home runs and 44 RBIs. At this rate, he’ll have career lows in home runs and RBIs, while also setting new career lows in slugging and OPS.

The hope is that rest really does end up being the cure, but don’t be surprised if you eventually see Bryant getting surgery in the offseason to fix his ailing shoulder.

Cubs Trade Talks With Orioles Involves Up To Four Different Pitchers

By
Aldo Soto
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The main target in trade talks with the Baltimore Orioles has been closer Zach Britton, but the Chicago Cubs are reportedly showing some level of interest in three more pitchers.

As of Tuesday, here’s the latest on the Cubs and Britton rumors.

There was also this report from Jim Bowden.

I, and basically every single MLB fan, has made fun of Bowden in the past, but Ken Rosenthal gave that scoop some credence.

And add another team in the Britton mix.

So, by that Rosenthal report you could maybe start to feel not so great about the Cubs’ chances of getting Britton. However, an Orioles’ reporter added this to Rosenthal’s first tweet above.

Basically, teams are sharing different info, most likely the Orioles, hoping to create a bidding war for Britton.

Anyway, in addition to Britton, the Cubs are also in on a few other Baltimore pitchers that happen to be starters Dylan Bundy and Kevin Gausman.

Yet, there’s another pitcher the Cubs have shown interest in according to Patrick Mooney of The Athletic.

Mooney wrote the following.

One source suggested Brad Brach as a potential fallback option if a team like the Houston Astros offers a better package of prospects for Baltimore closer Zach Britton. The Cubs and Orioles would already have a baseline from the Britton discussions and Brach would be a low-cost, change-of-scenery move. Brach has a 4.97 ERA and a 1.737 WHIP this year, an expiring contract, a track record of consistency in the American League East and a 2016 All-Star season on his resume. Brach also has a connection to Epstein’s front office as San Diego’s 2010 minor league pitcher of the year, back when Jed Hoyer worked as the Padres general manager.

Yeah, the numbers for Dylan Bundy (4.25 career ERA) and Kevin Gausman (4.23 career ERA) don’t look good, but who says the Cubs can’t strike gold another time trading with Baltimore.

As for Brad Brach, he’s having a brutal 2018 season, posting a 4.97 ERA and 1.74 WHIP in 38 innings, but from 2012-17, he had a 2.94 ERA in 386.1 innings.

The track record is there for Brach and for the Cubs would be a lot cheaper to trade for both in players needed to make a deal and the money, as Brach is under contract for $5 million this season compared to $12 million for Britton.

So, we’re one week away and the trade rumors are in full swing, with things still fluid and possibly changing at any moment.

Cubs May Be Interested In 4x All-Star Starting Pitcher

By
Aldo Soto
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Cole_Hamels_Cubs

The Chicago Cubs aren’t sure when or how Yu Darvish will pitch after his triceps injury and even if he’s back to his all-star form the team would be completely fine having too many starters on the roster. It’s a good problem to have and as a contingency plan to Darvish, the team has been scouting a handful of starters.

The latest is yet another rental, as the Cubs had scouts taking a closer look at left-hander Cole Hamels. The Cubs are one team that Hamels can’t block a trade to.

The list of interested teams is long and for anyone interested a trade for Hamels would mean a couple things.

For starters, Hamels is making $20 million this season and would have about $7 million owed to him after a trade. Plus, the lefty has a $20 million option for 2019, that comes with a $6 million buyout.

So, the money is always an area to look at, especially when dealing with the luxury tax. If the Cubs, or any team, make a deal for Hamels you could see money added in, and if not that means a financial risk that may or may not be worth it.

Why may that risk not be worth it? Well, although Hamels is a four-time all-star and has postseason success, he’s no longer the ace he once was with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Hamels, 34, has a 4.72 ERA and 1.37 WHIP in 20 starts with the Rangers this season. However, if you look at the home/road splits, there is some hope that Hamels can still provide a spark.

In 10 starts away from Texas, Hamels has a 2.93 ERA in 55.1 innings, compared to a 6.41 ERA at the Globe Life Park in Arlington.

One last note. Back in 2014, the Cubs claimed Hamels off waivers from the Phillies, but no trade was ever worked out. Hamels was eventually dealt to the Rangers at the deadline in 2015. Since then, Hamels has a 3.90 ERA in 88 starts with Texas.

Nick Madrigal Deserves A Promotion After His Dominance Of Low-A Ball

By
Emmet McClain
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He only has 17 at-bats at Low-A, but it is evident that Nick Madrigal is far too good for the Kannapolis Intimidators. He currently has a slash line of .529/.579/.647 after going 3-5 yesterday. He also has yet to strike out at the professional level, including his brief stint with the Grand Valley Voyagers. So far, Madrigal has passed the eye test at the lower levels.

When Madrigal was drafted, the common belief was that he would start in High-A with the Winston-Salem Dash. However, news broke late that he was battling a hamstring injury during the College World Series, so the organization probably thought it would be better to ease him into his professional career.

Now that he is officially tearing the cover off the baseball early on, it might be time to start thinking about making room for him with the Dash. Playing against 17 and 18 year old kids in Low-A is only going to help him so much. And with the Dash already having a spot clinched in the postseason, he could get even more time with them than originally anticipated.

With July soon being over, I would honestly be shocked if the organization continued to stow Madrigal away in the lower levels of the minors. Especially when everyone seemed to agree that he would start his pro career with the Dash anyways.

So far so good for Madrigal. It looks like the bat and his speed are going to hold their own. Now we just need to see him do it against more advanced competition. If he can make the transition to High-A without difficulty, he will be on pace to absolutely fly through the system.

That’s when things will start to get really interesting for the White Sox’s future.

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