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Looks Like Joe Maddon Is Pulling The Plug On This Year’s Leadoff Experiment

By
Aldo Soto
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Mar 18, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon against the Los Angeles Dodgers during a spring training game at Camelback Ranch. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

A season after Kyle Schwarber had to be sent down following a failed role as the leadoff hitter for the Chicago Cubs, it looks like manager Joe Maddon is pulling the plug on this year’s leadoff experiment a lot earlier.

Ian Happ has played in 13 games this season, starting 10 of them in the leadoff position and he has been atrocious. He has a strikeout rate of 47.2% and has only walked four times, while hitting .204. That’s been good enough for a dismal .264 OBP.

Starting with Thursday’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Cubs fans should expect to see a lot more of Ben Zobrist and Albert Almora Jr. leading off and a lot less of Happ.

Zobrst has been dealing with some back tightness, but once he’s feeling 100% again he should be at the leadoff spot more often than not.

Yet, the Cubs aren’t just going away from Happ at leadoff, it appears as though the team is taking away more of his playing time too. However, that doesn’t mean a trip to Triple-A Iowa.

That means more Almora in the lineup.

So, Cubs fans are pretty much getting what they’ve asked for after two weeks of games. Happ is out, more Almora and more Zobrist.

As for Thursday’s lineup, Maddon gave fans one more wrinkle, putting Javier Baez in the two-hole.

Baez is only batting .235 this season, but he’s slugging .667, hitting five home runs, three doubles and two triples. That’s 10 of his 12 hits on the season going for extra bases.

He’s been on fire on the current home stand.

So, let’s see if the offense can get some consistency and hopefully the Cubs actually play more than one game in a row.

PHOTOS: The Cubs Cleaned Up Nicely For The 2018 Bricks And Ivy Ball

By
Gus
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Last night, members of the Chicago Cubs turned in their pinstriped uniforms for suites and ties at the 2018 Bricks and Ivy ball. The eighth annual ball is put on every year to benefit Cubs charities and was held at Navy Pier last night. If you were lucky enough to go to the  circus-themed event, you would have gotten to enjoy specialty cocktails, a seated dinner alongside the Cubs team, and premium silent and live auctions.

I, unfortunately, am poor so I couldn’t attend which relegated me to looking at pictures this morning with hopes it would make me feel part of the event.

It didn’t work but dammit these pictures look good!

Bricks and Ivy Ball 2018

A post shared by Addi Russell (@addison_russell) on

More from last nights event!🎪💃🏻

A post shared by KrystalAlmora (@krystalalmora) on

Bricks and Ivy with my lady🕺🏻💃🏻

A post shared by Kris Bryant (@kris_bryant17) on

And lastly, one picture surfaced from the Cubs Instagram “story” that quite possibly is the best picture ever. With it being Prom season, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo decided to stage a spot-on “prom stance” with each other during a team photo.

Packers Coach Got Caught In Photo With Visible NFL Schedule

By
Erik Lambert
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green bay packers

It’s been a rather humbling off-season for the Green Bay Packers. They missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade. Their drawing power for free agents, both coaches, and players, isn’t as strong as years past. Even their quarterback Aaron Rodgers is reportedly upset with them, and on the eve of contract negotiations no less.

They can’t really afford another slap in the face in the media at this point. Well, it seems their luck wasn’t ready to oblige. The NFL schedule release is expected to happen later today at 7:00 CST. The league prefers to keep it a secret until then in order to drive up fan interest. Teams know this and comply with their wish.

Yet somebody must not have told a nameless Packers coach. A photograph has surfaced that shows him appearing to hold a copy of the teams’ 2018 schedule. Included among the revelations? That’s right. One of the games against the Chicago Bears.

Now is it real? That’s impossible to say, but it certainly looks that way though Thanksgiving is Week 12 this year. Could be an innocent type-o. Either way, if it is legit then things just got interesting.

Green Bay Packers likely playing in Chicago on Thanksgiving

Bonehead moves like this aren’t typical of an organization like the Packers. They’ve always been such a careful organization in regards to creating controversy, even minor ones. One can imagine whomever that coach is, he’ll get quite the lecture for the screwup. Either way, Bears fans now have a reasonable idea of when they’ll see the two teams lock up this year.

If it’s confirmed, the Bears will be playing the Packers on Thanksgiving for the second time in four seasons. Back in 2015, the Bears visited Lambeau Field on a rainy night. Green Bay was celebrating the career of Brett Favre and few gave Chicago any prayer of winning. The Bears ended up pulling off a stunning 17-13 upset. It was one of the most thrilling victories for the franchise in recent memory.

The game this year could have a chance to top, if only due to the backdrop. It’s at Soldier Field this time, a place the Bears haven’t beaten the Packers in eight years. Mitch Trubisky vs. Aaron Rodgers. Primetime. It doesn’t get much better than that. How fitting would it be if the Bears could finally end the streak in such a fashion?

If nothing else, we can thank this nameless Packers coach for starting the hype train early.

Minor Issue At Bears Practice Could Have Giant Draft Impact

By
Erik Lambert
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aaron lynch

One would think something as trivial as a voluntary minicamp practice can’t have an impact on what the Chicago Bears have planned for the upcoming NFL draft. The festivities are just over a week away. GM Ryan Pace likely has his board set and knows which prospects should be available when the Bears go on the clock at #8. Who will he take? Only the man himself knows and he is going to absurd lengths to make sure nobody else does. However, Aaron Lynch may have just changed that.

The Bears signed the veteran free agent last month, reuniting him with former coordinator Vic Fangio. Hopes are high that they can rekindle some of the magic they showed in 2014 when Lynch had six sacks as a rookie. Good thing too because the Bears are hurting at edge rusher. In a big way. Pernell McPhee is gone. Willie Young is gone. Lamarr Houston is gone. Leonard Floyd is coming off a knee injury.

The depth looks no better with Sam Acho, Howard Jones and Isaiah Irving rounding out the list. Lynch’s arrival eased some of the concerns but hardly erased them. It wouldn’t be the best thing for him or anybody else to get hurt though. Well, everybody knows the Bears’ notorious luck on that front.

Aaron Lynch injury magnifies Bears dire need at edge rusher

The fact that Nagy says he’ll be okay is somewhat reassuring, but ankle injuries are notoriously tricky. The fact he had to be helped off the field also wasn’t encouraging. This further underscores how serious the situation is for the Bears. The fact that they’re sweating the potential loss of a player who has 2.5 sacks the past two years? Not good.

Pace has always said he drafts according to the best player available. It’s a philosophy he believes in and there’s plenty of merit to it. However, there are times when teams make massive transitions at a position that can sometimes create a glaring need. With this draft, it’s an even worse situation. Projections indicate the edge rush crop is light. Meaning the Bears might not do themselves any favors if they wait to get one.

It’s amazing how such a minor occurrence could potentially have such a profound impact. Proof that once again, depending on severity, that timing is everything. Can Pace afford to wait on finding help? He’ll be playing a dangerous game if he does.

Hearing Matt Nagy Talk About Trubisky Proves John Fox Was Clueless

By
Erik Lambert
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matt nagy

Listening to Matt Nagy now, I’m convinced more than ever that John Fox never had a prayer of making it beyond 2017 as head coach of the Chicago Bears. Not unless he made the playoffs and everybody knows that wasn’t happening. Did Ryan Pace sabotage him with such an atrocious free agent class that included Mike Glennon and Markus Wheaton? That’s something for conspiracy theorists to discuss.

What is clearer than ever is Pace likely knew he was taking a quarterback last year and likely planned to find him a new coach once he got the green light from ownership to dump Fox. Yes, that’s entirely speculative without proof. Yet all the signs point in that direction. Pace saw the pinnacle of success in this method with Drew Brees and Sean Payton. He’s watched Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers do it Green Bay the past few years too.

It would make total sense he’d want the same thing for Mitch Trubisky. That’s why he went out and found Nagy. Now the new head coach had a chance to talk about his young quarterback, from his offensive plans for him to what he wants to see. Hearing his words, it’s clearer than ever that Fox would likely have ruined the young QB.

Matt Nagy thinks like a QB, Fox grew up hating them

Fox came up the NFL ranks as a defensive coach. That alone questioned his qualifications for developing Trubisky. Never mind he’d never successfully turned any of his prior drafted QBs into viable starters. One merely has to see how the offense operated in 2017 to understand.

The ridiculously conservative style. The lack of any creativity. A clear message sent to Mitch that he should avoid turning it over at all costs. It may sound like Fox was trying to avoid bad plays, but it was also leading to his quarterback not making throws he should.

One glaring example was a play later in the season against Green Bay when Trubisky rolled to his left and had a chance to throw downfield. Instead, he tucked the ball and took a sack. It was an ugly play and the first worrisome sign that Fox was corrupting Trubisky’s thinking.

One of the first things Nagy did when taking over was burning that thought process to the ground.

“As far as making mistakes, that’s gonna happen. What I don’t want him to do is I don’t want him to be thinking too much at all. Go out and just let the thing rip. Just let it go, make the throws. We call it card throws. If you’re in practice and you’re a scout team quarterback and you just throw and you really don’t care, you’re just throwing in on time, anticipation throws, that’s what I want from him right now is to do that.

Work on your accuracy. But are your eyes going to where my eyes are going in the progression?…I care what the result of the play is, but I don’t put too much stock this early in it because I want him to just be going. I want our eyes to be going to the same spot right now.”

That sounds nothing like what previous Bears coaches have preached.

Fox? Lovie? Wannstedt? Ditka? All were huge proponents of running the ball, playing defense and marginalizing the quarterback. Nagy clearly has no such plans. He wants to take the shackles off Trubisky. Stop him from thinking about mistakes and just play the game. To do that it is best to put a system around him he knows well. That’s another thing the head coach has planned. Here’s his answer when asked if his system makes sense for Mitch.

“It does. It does. And he’s able to go out there — he played so much shotgun in college at Carolina. So much, and the stuff that we do is easy for him. Now he has to just take that language that he learned in North Carolina, put it into our language, and then what’s going to happen is you’re going to see an evolution to him.”

It’ll be interesting to see what Nagy does differently. Trubisky wasn’t that good from shotgun as a rookie. He threw just two touchdowns to seven interceptions. Granted, the Bears didn’t use a lot of the run-pass option stuff North Carolina did. Whenever they tried, Trubisky seemed to start making plays. One can bet Nagy is aware of this and has no plans to leave it off the table until it’s too late like Fox did.

VIDEO: Yoan Moncada Just Hit A GRAND SLAM!

By
Aldo Soto
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This is the exact reason fans shouldn’t be completely freaking out about a young player after two weeks of baseball. Yoan Moncada is on fire and on Wednesday afternoon he kept the hot streak going with a grand slam.

The Chicago White Sox finally got a few hits with a runner in scoring position to go up 2-1 over the Oakland A’s, but then Moncada connected on a grand slam in the second inning, making it two games in a row with a dinger in Oakland.

Take a deep breath, White Sox fans, Moncada is gonna be pretty good.

Here’s An Answer To The Miguel Gonzalez Problem

By
Conor Strandquist
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The White Sox have plenty of issues. The bullpen has been inconsistent. The offense is not producing. On the rare occasion that we have a runner in scoring position (RISP), our run producers roll over and have the opposition pet their belly before trotting back to the dugout.

Not great Chuck!

Other than our hibernating offense, the backend of our rotation has had its fair share of struggles. Miguel Gonzalez and Carson Fulmer, in particular, have labored. In a year where the South Siders are not expected to compete, Fulmer, 24,  will have every opportunity to start.

Miguel Gonzalez, 33, does not have the youth or the upside of Fulmer. Struggling would be an understatement when describing Gonzalez’ 2018 performance. He has served up 17 earned runs (ER) in just 12.1 innings pitched (IP) resulting in a cool 12.41 ERA.

According to FanGraphs, Gonzalez’ average fastball velocity is at 89.8 mph, a pitch he throws 50% of the time. So not only is his velocity down from 2017, where he averaged close to 91.5 mph, the late movement has disappeared. Gonzalez has never been a flamethrower. What has made him effective was the late movement on his fastball coupled with his ability to throw four different breaking balls.

An 89 mph fastball coming in straight as an arrow may as well be a beachball to big league hitters.

Hold steady my friends, there may be a solution closer than you think.

Hector Santiago did not win the 5th starter’s job out of spring training. Fulmer won the job despite Santiago outpitching him. Hector has looked good out of the pen, giving up four ER in just over nine IP while striking out eight. Most of his appearances have been in long relief of the aforementioned Gonzalez and Fulmer.

Santiago has spent a majority of his career as a starter and has a track record of success. He was an All-Star in 2015 while with the Angels. It’s time to give him a shot Ricky.  I’m not saying that Santiago is a long-term answer to our pitching woes because he isn’t.

Let us not forget that help is on the way. Both Carlos Rodon and Michael Kopech could be dealing on the southside before the All-Star Break. These two will give a huge jolt to the rotation. Rodon has shown that he has true ace potential when healthy and is still just 25 years old. Kopech has had White Sox fans drooling since the Chris Sale trade in 2016.  Paul Sullivan, of the Chicago Tribune, writes here on when he envisions the flamethrower in the Majors. There has been some speculation about when Kopech will get the call. As long as he continues to dominate AAA, I don’t see a scenario where he isn’t suiting up for the Pale Hose come late May/early June.

Things are tough now but there are brighter days ahead Sox fans.

Theo Epstein Must Love This Bryce Harper Contract Projection

By
Aldo Soto
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Guys, I’m not saying it’s a guarantee that the Chicago Cubs are going to sign Bryce Harper, but I am saying if this latest contract projection is remotely close to being right, then yes the Cubs are signing Bryce Harper after the 2018 season.

Harper, as we know, will be a free agent this upcoming offseason and for a few years everyone has tried to estimate what his mega deal could be. I mean, you don’t always get the chance to sign one of the best players in the game when they’re in their mid-20s. So, $300 million, $400 million?

Honestly, I don’t care how much money he gets and I especially don’t care if the Cubs overpay, but Dan Szymborski’s contract projection for Harper would be a bargain for Harper and there’s no doubt in my mind Theo Epstein would jump on that in a split second.

In Szymborski’s ESPN Insider article, he projected contracts for some of the biggest free agents in the offseason and surprisingly Harper isn’t projected to get the most money.

Szymborski projected the contracts using the ZiPS projection system, and how teams have previously paid free agents.

The highest projected deal? Manny Machado.

Via ESPN.

Manny Machado: Eight years, $300 million priced as a shortstop, or $264 million over eight years as a third baseman.

That’s $42 million more than what’s projected for Harper.

Bryce Harper: Eight years, $258 million.

The difference goes back to the value at each position, so that’s why Machado is valued higher at third or shortstop compared to Harper in the outfield.

But anyway, eight years for $258 million, an average of $32.25 million per season for Bryce Harper’s prime years?!?!?! GET IT DONE THEO!

However, you know as well as I know that Harper is getting more than $258 million and whatever contract he receives will include a few opt-out clauses. If Giancarlo Stanton signed a 13-year deal worth $25 million a year, then Harper is getting more than $258 million.

Obviously there’s the chance that Harper gets hurt and misses games in 2018 that could decrease his value, or can be used against him in contract negotiations, but so far so good for the 2015 MVP.

We get it Bryce, you don’t have to keep impressing the Cubs like this, we know you’re great, now you’re just showing off. Not that Cubs fans will mind when he’s doing it on the North Side starting next season.

Harper is getting at least $300 million and $400 million is a real possibility. The Cubs signing him for that much is also a possibility and if you don’t think the Cubs are going to be in the mix then you’re going to be in for a nice surprise. Well, at least if you’e a Cubs fan.

And if you don’t want Bryce Harper on the team as a Cubs fan, then stop watching baseball.

Ian Happ Sucks Right Now And It’s Obvious What The Cubs Should Do With Him

By
Aldo Soto
-

It’s 2018, so we all know that strikeouts are part of the game. Hell, even when Ian Happ was striking out 31% of the time in 2017, the Chicago Cubs weren’t too worried. Right now, though, boy does Ian Happ suck.

As it turns out, spring training was too good to be true, as Happ has had one of the most disappointing starts to the season not just for the Cubs, but in all of baseball. Everything has gone downhill for Happ since hitting a home run on the first pitch of the 2018 season.

After 13 games Happ has a 47.2% strikeout rate in 53 plate appearances. Just flat out brutal and the Cubs aren’t helping things out either. Happ has started 10 games this year and they have all come with him leading off. That needs to stop immediately.

We’ve seen this story before with Kyle Schwarber leading off in 2017, but even he wasn’t this bad. At least Schwarber was still drawing some walks when he was awful leading off through the first seven weeks of the season. Happ has only walked four times, while striking out 25 times. He has a .264 OBP so far.

We all know that’s not good enough and I’m not banging the drum, demanding the Cubs to ship Happ down to Iowa, but it’s pretty obvious what Joe Maddon has to do with him.

For starters, I’ve been in favor of just sitting him down for a few games and letting him clear his head. The bigger issue is that when Happ is in the lineup he can’t be leading off. Bat him somewhere down in the order and just have Ben Zobrist leadoff.

I’m not going to sit here and pretend to be a hitting coach, but it doesn’t take an expert to see that Happ looks lost at the plate. Again, it’s a 13-game sample size, but Happ is making a lot less contact swinging at pitches thrown in the strike zone.

In 2017, Happ made contact on pitches in the strike zone 77.9% of the time. So far in 2018, that’s down to 63.2%. He’s swinging at pitches in the strike zone at pretty much the same rate, (74.6%, 74.7%) but Happ’s swinging and missing at a higher rate. (FanGraphs)

So, right now giving Happ the most plate appearances when he’s striking out every other at-bat isn’t what’s best for the Cubs. If he’s going to start, move him down and avoid another disaster like Schwarber last year.

A trip to the minors? Not yet and really only the organization knows how that would impact Happ mentally. Plus, he’s not going to get better by facing Triple-A pitching.

But please, Joe, move Happ down already.

Akiem Hicks Sees Two Teammates Having Big Years in 2018

By
Erik Lambert
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leonard floyd

The Chicago Bears know they need their best players to step up in 2018 to make sure they get off on the right foot. Akiem Hicks is near the top of that list. He was brilliant last season, collecting seven sacks and easily being their most dominant defensive presence. However, just the good players from last year playing well won’t cut it. After all, the Bears finished 5-11 so that’s not going to be enough.

They need other names to take the next step up. Who will that be? That’s a game for educated guessers to play. Everybody has their theories. Most are centered around Mitch Trubisky for obvious reasons. Almost every notable move made by the team to this point was to his benefit in some fashion. Matt Nagy hired as head coach. Allen Robinson signed at wide receiver.

However, ask Hicks about this and the defensive leader might have a different answer. While he too is excited about his young quarterback, he has other names in mind for who could be ready to step into the spotlight this season.

Akiem Hicks sees big years from Leonard Floyd and Nick Kwiatkoski

Hicks is a smart guy. He knows what good football looks like, having played in New Orleans and New England before Chicago. So his opinion on this matter is worth hearing. It’s also worth reminding that he’s a defender at heart. He was bred to hate offensive guys. So is it any surprise that his choices for breakout players were both on defense?

It felt like Floyd was on the cusp of breaking out over the past two years but injuries got in the way. Last year he had 4.5 sacks in six games but hurting his knee that ended his season. As a rookie, he had 4.5 sacks in three games in late October and early November before a concussion against the Giants slowed him down. One can imagine he’s frustrated and carrying a bit of a chip on his shoulder.

That’s good.

It means he’ll come into 2018 with a purpose. Hicks believes the same can be said for fellow front seven teammate Nick Kwiatkoski.

The case for him is a bit different. He didn’t come in with high expectations like Floyd. He was a fourth round pick in 2016 who was expected to play a reserve role and perhaps work his way into the starting lineup. Though he saw the field quite a bit his first two years, he was unable to maintain a grip on the starting job when opportunities came.

Now the competition has vanished. Jerrell Freeman was cut. Christian Jones left to sign in Detroit. Unless the Bears draft somebody high, it looks like Kwiatkoski finally has his shot. He got experience now. If he can stay healthy it might indeed be a big year for him.

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