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Ian Happ Is Not Done Hitting Bombs In Arizona

By
Aldo Soto
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Ian Happ is on a mission to become the greatest leadoff hitter ever. Watch out Ricky Henderson, or I mean, watch out Anthony Rizzo. Happ hit yet another leadoff home run Friday, making that his sixth homer of spring training.

Earlier this week, Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon basically named Happ the team’s leadoff hitter, though the switch hitter won’t be in there every game. You can say how spring training doesn’t really matter and although we have to see the numbers translate to the regular season, Happ just killed it in March, winning the leadoff job and hitting bombs like this.

Not too shabby.

Kyle Schwarber Makes Wild Catch Against Brewers

By
Aldo Soto
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You can say this for a lot of Chicago Cubs players, but it really has been a great spring training for Kyle Schwarber. The body transformation was shocking, but he’s kept up the power and has been hitting rockets all over Arizona. On Friday though, it was a defensive play that was Schwarber’s highlight of the day, doing a summersault in left field to make a catch against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Schwarber won’t ever be a great outfielder, but much of his struggles have been massively overblown. Even before this offseason, despite being a big dude, Schwarber has always been a pretty athletic guy. With some shedded weight and more work in the outfield, Schwarber will be more than just fine out in left.

We saw that the other day as well, as Schwarber started a beautiful relay to throw out Joey Gallo at home plate on a ball hit down the left-field line.

Could be shaping up to be a special year for Schwarber and it’s even better because you can say that about several players on this team.

Theo Epstein And Jed Hoyer Troll Tommy La Stella One Last Time

By
Aldo Soto
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Tommy La Stella started the prank war earlier in spring training, but of course he should have known that no one gets the last laugh against Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer. The Cubs got in one final jab at La Stella Friday at Sloan Park, trolling him on the video board with the following message.

And yes, La Stella was well aware.

The mini prank war started when La Stella was parking in the front office’s spaces. That led to Theo and Jed taking his uniform and replacing it with khakis and a polo.

La Stella responded with a bounce house.

By the way, remember when La Stella was refusing to report to Triple-A a few years ago? So yeah the, “good luck in love…and in Iowa,” goes just a bit deeper.

Cubs Minor League Player Suspended 50 Games

By
Aldo Soto
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Talk about the highs and lows of a minor leaguer. One day David Garner was at the center of a joke by David Ross’ son at Cubs spring training in Mesa and a couple days later he’s suspended 50 games for testing positive on a drug test.

That was Garner’s second time testing positive for drug abuse.

Via Jesse Rogers.

Minor League Cub David Garner, who was the amusing ‘target’ of Cole Ross when he did his stand up the other day, has been suspended 50 games without pay for a 2nd positive test of a drug of abuse, according to the league.

Garner, 25, was picked in the seventh round of the 2013 MLB draft by the Cubs out of Michigan State. He had a pretty good 2017 season in the minors, splitting time at Double-A and Triple-A. Overall, in 44.1 innings, he had a 3.25 ERA, with 51 strikeouts. He did have a high WHIP at 1.47.

Cubs manager Joe Maddon even named Garner by name earlier in spring training, as one of the pitching prospects that caught his eye down in Mesa.

Garner was a spring training invitee and in one month went from getting praise from Maddon, to being the butt of a joke by a little kid to getting suspended for 50 games.

Cubs Get One Step Closer To Finalizing 25-Man Roster

By
Aldo Soto
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It didn’t make any sense earlier in the week, when the discussion of having seven instead of eight relievers first surfaced and now Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon has confirmed that the team will in fact have eight men in the bullpen. That brings the Cubs one step closer to finalizing their 25-man roster for Opening Day next Thursday against the Miami Marlins.

Just like the past few years with Maddon’s Cubs, the roster will have 13 pitchers and 12 position players, with eight relievers and four bats off the bench to go along with the starting rotation.

Although the number is set, there are still three spots that haven’t been determined, or at least that haven’t been made known to the players yet. Two of those are in the bullpen, as Pedro Strop made his spring training debut Thursday, missing time because of a calf issue and illness. He’s still hopeful to be ready next week and should get a few more appearances before Opening Day.

If Strop is good to go, the final bullpen spot is now down to one of the following, Eddie Butler, Anthony Bass, Kyle Ryan or Shae Simmons. Randy Rosario, who the Cubs picked up off waivers from the Minnesota Twins in the offseason, was optioned to minor-league camp on Friday.

As far as the position players go, it’s down to Chris Gimenez and Victor Caratini to be the backup to Willson Contreras.

We also know that Ian Happ will handle the leadoff duties to start the season, but of course Maddon said others will be in that position throughout the season based on matchups.

Really feeling the anticipation for this season and how can you not as a Cubs fan after seeing what Kris Bryant had to say about the offense.

KB’s got goosebumps, I’ve got goosebumps, you’ve got goosebumps, let’s go!!!!

Bears Quietly Circling A Possible Boost For Their Defensive Line

By
Erik Lambert
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chicago bears brass
Credit: USA TODAY

After their initial surge at the start of free agency earlier this month, the Chicago Bears brass has gone mostly silent. They’ve instead focused on retaining in-house free agents including quality backup linebacker John Timu and special teams ace Sherrick McManis. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. They’ve already spent a ton of money and made some quality additions to their roster. They can feel free to be done with big moves until the draft.

Still, it just feels like they might have one more bold move in loaded into the chamber. The secondary free agent market is typically where Pace loves to be active, finding possible hidden gems and depth pieces that could help the team in a number of ways. There are still plenty of notable names out there, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.

Safety Eric Reid was already mentioned in a previous article, but now a new name is surfacing. One that can get overlooked at times because his game isn’t too flashy but could be hugely valuable if utilized in the Bears’ particular system.

Chicago Bears brass are gearing up for a meeting with Jonathan Hankins

One of the lowkey losses the Bears suffered on defense this off-season was veteran defensive end Mitch Unrein. He was never a star but he was a steady, reliable presence who helped in their run defense. Now he’s gone to another team, leaving uncertainty up front next to Eddie Goldman. It seems the Bears are aware of this and may have a replacement in mind.

Johnathan Hankins was a bit of a surprise release by the Indianapolis Colts. While his stat line wasn’t stellar in 2017 he was one of their few reliable run defenders and also had two sacks on one of the worst pass rushing units in the league. Hankins is a free agent again and looking for a new home. According to a source the Bears are maneuvering to get him.

“Bears are meeting with Hankins next week.”

Hankins wouldn’t be a blockbuster signing but it would add a strong, 320 lbs behemoth to an already big front. If the Bears can improve their situation at inside linebacker as well, it might become near impossible to run on them effectively. This would be great news, as Vic Fangio could then make opposing offenses one-dimensional. Time will tell if another team manages to swipe him first.

Yu Darvish Sparks Stupid Debate, Cubs Twitter Saves The Day

By
Aldo Soto
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Here’s the thing people, if you’re going to say that almost everything that happens in spring training is meaningless, then you can’t get your panties in a bunch when Yu Darvish might or might not have balked in a GODDAMN SPRING TRAINING GAME.

The Chicago Cubs had a pretty solid all around game against the Texas Rangers on Wednesday, when Darvish, Steve Cishek and Carl Edwards Jr. combined to only allow three base runners. As a matter of fact, the Cubs retired the last 21 hitters in a row to complete the 5-1 win that included home runs from Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber.

Aside from the two dingers, the highlight of the game came from a Darvish strikeout in the fifth inning of Drew Robinson. On the 1-2 pitch, Darvish lost his balance and hesitated during his already exaggerated delivery before throwing a perfect strike on the corner to catch Robinson looking.

You know it wasn’t intentionally because Darvish was caught laughing it off with Bryant afterward. Anyway, it was just a cool-looking strikeout because of Darvish having to regain his balance.

But of course some people wanted to focus on whether or not it was a balk.

Hell, this went on until the next day for some.

And then there was this poor soul that just couldn’t let it go. The Cubs put him in his place and put a swift end to this nonsense.

I just cannot believe there were fans seriously arguing whether or not Yu Darvish balked in a meaningless spring training game. Goddamn, the regular season can’t come soon enough.

When that time arrives, bitch all you want about an insignificant event when there are no runners on base and a pitcher regains his balance mid-delivery.

WATCH: Eddie Olczyk Announces He Has Beat Cancer During Broadcast

By
Marc-Louis Paprzyca
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In the best news of the Blackhawks season, Eddie Olczyk announced on live television that his cancer is gone. There are few broadcasters and analysts as good as Edzo and the whole hockey world is ecstatic for him.

Olczyk did all the battling but he showed a lot of appreciation for the support, thoughts and prayers that everyone sent him. We will look forward to having him around all next season.

Follow @Pappy_Hour on Twitter for more Blackhawks news and musings. 

Kris Bryant Just Perfectly Summed Up The Cubs 2018 Lineup

By
Gus
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The buzz going into the 2018 season feels much different then it did last year. Coming off the team’s first World Series win in over a century, I couldn’t tell you one thing that happened during anything related to 2017 Spring Training. I was still coming off that World Series high so by the time the 2017 regular season started, I was still basking in the success of 2016.

As we all know, the 2017 season ended shitty after the team got dog walked by the LA Dodgers in a series that featured Ed Sheeran hitting every goddamn baseball out of Wrigley Field. I feel like losing that series made Cubs fans (and hopefully the Cubs themselves) hungry to get back to the pinnacle of baseball — the World Series.

Of course, the Spring Training buzz was also given a shot in the arm when the team landed another huge free agent pitching acquisition in Yu Darvish. Darvish not only would solidify the Cubs pitching staff as the best in baseball, he would also help every fan forget about the fact that Jake Arreita and his majestic beard would no longer be in a Cubs uniform.

I don’t know what it is about THIS Spring Training, but I can’t get enough of it. I have so many questions about this year’s team and I feel like Spring Training is slowly giving me the answers that I need.

Question: Will Kyle Schwarber’s drastic body transformation help or hurt his performance on the field?

Answer: Looks like it’s helping out pretty f*cking nicely if you ask me.

Question: Will Yu Darvish work to fix his “tipping pitches” issue?

Answer:

Question: Who the hell will hit leadoff for the Cubs?

Answer: I can unequivocally say right now that Ian Happ should bat leadoff for your 2018 Chicago Cubs.

It’s the answer to that last question that got Cubs superstar Kris Bryant excited for the upcoming season.

Now I don’t know this for certain, but KB has to be talking about Happ. The second-year player out of Cincinnati has been absolutely tearing up Spring Training pitching and has almost given Cubs manager Joe Maddon no other choice but to pencil him into the leadoff spot this season.

The fact that Happ has the potential to hit 30 bombs this year also gives me goosebumps as well as an elevated heart rate. He hit 24 ding dongs in only 115 games last season so I’d like to think that if he’s in the lineup more consistently getting more at-bats, those power numbers would naturally rise.

Hell, if you look at the rest of the Cubs lineup on paper, seven of the nine spots have the potential to hit 20-30 home runs.

My projected lineup (and 2017 home run totals/projected 2018 home run totals):

  1. Ian Happ – 24/29
  2. Kris Bryant – 29/34
  3. Anthony Rizzo – 32/39
  4. Willson Contreras – 21/25
  5. Kyle Schwarber – 30/83 (yes, I meant to type 83)
  6. Javy Baez – 23/19
  7. Jason Heyward – 11/12
  8. Addison Russell – 12/19
  9. Doesn’t Matter

Yes, I know that a lot of teams look good “on paper” and we could look at projections until we’re blue in the face but Kris Bryant hit it on the head that the Cubs 2018 line up definitely should be giving fans goosebumps.

One more week until we see it for real.

Bears Rated The Most Improved Team Following NFL Free Agency

By
Erik Lambert
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chicago bears

The common saying goes that a team can’t be built through free agency. One must construct a roster via the draft. While this is true for the most part, free agency still plays a vital role in speeding up the improvement of a team. For three years Chicago Bears GM Ryan Pace operated on the market with caution. He sought out mostly younger and cheaper options with upside, hoping to land a couple hidden gems.

It didn’t go over too well, aside from the big hit with Akiem Hicks. Going into 2018, Pace could no longer get by with this soft approach. He got his quarterback. He got his new head coach. The time had come to start thinking about winning. That meant going all Mr. Scrooge after the Ghost of Christmas Future and opening up that pocketbook.

Pace didn’t disappoint. In the space of 48 hours, he managed to swing deals with four notable free agents, all of whom drastically increase the point-scoring potential of their team going into this season. It was such a statement by the organization that much of the national media couldn’t help but take notice.

Chicago Bears free agent work earns top NFL.com grade

Marc Sessler of NFL.com listed five teams who upgraded their rosters the most in free agency over the past few weeks. The Minnesota Vikings earned begrudgingly high marks for their additions of Kirk Cousins and Sheldon Richardson. Cleveland also got some love on their flurry of trade maneuver for the likes of Tyrod Taylor and Jarvis Landry, not to mention the signing of Carlos Hyde.

However, it was the Bears who claimed his top spot.

“It’s been eons since the Bears were fun to watch on offense. Jay Cutler’s largely milquetoast run with Chicago was partly to blame, but the issues go beyond a lack of frisky quarterback play. The Bears have floated through too many autumns as an identity-free attack hellbent on sending their fans into a dreamless, dark slumber.

No more. With talented play-caller-turned-head-coach Matt Nagy at the controls, the Bears have used this offseason to build around second-year passer Mitchell Trubisky. After luring in big-fish wideout Allen Robinson, Nagy and friends added deep threat Taylor Gabriel and “Philly Special” hero Trey Burton. Burton is the kind of player who could see his role double in Chicago, while Gabriel looms as an X-factor if Nagy can unleash him the way Kyle Shanahan did with the Falcons two seasons ago.”

He’s not wrong. The Bears have always been more successful when they have an actual offense worth talking about. In fact, during the Super Bowl era, they’ve never had a record below 8-8 when they featured an offense that finished in the top 10 in scoring. Both of their Super Bowl teams fit that category. It seems Pace is one of the few who caught on to that reality. So he spent heavily to see if he could bring it back.

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