April19th Game’s Results and Analysis

April19^th Game’s Results and Analysis

Milwaukee Brewers 5 - Chicago Cubs 4

Winning Pitcher: Estrada (2-0) Losing Pitcher: Samardzija (1-3)

Save by Henderson (3)

Player of the Game: Ryan Braun

The Chicago Cubs lost in a close game even though they had their chances to win the game. Starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija only struggled in the first inning by giving up 4 runs (3 earned). Samardzija went 7 strong innings allowing 5 runs on 6 hits and one walk. He didn’t have great success at striking out batters with only 4 strikeouts and he gave two homers that cost him the win in today’s game. The Cubs hitters had their chances to tie the game up but failed to rise to the occasion by going 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position. However the Cubbies did score four runs in the game and worked the counts. Ryan Braun is the player game because of his three run homerun off Samardzija in the first inning which led the Brewers to the victory.

Impressive: The most impressive thing in today’s game was how the Cubbies fought back in the game and that the batters had better success against Estrada than they did in their first matchup against him. The Cubs had success off Estrada by hitting two homers, one by Luis Valbuena which was a solo homer and a two run homerun by David DeJesus. In the top of the 8^th inning Anthony Rizzo hit a homerun off LHP Tom Gorzelanny, which is really impressive because Rizzo has difficult times against left-handed pitchers. Another impressive thing about the Cubs was their waiver claim on outfielder Julio Borbon off the Texas Rangers, Borbon offers the Cubs a speedy outfielder who will hit for a good average.

Surprising: The thing that surprised me the most in tonight’s game was the Cubs pinch hit for Nate Schierholtz. The Cubs used Scott Hairston to pinch hit for Schierholtz, yes it made sense because left-handed pitcher Tom Gorzelanny was on the mound which made sense to get Hairston off the bench, however the Cubs should have known that the Brewers were warming up a RHP in the bullpen in case the Cubs called a right-handed hitter. Also Nate Schierholtz has one hottest bat for the Cubbies lately and he has better plate discipline than Hairston. Nevertheless, the Brewers called in RHP Burke Badenshop from the pen and Scott Hairston struck out looking. Another surprise was that manger Dale Svuem got ejected from the game by arguing ball and strikes with home plate umpire Chris Guccione.

Concerning: What concerned me about the Chicago Cubs is that they at times make silly errors and miscues on the bases, for example Julio Borbon who got caught stealing in the ninth inning. The Cubs had the top of the order coming up next therefore there was no need to try to steal the base, especially when there is a hard-throwing pitcher on the mound like Henderson.  Also the Cubs tend to take too close of pitches when they have two strikes on them in the count for example Hairston, DeJesus and Barney did this in today’s game. I don’t mind seeing a ground out or even a strikeout swinging when the pitch is too close to take, but I hate when players don’t swing the bat when it’s a close call. The last concern of mine is Kevin Gregg, I just strongly believe that he won’t be a reliable pitcher from the bullpen and could cost the Cubs some games this year. Gregg came in the 8^th inning and gave up a hit and a walk without getting an out in the inning.

Preview for the April 19th Game

Preview for the April 19^th Game

Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee Brewers

The Chicago Cubs will have their second series against division rival, the Milwaukee Brewers. The game will be played at Miller Park at 8:10pm eastern time. The Cubbies spilt their series against the Brewers going 1-1, the series was shortened because one of the games in the series got postponed. The Cubs don’t need to worry about having any rainouts in this series because Miller Park has retractable roof. The Chicago Cubs are coming off one of their best games of the year so far, but the Brewers are coming off a sweep by the San Francisco Giants. The Cubs will be sending their ace to the mound in tomorrow’s game Jeff Samardzija, who has begun the season extremely well going 1-2 with an era of 2.75 and a WHIP below 1. Samardzija has been striking out batters at a high clip and is one of the leaders in the majors in K’s. Jeff Samardzija needs to keep the ball in the park if he wants to pull out a victory in tomorrow’s game because the Brew Crew hit several homers in their series against the Giants and also because Miller Park is susceptible to homeruns.

The probable pitcher for the Brewers will be RHP Marco Estrada who is having a solid season by going 1-0 with an era of 4.50. Estrada’s best pitching performance was earlier this season against the Chicago Cubs which is only win in the season by going 7 innings and only gave up two earned runs. The reason Estrada was so successful against the Cubbies was because of his changeup and the fact that the Cubs hitters just couldn’t read that pitch coming out his hand.  Estrada only really has three pitches a four seam fastball, a two seam fastball and a changeup, but still is an effective pitcher because he has great command on his pitches.

The Chicago Cubs hitters are going to need to do what they did against the Rangers in the ninth inning in the April 16^th game and how they hit in today’s game. Marco Estrada held the Cubs batters to only 5 hits and walked one batter in his last start against the Cubbies. One of those 5 hits that Estrada gave up to the Cubs was a two run homerun to Welington Castillo in the bottom of the second inning. The Cubs will need to rely on the hot bat of Nate Schierholtz because he is getting timely hits for the Cubs and has great plate discipline this year with only 5 strikeouts.

My prediction for tomorrow’s game is that Marco Estrada will lose his second game against the Cubs this year because the Cubbies will take advantage of his pitch selection and will be able to read his pitches out of his hand better. The Chicago Cubs will win with a score of 5 to 1. My predicted player of the game will be Jeff Samardzija by going 8 innings with 10 strikeouts and will only give up one earned run in his start. I’m also predicting that Nate Schierholtz will have another solid game by going 3 for 5 with a couple extra base hits, Luis Valbuena will have a homer in the game and Darwin Barney will get his first hit of the season.

April18th Game’s Results and Analysis

April18^th Game’s Results and Analysis

Chicago Cubs 6 – Texas Rangers 2

Winning Pitcher: Villanueva (1-0) Losing Pitcher: Ogando (2-1)

Player of the Game: Luis Valbuena

The Chicago Cubs evened their series with Texas Rangers by putting up their best performance so far this year. The Cubs won the game by pitching great, getting timely hits and had solid innings from the bullpen. The Cubbies took the lead by a RBI single in the bottom of the 2^nd by third baseman Luis Valbuena which scored Nate Schierholtz, who had a double in the inning. Then the Cubs exploded on the Rangers starting pitcher Ogando in the 3^rd inning by scoring on a pass ball and two homers by Anthony Rizzo (his 4^th of the year) and Alfonso Soriano (his first of the year and first RBI). Carlos Villanueva put in another great outing for the Cubbies and was rewarded with his first win of the year. However, Villanueva isn’t my player of the game even though he did pitch an amazing game, but what Luis Valbuena did at the plate and in the field he deserved to be the player of the game. Valbuena went 2 for 4 with 2 RBIS and a double; Valbuena worked the counts in his at bats and fielded his position perfectly in today’s game.

Impressive: The most impressive thing in today’s game was how well the whole team played. Carlos Villanueva was impressive, again, by going 7 innings with 6 strikeouts and only allowed 2 earned runs off two solo homeruns by the Rangers. Another impressive performance in today’s game was by catcher Welington Castillo who went 4 for 4 today with a double and scored a run. The last impressive thing about the Cubbies is their off-season moves this year; so far Carlos Villanueva is pitching amazing and Nate Schierholtz has been showing that he can be an everyday player.

Surprising: The most surprising thing in today’s game was Starlin Castro drawing two walks in the game. If you have watched Castro is his first couple of pro seasons you can tell that he is a free swinger who rarely walks. I believe if Castro can keep up his plate discipline that he has so far then he can arguably be the best hitting shortstop in the game. Another surprise in today’s game is the Cubs called Carlos Marmol in from the bullpen in the ninth. I know it wasn’t for a save but still the game was on the line, however Marmol has pitched well coming out of the pen since getting demoted from being the closer.

Concerning: There aren’t any concerns from today’s game because every Cub played well. I do have one concern with the Cubs, which would be the Cubs recent transactions for their bullpen. The Cubs added Kevin Gregg and Kameron Loe, who are both RHPs, to the bullpen, however to make this move they had to DFA Hisanori Takahashi who was a LHP. Now, the Cubbies only have one left-handed pitcher in their bullpen which could be a weakness for the Cubbies down the road.

Game PPD and Preview for April 18th Game

Game PPD and Preview for April 18^th Game

Tonight’s Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers game was postponed because of the rain in Chicago. The game will not be made up tomorrow because there is a chance for tomorrow’s game getting canceled as well because of the anticipated weather for tomorrow. The Cubs and Rangers will just push their probable starters for tonight’s game to tomorrow’s game therefore the preview for the April 17^th game will be the preview for the April 18^th game.

Preview for the Game on April 18th

Preview for the Game on April 18^th

Texas Rangers (9-5) at Chicago Cubs (4-9)

The Chicago Cubs will be looking to get their fifth victory on the season against the Texas Rangers. The game will be played at the historic Wrigley Field at 8:05pm eastern time. The Cubbies will be sending Carlos Villanueva to the mound in tomorrow’s game because of the off day on Monday that they had and because starting pitcher Scott Feldman has some back pain. Villanueva is off to an incredible start this year by having an era of 0.64, however he still hasn’t have a decision in a game. Tomorrow will be a tough matchup for Villanueva and provide Cubs fan with what they should expect from Villanueva this year. If Villanueva can keep Ian Kinsler and Elvis Andrus off base, then he should be able to get his first W as a Cubbie.

The opposing probable pitcher will be right-handed pitcher Justin Grimm, Grimm is getting a start for the Rangers because of the injury to Matt Harrison. Grimm is not an overpowering pitcher, but has decent control with his pitching arsenal. The pitches in Grimm’s repertoire are a four seam fastball in the low-90s, a cutter that is effective, a two-seam fastball that has some good movement to it and a changeup that he uses to slow down hitters’ bats.

Grimm doesn’t offer the Cubs hitters that tough of a matchup and it will be necessary for the Cubbies batters need to take advantage of this favorable matchup. The Cubs can jump on Grimm’s fastballs because he only has one real breaking ball pitch which would be his slider. I believe the Cub faithful will see a good performance from David DeJesus in the game tomorrow.

My prediction for tomorrow’s game is that the Cubbies pull out a win with a score of 7 to 2 and Villanueva gets his first victory this season.  I believe the Cubs hitters will be too tough for Grimm to get out and Grimm won’t be able to prevent the Cubs lineup from exploding on the Rangers. My predicted player of the game is Carlos Villanueva who will go 7 scoreless innings with 8 strikeouts in the game. I believe that the top of the lineup for the Cubbies will all have a great game and show the Rangers that the Cubs don’t need a DH to put up big numbers in a game.

April 16th Game’s Results and Analysis

April 16^th Game’s Results and Analysis

Texas Rangers 4 - Chicago Cubs 2

Winning Pitcher: Holland (1-1) Losing Pitcher: Wood (1-1)

Save by Nathan (5)

Player of the Game: Derek Holland

The Chicago Cubs lost their first interleague ball game of the year with a score of 4 to 2. The Cubbies just didn’t manufacture enough runs to pull out the victory; however they did make the game interesting as they had the bases loaded in the ninth inning. Cubs starting pitcher Travis Wood pitched a great game, which I will detail later, but was just outshined by player of the game, Derek Holland.  Because Holland is a left-handed pitcher, he offered the Cubs a tough task because they tend to do terribly against LHPs. The Rangers starter went seven scoreless innings with 6 punch outs and allowed two hits in the game. The ex-Cub Jeff Baker had a great game and had a RBI double in the game that gave the Rangers the lead in the 4^th inning. The Rangers scored the rest of their runs in the top of the 8^th. The Cubbies only scored two runs and both came in the bottom of 9^th off a double by pinch hitter Nate Schierholtz.

Impressive: What impressed me in today’s game was Travis Wood’s outing. Wood deserved to get a victory in this game because of how well he performed in it. Wood went 7.1 innings allowing 2 earned runs on 5 hits and 3 walks. Travis Wood also struck out 3 Rangers in the game. The Cubs are getting some great outings by the starting pitchers and all those outings should be wins if the Cubbies could have just scored some more runs. If the starting pitchers can keep up with how well they have started off the year then the Cubbies will be hard to beat and can possibly have an impact in the division.

Surprising: I was surprised with the Cubs comeback in the ninth and it showed signs that they can be a threat in late innings. The Cubs got all of their base runners on in the ninth with two outs. However, the Cubs left the bases loaded in the ninth and would come out with a loss in their first game against the Rangers in the series. I’m also surprised by the recent transactions by the Cubs; the Cubbies just recently claimed veteran infielder Cody Ransom off waivers from the San Diego Padres and the Cubs placed both Kameron Loe and Kevin Gregg in their 25 man roster. I was surprised about the Ransom move because the Cubs have Alberto Gonzalez, who has been performing well for the Cubs and they have infielder Donnie Murphy in the minors. I wasn’t as surprised to see Loe on the majors roster, but I was shocked to see Gregg because he really hasn’t pitched this year yet. I thought maybe he would pitch in some minor league games before being in the bullpen for the Cubbies.

Concerning: I’m really concerned with the bullpen for the Cubs because the bullpen is just not reliable. Shawn Camp has been getting rocked whenever he gets out on the mound and it could be argued that the homerun that he gave up to Adrian Beltre cost the game for the Cubs. If the Cubs can’t find a reliable arm out of the pen then the Cubs shouldn’t expect to win many games this year. Another concern of mine is the Cubs lineup against left-handed pitchers due to the fact that the Cubs just have a difficult time scoring runs when they face a lefty. I want to see Nate Schierholtz and David DeJesus in the lineup when there is LHP on the mound because I strongly believe they can produce for the Cubs and they couldn’t do much worse than what Dave Sappelt and Scott Hairston have done so far this season.

Recent Cubs Transactions/Update about the Blog

Recent Cubs Transactions/Update about the Blog

The Chicago Cubs have recently signed former Cub Kevin Gregg to a minor league contract. This signing is meant to give the Cubbies a safety net in case Kyuji Fujikawa doesn’t return from his strained foreman as soon as the Cubs predicted. Gregg has experience as a closer in his career, but Cubs fans shouldn’t expect him to be a lights out closer that he once was. However, Gregg can provide the Cubbies with some quality bullpen innings when needed.

The Cubs claimed Kameron Loe off the Seattle Mariners because the Mariners DFAed him because they had to make a roster spot for starting pitcher Aaron Harang. Loe will offer the Cubs a reliable arm in the bullpen that can get outs for the Cubbies. Loe will probably be used as a middle reliever because the Cubs are going to use Shawn Camp to close certain games for them.

I know that in my first blog I said that this blog will be about game analyses and statistical analyses, but I haven’t really done any statistical analysis yet. I will be doing statistical analysis after the first month of baseball. I chose to wait until  the first month is over because there aren’t enough stats to fully analyze a player and predict how that player will do in the reminder of the year from only a couple of games. Also, I’m going to wait until my spring semester is over and I will have the time to fully analyze all the Cubs players and their stats.