2023 Arizona Fall League Begins Play Tomorrow
10/2 UPDATE:
OF Christian Franklin has replaced OF Alexander Canario on the Mesa Solar Sox roster, and catcher (ex-INF) Carter Trice has been added to the Solar Sox Taxi Squad.
Trice was the 12th round draft pick of the Cubs this past July out of NC State, and has been in the Catcher Conversion Program at AZ Instructs for the past six weeks.
- Read more about 2023 Arizona Fall League Begins Play Tomorrow
- 4 comments
- Log in or register to post comments
Cubs @ Brewers: Game 162
Despite a victory over the Brewers in the penultimate game of the season, the Cubs found themselves eliminated from the final NL Wild Card spot as the Marlins defeated the Pirates. The final game of the season will have no playoff stakes--but it's always nice to end on a win and send a rival to the postseason with a little whiff of failure. The Cubs will rest Justin Steele and give Drew Smyly the start. Look for role players and youngsters to get some opportunities as well. Adrian Houser, 7-5, 4.32 ERA, will start for the Brewers.
- Read more about Cubs @ Brewers: Game 162
- 28 comments
- Log in or register to post comments
Cubs @ Brewers: Game 161
Ian Happ brought the Cubs back with a solo shot before Chicago fell to the Brewers in an extra innings defeat. They had a strong chance to put up multiple runs in the tenth but couldn't collect a single hit to drive home Swanson and Morel from second and third. The Cubs go into their final two games 1.5 behind the Marlins and tied with the Reds. With disadvantage in both potential tiebreakers, the Cubs must win both remaining games and need two losses from the Marlins and one from the Reds--any other outcomes render the final game moot.
- Read more about Cubs @ Brewers: Game 161
- 17 comments
- Log in or register to post comments
Rockies Edge Cubs at Salt River Fields
SP Bryan Perez hurled four innings of one hit / shutout ball and combined with three relievers on a four-hitter and Skyler Messinger drilled a two-run single to provide the runs, as the Rockies edged the Cubs 2-1 in Arizona Instructional League game action Friday morning on Dust Storm Field at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, east of Scottsdale, AZ.
- Read more about Rockies Edge Cubs at Salt River Fields
- 1 comment
- Log in or register to post comments
Cubs @ Brewers: Game 160
The Cubs enter the final series of the season half a game out of the final NL Wild Card spot. A devastating sweep in Atlanta puts them in a difficult position. And the fact that they played each game closely against the best team in the majors comes as little consolation--particularly as defensive miscues and a depleted bullpen can be blamed for each loss rather than the petty baseball fates. The Cubs have an uphill climb as they take on the NL Central leaders. Mere weeks ago, fans could hope that the Cubs would come into this series with a chance to knock the Brewers off of that hilltop.
- Read more about Cubs @ Brewers: Game 160
- 13 comments
- Log in or register to post comments
Giant Pen Stifles Cub Bats at Papago
Jairo Pomares singled, doubled, stole a base, and scored a run, Estanlin Cassiani singled twice and scored a run, and SP Cale Lansville and five relievers combined to toss a five-hitter (with the bullpen retiring the last ten men in a row including seven on strikeouts), as the Giants defeated the Cubs 7-1 in Arizona Instructional League game action Thursday morning at the Giants Papago Park Complex in Phoenix, AZ.
- Read more about Giant Pen Stifles Cub Bats at Papago
- 2 comments
- Log in or register to post comments
Hope Leads the Way at Instructs
Zyhir Hope doubled, walked twice, and scored two runs, and five pitchers combined to hurl a two-hitter (both hits by Geuri Lubo) with nine strikeouts, as the Cubs "Red Squad" defeated the Cubs "Blue Squad" 5-1 in Arizona Instructional League intrasquad game action Tuesday morning at Sloan Park in Mesa, AZ.
The game was pre-planned as a seven inning affair, and the DH was not used (each team played with an eight-man batting order).
- Read more about Hope Leads the Way at Instructs
- Log in or register to post comments
Bowser and Preciado Go Deep at Sloan
Drew Bowser (solo blast) and Reggie Preciado (two-run bomb) launched home runs onto the LF berm with two outs in the bottom of the 1st inning to give the Cubs an early 3-0 lead, and SP Alfredo Romero and four relievers combined to hurl a two-hitter, as the Cubs edged the Diamondbacks 3-2 in Arizona Instructional League game action Monday morning at Sloan Park in Mesa, AZ.
The game was called after seven innings of play.
- Read more about Bowser and Preciado Go Deep at Sloan
- 3 comments
- Log in or register to post comments
Cubs @ Atlanta: Series Thread (Games 157-159)
The Cubs swept their final home series of the season and they hold the final NL Wild Card spot and trail Arizona by half a game going into the day off on Monday. These final six games will see the Cubs on the road against two division leaders, Atlanta and Milwaukee. The bullpen has struggled without key arms. There's a chance that Alzolay could return on this road trip, and Mark Leiter may be ready to appear again sometime soon. The Cubs are also looking to activate Jeimer Candelario as soon as his lower back allows it. Stroman has already returned to reinforce the rotation.
Four Cubs Pitchers Make Pro Game Debut at Instructs
Geuri Lubo belted a game-tying solo HR with two outs in the bottom of the 9th, as the Cubs and Rockies played to a 3-3 tie in Arizona Instructional League game action Friday morning at Sloan Park in Mesa, AZ.
SP Luis Devers and five relievers combined to hurl a two-hitter (both hits were singles), but four errors, five walks, and three WP helped the Rockies score three runs that erased an early 2-0 Cub lead.
Recent comments
crunch (view)
PCA finally gets a hit! 2r HR!!!
Charlie (view)
They certainly could be coupled. It could also be the case that a team needs good players at the heart of the team and if they are not coming from one source (development) they have to be sought out elsewhere. I don't see the evidence needed to infer the cause.
crunch (view)
bases loaded for the cubs, 0 out...and no runs score.
cubbery.
TarzanJoeWallis (view)
Walker was a complimentary piece who was well past his prime. Edmonds, Holliday, Ozzie Smith and a few others were good trades. Notably, they have almost always been quiet in the free agent market. But the fundamental workings of the organization were always based primarily upon the constant output of a well oiled minor league organization. That organization has ground to a halt. And when did that hard stop start to happen? Right at the beginning of the Goldschmidt/Arenado era, perpetuated by the Contreras signing, followed by the rotation purchases during the last offseason. The timing is undeniable and, in my mind, not coincidental.
Again, we are all saying that player development became deemphasized. I’m just linking it directly to the recent trades and involvement in the free agent market. I don’t see how the two concepts can be decoupled.
Charlie (view)
The Cards also traded for both Jim Edmonds and Larry Walker. It's the developing part that has fallen off. Of course, it could also be the case that there are no more Matt Carpenters left to pull out of the hat.
Childersb3 (view)
Cubs sign 28 yr old RHRP Daniel Missaki. He was in MiLB from his 17yr old to 19yr old years and did pretty well.
He's been in Mexico and Japan the last four years and has done well also.
He's supposedly Japanese and Brazilian.
Interesting sign. We obviously need to RP in the system
Injuries are mounting everywhere!!
TarzanJoeWallis (view)
Sure, they made generally short term trades for established players to enhance what they already had or traded for players early enough in their careers that they were essentially Cardinals from the start. What they never did was to try to use the more established players as foundational cornerstones.
Essentially we’re saying the same thing. They have given up on player development to the point that even their prospects that make it to the bigs flop so that they have to do things like buy most of their rotation and hope for the best.
Dolorous Jon Lester (view)
I don’t buy that. They had been doing that for years.
They did it with Matt Holliday. They did it with John Lackey. They did it with Mark Mulder. They did it with Jason Heyward, who had a great year for them. I’m sure there’s more but those come to mind immediately.
I attribute it more to a breakdown in what they’re doing in terms of development than a culture thing.
TarzanJoeWallis (view)
They won those trades and sacrificed their culture. That’s exactly their problem.
Dolorous Jon Lester (view)
The other part that’s kind of crazy is they made two very high profile trades, one for Goldschmidt and one for Arenado, and they very clearly won those trades. They just haven’t been able to develop players the last handful of years the way they usually do.
I guess the moral there is it’s hard to stay on top of your game and be good at what you do in perpetuity.