Charlie Bevins

When the winds, the strings and the percussion sections of a symphony are harmonious, beautiful music results. But when thestrings are off, the whole performance is ruined The Cubs’ symphony was almost perfect, but the silence of their bats cost them a rematch in the Divisional Round with the Milwaukee Brewers, as they fell to the Colorado Rockies 2-1 in the 2018 Wild Card. Surprising? If this was back in May, yes. Saying the Cubs would play in the Wild Card then would have been heresy. The ro

The Cubs wrapped up the first half of 2018 with a series sweep of the San Diego Padres, pushing themselves 2.5 games ahead of the Brewers in the NL Central and commanding the best record in the National League. Unlike years’ past, the Cubs enter the All-Star break riding a wave of momentum, having won seven of their last ten and finding offensive outpours in groves. Javier Báez and Willson Contreras were named to their first All-Star games, and Jon Lester was elected to his fifth. With the Summ

The Cubs entered 2018 with lofty expectations. Adding Yu Darvish and Tyler Chatwood in addition to completely overhauling your bullpen will do that. While Darvish and Chatwood ha ve disappointed to this point in the season, the Cubs have, for the most part, lived up to their billing as one of the best teams in the National League. They have the second-best team ERA in baseball (Second only to a historically dominant Astros’ rotation), the highest team OBP and the third-highest team batting aver

The MLB has seen tremendous pitching to this point in the year, with four pitchers putting up an ERA of less than 2.o and several more following with impressive pitching. The typical big na mes of Max Scherzer and Corey Kluber are there, and young arms like Aaron Nola and Luis Severino are in the mix. There is one name, though, that doesn’t fit either young-stud or regular Cy Young-contender archetypes. That name is Jon Lester. Now, that’s not to say Lester was written off from the Cubs’ rotati

Sometimes, one misplayed ball decides a game. Sometimes, a pitcher with a 4.16 lifetime ERA throws a perfect game. Sunday night’s Cubs-Giants game falls firmly into the category of weird. Whether it was Pablo Sandoval (Yes, that Pablo Sandoval) legging out an infield single fielded by Addison Russell, Sandoval making a diving stop at second base (No, this isn’t a prank), or Anthony Rizzo beating the shift by nailing umpire Cory Blaser in the leg, the first inning alone was loaded with a highli

The Cubs and White Sox have taken greatly different directions since 2015. The Cubs have made three straight NLCS appearances, won a World Series, watched Jake Arrieta blossom into a Cy Young-winner, and developed Kris Bryant into Rookie of the Year and an MVP. In free agency and at the trade deadline, they’ve become the hunters instead of the hunted, adding big names that include Jason Heyward, Aroldis Chapman, Jose Quintana, and Yu Darvish. Wrigley Field and Wrigleyville have become a daily p