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Today, the Chicago Cubs announced their minor league managers, coaching staffs, and coordinators for the 2021 season. The official team releases are included below.
What’s most notable is the manager announcement, which appears to confirm that the Cubs are indeed contracting down to just one rookie league team in each of Arizona and the Dominican Republic. Previously, the Cubs had two of each. With the draft shrinking (dramatically last year, and less dramatically – but still shrinking permanently to something like 10 to 20 rounds), you can see why a second stateside rookie league club might not be necessary or fill-able in the current setup. Nevertheless, I’d hoped the Cubs would still see it as a possible edge, especially in the Dominican Republic where signings are not necessarily as limited internationally. Maybe all teams are doing this? What was going to happen at the rookie level was never as clear as what was happening in the full-season leagues (every organization now
Cubs leadoff hitters through the years By JohnW53 on Feb 7, 2021, 4:51am CST +
It s possible to win a title without having a high-average leadoff man.
The Cubs proved it in 2020, winning the Central Division despite ranking last of all 30 Major League teams in batting average for players who started games at the top of the batting order.
The Cubs
.211 average was 4 points behind that of the second-worst Reds, 6 behind the No. 28 Brewers and 10 behind the co-No. 26 Pirates and Rangers.
All 25 other teams had an average of at least .230 by their leadoff man.
The Marlins ranked 21st, at .245. All 10 remaining National League teams had an average of at least .264 53 points higher than the Cubs!
1989 Cubs Historical Heroes and Goats: Part 8
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Welcome back to our look back at the 1989 Cubs. I’ve told you from the start that the 1989 season was not one that featured a straight line to the top. I’ve prepared you for ups and downs. In part six of our series, the Cubs suffered some injuries and dropped all five games in the week. They righted the ship though and in part seven, we saw that they won the first five games of the week before dropping the sixth to end the week.
All of the ups and downs had them yo-yoing between first and fourth place before settling into a tie for second at the end of the week, just half a game out of first. As we turn our attention to week eight of the season, we find the Cubs halfway through a two-city, six-game trip. They started out nicely winning two of three in Cincinnati. This week will start out with those final three games and they’ll be played in Houston. For as long as I can remember, Houston was not a