Latest news and updates about the Cubs
BCB reader Clark Addison sent me some more photos to sleuth, and said none were easy. Well! I love a sleuthing challenge. Today, we have a photo of actor Joe Mantegna, a big Cubs fan and creator of the play “Bleacher Bums.” He’s with Cubs manager Joe Maddon, which already dates it between 2015 and […]
Vince Velasquez is the latest MiLB signing for our Cubs, it has been reported. This is in addition to Owen Miller, who has officially adorned the dotted line. The Cubs are filling up around the edges. I used to love Javy Báez. I still do, but I used to, too. Isiah Kiner-Falefa has filled Boston’s […]
Eleventh in the series. Today we look at the Cubs’ veteran right fielder. 31-year-old Seiya Suzuki is a native of Arakawa, Japan, who came to the Cubs in 2022, with a reputation for good OF defense and a lively bat, after a storied career in NPB, where he played for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp. In his four […]
Today we’re counting down the top five prospects in the Cubs minor league system. Because of the requests of some of you, I’m going to do today’s in reverse order. I’ll try it this year. If I don’t like it, I’m going back to the other way next year. If you want to look back, […]
On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue is pleased to present a Cubs-centric look at baseball’s colorful past. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow the various narrative paths. “Maybe I called it wrong, but it’s official.” — Tom Connolly, HoF Umpire. Happy Birthday, Dale Long*, who held a significant record while he was a Pirate, and […]
xx Cubs will leave the Sloan Park complex in early March to take part in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. Here are all the North Siders who will participate. Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong heads a three-player Cubs delegation to the USA team for the World Baseball Classic. New Cub Alex Bregman will also play for […]
Tenth is the series. Today we look at the Cubs’ young center fielder. Peter Henry Crow-Armstrong, the first-round pick of the New York Mets in 2020, came on like gangbusters in the first half of 2025. His act flagged badly toward the end, but he turned in a marvelous season that raises expectations and anxieties […]
It’s our fourth day of counting down the Cubs top prospects and now we’re getting to the really interesting part. 6. Kane Kepley. OF. B:L, T:L. DOB: 2/14/2004. 5’8”, 180. Drafted 2nd round (2025) North Carolina. Kane Kepley had one of the best starts to a professional career of any 2025 draftee. After the Cubs […]
Sources say Owen Miller has signed an MiLB agreement with the Cubs. He’s a lifetime backup with positional versatility and a .238/.287/.342 slash, with a lifetime -0.8 bWAR (0.7 fWAR) in MLB. Marquee Sports Network hasn’t offered any new content since the Convention. It makes me wonder. Like I wonder how people post articles on […]
1903 The Crosstown rivalry began, as the White Sox and Cubs announced plans to play their first games ever against one another. The series blossomed into the postseason City Series, which thrived almost yearly for four decades. However, as reported on this day, the City Series was intended to include preseason as well as postseason […]
We’re open for business here at BCB After Dark: the grooviest spot for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. It’s so good to see you this evening. Come in out of the cold. There’s no cover charge. We still have a few tables available. Bring your own beverage. BCB After Dark is […]
Reese McGuire came to the Cubs and produced when they really needed him — right after Miguel Amaya suffered an oblique injury in May. McGuire homered twice in his first game as a Cub and was a suitable backup for Carson Kelly the rest of the year. The Cubs, as you know, had fallen far […]
The San Francisco Giants have announced their non-roster invitees to this year’s Spring Training in Arizona and there’s just one surprise addition: veteran righty reliever Michael Fulmer. He had missed all of 2024 following Tommy John surgery and last season for the Red Sox and Cubs he threw a combined 5.2 innings. Previously, he’d thrown […]
Ninth in the series. Today we look at the Cubs’ veteran left fielder, Pittsburgh-area native and former Cincinnati Bearcat Ian Edward Happ is a figure of some controversy among Cubs fans, who decry his numbers while praising his numerical consistency. Happ has amassed a tidy 22.4 bWAR (20.6 fWAR) in a nine-year career in which he […]
It’s day three of our countdown of the top 25 prospects in the Cubs system. 11. Jostin Florentino. RHP. DOB: 12/01/2004. 6’0”, 175. International free agent (2023) Dominican Republic. One of the disappointing aspects of the Cubs 2024 minor league season is that while players at the top of the system graduated to the majors […]
This year’s Cubs schedule begins with a six-game homestand at Wrigley Field. Opening Day is Thursday, March 26, so that’s five games in March, concluding on April 1. The rest of the Cubs’ April schedule is pretty reasonable. They head out for a six-game road trip after that, bookended by off days, so after April […]
On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue is pleased to present a Cubs-centric look at baseball’s colorful past. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow the various narrative paths. “Maybe I called it wrong, but it’s official.” — Tom Connolly, HoF Umpire. Happy Birthday, Dan Plesac, and other stories. Today in baseball history: Cubs Birthdays: Germany Schaefer, Doc […]
It’s Tuesday evening here at BCB After Dark: the hippest hangout for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs friends abroad. Come on in and relax for a while. Get out of the cold. We can check your coat for you. There are still a few tables available. Bring your own beverage. BCB After […]
When the Cubs signed Jon Berti as a backup infielder before the 2025 season, it seemed like a reasonable thing to do. Berti had led the National League in stolen bases in 2022 with 41, and the following year posted a .748 OPS in 133 games with the Marlins, with 16 steals and 2.2 bWAR. […]
Spring Training is around the corner, which means MORE CUBS PROSPECT STUFF. It’s not just about the big league team, you know …. Although the Cubs placed just two prospects on ESPN’s top-100 list (Moises Ballesteros and Jaxon Wiggins, the same as most top-100s in this cycle), Kiley McDaniel included two others in the “next 100” list. Jefferson Rojas, it turns out, just barely missed the top-100 (107), while the other Cubs prospect in that next group is a mild surprise: 3B/2B switch-hitt...
Eighth in the series. Today we look at the Cubs’ third-year first baseman. Michael Busch, drafted in the first round (2019) by the Dodgers (31st overall, from UNC), and later acquired by the Cubs for second-round pick Jackson Ferris and minor leaguer Zyhir Hope, has paid dividends since being installed as the Cubs first baseman. He […]
As we discussed this morning , there’s just one week left before pitchers and catchers are officially reporting to Spring Training, and the many, many starting pitchers still out there in free agency are likely to want to finalize deals as soon as possible so they can report on time with their new teammates. It’s a human thing, and although it’s never a hard and fast line, it’s a real one. To that end, free agent righty Zac Gallen may be close to a decision, though it’s pretty hard to kno...
Following two seasons with the Chicago Cubs and eight in the National League, Bellinger found himself in a very different (but also familiar) environment after he was dealt to the New York Yankees in December of 2024. Bellinger’s dad, Clay, was a Yankee from 1999-2001, winning two World Series championships with the team before playing […]
Welcome back our countdown of the top 25 prospects in the Cubs system. For an introduction and an explanation of the rankings, check out yesterday’s introduction. Also a reminder. Clicking on the player’s name will take you to their milb dot com page. 16. Pierce Coppola. LHP. DOB: 12/17/2002. 6’8”, 245. Drafted 7th round (2025) […]
I hope you’re having a swell Tuesday morning … Pitchers and catchers for some clubs will start reporting, officially, to Spring Training sites in exactly one week. That doesn’t mark any kind of hard cut-off for signings and trades, but if you’re a free agent pitcher, in particular, it does seem like you might be eager to get something done so that you can arrive with your fellow pitchers and catchers on a normal schedule with your new team. Which is to say, for that group of moves, spec...