Dansby Swanson's home run was the hardest-hit ball of his career.

Sorry @cdgoldstein.baseballprospectus.com

Something to note early: after ditching his sinker in his first few appearances, it’s been Edward Cabrera’s primary fastball against righties so far this afternoon

Cubs need some new Oblique Strategies

Shota Imanaga's 26 whiffs tonight vs. the Phillies are the most by a pitcher in MLB this season.

Imanaga's 26 whiffs also tie Yu Darvish (Aug. 23, 2020) for the most whiffs by a Cubs pitcher in the pitch tracking era (since 2008).

4 hits in the Cubs/Phillies game, 0 on pitches in the strike zone

Obviously very different roles and it won’t last, but it is very funny that Conforto is outhitting Kyle Tucker

Jameson Taillon’s four-seam fastball shape looks better this year. Unfortunately, it’s slower, his command has been worse, and his changeup is doing something weird. If he can somehow alleviate those things and keep the new fastball shape, it could help him hold down the back of the rotation

What a start to the season for Nico Hoerner after his extension: .333/.453/.548 for a 183 wRC+, third in the majors in base running value, and tied for the league lead in fWAR.

The Cubs’ three backend starters are throwing 20 combined pitch types

Incredibly small sample, but worth noting that three stuff models (Stuff+, PitchingBot, and StuffPro) all see Riley Martin’s stuff as some of the best on the Cubs so far

Well this sucks. Not only the Cubs’ best pitcher, also their most fun to watch

The Cubs and 2B Nico Hoerner are in agreement on a 6-year extension, pending physical, per a source. @michael-cerami.bsky.social was first, and ESPN's Jesse Rogers was on it, too.

For just a week until Suzuki is back, theoretically, hopefully (pushing Shaw back into the backup role)

Pete

Yearly irrelevant predictions

This must mean Ben Brown makes the roster as a reliever. Seems like they like what they've seen this spring

A night after Cade Horton (and Gavin Williams, in the same game) got the most whiffs in a Spring Training game so far this year, Shōta Imanaga one-upped him by getting 25 whiffs through 4 2/3. That would be 3 more than he ever induced in a game with the Cubs.

Statcast Search Baseball Savant

Cade Horton has 21 whiffs now tonight -- the most by a pitcher in a Spring Training game so far this year, per Statcast ⤵️

Cade Horton is a fun second-screen watch tonight. 15 whiffs through 3 innings and really has the changeup working.

Ah, got him mixed up with others. Thanks!

Wouldn't be surprised if Ryan Rolison ends up with Little's 40-man roster spot before an opt-out date

Good example of a veteran Spring Training outing for Colin Rea--threw all his pitches a couple of times, mostly used his fastball, velo was already around where it was last year

The Cardinals have had several guys near the top of the 4S cut leaderboard for a few years and acquired two this year in Fitts and Dobbins, too. Lots of relative cut in the NL Central

As the Cubs continue to search for pitching depth, I put together 1000 words on optionable starting pitchers around the league that could be available and fit some traits the Cubs have looked for cubofcoffee.com/lets-find-an...

Big fan of the various pitchers on MiLB deals the Cubs have managed to bring in this offseason. No one should expect another Brad Keller, but there are a lot of fun options

It’s very funny that Cubs fans spent a lot of last year complaining about how Collins and Durbin weren’t as good as their top line numbers and the Brewers traded both

If the Giants were reportedly willing to give up Josuar Gonzalez for a second baseman with a 106 wRC+ projection who hasn't played 2B much in the majors, have I got the player for them (with twice the team control!)

It’s a good thing the Cubs have so many players participating in the WBC so fans can actually watch their players in March

2026 ZiPS Projections: Chicago Cubs The 2026 Cubs look a lot like the 2025 Cubs, which is pretty good.

The 2026 ZiPS projections for the Chicago Cubs are now up on @fangraphs.com.

blogs.fangraphs.com/2026-zips-pr...