https://diamondcentric.net/news-rumors/north-side-baseball/page/27/?d=1News: Newsenhttps://diamondcentric.net/news-rumors/north-side-baseball/kevin-alc%C3%A1ntara-should-spend-his-season-in-chicago-starting-right-now-r7497/It's not that Kevin Alcántara is guaranteed to succeed in the big leagues. That's a mile from being true. Alcántara came to the Cubs in the Anthony Rizzo trade with the Yankees in 2021, and in the years since, he's climbed the minor-league ladder impressively enough to get his hands on the final...7497Fri, 03 Apr 2026 11:30:02 +0000https://diamondcentric.net/news-rumors/north-side-baseball/mlb-releases-2026-mlb-draft-slot-values-cubs-ranked-20th-in-bonus-pool-r7488/Major League Baseball on Wednesday announced and informed teams of the updated slot values and bonus pools for the 2026 MLB Draft taking place in Philadelphia, July 11-13. All pick values saw a 2.5 percent increase from 2025, which comes from the overall growth in MLB’s revenue year to year...7488Fri, 03 Apr 2026 01:38:02 +0000https://diamondcentric.net/news-rumors/north-side-baseball/is-there-any-way-mois%C3%A9s-ballesteros-goes-back-to-iowa-when-seiya-suzuki-returns-r7483/It wasn't a dazzling first week for Cubs designated hitter Moisés Ballesteros. The rookie only batted .167 during the team's season-opening homestand, with two walks but no extra-base hits. He looked great in limited playing time last year, so it would make no sense to jump to conclusions based...7483Thu, 02 Apr 2026 23:06:02 +0000https://diamondcentric.net/news-rumors/north-side-baseball/matthew-boyds-second-start-was-less-predictable-making-his-results-predictably-good-r7468/For the second time this young season, Matthew Boyd stepped onto the bump against an inferior opponent. Unlike his first one, however, the Chicago Cubs were able to put said opponent to bed. Rather than needing to overcome Boyd in doing so, they did so on the strength of this year's Opening Day...7468Thu, 02 Apr 2026 16:43:06 +0000https://diamondcentric.net/news-rumors/north-side-baseball/matt-shaw-wont-make-any-catches-any-other-right-fielder-wouldnt-any-time-soon-r7458/It takes a lot of reps to become a good big-league outfielder. A good, instinctive athlete can go to those positions and avoid embarrassing themselves, using speed, leaping ability and/or that great eye for ballistic movement that every baseball player must have to get this far, but those only a...7458Thu, 02 Apr 2026 14:27:12 +0000https://diamondcentric.net/news-rumors/north-side-baseball/ben-browns-strong-appearance-tuesday-might-have-been-just-the-beginning-r7439/Last night, the Cubs lost 2-0. It was a bit of a frustrating game: he weather was frigid, the bats were as cold as the temperatures, and the team was seemingly just an inch or two short on a few spectacular defensive plays that could have kept the score knotted up. Despite all of that, there was...7439Wed, 01 Apr 2026 22:07:02 +0000https://diamondcentric.net/news-rumors/north-side-baseball/craig-counsell-has-unlocked-a-special-tandem-in-the-middle-of-the-cubs-lineup-r7433/With a bit of an uneven start to the 2026 season, there's been some attention building around the Chicago Cubs' lineup and Craig Counsell's construction of it. It's doubtless that his choices thus far, some of which have drawn ire from subsections of the fanbase, have been predominantly informed...7433Wed, 01 Apr 2026 15:46:06 +0000https://diamondcentric.net/news-rumors/north-side-baseball/episode-46-cubs-early-observations-r7424/What’d we make of Edward Cabrera’s first start? How about the Nico Hoerner extension? What should the expectations be for Jameson Taillon tonight and moving forward? Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-north-side-baseball-podcast/id1798599313  Listen on...7424Wed, 01 Apr 2026 13:44:01 +0000https://diamondcentric.net/news-rumors/north-side-baseball/dansby-swanson-needs-to-stand-up-for-himself-and-for-his-team-r7422/Dansby Swanson went 0-for-4 Tuesday night. The box score says he was 0-for-3 with a walk, but we're not counting at-bats here. Four times, Swanson unequivocally should have challenged called strikes against him. Four times, he accepted the call, instead, hurting his team in the name of either av...7422Wed, 01 Apr 2026 11:31:02 +0000https://diamondcentric.net/news-rumors/north-side-baseball/how-much-less-does-pete-crow-armstrong-need-to-swing-to-become-a-superstar-r7404/Pete Crow-Armstrong has yet to register a Barrel in the regular season, according to Statcast. All of his hits on the young year have been ground balls: two hit hard past the first baseman, two gorgeous bunts up the third-base line, and one seeing-eye bouncer the second baseman could only knock...7404Tue, 31 Mar 2026 16:18:41 +0000https://diamondcentric.net/news-rumors/north-side-baseball/edward-cabreras-first-cubs-start-offered-a-brilliant-glimpse-of-a-long-bright-future-r7397/No rain or thick, heavy gray coldness scumbled the skies as the Cubs played their first night game of 2026. In fact, the North Side of Chicago put on one of the great shows of which it's more capable than many people credit, proclaiming itself a four-season city with a gorgeous little summer pre...7397Tue, 31 Mar 2026 11:55:02 +0000https://diamondcentric.net/news-rumors/north-side-baseball/how-ian-happs-small-changes-can-make-a-world-of-differences-r7378/Ian Happ has been a much-maligned player over the course of his tenure with the Cubs. I've personally written about him a few times, including once this offseason, and once last fall. Happ doesn't deserve a lot of the animosity thrown his way; he's a really good baseball player. Even on Opening...7378Mon, 30 Mar 2026 22:07:01 +0000