Community Picks: Miami Marlins 0% vs Chicago Cubs 0%

Joe Maddon gave Eddie Butler the vote of confidence, probably because he believes in the raw ability, the front office’s change-of-scenery projections and, well, the Cubs don’t really have any other good options right now. That blockbuster deal for a pitcher – if it even comes together at all this summer – isn’t happening a week before the amateur draft, with 56 days left until the July 31 trade deadline. Even before Butler shut down the Miami Marlins during Monday night’s 3-1 win at Wrigley Field, the Cubs manager confirmed he will be on a “long leash” (reporter’s words) as the defending World Series champs try to gain traction and separate from the rest of the National League Central. “Yeah,” Continue to Article

June 06, 2017 12:12:am EST

CSN's Kelly Crull and Cubs Insider Patrick Mooney discuss the upcoming matchups and recent team meeting in this edition of the Cubs Road Ahead, presented by Chicagoland & NW Indiana Honda Dealers. The Cubs should consider having team meetings more often.   Last year, it was a Jason Heyward-led gathering in Game 7 of the World Series that helped refocus the team to go out and claim their first championship trophy in 108 years. This year - albeit with much lower stakes - Jon Lester called the team together after a six-game losing streak on the West Coast.  The result? The Cubs have won four straight, including a sweep of their rivals from St. Louis, boosting their record to 29-27.  Joe Maddon's Continue to Article

June 05, 2017 11:20:pm EST

A familiar face returned to The Friendly Confines Monday as the Cubs opened up a three-game set with the Marlins.  Todd Hollandsworth, the former Cubs Pregame and Postgame Live analyst on CSN, now calls games for The Fish, but he dropped by SportsTalk Live to try and make sense of the slow start on the North Side.  He attributed most of their struggles to starting pitching, which, as a staff, currently holds a 4.64 ERA and 1.39 WHIP over 300 innings.  "When you look at the numbers, the one thing that stands out is that they've given up more runs," Hollandsworth said. "The starting pitching, the difference is 100 runs. I actually looked to the day, today, they gave up 100 less runs to this point Continue to Article

June 05, 2017 9:40:pm EST

The day finally arrived for Kolt Kyler. The young Cubs fan who went viral after getting some Cubs-Cardinals tickets from his dad made his journey from a small farm town in Indiana to Wrigley Field this past weekend, and CSN went along for the exciting experience. Join the Kylers as they travel to Chicago from the Hoosier State and Kolt sees the Friendly Confines for the first time. Catch Part 2 of CSN's exclusive look at Kolt's special day in the video above and be sure to catch Part 3 on Tuesday night's editions of In The Loop at 6:30 p.m. and after the Cubs game. Continue to Article

June 05, 2017 8:30:pm EST

If the Cubs ever needed to make the transition into basketball, they already have two positions set. Joe Maddon has already compared Javy Baez to a good point guard and Sunday night, he likened Jon Jay to a good sixth man coming off the bench. Maddon has spoken highly of Jay all year, joking about how he'd like to adopt the veteran outfielder as a sidekick. Jay came through again in the clutch Sunday night, collecting the game-winning hit in the seventh inning to help the Cubs sweep the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field. Jon Jay is such a valuable baseball player," Maddon said. "It's kinda like John Havlicek — the sixth man in basketball becomes famous. He's the sixth man here.  "You can pop Continue to Article

June 05, 2017 1:22:pm EST