Game Thread: New York Yankees @ Chicago Cubs 5/5

Afternoon baseball in Chicago is about as American as it gets but having the New York Yankees join those Chicago Cubs on a Friday afternoon inside Wrigley Field… well that’s just awesome and I don’t care who you are. The Yankees and the Cubs kick off their three-game weekend set this afternoon with a stellar pitching matchup that pits Michael Pineda for New York against Kyle Hendricks for Chicago. The game will be played at 2:20 pm ET inside Wrigley Field and can be seen on the YES Network, MLB Network and MLB TV. You can also follow along with the game at work like I am or in your cars by tuning into WFAN.

Follow us on Twitter by giving @GreedyStripes a follow. Enjoy the game and Go Yankees!

Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Chicago Cubs 5/5

How’s this for a historic matchup? The New York Yankees are fresh off their off day yesterday and heading to the Windy City of Chicago to take on the Chicago Cubs in a three-game set inside Wrigley Field. In the first matchup of the series these two teams will send possibly their best starters thus far this season to kick things off as the Yankees send Michael Pineda to the mound to square off against Kyle Hendricks for the Cubs.

Pineda pitched well once again in his last start against the Baltimore Orioles allowing two unearned runs in 5.1 innings of work walking one batter and striking out eight. Pineda is back to being the high strikeout and low walk guy the Yankees traded for all those years ago striking out 37 batters this far this season to just four walks in 28.2 innings pitched.

Hendricks faces his second consecutive American League East team tonight after making his last start against the Boston Red Sox. In that start Hendricks lasted six innings allowing just three hits including a Hanley Ramirez two-run home run. More of those please.

The game will be played at 2:20 pm ET inside Wrigley Field and can be seen on the YES Network in New York, MLB Network nationally, CSN-C in Chicago and on MLB TV wherever you are your device are. You can also follow along on the radio the old fashioned way with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman on WFAN.

Enjoy the game and as always, Go Yankees!

Predicting the AL & NL Cy Young Award Winner

Today the Baseball Writers Association of America will reveal who they chose to win both the American League and National League Cy Young Awards and before they do I wanted to take a stab at predicting who I thought they would pick. This is not necessarily who I would have picked if I had a vote in the BBWAA and this may or may not be who I voted for in the IBWAA ballot but just who I think will be announced as the winner tonight on MLB Network so keep that in mind.

Without further ado here are my picks for the awards tonight:

American League Finalists 
Corey Kluber, Indians
Rick Porcello, Red Sox
Justin Verlander, Tigers

In the American League I think we will have one of the closest votes that we have seen I quite some time. All three of these pitchers deserve to be finalists but one didn’t really take the necessary step forward this season to differentiate themselves and distance themselves from the rest of the pack. Ultimately I think Kluber wins the award with Verlander finishing a very close second but it wouldn’t surprise me to see any of these three men win the award. In years past when there wasn’t such a importance and relevance to sabermetrics I think Porcello and his magical 20+ wins plateau season would run away with the award but it goes to show you, assuming he does not win the award, how far the league has come since “Moneyball” became a thing.

National League Finalists
Kyle Hendricks, Cubs
Jon Lester, Cubs
Max Scherzer, Nationals

In the National League I know a lot of fans will likely ride the emotion of the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series and want or even expect either Lester or Hendricks, the ERA leader in 2016, to win the award but you have to remember that these awards are voted on before the end of the regular season. Max Scherzer will likely win the award based on his 2016 stat line followed distantly by Hendricks. In my opinion if Jose Fernandez had not passed away so suddenly I’m not sure Lester would even be a finalist this season but that’s just me. 

MLB Award Finalists & the New York Yankees

Major League Baseball has announced the finalists for the major awards in the league and a member of the New York Yankees showed up on the list. The Baseball Writers’ Association of America announced the top three vote-getters in each category on Monday and here they are.

Nov. 14

AL ROY
Michael Fulmer, Tigers
Tyler Naquin, Indians
Gary Sanchez, Yankees

NL ROY
Kenta Maeda, Dodgers
Cory Seager, Dodgers
Trea Turner, Nationals

Nov. 15

AL Manager of the Year

Jeff Banister, Rangers
Terry Francona, Indians
Buck Showalter, Orioles

NL Manager of the Year

Dusty Baker, Nationals
Joe Maddon, Cubs
Dave Roberts, Dodgers

Nov. 16

AL Cy Young
Corey Kluber, Indians
Rick Porcello, Red Sox
Justin Verlander, Tigers

NL Cy Young
Kyle Hendricks, Cubs
Jon Lester, Cubs
Max Scherzer, Nationals

AL MVP
Jose Altuve, Astros
Mookie Betts, Red Sox
Mike Trout, Angels    

NL MVP
Kris Bryant, Cubs
Daniel Murphy, Nationals
Corey Seager, Dodgers

The awards will be handed out next week on MLB Network. 

World Series Game 7 Preview: Chicago Cubs @ Cleveland Indians

And it all comes down to this..... Game 7 of the 2016 World Series. Tonight we finally answer the question of which World Series drought will come to an end. Will it be the drought of the Cleveland Indians who have not won a World Series since the 1948 Fall Classic or will it be the long-suffering Chicago Cubs and their fans who have not won a World Series since the 1908 season? We are just a few hours away from finding out and I just can't wait for it.

In this decisive Game 7 where winner takes all Terry Francona will send Corey Kluber to the mound for the Indians while Joe Maddon will send Kyle Hendricks to the mound with the city of Chicago and the Curse of the Billy Goat on his back and shoulders.

Hendricks led all of MLB in ERA in 2016 and will get the ball tonight looking to do what he did all season long, keep the other team off the scoreboard. Hendricks has done just that in his last two starts allowing zero runs combined while also lowering his postseason ERA to 1.31.


Kluber has been awesome this postseason and has already given the Indians victories in Game 1 and Game 4 of the World Series. Kluber will once again be pitching on short rest, the third time in a row actually, in the must-win game for both teams. Kluber has made five starts this postseason and has posted a 0.89 ERA thus far for Cleveland.

The game will be played at 8:08 pm ET and can be seen on FOX. Game 7... it all comes down to this.

World Series Game Three Thread: Cleveland Indians @ Chicago Cubs

Here we go ladies and gentleman, Game Three of the 2016 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and the Cleveland Indians. The Indians were not able to protect home-field advantage, not that this is a huge deal in Major League Baseball in my opinion, and head into Chicago for the next three games with the series tied at a win each. The Cubs will send Kyle Hendricks to the mound tonight looking to take the team to the next step in breaking the Curse of the Billy Goat while the Indians will look to break their own personal World Series drought with Josh Tomlin taking the mound looking for a victory. The game will be played at 8:08 pm ET and it can be seen on FOX.

Enjoy the game everyone! 

World Series Game Three Preview: Cleveland Indians @ Chicago Cubs

It’s Game Three of the World Series already? Wow. The series began in Progressive Field in Cleveland and as the series shifts to Chicago for the next three games expect the crowds at Wrigley to be absolutely insane. The Cubbies, like the Indians, are three wins away from a World Series but this means so much more to Cubs fans I think. It means so much more to baseball too for the Cubs to win in my opinion but maybe that’s just the historian in me speaking. Anyway tonight the Cubs will send their Game Three starter Kyle Hendricks to the mound to square off against Josh Tomlin of the Indians.

Tomlin has two good starts already this postseason for the Indians and will look to deliver a third tonight in Chicago. All told Tomlin has allowed just three runs in 10.2 innings pitched this October for Cleveland.

Hendricks gave the Cubs a huge Game 6 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers last time out and will start tonight looking to somehow improve on his 1.65 ERA in 16.1 innings this October. In that NLCS start Hendricks allowed just two hits in 7.1 innings pitched in the victory.

The game will be played at 8:08 pm ET inside Wrigley Field and can be seen on FOX. Good luck to both teams.