Sun, 8 February 2015
Welcome to the 294th episode of The Ivy Envy Podcast. This week, we have an interview I did with Sahadev Sharma of Baseball Prospectus. I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation and I think you will too. We touch on several topics in this discussion and Sahadev provides valuable insight. We start things off by talking about the PECOTA projections and what these projections say the 2015 Cubs could look like. We know that we’ll most likely see Kris Bryant up with the Cubs fairly early in the season. What’s not as clear at this point is when other prospects will get the call and I ask Sahadev if he thinks we may see Addison at Wrigley in some point in 2015. Joe Maddon will be a management style we’ve never seen before with the Cubs, from his on-the-field philosophies to how he deals with the media and fans. Sahadev talks about the previous two Cubs managers and describes what the team will look like with Maddon at the helm. Edwin Jackson was the first bigger free-agent this front office signed and things have definitely not gone as planned. Sahadev talks about where Jackson’s head is right now and he has a pretty good explanation of what went wrong with Edwin. Javier Baez’s strikeouts are a big concern right now. For Baez to realize his potential, his strikeout rate needs to significantly drop. If you were looking for the strikeout rate to drop for Baez over winter ball, that didn’t happen. Sahadev does have a good explanation that should make step back from the ledge a bit. We also look ahead to the 2015 trade deadline and Sahadev predicts what the Cubs mindset will be in regards to selling off prospects if they are in the thick of things later this season. If you’d like to follow Sahadev on Twitter, you can find him at @SahadevSharma. You can read Sahadev’s written pieces on baseball at Baseball Prospectus Click here for information on the Ivy Envy Cubs Bus Trip. |