Peanuts & Popcorn

This week on ITW: Trevor Rosenthal finally gets an out, and Chris Davis finally gets a hit. The Whit Merrifield hitting streak ends, Managers vs. Middle Managers, we’ll react to an article in The Athletic , and talk about all that as well as this week in the Chicago Cubs.  

This week on  ITW: The 2019 Championship Season is underway and we talk about what happened in the games that count. We will react to The Athletic ’s poll of MLB players.  Leo goes looking for Henry Aaron.  All that and this week with the Chicago Cubs.   

This week  on ITW, we make our predictions as to who will win their respective divisions, we’ll also talk about this recent rash of contract extensions that has afflicted teams of late. Ichiro Suzuki has his final at bats in a Major League uniform.  The Toronto Blue Jays do something teams should have done a long time ago and as always we’ll react to the latest news about the Chicago Cub...

Today on ITW we talk about how MLB managers will have to submit their lineups to odds makers before the public sees them, the slowest base runner in baseball is about to join some very exclusive company, MLB announces rule changes for this year and the next, AJ Hinch and Angel Hernandez have “issues” all that and the latest with the Chicago Cubs. 

Today on ITW, we talk about testing labs in the Atlantic League and in the Cubs’ Spring Training facility.  Dodgers pitcher, Joe Kelly gets a strange injury, we’ll talk about Spring Training stories from seasons past and give you the latest this week from the Chicago Cubs. 

This week on the ITW, we will dive into some of the proposed rule changes for the upcoming MLB season; we cover off on the real reason the games are taking so long; Manny Machado and Bryce Harper finally sign; we’ll discuss some articles we read on 538.com and in The Athletic and we will pay our respects to the great Frank Robinson.      · Travis Sawchuk from 538.com points out...

This week on this special Hot Stove League edition of “In the Wheelhouse” we’ll catch up on what’s been going on during the long Chicago winter in our respective lives, in Major League Baseball and with the Chicago Cubs.  

This week on the final episode of In the Wheelhouse for the 2018 season, the Boston Red Sox are the deserving World Champions, the Hot Stove League is really heating up, 7 free agents were tendered qualifying offers. Hall of Famer, Willie McCovey passes, we’ll talk about his career, and the Chicago Cubs make some moves.

This week In this season's penultimate episode of In the Wheelhouse, the Red Sox and the Dodgers are still battling it out in the World Series. Jayson Stark explains why the Red Sox are so good. https://theathletic.com/611933/2018/10/25/stark-the-red-sox-are-two-out-wonders/ The Twins, Reds and Angels all get new managers and Leo has a proposal to help stem the tide of the True Outcome impacting o...

This week on In the Wheelhouse, each League Championship Series has ended and we will preview the upcoming World Series. Teams are getting too good at sign stealing. It’s slowing the game down according to Jayson Stark of the Athletic. https://theathletic.com/595389/2018/10/17/stark-welcome-to-baseballs-age-of-ultra-paranoia/ We’ll talk about whether or not Free Agents Bryce Harper or Manny Machad...

This week on In the Wheelhouse, four teams are out and four teams are still in as the Red Sox, Astros, Brewers and Dodgers take the field this weekend. The Hot Stove League is starting early, and Dodgers are under investigation by the FBI according to Sheryl Ring of Fangraphs. https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-dodgers-might-be-in-actual-legal-trouble/ All this and the Chicago Cubs.

This week on In the Wheelhouse, the Major League Baseball playoffs are under way and for the first time in four years, the Cubs are watching them from their couches. Jason Stark shared some very scary statistics for the 2018 season. https://theathletic.com/562668/2018/10/02/stark-the-numbers-that-define-baseball-in-2018-revisited/ We perform the post-mortem on the Cubs vapid offensive output.

Today on In The Wheelhouse we predict MLB’s end-of-year awards. We’ll talk about a recent Peter Gammons piece in The Athletic on the decline of pitching development. https://theathletic.com/539450/2018/09/24/gammons-baseballs-system-for-developing-pitchers-is-broken-and-its-hurting-the-game/ We give our playoff predictions to the extent we know who those playoff teams are, we tackle the questions...

Today on In The Wheelhouse, we react to John Smoltz’ take on needed changes to Baseball. We will cover the Red Sox winning the AL East in the stadium of their ancient rival. We will talk about Adrian Beltre’s Hall of Fame prospects. And as always, we talk about this week with the Chicago Cubs. John Smoltz’ brilliant take on needed changes to Baseball written by Bob Nightengale: https://www.usatoda...

Today on In The Wheelhouse, Stephen Strasburg plays pinball with the home plate personnel. The “Tortuga” shows off his wheels, David Wright and Joe Mauer are calling it a career. Juan Soto is the 3rd teenager to record at least 20 homers. Also, all the latest from the Chicago Cubs.

This week on In The Wheelhouse, the Orioles try something new. The Hawk hangs ‘em up and the Cubs are 18 games through a brutal 23-games in 23-days schedule. Cheryl Ring from Fangraphs writes why Joe West may be the worst umpire of all time. https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/joe-west-austin-davis-and-the-theater-of-the-absurd/ Jayson Stark’s column in The Athletic is one of the best pieces this seas...

This week on In The Wheelhouse, we talk about the Miami Marlins actually lowering ticket prices, and we take the USA Today to task. Mike Schildt is given a vote of confidence by the Cardinals’ front office, Andrew McCutcheon has to get a shave, the Brewers and Indians make last-minute deals, we discuss the ludicrous proposal to speed up the game called "The Catch Up Rule" and as always, we talk ab...

This week on ITW Tom goes to Wrigley Field to see Pearl Jam, White Sox rookie, Michael Kopech, makes his Major League debut. Players weekend is here. There are some interesting names appearing on the back of the Little League-style uniforms. https://www.mlb.com/news/2018-players-weekend-details/c-289570882 • Fangraphs’, Cheryl Ring, suggests the Orioles might as well sign Rafael Palmeiro. https://...

This week on ITW, conflicts abound between the Marlins and the Braves on the East Coast and the Giants and the Dodgers in the West. The St. Louis Cardinals are relevant again. Great article from Benjamin Hodgeman from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. https://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/benjamin-hochman/hochman-the-st-louis-cardinals-what-if-i-told-you/article_87e4569e-933c-5aaf-a22b-e79f9ce5e872.h...

This week on ITW, Leo reviews the St. Louis Cardinals Museum, a very interesting minor leaguer pulls off the hidden ball trick, Bartolo Colón make the headlines, $21M man Chris Davis is terrible, and always, we talk about this week with our favorite team, the Chicago Cubs. https://www.milb.com/milb/news/abracadabra-astudillo-pulls-off-hidden-ball-trick-for-rochester-red-wings/c-289520148 Article b...

This week on ITW we dive into the Nationals massacre of the Mets, we do a post mortem on the Hall of Fame inductions and we look at the week that was for our Chicago Cubs… Washington beat writer Jamal Collier's writes Nationals reliever Shawn Kelly has a tantrum and it costs him his spot on the team. https://www.mlb.com/news/shawn-kelley-designated-after-outburst/c-288358910 The Oakland A’s are ge...

This week on ITW, we discuss recent MLB trade activity, including the Cubs’ acquisition of Cole Hamels. Josh Hader gets a warm welcome from the Brewers fans and as always, we talk about how the Cubs have fared this past week.

This week on ITW, we react to the All-Star Game and the Home run Derby. We examine the impact of the Manny Machado trade to the Dodgers and we take a look at the Cubs five-game series with the Cardinals at Wrigley Field.

This week on ITW, we cover the firing of Mike Matheny in St. Louis. We discuss Sweet Lou Whitaker's strong case for the Hall of Fame. We provide our reactions to the All-Star team selections and finally, we break down the week that was for the Chicago Cubs.

This week on ITW, we talk about the teams we love to hate. We speculate on the developing trade market, Jose Bautista takes us down memory lane and as always, we talk about the Chicago Cubs.