With wide scale panic now fully embracing the Cubs massive fan base as their once firm grip on the NL Central division race has dwindled to a mere 0.5 game we need to look at why this may be happening,
Is their roster not as talented as we all thought? No, that would be an inaccurate assessment because the roster put together by Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer is deep and talented and boasts star power that should carry the club through any rough patch.
Have they been overly affected by injuries? Not enough that it should knock them from their perch atop the division. Yes, they lost pitcher Yu Darvish and closer Brandon Morrow which would sap any pitching staff when robbed of two of its best arms. However, Darvish has been sidelined since May with an arm injury that eventually required surgery. And the Cubs starting rotation over the past 6 weeks has been among the best in baseball.
The bullpen has certainly been affected by the loss of Morrow as well as his replacement in the closer’s role, Pedro Strop but that is not why this team is watching their lead melt down in the season’s final days. There are enough quality arms in the Cubs bullpen to get the job done to get to the postseason.
The reason this team is struggling is because their offense has been wildly inconsistent all season long and there doesn’t seem to be a sure fire remedy to cure them. The change in hitting coaches from John Mallee to Chili Davis will get a lot of scrutiny from fans and media but these are professional hitters with several years of experience who should know how to fix their swing themselves. Chili Davis isn’t walking up and taking the at bats for the players. Can his philosophy be discussed in the off season? Certainly. But, when players such as Willson Contreras and Kyle Schwarber perform far below expectations it hamstrings an offense that should be light years better than it has shown.
Contreras was in the MVP discussions before the season started but his output this season has be incredibly mediocre. Where has his power gone? Contreras is hitting .205 since the All Star break with an abysmal .298 on base percentage and he is hitting just .213 this season with runners in scoring position. And Schwarber is not much better. The player that stole the show in the 2016 World Series is hitting .224 since the All Star break and he is hitting just .200 with men in scoring position for the season.
However, at this critical juncture the only way the Cubs are going to pull this team up out of their nose dive is for someone to step up and put this team on their back and do it themselves. Is that person accomplished slugger Anthony Rizzo? How about MVP candidate Javier Baez? Veteran hitter Daniel Murphy? He is hitting .250 over the last 30 days but his on base percentage is a woeful .298.
It is probably a safe bet to say that it won’t be 2016 National League MVP Kris Bryant who has been beset by injuries most of the season and has missed more than 70 games with a combination of a shoulder injury (that could require some type of cleanup procedure in the offseason), the effects of getting hit in the head with a fastball early in the season and a wrist injury suffered last night when he was hit by a pitch.
So, with five games left to play the questions are few and the answers are unknown. Who will step up and play the role of savior for the struggling Cubs offense? Will the starting pitching answer the bell and pitch the Cubs to a division title? And does the talent filled roster have enough left in the tank to hold off the Milwaukee Brewers?
When the Cubs were down 3-1 in the 2016 World Series I knew deep down that team was coming back to battle and that they had a great shot to win the World Series. They did just that with dominant starting pitching and some clutch offense.
However, I’m not sure I have that same feeling right now with this 2018 team. I don’t see someone locked in offensively and ready to have one of those nights that carries a team to a much needed victory. So, is someone ready to step up and provide a team and a fan base the shot in the arm they so desperately need? Jose Quintana gets the ball on Wednesday. He has a chance to dominate and lead his team. This is why he was acquired at a very high price. For moments like these. Can he pitch like a Ferrari? His team is counting on it as a fan base panics.
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