I know that some Cubs fans are panicking over the team’s two-game deficit in the NL Central and the Brewers appearing to just not lose... at all.
Since the beginning of June, the Brewers are 36-16. That’s... just not sustainable, not over a time much longer than that. Even the 103-win 2016 Cubs didn’t have streaks quite that good. I point you to the Miami Marlins, who are 32-22 in that same span. That’s just... not sustainable.
The Cubs are 29-24 since June 1. That’s an 89-win pace, which obviously
wouldn’t be good enough to win the division title. But with the bullpen reinforcements and Willi Castro in place, and Jameson Taillon returning, I think the Cubs will start winning again.
Clearly, the five-game series coming up in a couple of weeks against the Brewers is extremely important. The winner of that series will have the tiebreaker between the two teams, which likely will be meaningful.
Now, here’s who was hot and not for the Cubs over the past week.
Three up
Cade Horton, your table is ready
Horton is riding a 17-inning scoreless streak and though he still issues too many walks, he seems to have the knack of getting out of jams.
Here are his three strikeouts against the Orioles on Friday [VIDEO].
Willi Castro has already been a massive improvement for the bench
Castro started two games since the trade, one at second base and one at third base, and went 3-for-8 with a triple and three runs scored. He’s better than advertised defensively and the two games — just two games! — are already worth 0.2 bWAR as a Cub.
Here’s his triple on Saturday [VIDEO].
Castro now has more triples (one) in two games as a Cub as Vidal Bruján had in 38 games as a Cub (zero).
Here’s a slick defensive play Castro made on Saturday [VIDEO].
Andrew Kittredge made a solid Cubs debut
Kittredge threw the seventh inning in both of the Cubs wins over the Orioles, faced six batters, and retired all of them. On Friday, he touched 96 miles per hour a couple of times.
Here’s Kittredge talking about his scoreless inning on Friday, and on joining the Cubs [VIDEO].
Three down
Seiya Suzuki’s slump stretches on
Seiya did have two hits in Sunday’s win, but even with that, he’s batting just .122/.271/.143 (6-for-49) over his last 14 games with 17 strikeouts. His last home run was the day before that stretch began, July 18 vs. the Red Sox.
In this observer’s view, it might not be a bad idea to give Seiya a day off, or a couple. He has slumped like this in some previous seasons around this time, and a bit of time off might help him refresh and reset.
Kyle Tucker is also not hitting
Tucker injured his right index finger sliding into second base June 1 [VIDEO].
He left that game early and missed the Cubs’ next game. But he has played in all but one Cubs game since then, plus the All-Star Game, and done all right, but over his last 27 games: .226/.365/.301 (21-for-93) with just one home run. He’s walked a lot, keeping that OBP at a good level, but it seems that finger might still be bothering him. Perhaps a day off the last game of the Reds series, with an off day Thursday, might help. With Willi Castro now on the team, perhaps Castro could play left, Suzuki right, and Ian Happ DH on Wednesday.
Just a thought.
Jon Berti, forgotten man
Berti has played in just three games since the All-Star break (well, four, if you count his pitching appearance against the Royals).
He’s 0-for-3 in those games and since he went 1-for-2 against the Pirates May 1, Berti is batting .120/.154/.120 (6-for-50) with 10 strikeouts.
With Castro now on the team, perhaps the Cubs can carry three catchers when Miguel Amaya comes back.
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- Cubs vs. Orioles Sunday 8/3 game threads
- Minor League Wrap: Birds are hot, 9-1 over RiverDogs
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