Three up, three down: An update on the Cubs, July 21 edition

Photo by Matt Dirksen/Chicago Cubs/Getty Images

With last week’s All-Star break, this update on the Cubs covers just three games, the series against the Red Sox over the weekend.

Still, there’s good and bad to discuss.

Three up

Colin Rea continues to impress

While the Cubs certainly need at least one starting pitcher to be acquired before the trade deadline, even if Rea is then moved to the bullpen he can still help this team.

Rea put together another solid outing Friday against the Red Sox and over his last four: 1.90 ERA, 0.930 WHIP. At age 34, Rea is still throwing good fastballs and has

a good selection of pitches, as you can see in this graphic:

Baseball Savant

It’s a tiny sample size, but perhaps Matt Shaw has turned the corner

Shaw went 4-for-7 in the three games and hit his first Wrigley Field home run Saturday [VIDEO].

As I said... 4-for-7 isn’t much. But it isn’t nothing, either, especially coming off a stretch of 0-for-24 just before the All-Star break.

If Shaw can continue to hit, that’s a huge boost to the offense. His manager noticed, per this article in the Sun-Times:

“He’s had two really nice days at the plate after the All-Star break, and that’s huge, get a player going, get the confidence [going] as much as anything,” manager Craig Counsell said after the game Saturday. “You put in some work, you try to make some adjustments, you see results from those adjustments, that builds confidence, for sure.”

Shōta Imanaga picked up where he left off

Since Imanaga returned from his hamstring injury, he’s been even better than before that happened. In five starts since his return, Shōta has posted a 1.78 ERA and 0.659 WHIP, with just three walks in 30⅓ innings.

He is still well short of being a qualified starter (he’s got 75 innings pitched and as of today would need 99), but if he were qualified, that ERA would rank fourth in the National League, behind Paul Skenes, his teammate Matthew Boyd and Zack Wheeler.

Three down

When the bullpen melts down, it really melts down

The Cubs bullpen has been so good, including the first two games of the Red Sox series, that when it has a game like Sunday’s it was truly shocking.

The Cubs pen allowed three home runs Sunday in the final three innings of the game. Cubs relievers had allowed three home runs, total, in their previous 15⅓ innings dating to the first game of the Yankees series July 11, and one of those three was off the since-demoted Jordan Wicks.

Overall Cubs relievers have a 3.60 ERA this year, which ranks seventh in MLB, and their 36 home runs allowed ranks ninth. That’s still pretty good.

The Cubs still need some bench help

Vidal Bruján and Justin Turner each got one start over the weekend. They went 0-for-5. Bruján did drive in a run with a sacrifice fly on Friday.

Hopefully, while Jed Hoyer is looking to upgrade starting pitching and third base, he’ll look for some bench help (although, if the Cubs do acquire a third baseman, say, Eugenio Suárez, that would push Shaw to the bench, likely improving it).

Reese McGuire’s hitting has slumped

After a great start with the Cubs, McGuire is 2-for-16 in July, including going 0-for-4 Saturday.

He’s been an admirable fill-in for Miguel Amaya. Amaya is expected to begin a rehab assignment at Triple-A Iowa soon and perhaps will be back by the end of the month. The Cubs can thank McGuire for his contributions (0.4 bWAR, pretty decent for 21 games), and will welcome Amaya back.

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