The good news is that the Cubs allowed only 20 runs in the six games over the past week, and six of those were in the 12th inning on Tuesday. So in general, the pitching staff did its job.
The bad news, unfortunately, is that the Cubs scored only 15 runs over the six games, and six of those were on Sunday. They got shut out once.
Hopefully, the pitching staff does well against the Padres and the bats come out of their slumber.
Here’s who was hot and not for the Cubs over the past week.
Three up
After a slow September, Seiya Suzuki had himself a nice week
Coming into the
week, Suzuki had batted just .188/.333/.297 (12-for-64) over 18 September games with just one home run and 17 strikeouts.
He came out of that by batting .350/.435/.550 (7-for-20) with a double and a home run in five games played against the Marlins and Red Sox. His 81 walks tied him for third-most on the team this year (with Ian Happ).
Let’s hope he keeps that hitting going in San Diego.
Alex Bregman is just a beast
After the frightening injury a week ago, Bregman didn’t play until Friday and appeared in just two games this week, both against his former team, the Red Sox.
I’d say that .500/.556/1.375 (4-for-8) with a double, two home runs, three runs scored, four RBI and a walk is a pretty good performance from a guy playing with facial fractures.
Here’s his four-hit day Sunday [VIDEO].
Bregman has played in 102 postseason games and hit 19 home runs. That’s the kind of production the Cubs will need going forward.
Pete Crow-Armstrong joined the 40/40 club
PCA went just 5-for-19 and did not homer, though his 45 home runs tied him with Kyle Schwarber for the MLB lead. The last time a Cub had led all MLB players in home runs was in 2000, when Sammy Sosa had 50.
PCA also stole three bases over the week, giving him 41 for the year. Here’s the 40th, at Wrigley Field on Thursday, that got him into the elite 40/40 club [VIDEO].
There’s absolutely no question he should be elected NL MVP unanimously.
Honorable to Shōta Imanaga, who threw six innings in two games this past week, allowed two runs and just one home run, and struck out 10. He could be a very important pitching weapon in the postseason, as could Daniel Palencia, who threw 2.1 scoreless innings in two games against the Marlins and had his four-seamer hitting 100 miles per hour multiple times.
Three down
Dansby Swanson had a quiet week
Swanson, still recovering from his oblique injury that kept him out a month, went 1-for-18 with eight strikeouts in playing five games against the Marlins and Red Sox. He did homer in the game just before that, against the Reds on Sept. 20.
It hasn’t affected his defense, though [VIDEO].
That’s a heads-up play by both Swanson and Nico Hoerner, showing the value of those two in the field. A run scored on that play, but that defense likely prevented a much bigger Red Sox inning.
Edward Cabrera, yikes
Cabrera’s bullpen appearance on Tuesday against his former team, the Marlins, was just awful. He entered the game in the 12th inning with the team down 4-2, still possibly a manageable deficit, and the first five hitters who faced him: walk, hit batter, walk, single, single. Four more runs scored before Cabrera managed to finish off the inning.
He won’t be on any postseason roster and the Cubs will have decisions to make regarding his status for next year and beyond. He’s under team control for two more years.
Nico Hoerner’s bat went quiet
Nico, who had a tremendous start to his season in April, didn’t hit much most of the rest of the season and batted just .200/.304/.200 (4-for-20) in the six games against the Marlins and Red Sox, all singles. It would be nice if Nico’s bat got going in the Wild Card Series.
You can see the heads-up defense he always plays in the video above, taking a throw bare-handed from Swanson. As always, defense will be key for the Cubs’ chances in the postseason.
