Reminder: I’m on vacation all this week and will be a little briefer than usual this week. Thanks for your patience.
The Cubs can’t quite get momentum going. But they are also staying away from a prolonged skid. They’re treading water in the early going while they try to get as much of the team pointed in the right direction as possible. It’s pretty unheard of for any team to get everyone producing in any sustained way across the whole roster. You just try to keep enough guys grooved in to continually
win six or seven out of 10 games. The Cubs haven’t had a stretch like that yet. I’d be stunned though if they don’t get onto that kind of run.
Right at the very second I’m typing this, more than half the league is within two games one side or the other of .500. Only eight are three or more games away from .500. Half of those eight reside in the NL West where there are two teams off to very good starts, including the two-time defending champions who own the best record in the league. The West also contains two teams off to terrible starts.
Things are so bizarre right now that the Astros entered play Tuesday with the most runs scored but occupying last place in the AL West. One of the biggest problems of April baseball is that the bad teams often don’t just accept at face value that they are locked in to being bad. Most of the teams think if they catch a few breaks, that they have a chance to hang in the race. These teams will sort themselves out. But it’s going to take some time.
Increasingly, I think the early goal is to just not play yourself out of the race. The Cubs are a whopping two games out of first place behind the Reds and Pirates. If you believe that is in any way insurmountable, you are kidding yourself. This hasn’t been a glamorous start, but the Cubs could potentially take control of the division with one good stretch of baseball.
The Cubs have scored 42 runs over their last seven games. If we drop the top and bottom scores from that data set, it’s 32 runs over five games. The offense is warming up. I’m sure that has nothing at all to do with Alex Bregman starting to find some gaps with what has been pretty consistent solid contact this year. Unsurprisingly, I think this team can still be elite. Their going to need to sort out and probably add some pitching both internally and externally. But this team has pretty consistently been able to do that in season, so I’m optimistic.
Three Positives:
- Alex Bregman, three hits and three runs driven in.
- Michael Busch, two hits and two walks. Need that bat to get going.
- Nico Hoerner, two hits and three runs driven in. He’s been the most used leadoff hitter and also leads the team in RBI.
Honorable mentions to so many guys, but hat tip to Colin Rea for a “quality start.” He was the bulk guy and allowed three runs over six innings.
Game 17, April 14: Cubs 10, Phillies 4 (8-9)
Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.
THREE HEROES:
- Superhero: Alex Bregman (.210). 3-5, 3 RBI
- Hero: Nico Hoerner (.157). 2-6, 3 RBI
- Sidekick: Dansby Swanson (.118). 0-3, 2 BB, 2 R
THREE GOATS:
- Billy Goat: Seiya Suzuki (-.180). 1-5, R
- Goat: Jacob Webb (-.049). 0.1 IP, 3 BF, 2 H, 0 BB, ER, 0 K
- Kid: Carson Kelly (-.049). 2-4, HR, BB, 3 RBI, 2 R, DP
WPA Play of the Game: Edmundo Sosa’s three-run homer with two outs in the second for the first three runs of the game. (.238)
*Cubs Play of the Game: Nico Hoerner’s two-run single with the bases loaded and one out in the sixth gave the Cubs a two run lead. (.191)
Cubs Player of the Game:
Game 16 Winner: Dansby Swanson received 74 of 104 votes.
Up Next: The Cubs close out the series in Philly before getting an off day. Shōta Imanaga (0-1, 2.81, 16 IP) starts for the Cubs. Jesús Luzardo (1-2, 6.23, 17.1 IP) starts for the Phillies. The Cubs have fared worse against lefty starters the last year plus. But Luzardo has already had starts where he’s allowed five and six runs in the early going. The one good start (1 ER) was at Colorado. The two bad ones were in Philly.
Win a series.
