The Chicago Cubs have one remaining hope: small sample size
By TC Zencka
2019 Chicago Cubs: Underperformers
The Departed
There is a limit to how many underperformers a team can field before the bottom falls out. The Chicago Cubs are getting pretty darn close to that line.
On the offensive end, take a look at this list: Martin Maldonado, Tony Kemp, Carlos Gonzalez, Albert Almora, Daniel Descalso, Jonathan Lucroy, Mark Zagunis, Taylor Davis. That’s eight batters with negative bWAR this season.
On the mound, here’s the list: Allen Webster, Randy Rosario, Craig Kimbrel, Carl Edwards Jr., Mike Montgomery, Brad Brach, Adbert Alzolay, Dillon Maples, Pedro Strop.
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It’s certainly telling that the key pieces of 2016’s bullpen (besides Aroldis Chapman) are there on that list. It could point to a lack of innovation of Epstein’s end, a failure to inspire on Maddon’s, performance declination, or simply a bad luck year.
The Cubs have 17 players on the negative side of the WAR list. That’s 17 players who are performed under replacement level. A large number of those players have small samples, many have been hurt. Five of them are no longer in the organization.
Credit the Cubs for pulling the red card on a couple of players that meant a lot to the 2016 team. That has to happen at some point, no matter how great there were for the organization back then. Edwards Jr. and Montgomery pitched the most important inning, maybe in Cubs history. But they were struggling badly this year, and they no longer had enough long-term upside to keep running out there.
All teams field below-average players. The 2016 Cubs rostered nine of them. Kyle Schwarber and Miguel Montero both contributed negative WAR during the season. But those guys didn’t play much during the year. More to the point, they don’t win the World Series without those guys.
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Thank goodness for small sample size, because without it, it’d be easy to assume the 2019 Chicago Cubs are cooked. With three weeks left, the heat is on.