Chicago Cubs, 6-9
The Cubs ingloriously reside at the bottom of the NL Central, a division not noted for its depth of talent. Given that Chicago was considered by many to be the best of that division what gives?
First and most obviously, we’re finding out that the Cubs can’t hit the ball. Literally. They’re averaging more than 10 strikeouts per game and batting a majors-worst .192. Granted, that can’t continue. But it doesn’t have to in order to be real trouble.
More than a century ago, in 1910, the Chicago White Sox set the MLB record for the worst team batting average. They hit .212, 20 points higher than the Cubs. Through 15 games, those White Sox were batting .197, five points higher than the 2021 Cubs are today.
The Cubs’ problems run virtually throughout the roster. Four of their eight regulars are batting below .200 and three – leadoff man Ian Happ plus outfielders Jason Heyward and Joc Pederson – are carrying sub. 560 OPS’s. In a game where a .750 OPS is viewed as average, that’s disastrous.
Compounding the team’s problem is the depressing state of the pitching staff. The team ERA is 4.93; only St. Louis is worse. Cub pitchers have walked a major league high 75 opponents, basically one every two innings.
Zach Davies was taken aboard from San Diego in exchange for Yu Darvish because he’s a control guy. Yet he’s walked nine in 11 innings. If Davies, with one of the game’s slowest fastballs, can’t spot the pitch, there’s not much else to recommend him.
This all unfolds against the backdrop of expectation that Cubs management will tear up the team’s core if the Cubs don’t get off to a good start, which they thus far haven’t. It’s likely that Kris Bryant’s dance card is already full. The combination of Bryant getting off to a good start and the Cubs flagging creates a worst-case scenario for those wanting to see Bryant stay: he increasingly has more value on the market than on the field.
Subtract Bryant and possibly Baez and/or Rizzo and 2021 begins to look like a crater season on the North Side.
Odds that Chicago’s 6-9 record is real: 85 percent.