Post-Mortem

I managed to get a ticket to Game 5 through a friend. First time at a post-season game. The game was pretty depressing. The Cubs were, of course, never in it. Really the only playoff game that was not closely contested for the team, even though one always thought they would lose in the end. I would have thought the crowd would be into it, at least at the start and  for the first two innings, but things never got really exciting. After the slam, it was over.

Whereas last year was magic, this year was not. Right from the start, things were off. They managed to right the ship after the break and play good ball, but they seemed to have little left for the playoffs. I rather disagree that the relatively weak post-break schedule accounts for that late season success. They played most of September against the Brewers and Cardinals, both of which were better teams than people give them credit for being.

What happened in the playoffs is they were outplayed and out-pitched. Their hitters were completely undisciplined. They seemed to forget all about working the count and grinding at-bats, traits that have been their hallmark. I don’t think starting pitching was necessarily their main weakness in the playoffs. The bullpen, though, sucked.  The bullpen was a weakness before that as well. One thing the Cubs do need to assess is the whole issue of pacing the starters through the season. Deliberately shortening  starts does lead to bullpen fatigue, which, coupled with some late season setbacks to Lester and Arrieta, meant trouble later on.

So Bosio is out, allegedly because his pitchers couldn’t throw strikes. This may signal a change of focus. Bosio was good at reprogramming more veteran arms, but he didn’t really develop much in the way of young pitching with the exception of Hendricks. Of course, the Cubs system has not produced much material to work with. Hickey, the rumored replacement, on the other hand, has been outstanding through his Tampa years in this respect. Also he is an old Maddon guy.

Epstein sort of hinted at being willing to trade a younger player for pitching. The question is making the right choice. Among the position players, the Cubs are saddled with one big contract, Heyward, who is pretty much a flop and who is robbing younger guys of at-bats and another, Zobrist, who is showing signs of rust.

The team will potentially lose Arrieta, Lackey, and Davis to free agency. Lackey will likely retire, but  he won’t be back anyway. It would help to sign Arrieta or Davis. They probably cannot afford both and they need to be careful about signing pitchers in their thirties to long term deals.

Given the regression of several younger stars in terms of hitting this season and in the playoffs especially, one wonders how safe the hitting coach/coaches are.