I hate to say this but the Cubs are playing crappy baseball right now. After coasting to an opening day win, the team has gone into hibernation at the plate. This seems to be the same old story as last year. No clutch hitting, suckers for the high fastball, no situational hitting, stymied by left-handed pitching, impatient at-bats. Every now and again they have a good inning or two. But 58 Ks in five games against teams projected to lose 90-100 games. Come on.
Russell and Schwarber have been the exceptions as hitters, as have Bryant and Zobrist. Heyward has achieved a level of mediocrity that makes him look good in comparison to everyone else. Maddon, of course, suggests they are too good a hitting team to continue like this. Lets hope things improve quickly, as this team now looks very complacent.
The bullpen and defense have been the two bright spots. Also Hendricks and Chatwood turned in excellent starts. Lester and Darvish were disappointing, as was Quintana, although the latter pitched a lot better than the bottom line reflects. I should confess also that I have been knocking Butler for the better part of a year, but he turned in a stellar performance in relief Friday night only to lose a tough decision. Mea culpa.
Incidentally, I really hate this batting order. Happ and Almora have so far not delivered. Also, have I mentioned how much I hate Bryant batting second with no one ever on base. They need to move someone up to the two spot, especially as their leadoff hitters are having problems. Schwarber or Russell might fill the bill.
No comments:
Post a Comment