After the recent road trip, I am actually pretty optimistic about the Cubs play recently. Granted they struck out 24 times in the Saturday night marathon, but they did win the game with a 6 run explosion in the 14th inning.
Looking at the bright side, though, they won 6 of 7 on the road, and the Brewers are coming down to earth, even losing 2 of 3 to the White Sox. Moreover, the Cubs have performed well despite some serious injuries, namely, Edwards and Darvish, as well as some really disappointing starts from Chatwood in particular.
People are all bemoaning the fact the Cubs signed Darvish and let Arrieta slip. At the time, I strongly supported management's decision to pass on Arrieta, who was never going to sign with the Cubs on the same terms he ultimately accepted in Philadelphia. Arrieta was always, I think, more of a risk than Darvish even though events so far seem to refute that claim. Sadly, I also thought Chatwood was a steal. He may still turn things around.
I've always been a big fan of Mike Montgomery, though, and I thought he deserved a shot at a starting role. His performance in the two starts replacing Darvish has been outstanding. If you are going to second-guess Epstein and Hoyer, you can make a case that they gave in too readily to the notion they had to replace Arrieta with another superstar in Darvish, spending big bucks in the process when they had a superior option in house.
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