Daniel Murphy

A bit of a shock getting Murphy, but in a way one can see the logic. Murphy can certainly hit although his fielding and range are questionable. After the Pirates series especially, this offense, unaccountably, has serious issues. I mean, four runs, all home runs, 33 left on base.

Obviously, they miss Bryant. Perhaps this indicates Bryant is not returning to the lineup until mid-September. My guess is that Russell goes to the DL to make room. He is obviously hurting.

In many ways this is a curious addition in that it provides the club with a sixth capable second baseman to go along with Baez, Zobrist, Happ, Bote, and LaStella. Murphy is best suited on the Cubs to the DH role, which makes it all the more curious in that the team has only four more DH opportunities left, the upcomong Detroit series and the road half of the White Sox series in late September. The World Series, should they make it, would be the big payoff for this acquisition.

On the putching front, the news on Darvish was disappointing. I’m not sure losing Darvish is that much of a disaster. Montgomery, who has taken most of his starts since May, has arguably been their best starter until they picked up Hamels. If Montgomery can return to the rotation Saturday, this setback is not that significant for the team even short term.

Solid Game

Glad to see Rizzo drop down to cleanup. Big difference. Hitting fourth again tonight. Cubs were around break even throughout this experiment. As we pointed out before, no matter how often he is on base, it is meaningless if no one drives him in. Also shift was killing him.

Hendricks is rounding back to form. The Cubs need to get Lester going again. I wonder if they should skip a turn. His peripherals have been tending down now for a while.

Quick Hits

Just some thoughts about the team, not all of them good.

For a team that has the best record in the NL, they sure make heavy weather of things.   Back in 2016, the trademark was getting out to an early lead and coasting home. Nowadays the Cubs start out 3 runs down and have to come back nearly every day to get back in the game.

Not scoring early means your starters have to pitch under a lot more pressure. It also kind of leads one to the impression the Cubs offense may not be quite as formidable as it seems. Right now, these guys don’t score against respectable starting pitchers until the third time through the order or until they get into the opposing team’s bullpen.

The other great puzzle is the inability of the starters to get out of the first inning cleanly. Don’t they warm up properly?  Are they tipping pitches?  Are their sequences too predictable?  Is tgeir game preparation lacking?  Who knows?

These trends do not bode well for the playoffs.

It’s All About the Matchups?

So the Cubs play 4 against the Padres and 3 against the Royals before the Nationals series.  These are 7 automatic wins, but they are already down 1. What happened last night is kind of illustrative of the frustrations that have characterized this season. First off, Montgomery enters the 6th at about the 70 pitch mark. After a routine out, he walks the next guy. Maddon pulls him for his new favorite Jesse Chavez. Chavez gives up a bloop single and then a 3 run homer. Later on we see Duensing enter and put the game out of reach.

So my point is you complain about starters not going deep and having to use up the bullpen, but you routinely pull your starters in the 5th or 6th inning unnecessarily. Am I missing something?  It’s not like it’s the 7th game of the World Series.

The other observation is that without Bryant, the Cubs don’t score runs against lefties. And I cannot tell you how much I hate that lineup and Rizzo leading off. I don’t care how often Rizzo gets on base, it’s no use if he doesn’t score snd the team plays meciocre .500 ball.  Not to mention Heyward batting  third. Your 3 hitter is your best hitter.  Tell me in what alternative universe Heyward is the best hitter on this team.

There, I got this off my chest.

Pitching Log Jam

I generally think the Cubs addressed most of their problems at the trade deadline. Inadvertently, however, they seem to have created a new set. The Cubs have three players due to come off the DL in August. Obviously Bote will spend a couple of weeks at AAA when Bryant is healed.  What to do about Morrow and Darvish?  Only Duensing is pitching badly enough to get cut and he is signed through 2019. It will be interesting to see how Theo and Jed manage this one.