The Chicago Cubs were swept on the road this week as the offense once again hit a speed bump. So much for the positive momentum that the Cubs were seemingly riding last week. The San Francisco Giants won all three games and outscored the Cubs 21-8, at Oracle Park.
Sadly, the offense not coming through has been the norm during the month of August for the Cubs and their first real sweep of the season capped off an awful stretch for Chicago’s bats. Dating back to the Cubs’ Aug. 10, game against the St. Louis Cardinals, they’ve scored four runs or less in 16 of 18 games. The only two games in which Craig Counsell saw his offense explode for more than four runs were in a 6-4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers and this past weekend’s 12-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels.
But here’s what’s actually impressive about this 18-game stretch of futile offensive performance by the Cubs. They have somehow managed to go 9-9, largely thanks to the starting pitching.
Yet, at the same time it’s a lot more frustrating to look at the very winnable games that the Cubs have let slip away because the offense has been so bad in August.
Here are four of those nine losses from the past three weeks.
Aug. 10: 3-2 @ St. Louis
Aug. 14: 2-1 @ Toronto
Aug. 15: 3-2 vs. Pittsburgh
Aug. 28: 4-3 @ San Francisco
Oh and during the first week of August the Cubs also lost 4-3 to the Baltimore Orioles and 3-2 to the Cincinnati Reds.
Just to give you an idea of how bad it’s been, here are the rankings of the Cubs’ offense during August.
Yikes.
I know a lot of fans are pissed off about Counsell not playing top prospect Owen Caissie more often since he was called up, but the problem goes beyond just replacing one guy in the lineup.
See, Counsell can’t bench half the team and that’s the issue. It’s not one or two guys who are struggling since the All-Star break, the Cubs only have a handful of players who are actually producing on offense.
Cubs stats since July 18
Matt Shaw: 168 wRC+, .288/.330/.654
Nico Hoerner: 111 wRC+, .309/.362/.375
Kyle Tucker: 110 wRC+, .219/.355/.360
Ian Happ: 108 wRC+, 224/.336/.397
Pete Crow-Armstrong: 85 wRC+, .229/.273/.397
Dansby Swanson: 80 wRC+, 232/.287/.352
Seiya Suzuki: 75 wRC+, .182/.322/.256
Michael Busch: 72 wRC+, 192/.254/.362
Carson Kelly: 60 wRC+, .220/.288/.260
Matt Shaw has been incredible, but besides him everyone else has collectively been awful. I mean, the struggles for Kyle Tucker led to a benching and it speaks volumes that he’s still put up the third-best production in the past 1.5 month despite how bad he was at the plate. It just goes to show how worse everyone around Tucker has been.
The Cubs have no chance to do anything in October if these guys don’t pick it up. Sorry, but Owen Caissie alone isn’t saving the lineup.
Meanwhile, the starting rotation is doing everything it can to keep the Cubs in position to reach the postseason. Since the All-Star break the Cubs rank No. 1 in MLB with a 3.27 ERA from the starting pitchers. During the month of August alone, the Cubs rotation also ranks first in the league with a 2.99 ERA.
It would be nice if the offense could help out a little more down the stretch. Thanks.
