The Chicago Cubs were already leaking oil heading into this past weekend’s Crosstown Classic, and the series loss exposed a major red flag plaguing Craig Counsell’s squad.
Fortunately, the White Sox bullpen blew up on Friday night, which gave the Cubs a chance to pounce, and to their credit, they did, scoring six runs late to secure a win. Despite scoring 21 runs over the weekend, the same issues surfaced repeatedly, leading to the team’s third consecutive series loss.
Hitting w/RISP
Heading into the series on the South Side, the Cubs ranked 23rd in MLB, hitting .235 with runners in scoring position. They were able to break through on Friday, going 6-for-14; however, the Cubs still left 11 men on base in the 10-5 win. On Saturday, the Cubs were only 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position, failing to get a big hit against Davis Martin, who escaped two separate jams in six innings of work. The Cubs also came up short with the bases loaded in the seventh inning, which pretty much put the final nail in their coffin Saturday night.
Yet, by far the most egregious performance was in Sunday’s 9-8 loss in 10 innings. Sure, Michael Conforto tied the game in the ninth with a three-run home run, but the Cubs ended the afternoon 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position.
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Heading into Monday night’s series opener against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Cubs have a team 99 wRC+ with runners in scoring position. Out of the nine qualified hitters on the Cubs, five are well below league average in hitting with runners in scoring position.
Cubs hitting w/RISP
Carson Kelly: .302/.400/.488
Pete Crow-Armstrong: .313/.389/.479
Moisés Ballesteros: .231/.333.571
Michael Busch: .306/.410/.429
Ian Happ: .160/.333/.300
Dansby Swanson: .182/.304/.318
Nico Hoerner: .231/.283/.346
Alex Bregman: .260/.321/.280
Seiya Suzuki: .125/.234/.225
What has been even more frustrating is that as the No. 4 and 5 hitters, respectively, Happ has a 38.1 K% and Suzuki has a 42.6 K% in those situations. Happ’s 63 plate appearances w/RISP is the most on the team, while Suzuki’s 14 wRC+ is by far the worst on the team and fifth worst among 207 qualified hitters across MLB.
It’s just one of those things that pop up throughout the year for players, but unlucky for the Cubs, it’s the two guys right in the middle of the lineup who can’t buy a hit or make good contact when the team desperately needs the offense to step up.
Plus, Hoerner’s slump has been brutal because even when the whole team was struggling, you could almost always count on him to come through with a clutch hit, and now he can’t even do that either. He was on fire to begin the year in these spots, going 9-for-26 with 17 RBI through 17 games. However, since April 21, Hoerner is 3-for-26 with runners in scoring position.
The fact that the Cubs have scored the fourth-most runs in baseball is a testament to how many chances the lineup can create. The team started off rough for about two weeks, then was on fire for about four weeks, and now they’re once again failing to put teams away. It happened on Sunday, wasting valuable scoring opportunities against the White Sox, who kept it close, tied it in the fifth, took the lead in the eighth, and one big swing won the game after the Cubs once again just could not deliver a big hit with runners in scoring position in the top of the 10th inning.
It’s gotta swing the other direction soon, right? Right?!?!
