Cubs Using Hot Bats to Get Closer to Playoffs
The Chicago Cubs have spent much of this season in a battle for postseason positioning, thanks to a hotly contested National League Central race. But the division race, combined with their wild-card positioning, appears to be lining up favorably, as the Cubbies now control their own destiny to get into the postseason to compete for another championship. The big reason for their late-season surge has been their red-hot hitting, which could propel them through October if it continues.
Starting with a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers at the beginning of August, the Cubs put up six or more runs in five out of seven games. That series against the Brewers was significant in that the Cubs are neck-and-neck with Milwaukee atop the NL Central. Winning two out of three against their division rivals was enough to keep the Cubs in first place, with less than two months of baseball left to be played in the regular season.
One of the key contributors for the Cubs during their run of big-hitting has been Kyle Schwarber, who has moved down the lineup and benefited from that change. Schwarber is batting nearly 80 points higher since being moved down in the batting order than he was prior to the change, which could help put more runners on base and more runs on the board for the Cubs should he continue to produce in his new offensive role.
Timely hitting has also been something that the Cubs have had in bunches of late, with the team coming through with runners in scoring position. The team has hit eight grand slams during the 2019 season, which puts them one shy of the single-season record in Cubs history. That record was set in 1929, a year in which the Cubs went onto win the pennant.
The team’s recent offensive surge has put them position to be one of the dark horses to win the 2019 World Series, with MLB odds on bet365 putting the Cubs as fifth-favorites to win the title. Given all the hype surrounding the Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, and New York Yankees, the Cubs’ +1700 odds to win the title could make them an attractive underdog selection if their offense can continue to carry them through games.
And the Cubs will need their offense to continue to shine given how difficult it can be to score runs against their opponents in the NL Central. Their division boasts three of the top four teams in the National League in runs allowed, with the Cubs joining the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds in that group within their division. With games coming up against both of those teams, and the aforementioned Brewers, things are far from decided in the Central.
Fortunately for the Cubs, their bats are clicking at just the right time. If they can continue to get production out of Schwarber at the bottom of the order, the rest of the lineup should be able to propel them into the postseason. And once they get there, anything can happen, as the team showed in 2016.
