Be Really Optimistic Cubs Fans, Even After a Bad Series
It is not my intention to ridicule other fans, and I have always said it doesn’t matter how you fan, but that you do fan. I say this, but I have always had troubles internalizing what I feel are unwarranted criticisms about a baseball team early in a baseball season. What is early? Years ago I would have said mid-July was often too early to put a label on a team unless they were really good or really bad. It was those teams in the middle of the standings, the ones that were five games back flirting with or maybe a game or two over .500 that you just couldn’t count out. With the Wild Card and divisional realignment, this has changed when it is too late. A team could be eight to 10 games out on August 15th and still have a shot at the playoffs.
Having played a lot of baseball, having watched a lot of baseball, not just the Chicago Cubs, having followed the entire league for as long as I can remember, I know that there is nothing to be worried about with this team, yet.
Now, of course, things can change. Maybe Kris Bryant’s shoulder worsens. Maybe Yu Darvish doesn’t rebound as expected. Maybe since the bullpen is stretched thin right now, they wear out down the stretch. Maybe Brandon Morrow or Carl Edwards or whoever else doesn’t come back to the level they were performing at. But those are what if’s that would be hard to imagine.
When we look at the Chicago Cubs, even after a very, very, I mean very bad series in Cincinnati, this is still the toast of the National League Central.
National League Offensive Leaders – WAR
- Chicago Cubs – 15.4
- Atlanta Braves – 13.8
- Los Angelas Dodgers – 12.4
- Cincinnati Reds – 11.0
- Milwaukee Brewers 10.5
National League Offensive Leaders – AVG
- Atlanta Braves – .260
- Chicago Cubs – .257
- Cincinnati Reds – .256
- San Francisco Giants – .255
- Colorado Rockies – .251
National League Offensive Leaders – OBP
- Chicago Cubs – .338
- Cincinnati Reds – .335
- Atlanta Braves – .328
- Los Angelas Dodgers – .322
- Philadelphia Phillies – .321
National League Offensive Leaders – SLG
- Atlanta Braves – .428
- Los Angelas Dodgers – .428
- Colorado Rockies – .421
- Chicago Cubs – .416
- Milwaukee Brewers – .408
National League Offensive Leaders – wRC+
- Los Angelas Dodgers – 105
- Atlanta Braves – 103
- Chicago Cubs – 102
- Cincinnati Reds – 99
- San Francisco Giants – 98
National League Offensive Leaders – Runs
- Atlanta Braves – 378
- Colorado Rockies – 371
- Los Angelas Dodgers – 360
- Chicago Cubs – 359
- Cincinnati Reds – 346
National League Offensive Leaders – Hardest to Strike Out
- Pittsburgh Pirates – 19.8%
- Atlanta Braves – 20.2%
- Cincinnati Reds – 21%
- Washington Nationals – 21.4%
- Chicago Cubs – 21.4%
National League Offensive Leaders – Walk %
- Philadelphia Phillies – 10.4%
- Los Angelas Dodgers – 9.8%
- Chicago Cubs – 9.7%
- Cincinnati Reds – 9.6%
- Arizona Diamondbacks – 9.5%
National League Offensive Leaders – Run Differential (offensive, pitching, and defensive stat)
- Chicago Cubs – +81
- Atlanta Braves – +72
- Arizona Diamondbacks – +62
- Los Angelas Dodgers – +61
- Milwaukee Brewers – +51
Regardless of how you try and break it down, the Cubs rank no lower than fifth in any offensive stat there is. We can, of course, measure the Cubs defensive stats and you will find they are the best in baseball in many categories, you can also measure their pitching and see that they are near the top in all categories as well. Not believing that this team is good, or poised to compete for a playoff spot is just an overreaction to a brief set of tough games.
Oh, and those games were played against another one of the National League’s best offensive clubs in the Cincinnati Reds. In the nine stats listed above, the Reds appear in seven of them – SEVEN. That Reds team is not only playing good baseball (8-2 in their last 10) but they are MUCH better than their record shows.
Which brings me to the last point here…
In 2016 the Chicago Cubs, who did go on and win the World Series, had a stretch of baseball in which they went 5-15. This stretch included a three-game sweep at the hands of the St Louis Cardinals, a four-game sweep by the New York Mets, losing three of four to the Miami Marlins, and losing two of three to both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds.
I fully understand being frustrated with their play when you expect this team to win nearly 70% of the time. I understand being upset when a player takes his A-cut on a 0-2 count when there is a dramatic shift on. I get it when you question why Joe Maddon didn’t pinch hit someone here or decided to pull a pitcher there. All of these things are completely understood.
The thing is, you have to also understand all of the things list in this piece or any number of Twitter or Facebook posts showing you that the Cubs season is far from over. You have to be able to see that the “problems” you see right now aren’t real panic button level issues. You have to know that there are 87-games remaining in the regular season and that if the season ended today the Cubs would be in the playoffs. You also have to understand that under Joe Maddon, the Cubs are 152-77 in the second half. Even in the Cubs World Series season, when they began the year near unstoppable, they were only 18 games over .500 at the All-Star break. Let’s keep it in perspective Cubs fans.
