There has been a Twitter hashtag that has been going around Chicago Cubs circles since the beginning of the year. #WeAreGood
Another W !!! no joke #WeAreGood
— miguel montero (@miggymont26) August 13, 2015
Chris Coghlan showing the front office they can forget about pursuing a trade for Chase Utley. #WeAreGood
— Mark Schanowski (@MarkSchanowski) August 14, 2015
The Cubs have won 13 of 14 and 7 straight. Now a season high 17 games over .500 after sweeping a 7 game homestand. #WeAreGood
— David Kaplan (@thekapman) August 13, 2015
@ARizzo44 with the SICK play and @miggymont26 tops it off with a walkoff biscuit! #WeAreGood
— Kyle Schwarber (@kschwarb12) August 13, 2015
The hashtag was started by Cubs catcher Miguel Montero, which Jake Arrieta happily explains here. (He explains the hashtag at the 8:19 mark)
Hashtags and social media fads aside, the Cubs are good. They have the majors fourth best record (66-48), have been streaking of late (eight wins in a row, and won 14 of 15 games), they also are tops in the league in these areas:
Most one run wins (27)
Best road record (32-24)
These are both traits of a good team, in fact good teams typically aim to play .500 baseball on the road which further illustrates my point. They are good.
Winning one run games points to both, a good bullpen, but also very good managing. A manager’s decisions, if not already magnified, are even more so in a one run game. If they pull a pitcher too early it could cost them, and if they keep them in too long it could as well.
There isn’t room for error in these tight games, and those teams at the top of the league in one run wins are usually at the top of the MLB standings.
@gkazmer Cubs are 27-17, Cardinals are 26-19, Pirates are 25-15, Royals are 18-11.
— Matt Clapp (@TheBlogfines) August 15, 2015
As I touched on in this earlier article, Joe Maddon has been pulling all of the right buttons this season, and even more so during the current hot streak. Whether he pulls Jason Hammel after just 65 pitches or benches Starlin Castro, his decisions have led to winning baseball on the Northside.
I don’t pretend to be able to predict the future, but talented teams with great managers tend to fair very well in sports. The way this Cubs team is trending, a championship very well could be in their future.
