Unlovable Winners

[A Swing and A Drive]

Me thinks the Cubs are gonna need to make up another "Curse" to try to explain to their fans why they will suck for the next 100 years.

 

In the meantime...

 

Cubs were expected to have a nice 3-5 year window of being a dominate team with all their young core players.

 

Not happenin' and here's part of it...

 

1. David Ross' contributions to the team last year are immeasurable and the team is not the same without him.

 

2. Losing leadoff hitter Dexter Fowler to FA was a huge loss that isn't being replaced.

 

3. Kyle Schwarber can't hit a high fastball or lay off breaking balls in the dirt. He's a complete mess.

 

4. Jake Arrieta has not pitched like an ACE in his FA walk year. (Probably stopped taking roids this year until he gets his payday- Lackey's theory)

 

5. Kris Bryant is not exactly repeating his NL MVP numbers.

 

6. Kyle Hendricks has been hurt and/or ineffective.

 

7. The rest of their starting pitching has been terrible. Brett Anderson and Eddie Bulter???? really? really???

 

8. The downgrade from Chapman to Wade Davis is significant in their bullpen. The rest of their pen is average at best.

 

9. Jason Heyward is hiting .259 with 6 hr and 1 sb. He might be great with the glove but he sucks offensively. Cubs will regret that signing long term. Fowler was clearly more valuable to the team.

 

10. SS Addison Russell is hitting .232 with 7 hr and 2 sb. Our SS is better.

 

11. Anthony Rizzo's naked motivational speeches starting to feel more like they are...

 

AWKWARD AND WEIRD!

 

Earth to Rizzo....you're not Lou FRICKIN' Brown! Put some damn pants on!

 

http://img.beckett.com/news/news-content/uploads/2013/10/1989MLBrown.jpg

 

GO BREWERS!

[82brewcrew82]

I still think the Cubs are a team that can flip the switch at some point. None of the other teams in the division scare me at all but the Cubs have the most talent in the division and I don't think it's all that close.

 

I'm still not sure I have a ton of faith in our pitching.

[A Swing and A Drive]

I have little doubt the Cubs could turn it around in a heartbeat, but I think it's important to point out that this year's team has some significant warts that aren't sure to clear up this season.

[Thurston Fluff]

For as often as I'm wrong about things here (Briggs and I argued vehemently that you can't just make up an injury to protect a rule five player. Then our rule five player magically had an injury about five days after he had accumulated enough service time to keep him is one that comes to mind.) This is one I called last year when some thought the Brewers should aim for contention further down the road because the Cubs were just too good. I said back then they would have some issues with players just like we did when our great young talent came up and hit some rough patches. Hardy, Weeks, Hart and company were good major league players but they all didn't turn out to be stars for years on end. Neither will the Cubs young talent. Schwarber looks more like Weeks than Fielder. Addison Russell appears to be as streaky as Hardy and someone is going to have injuries along the way like Hart and Braun did. Things rarely work out like they did last season for the Cubs. Let alone year after year for the same team.

[Patrick425]

While I'm very surprised at the Cubs struggles so far this year, it's only a little over 3 months of baseball. I still think they have a very talented team that can get hot at any moment and, unfortunately, I'm confident that they will be very competitive for at least the next 3 years. I don't think they will be reluctant to spend money during the FA season.

[nate82]

The problem with the Cubs is their pitching which has always been predicted as their biggest weakness. They basically have nothing or close to nothing in terms of pitching prospects.

[FidoMcCokefiend]

Lot of wishful thinking here, IMO. Tons of talent there, maybe not all as unreal as many thought last year, but still massive, and I fully expect them to go on a tear and still win the division.

 

And, even if they are down this year, they are an organization that has as much money as anyone and will be able to upgrade any position easily.

[3and2Fastball]

I thought the images of the Cubs players laughing/smiling while John Jay pitched was telling. Yeah, I get it, it was funny, and maybe I'm too old school, but the Cubs played brutally bad yesterday. They looked horrible. All that laughing at the end of the game makes them look like they aren't about to contend. No "Eye of the Tiger" with that team. They look soft.

 

Unless you've lived in Chicago it is difficult to understand the degree to which the current Cubs team players are treated like literal Gods in that town. They are spoiled, soft, and content

[brwrsfan]

Last season was pretty magical for them - almost everyone on the roster had a career year. Schwarber got hurt, but other than him, it seems like every other player was basically healthy the entire season. Everything Maddon did seemed to work, even when it was a bad decision. Were they really THAT good last season? Probably not.

 

This year...just about every player is having a below average season. Could be a WS hangover, could be a regression from last year, could be clubhouse issues. Who knows. But for the most part, the talent is all still there. I fully expect them to get hot at some point this season - let's just hope we also get hot or the Cubs get hot too late for it to matter. The Pirates are sure doing their part to give them a win today, man have they played poorly this afternoon. Are they really THIS average this season? Probably not.

 

As others have said, even if we go on to win the division this year, the Cubs are still going to be the favorites the next couple of years IMO. There's just so much talent on the roster and they'll have plenty of money to spend in FA to upgrade the roster if need be. At some point though, that could start to backfire. They're going to have to start paying their own guys (do they keep Arrieta this year??) and some of the big contracts might cause issues down the road (Lester for example). They may be down some this year, but they still have half a season to go. Any talk of them being down or anything like that is probably very premature.

 

They have a pretty easy schedule the rest of this month, as their next 19 games are against teams below .500

 

3 vs Pitt (40-46)

AS Break

3 @ Baltimore (40-45)

3 @ Atlanta (41-43)

3 vs St Louis (41-44)

2/2 vs White Sox (37-47)

3 @ Milwaukee

 

If they're going to make a run, this would seemingly be the time for them to start it. If they're still struggling when they come to Milwaukee, that could very well be a chance to bury them. But we'll see in the next 3 weeks or so.

 

Brewers just need to focus on winning their own games and the rest will sort itself out.

[3and2Fastball]

the Cubs are still going to be the favorites the next couple of years IMO. There's just so much talent on the roster....

 

They have a lot of famous, big name players, but "talent", hmmm

 

1) Would you take Addison Russell over Orlando Arcia? I wouldn't

 

2) Other than Joe Buck's flatout mancrush on him, what about Javier Baez screams that he is that much better than Hernan Perez?

 

3) Are you 100% sure that Rizzo will put up better numbers than a combo/soft platoon of Thames/Aguillar?

 

4) Keon Broxton isn't our top player, but he's better than John Jay. Happ looks legit. Is he their CF of the future?

 

5) Zobrist is done. Put a fork in him

 

6) Bryant is a very very good player, but overrated. He's not Arenado. Travis Shaw is putting up similar or better numbers

 

7) Kyle Schwarber is the most overrated player in MLB

[A Swing and A Drive]

The Brewers and Cubs play head-to-head 10 more times this season.

 

These games will be HUGE!

 

7 at Miller Park, 3 at Wrigley

 

I'm not 100% sure who has "home field" advantage though. lol

[JohnBriggs12]

Lets remember the obvious lesson here. Winning is hard in baseball. Things don't go your way every year. Rosters change. Players get better or get worse. Most rarely stay the same.

[MadScientist]

Last year they had no significant injuries with their starters, and the worst starter had a WHIP of 1.20. Now they are dealing with injuries and their best pitcher has a WHIP 1.20.

 

Time is catching up to the Cubs starters, so I'm not sure they will flip the switch. The bats are just down a bit from last year - regression to the mean most likely. Add in the mother of all championship hangovers and you get a so-so Cubs team. They may improve some, and any deadline adds could give them a boost, but I don't think they will play like last year again. It's within the grasp of the Brewers to hold them off. Lets see if they can do it.

[Ennder]

The 2018 free agent class has a lot of starting pitching in it so I imagine they will retool next year even if they don't surge this year.

[MrTPlush]

The 2018 free agent class has a lot of starting pitching in it so I imagine they will retool next year even if they don't surge this year.

 

They can all they want. Good luck spending enough to get back the three headed monster in the rotation. Arrieta will be gone, Hendricks was likely playing over his head, and Lester is going to decline here soon too.

 

They aren't going to be a super team. Will they be competitive for the most part in the upcoming years? Sure. Doesn't look like a consistent 97+ win team though. Wouldn't be surprised if a down year or two is in that competitive window too.

[rickh150]

They will pick up starting pitching... good starting pitching in the next few weeks.

[jerichoholicninja]

I thought the images of the Cubs players laughing/smiling while John Jay pitched was telling. Yeah, I get it, it was funny, and maybe I'm too old school, but the Cubs played brutally bad yesterday. They looked horrible. All that laughing at the end of the game makes them look like they aren't about to contend. No "Eye of the Tiger" with that team. They look soft.

 

Unless you've lived in Chicago it is difficult to understand the degree to which the current Cubs team players are treated like literal Gods in that town. They are spoiled, soft, and content

 

What are they supposed to do? Their worst starting pitcher and some random 4A reliever combined to have one terrible inning. It's not like they played like the Orioles who looked totally lost and clueless. And any time a position player pitches, his team has a good laugh about it. That's nothing unique to yesterdays game.

[rickh150]

I thought the images of the Cubs players laughing/smiling while John Jay pitched was telling. Yeah, I get it, it was funny, and maybe I'm too old school, but the Cubs played brutally bad yesterday. They looked horrible. All that laughing at the end of the game makes them look like they aren't about to contend. No "Eye of the Tiger" with that team. They look soft.

 

Unless you've lived in Chicago it is difficult to understand the degree to which the current Cubs team players are treated like literal Gods in that town. They are spoiled, soft, and content

 

No way. Maybe just content..... for now.

[LouisEly]

Four of the Cubs five starters last year were over the age of 30, and they were ridiculously healthy - they used the least number of starters of any team in MLB. That's luck.

 

They have no starting pitching depth because they've invested all of their top picks in bats. Yes, they can sign it in free agency, but they have to compete with the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, Angels, Braves, Tigers, etc., for free agent pitching and there is no guarantee they will get them.

[MoreTrife]

Die Cubs die!!