So much for the Braves having nothing to play for… or maybe they’re just that good… or maybe our Cubbies got exposed… or maybe it’s just bad timing. The Cubs are playing their worse baseball in a long time down the stretch; we’re stumbling at the finish line, and may not end up crossing it at all. Good times.
I had nothing against the juggernaut that is the Atlanta Braves, before this series that is. Now, I have a little bit of hate for them. Look, Acuna is amazing. He wasn’t just the 5th member all time of the 40/40 club, he opened his own club… a bunch of them. 40/50, 40/60, and the last one, 40/70, which he accomplished in the 10th inning of the 2nd game of this sweep nightmare. I’m not a Boog guy by any means, but have to agree with both him and JD here; why stop the game and celebrate while the result hangs in the balance? If it was the 3rd inning, fine, but it was the 10th inning! Somebody should have called an audible and celebrated this accomplishment maybe at the start of the next game? If the Cubs ended up winning that game, or any of them frankly, maybe this wouldn’t aggravate me as much, but when you’re getting your ass handed to you, as you slowly throw your wild card lead away, yeah, a lot of things are annoying.
You start looking internally at the Cubs. How is our pitching staff in shambles all of a sudden? Injuries have taken their toll, no doubt, exposing our depth; why don’t we have more depth? You can thank Jed for that, but remember… this wasn’t supposed to be a playoff year… the Cubs, by all accounts, are ahead of schedule on the “anti-rebuild”, which lead to 2023 being a nice surprise. The Cubs making the playoffs would have been awesome, and hold on, yes, they can still get in, but… does it matter? Yes, yes it does. Making the playoffs is why we play the game, or at least it should be. I don’t care if the Cubs have a slim chance to win a series and advance, I want to get in! The Cubs, with the resources at hand, should be contending for this each and every year… seriously. After that long hot stretch of baseball the Cubs played, it’s gotten pretty cold around these parts. After all those series wins in a row… the Cubs have now lost 5 of the past 6 series. In that stretch, our record is 6-13; that’s just not going to get it done. Sure, does every team go through a stretch like this during the 162 game grind? Most of them do. Doing it at the very end of the season, with so much at stake… not so priceless.
Where do we go from here? To Milwaukee for 3 games. The Brewers have secured the division and have no chance of moving past the Braves or Dodgers; they WILL be playing a first round series against the 3rd wild card team. I guess it’s just a matter of who does Milwaukee want to play. If the Brewers beat down the Cubs, they will most likely get the Marlins. If the Brewers lay down, they will most likely get the Cubs. Pick your destiny. With the Cubs being so cold lately, maybe the Brewers will end up doing us a favor? At this point, with a suspended Marlins Mets came hanging in the balance (Marlins are winning 2-1 in the 9th), the Brewers or Cubs don’t have complete control anyways. I was looking forward to celebrating a playoff berth. Now, I’d just like to see another W. Come on boys. Go Cubs!
Leave a Reply