The MLB All-Star game signifies the middle of the season, although technically, the middle of the season was weeks ago. The Cubs record sits at 47-51. If you feel that’s sort of in the middle of the road, it’s really not; we’re sitting to the side… in a ditch. Even though the tow truck was called, as the Cubs won 8 out of the last 11 games heading into the break, we’re still not completely out. The Cubs are in last place. But the NL Central is a really tough division… The Cubs are the 4th worst team in the NL period; we have the 9th worst winning percentage in the MLB. Are we expecting this to improve in the next 64 games?
The strength of this team all year has been the starting pitching. When I look at the other teams in the division, I feel this is the one area where the Cubs have a clear advantage. If games were only 7 innings long… I remember reading something weeks ago, that the Cubs would be like 10-15 games better if the game ended in the 7th inning. Well, what would the record be if the game ended after the 1st inning? I get trying to slice stuff every which way, but… the game is 9 innings… has been. Unless the game time is not getting cut down enough for the powers that be, and they talk about shortening the number of innings the teams play, this stat is worth nothing. Sure, it does point to the Cubs inability to close out games. Whether it’s the bullpen blowing the game or the offense not being able to add on/provide insurance runs, the Cubs are NOT a good 9 inning team. What about if we use 2 starters per game?
The good news looking ahead to the 2nd half of the season is the strength of schedule; the Cubs have the 2nd easiest remaining schedule. I guess we play those 3 teams that are worse than us a lot? I wonder if this strength of schedule rating is still higher than our current winning percentage… I really want to believe the Cubs can make a run. With the trade deadline a couple weeks away, we’ll know the team that we’ll have to make that run. If we’re not adding anybody… I can’t see it though. If we’re trading away people, well… maybe some of our great minor league system can come up and make us better? That’s wishful thinking.
When I ran into Jed Hoyer couple months back, I should have asked him if he had a few minutes to talk. I should have asked him why the Cubs didn’t do more this offseason. Why did we think just bringing in a new manager would make that much of a difference? I don’t miss Ross by any means, and maybe Counsell hasn’t been as great as some thought he would be, but at the end of the day, it comes down to who’s on the field. Running back essentially the same roster… haven’t we seen this with the Bulls? OK, this will be different… this will be different… this… will.. Go Cubs.
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