One thing I like to do when looking at the MLB standings, is check the L10 column. Of course, L10 stands for the Last Ten games played for that particular team. I check all the standings, but always pay special attention to MY team. The Chicago Cubs have hit a rough patch lately, going 3-7 in their last 10 games.
Over the last 10 games, the Cubs have lost 3 series; that’s not great. The sucky part about it, well, one of the sucky parts about it, is that 7 of those games were at the Friendly Confines. The Cubs are now only 15-11 at Wrigley this year. I guess another sucky part about this string of games is our offense. Last time I checked, you can’t win any games if you score zero runs. The Cubs were shutout 3 times over the past 10 games; wow! Talk about getting punched in the nuts repeatedly. But wait, there’s more. In the other 4 losses, the Cubs scored a total of 11 runs. Per a quick calculation, that’s 2.75 runs per game. Hey, it’s better than zero runs!
In the Cubs defense, we did play the Braves in 6 of those games. Wait, how is that in the “Cubs defense”??? Oh… I get it; they’re a good team and we’re not expected to beat them, right? Right. Huh? Last time I checked the Cubs have about as much money as anybody, and we did what again this offseason? Oh yeah, Imanaga… thank God for Imanaga. Hector Neris… OK, he’s been good. And Cody came back… Are we not yet in that phase of the rebuild to go all in yet guys? Bullshit I say. We punted enough seasons already; yeah, I’m counting last year as “punting” too. We didn’t do nearly enough to give our team a fighting chance to win… to compete with the likes of the Bravos; don’t forget about the Dodgers and Phillies too. Did we do enough this past offseason to compete with them? No, no we didn’t, and thus, are punting again… reality check. These last 6 games vs Atlanta showed us how far we are from competing with the big boys… it’s sad.
OK, OK… it’s not all lost; I know we’ve had our share of injuries. Certainly THAT is a valid excuse, right? Well, sort of. You ever hear of something called organizational depth? But wait, I thought we have guys in the minors that are tearing it up?!?! Well…. where are they? Or are we just going to keep running Ian Happ out there game after game? Madrigal and Master-Bony the best we got in infield depth? Really? Oh yeah, Patrick Wisdom… for that matter, what’s up with Frank Schwindel? Jesus, are we the Chicago Cubs or the Oakland A’s?
You feel my frustration? Yeah, well… maybe it’s because I haven’t been to a game yet this year; yeah, kind of late for me. Surely once I visit the cathedral, I’ll feel better. Maybe I’ll get to see our bright spots Imanaga or Assad pitch? That would be cool; they HAVE been VERY bright spots. And, maybe I’ll get to see World Champion Kyle Hendricks come out of the bullpen too? That sucks, as does the front office’s efforts to put a team on the field that can compete for a World Series title. Long year, long year… Go Cubs!
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