1 number about the Cubs offense that tells us everything we need to know

With 24 runs scored in their last three games, the Chicago Cubs' offense is starting to show some signs of life. It's no coincidence that the team has won two of those contests and have a chance to secure a series victory over the Phillies on Wednesday night behind Shota Imanaga, who has gotten off to an impressive start this year.

Key contributors, namely Alex Bregman (batting .320 over the last seven games), Nico Hoerner (.310 during that span) and Moises Ballesteros (1.457 OPS in the last week) are leading the charge - and the team has gotten huge contributions from guys like Carson Kelly, who hit a late homer Tuesday to blow things wide open against Philly.

There's one number, though, that looms large for the Cubs - and one they need to clean up if they want to continue to right the ship. They have to stop leaving so many men on base.

No team in baseball has stranded more baserunners than Chicago, which is averaging just under 18 per game - up from just over 14 last season. Finding ways to generate offense, especially when the slug hasn't shown up yet, is critical for a Cubs team that has serious October expectations, despite the rash of early-season injuries.

With runners on, the Cubs are batting just .226 this year and slugging just .312. That figure ranks 27th in baseball, ahead of only the White Sox, Royals and Reds.

Cubs' key pieces haven't delivered when the team needed them most

Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki (in a smaller sample size), Pete Crow-Armstrong and Michael Busch all carry an OPS below .520 in those situations this season - and these are the guys Craig Counsell is counting on to be major run producers. Seeing the numbers this group has put up in the first few weeks paints a pretty clear picture as to why the team has gotten off to a slower than anticipated start.

The good news? Despite these struggles, the Cubs enter Wednesday just two out in the Central and come home to Wrigley this weekend to open a homestand. If they can continue to trend positively at the plate, this might just be a team starting to figure it all out.

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