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Chicago Cubs: Offensive inconsistency a major concern for reigning champs
The offense has fallen flat in 2017
Despite their magical run in 2016, the Cubs’ offense has yet to click. Currenty, the North Siders rank 11th in OBP, 11th in slugging percentage, ninth in OPS and 16th in runs scored.
It’s clear to see the Cubs offense is not performing as well as it did last season. One culprit for this problem has been the decline in performance from key players. For example, Rizzo is slashing .258/.381/.496 with 26 home runs and 71 RBI. While Rizzo is on pace to eclipse 30 home runs again this season, his slugging percentage has dropped almost 50 points from last season.
Ben Zobrist‘s decline this year has been more noticeable than Rizzo’s. Zobrist is slashing .221/.311/.356 a year after posting a slash line of .272/.386/.446 and winning World Series MVP.