Chicago Cubs welcome struggling Miami Marlins to Wrigley Field

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The Chicago Cubs open a three-game set against the Miami Marlins on Monday night, hoping for better results than they got on Opening Weekend.

Losers of five straight contests, the Chicago Cubs need to get back on-track at home. They’ll have a good chance to do so, welcoming in the last-place Miami Marlins. Of course, we all thought opening the season against the Marlins would bode well for the Cubs. Not so much.

After dropping their last two games in extras, the Cubs hope to get this series off on a better note. And, if there’s a promising aspect of this three-game set, Chicago sends three of its biggest arms to the mound.

Miami, meanwhile, is playing some of its best ball of the year, winners in seven of 10. Despite this recent run, the Fish are still seven games under .500 – but just six games out in the National League East.

One team trending up, the other down – let’s get down to it.

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

Heading into the Series: Chicago Cubs

Record: 16-15

Record (Last 10): 5-5

ERA: 3.45 – 4th in National League

OBP: .318 – 8th in National League

Team HR: 32 – 10th in National League

Team Leader – WAR: Javier Baez – 1.4 WAR (Fangraphs)

No matter which levers Joe Maddon pulls with the lineup card, this Chicago offense continues to struggle. In the last two weeks, the Cubs scored more than three runs once – in Saturday’s extra-inning loss to St. Louis.

On Sunday, both Kris Bryant and Javier Baez homered – and both continue to impress. Baez leads all National League hitters with 29 runs batted in. Bryant, meanwhile, continues to demonstrate an improved approach at the plate. He has struck out 20 times this year – but has drawn 15 walks.

The bullpen, namely Luke Farrell, has fallen on some tough times. The tall right-hander allowed walk-off blasts in both Saturday and Sunday’s losses. He now carries an unsightly 1.940 WHIP and 7.94 ERA in six appearances.

But, as mentioned, it all comes down to hitting. Despite constant shuffling and reordering, the bats continue to struggle. Sooner or later, you’d think this will change. But only time will tell.

Heading into the Series: Miami Marlins

Record: 13-20

Record (Last 10): 7-3

ERA: 4.50 – 29th in National League

OBP: .298 – 30th in National League

Team HR: 24 – 30th in National League

Team Leader – WAR: J.T. Realmuto – 1.0 WAR – (Fangraphs)

Despite sitting in the cellar of the National League East, Miami is winners in four consecutive series entering Monday’s opener. This team, of course, unloaded almost every valuable piece of their roster this offseason. The main holdover is catcher J.T. Realmuto, who brings a .963 OPS to the Confines this week.

Former Cub Starlin Castro hasn’t shown much power this season, but he’s hitting .315 with a .364 on-base percentage. As always, he’s someone to keep an eye on in the series. But after Realmuto and Castro, there’s a major drop-off.

No other Marlins hitter is hitting higher than .258. First baseman Justin Bour represents the team’s main power threat, with six home runs on the season. All told, this is a Marlins team that doesn’t have a lot of impact talent. But with as poorly as Chicago is playing right now, any team that can field nine guys is a very real threat.

Chicago Cubs go with 2-3-4 starters in the series

Monday – 7:05 p.m. CT – LHP Jarlin Garcia (1-0, 1.09) v. RHP Kyle Hendricks (2-2, 3.19)

Miami hands the ball to a young lefty in Jarlin Garcia. In 23 innings (four starts), he’s allowed just four base hits and two runs. The Cubs saw him on Opening Weekend, when he held Chicago scoreless in a six-inning effort.

Kyle Hendricks has been largely positive so far this year, but his success is dependent on keeping the ball down – and in the yard. Home runs have been a thorn all year for him, so keep an eye on that in the opener.

Tuesday – 7:05 p.m. CT – RHP Jose Urena (0-5, 4.28) v. RHP Yu Darvish (0-3, 6.00)

This is perhaps the most interesting matchup in a pair of winless pitchers with very high ceilings. Jose Urena has been decent, for the most part, but his worst outing of the year came against Chicago in late March.

Opposite Urena, Yu Darvish looks to finally get his first win as a Cub. He’s struggled a great deal in his first month with the team and badly needs to get the monkey off his back. It’s anybody’s guess how he’ll look – because it’s been largely hot or cold for him to-date.

Wednesday – 1:20 p.m. CT – LHP Wei-Yin Chen (1-1, 4.82) v. LHP Jose Quintana (3-2, 4.99)

The matinee finale showcases a pair of left-handers. Wei-Yin Chen takes the ball for Miami after missing the start of the season with an injury. Wednesday will mark his first career start at Wrigley Field.

Jose Quintana, meanwhile, has been plagued by big innings this season – and his numbers reflect that. He’ll cruise through three or four innings, only to have the wheels fall off. Last time out, Quintana needed nearly 90 pitches to get through just four innings of work.

Leave your optimism at home for now

This is a very talented Chicago Cubs roster. But talent doesn’t win games. Execution does. And, for the most part, that’s something this team has not demonstrated so far this season.

This is a series the Cubs should win. As we learned to open the year, though, just because you’re supposed to beat a team doesn’t mean that’s how it’ll play. With how Chicago looks right now, this Marlins team is a very real threat – especially with the guys they’re sending out on the mound.

Until the offense figures things out, this won’t be the Cubs team we’ve all come to know and love. It’s as simple as that.

Next: How worried should fans be about Darvish?

Guys like Darvish and Quintana need to settle into some semblance of a routine on the mound. The bats need to start putting up runs. If they do that, the Cubs win this series. If they don’t we could see this losing streak run to eight games pretty easily.

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