Chicago Cubs: Which injured player's return is most important?

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Three of the Chicago Cubs’ top tier players are injured in Kris Bryant, Yu Darvish and Brandon Morrow. Whose return to action is most important to the team’s success?

Kris Bryant is easily the Chicago Cubs’ best player when healthy and doing great Kris Bryant-like things. Meanwhile, Yu Darvish is one of the MLB’s better pitchers when healthy and pitching up to his capabilities.

Unfortunately for the Cubs, both Bryant and Darvish have struggled to stay healthy this season. The third baseman has played in just 76 games, missing extended time on multipe occasions due to a shoulder injury. Darvish has only made eight starts in a Cubs uniform.

Bryant is having a down year for his standards, though he has fared quite well, overall. In 304 at-bats, he’s hitting .276 with a .380 on base percentage. His current .854 OPS would be a career-low, largely due to him hitting just 11 home runs to-date in 2018.

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Darvish has struggled badly on the mound, posting a 4.95 ERA while pitching just 40 innings across eight starts. Of those eight outings, he has pitched less than five innings in five of them.

In addition, Darvish’s 1.43 WHIP would surpass the career worst 1.28 he posted in 2012, his MLB rookie year. He has walked 21 batters this season after walking just 13 in his nine starts (49 2/3 innings) with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2017.

Offense hanging in there (and then some)

Despite losing Bryant for extended time, the Cubs offense has performed at an elite level in 2018. Their 560 runs scored is tops in the National League and fifth-best in Major League Baseball. Their .345 on-base percentage leads the all of baseball.

Cubs starting pitchers have delivered a mix-bag with and without Darvish. Their 4.12 ERA ranks 15th in bigs; their 272 walks allowed leads the National League and trails only the Chicago White Sox for worst mark among all 30 MLB teams.

Of course, Tyler Chatwood has walked 86 batters in 2018, 85 as a starter. The starting rotation is bound to improve its walk totals now that Cole Hamels has replaced Chatwood in the rotation.

Chicago Cubs: Stayin’ alive

So, what’s my point? Well, the Cubs can stay afloat without Bryant and Darvish. Hamels should stabilize the rotation in place of Chatwood; David Bote (.344 average, .983 OPS in 64 at-bats) is doing his best Bryant impression.

Still, the Cubs definitely need Bryant in order to achieve what they hope to this season. The same can likely be said for Darvish, though it’s anyone’s guess as to when he will return to game action. Can the same be said about closer Brandon Morrow, though?

I understand Morrow is a closer, not a former MVP or a pitcher with three 200-plus strikeout seasons on his résumé. However, Morrow’s absence due to a biceps injury has and will continue to have a ripple effect on the Cubs’ bullpen.

Without Morrow, the Cubs have no dominant pitcher waiting in the wings to truly “close out” an opponent. His fastball consistently hits 97+ MPH, all while throwing a nasty slider.

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

Chicago Cubs: Ripple effect could loom large

Morrow’s absence has caused the Cubs to use Pedro Strop to close out games. Strop has converted six of his seven chances in place of Morrow, including five in a row.

Still, the Cubs are at their best having Strop available to shut down opponents before the ninth inning. The bullpen is already one man short without Morrow. Needing Strop to close kind of makes it two men short (before the ninth inning).

Essentially, the Cubs need Morrow back healthy to solidify their bullpen. They need him healthy during the push for the playoffs and especially if they make it there.

If Morrow is not healthy for potential playoff games, the Cubs will have somewhat of a question mark in save-situations. Strop is good, but Morrow is one of the game’s most elite closers.

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Ultimately, the Cubs surely would like to have all three of Bryant, Darvish and Morrow healthy as soon as possible. For this writer, though, they need Morrow back the soonest, and they need him ready for the big games that are inevitably coming.

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