Chicago Cubs: Theo Epstein, Joe Maddon masterfully correcting mistakes

Chicago Cubs: Theo’s rollercoaster 2018

Maddon isn’t the only member of the Cubs organization to make poor decisions in 2018. Theo Epstein laid an egg in the offseason. The Cubs have had little to no production from Yu Darvish and Tyler Chatwood and have now lost Brandon Morrow for the remainder of the season.

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Like Maddon, Epstein covered his tracks. In Epstein’s case, he won big at the trade deadline. He was able to acquire Cole Hamels, Daniel Murphy, Jesse Chavez and Brandon Kintzler for basically nothing. All will play a vital role for the Cubs going forward.

The two biggest acquisitions were Murphy and Hamels. Both have been a shot in the arm for the Cubs when they’ve needed it most.

When Epstein landed Hamels, the Cubs rotation was struggling to find a rhythm. Jon Lester was in a funk and the back-end of the rotation couldn’t carry their weight. Inserting Hamels into that rotation was exactly what they needed. Heading into Wednesday (an admitted clunker), Hamels made nine starts, and is 4-0 with a 1.57 ERA. He’s been the ace the Cubs needed, and the rest of the rotation has followed his lead.

Over the last month, Hamels, Lester, Kyle Hendricks, and Jose Quintana have all had under a 2.50 ERA.