Chicago Cubs: An obituary for the 2018 season

Chicago Cubs: Processing how it all ended

95-ish wins was the range many people projected this Cubs team being at in 2018. Of course people predicted a more consistent offense and a division title. But, this season was disappointing in the end. Not because they won 95 games while missing Kris Bryant, Brandon Morrow and Yu Darvish most of the season, not just because the offense went cold for so much of the year, not because they had to play weeks without an off day, but because they did not win when it mattered.

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The final month alone they slashed .235/.300/.363 as a team with 22 home runs and a wRC+ of 78. Starting pitching garnered them some wins, thanks to a 3.12 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in final month. However, the offense was nowhere to be seen for much of it. The overworked bullpen was without Morrow and Pedro Strop the final weeks and the others in the pen had to work real hard. No room for error with no offensive support.

They couldn’t beat Milwaukee (2-5 in final seven games against them) and let other winnable games slip, which kept them from putting the division away. The final weeks mattered, game 163 mattered and the Wild Card game mattered and the Cubs just did not get the job done. 95 wins or not, it was a letdown for a talented team.

Two runs in the final two must-win games? Not going to cut it. A .249/.316/.389 team slash with 67 homers and a 89 wRC+ as a team in the second half, again, is not going to cut it.