Chicago Cubs: An obituary for the 2018 season
There is a lot to process about the 2018 Chicago Cubs season from beginning to end. Was it a disappointment or should it be celebrated as a success?
Over 40,000 Cubs fans stood at Wrigley Field in dead silence as the Colorado Rockies celebrated on their hallowed ground Tuesday night. The same ground the Milwaukee Brewers celebrated on just one day earlier at the conclusion of Game 163. The sun had set on the 2018 season, and it was a tough pill for many of us to swallow.
95 wins was only good enough for second place in the NL Central. A prompt one-and-done in the Wild Card game marks, by far, the shortest run of the Joe Maddon era. They had the NL Central crown seemingly wrapped up before the Brewers went on a late season surge and the Cubs could not fend them off.
We all know how it went down: key injuries, slow start for the starting pitchers and of course the frustratingly inconsistent offense. They had some incredible wins, but some incredibly frustrating losses due to lack of offense. It was not the only reason but it was arguably the biggest.
“Part of getting better is facing the problem and our offense broke somewhere along the lines,” Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said Wednesday.
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.
Chicago Cubs: Saying goodbye to 2018 and hello to 2019
It is going to be a long offseason, but an interesting one. Theo Epstein in his presser clearly was not satisfied with the end and there are definitely some changes on the way. Maddon is not going anywhere, and his staff may not either. However additions to the team and a change in approach will be expected. It is also key to make sure Bryant, Darvish and Morrow are 100 percent healthy for next season.
Bryce Harper and/or Manny Machado? That will be the biggest anticipation of the season. Could a trade involving Kyle Schwarber, Ian Happ or Albert Almora be on the horizon? Will Chili Davis be shown the door after the drop in offensive production? All questions that will be answered over the next few months.
So with that we say goodbye to 2018. When it began back in mid-February there was one goal in mind, a World Series trophy. After getting beat up in the 2017 NLCS there was a lot of hope for bouncing back with #EverybodyIn as the slogan. They gave us some amazing wins and another chance in October, but it ended so fast it is still hard to believe it is over. There is SO much more that can by analyzed and broke down, but, it is time to look to 2019.
Wait til’ next year!