Chicago Cubs don’t need Bryce Harper to win big next season

Chicago Cubs: Don’t worry about the offense

The 2018 campaign indeed ended on disappointing terms. However, that does not mean the season, as a whole, was a disappointment. For instance, the team finished fifth overall in total team offense, posting a total team WAR of 27.2. The New York Yankees, World Series champion Boston Red Sox, Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Dodgers were the only teams to finish above the Cubs.

As a team, they posted a slash line of .258/.333/.410 with an overall wOBA of .321 and a 100 wRC+. While the team’s wRC+ finished directly at league average, they found ways to produce and score runs.

Even more significant to understand is the amount of injuries the Cubs dealt with throughout the entirety of the season. Anthony Rizzo, Ben Zobrist, Addison Russell, Jason Heyward and Kris Bryant all saw time on the disabled list, with Bryant and Heyward sidelined multiple times.

Regardless, big-time production from Javier Baez as well as the midseason acquisition of Daniel Murphy helped keep the Cubs in contention. Despite Rizzo’s stint on the disabled list as well as a slow start, he still slashed .283/.376/.470 with 25 home runs and eclipsing the 100-RBI mark for the fourth-straight year.

Concerning overall power, the Cubs finished outside the top 20 in production. A drop in power from both Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo kept the team from hitting the usual amount of home runs in a typical season. That being said, they still found solid production in the other facets of their game.

A healthy offense moving into the 2019 season will undoubtedly change the scope of the lineup considerably. The team fought hard until the final day of the season, even with the numerous injuries, making them a dangerous lineup in their usual nature and an offense fans should not worry about.