Chicago Cubs pitching lets down offense again in an 11-10 loss

The great news for the Chicago Cubs? Whatever slump they were in last year, they’ve come out of. Unfortunately, the pitching has taken over the mantle this year.

After the Chicago Cubs won the season opener 12-4 against the Texas Rangers, fans were feeling better about this year. Then games two and three happened. Everything the Cubs are doing right on offense? It’s going the opposite way with the pitching. One of the biggest culprits? Walks. After Jon Lester walked just two in the opener, the staff has combined for 18 walks in the past two games.

In the start for Yu Darvish, he didn’t get hit hard at all. But he walked seven and was forced out before the end of the third inning. Cole Hamels was pitching well on Sunday, breezing through the first three innings. And then, the wheels came off. Two walks to load the bases, and a grand slam from Delino Deshields took the wind out of his sails.

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Even with that, the Cubs offense continued to fight back. A four-run sixth inning put them back up 8 to 5. The Cubs have shown some power in Texas, but this rally was an old station to station type. No long balls necessary.

But the Rangers didn’t take long to do more damage, some off of Tyler Chatwood, but the biggest blow (at the time) off of Mike Montgomery. A two-run shot by Asdrubal Cabrera made it 10-8.

So after this, some of the key guys in the bullpen–Montgomery, Carl Edwards–had failed in their job. Now, it’s only been three games. I realize it’s way too early to panic. But while early on, I wasn’t for trying to sign a big name like Craig Kimbrel. I’m currently trying to catch that train before it leaves the station.

The offense has come together, and they look more like the 2016 offense than last years team. But this staff as a whole has to cut down on walks. If your offense pushes across 28 runs? You should at least win two out of three.

There’s still plenty of time to get this bullpen set. Roles will be defined, and that in itself will help to create a little bit of calm among the relievers out there. We haven’t even gotten through the entire rotation yet, although we’ve seen almost all of them, less Kyle Hendricks.

Not the start we had envisioned as fans. Also, not the end of the season. I’ve seen people questioning Tommy Hottovy already. Really? After three games? Calm down, folks. 159 more of these to go. You have to pace yourselves or you’ll have a stroke by the All-Star break.