Chicago Cubs: Five ways that things could be worse

Despite the early season struggles, the Chicago Cubs are still a team built for success. So, while many fans may be standing precipitously close to ledges waiting for any semblance of a bullpen to appear, things could be a lot worse.

After a game on Saturday night in which the offense obliterated the other team’s pitching once again, the Chicago Cubs played a somewhat normal 4-2 baseball game on Sunday afternoon, complete with a bullpen that didn’t give up any runs (I know, seems hard to believe). Unfortunately, the Cubs still lost as the offense couldn’t get much going. At 2-7, the club certainly hasn’t had it’s best showing to start the season. But in spite of the angst and pessimism? There may be every so faint sign of a turnaround.

While it seems for many a Cubs’ fan that the proverbial sky is falling, the bullpen is imploding nightly (yesterday, notwithstanding), and Joe Maddon doesn’t know what he’s doing, it could be much, much worse. In fact, despite the unpleasant start to the season, things could be so much worse for the Cubs.

We could be the Sox (ok, ok, they do have Eloy now, so that’s something) and we could be the Bulls (sorry, guys- it’s been a rough year). But, we’re not. We’re the Cubs- the same team that won a World Series in 2016 and has put up four straight 90+ win, playoff seasons. The same team that is supposed to be in the middle of a vaunted and otherwise ballyhooed “window of contention.”

In that vein, there are certain advantages enjoyed only by Cubs’ fans, even if the club isn’t doing so hot right now. The organization is run by a great front office, there’s a ton of history we take for granted, and there’s always Clark (so what if he doesn’t wear pants). In all seriousness though, things could be a lot worse for us as fans of the Cubs- so keep the Old Style, Budweiser, or Goose Island bottle half full. Things could be a lot worse. Read on, and you’ll feel much better.

Chicago Cubs: Willson Contreras has led a high octane 2019 Cubs’ offense so far

The Cubs’ offense is pretty much nuclear right now (we had an off day on Sunday- it happens). They’re averaging 6.9 runs per game. (with one shutout and yesterday’s two spot factored in as well). They’ve already had four games where they’ve scored double-digit runs. That means nearly HALF of the games the Cubs have played so far this season have resulted in at least a 10 spot on the board. I’d say that the offense is not the problem at all. It’s also something to keep us all excited and give us a little bit of hope, at least a tiny morsel’s worth.

In the worst of all worlds, if things were really bad, wouldn’t our offense be broken too? I mean we could have the Cubs’ pitching and the Reds’ offense so far.

If the sky were genuinely falling, wouldn’t Kyle Schwarber, Jason Heyward, and Willson Contreras all look awful at the plate?

They don’t. The offense and just about everyone involved in the offense looks good. Sure, Kris Bryant and Albert Almora are scuffling a bit, but they haven’t been awful. Jason Heyward has grounded into five double play balls already this season, but he also hit three bombs in two games. Huh!?!? Yea, exactly. Heck, even Mark Zagunis looks like a world-beater at the plate, even if he looks like what people think Kyle Schwarber is in the outfield.

All told, there are 11 Cubs (including one pitcher in a really small sample size- big slugger, Jon Lester) who have an OPS higher than .786 after Sunday afternoon’s game (where almost all the numbers went down). Eight hitters are still higher than .874, and five hitters topped the magical 1.000 OPS mark. While this will be impossible to sustain, the success of the offense so far means things could be so much worse.

Chicago Cubs: At least we’re not blowing games at full strength

We don’t have our closer. Brandon Morrow was signed by the Cubs the last offseason to be the man in the 9th inning. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen him a ton in the past year plus with the team. Due to injury, Morrow has been unable to perform his closer duties on a regular basis- something the bullpen was able to overcome last year due to huge years from guys like Steve Cishek and Pedro Strop (who just may be the best Cubs’ reliever since Lee Smith).

If the Cubs were losing games at full strength, it would be much tougher to swallow. The truth is, we’re missing an elite power arm in the bullpen who would be shortening many of these games. While Morrow wouldn’t be used in the seventh or eighth inning (the innings where we’ve been giving games away most often), his presence would bump everyone into a different spot, meaning Strop would have been pitching in a few of the games where we blew leads. Not saying Strop couldn’t have given some games away (he did uncork a wild pitch to lose one, but that outing is a total outlier for him), but I’d feel a heckuva lot better handing the ball over to him after seven innings knowing that Morrow is right behind to close things out.

Many fans have been clamoring for the team to go out and sign Craig Kimbrel, which isn’t a terrible idea given the struggles of the pen (many were calling for his signing before the season anyhow), but just the notion that we think one guy will fix a lot means that things aren’t that bad in Wrigleyville. That being said, I do think either Kimbrel or Adam Ottavino would have been a smart move in the offseason.

Chicago Cubs: We’ll always have Wrigley

We play in Chicago at the most historic ballpark in all of baseball. To Cubs’ fans (and many other fans of the game), Wrigley Field is the pinnacle of baseball stadiums. It’s a fact that we may forget or take for granted from time to time, but we have an awesome park. We could have a field named after a mortgage or insurance company. We could have a cookie-cutter stadium that screams boredom and mediocrity. But, we don’t- we have the crown jewel in all of baseball. To make things even better, it’s getting even more amazing.

More from Chicago Cubs News

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• Projecting the Chicago Cubs bullpen to open the 2023 season

With any luck, and some help from the Baseball Gods, the sun will be shining on Opening Day tomorrow afternoon at Wrigley Field. Even if it’s not, it’s still going to be The Friendly Confines. Regardless of how bad it gets, just know that we still have an iconic stadium.

Even in all those 100 some odd years of futility, we always had Wrigley to fall back on. There was hope, optimism, and comfort knowing you’d see ivy, brick, and Harry popping out of the booth for the 7th inning stretch. Not all teams have this.

So, even in the darkest hour of Cubs’ fandom, even in the worst nightmare you could ever possibly have about the Cubs, take solace in the fact that it could always be worse- we could play 10 miles south of Wrigley.

Chicago Cubs: Mr. Cub had to play through some pretty lean years

We are amid the golden age of Cubs’ baseball. Four straight trips to the playoffs and a World Series qualifies as golden for most teams, but for the Cubs- oh boy!  Joe Maddon and Theo Epstein have elevated this organization to heights previously unreached this millennium, and most of last as well. We’ve probably become so pampered and spoiled that a 2-7 start is almost too much to bear.

1960 saw the Cubs win 60 games, then uptick a bit to 64 wins in 1961, followed by an abysmal nadir of 59 wins in 1962 before climbing up to some mediocre seasons through the rest of the 1960s. Of course, even in the best year of the bunch, 1969, the Cubs found a way to dash a great season in the end, losing out to the Amazins in a year many seasoned Cubs’ fans remember with anything but fondness. Poor Ernie Banks.

Following the sweet swingin’ season of Sammy Sosa in 1998, the Cubs went on a skid in the next couple seasons, losing 95 games in 1999 and 97 in 2000.  While they did win 88 in 2001, they plummeted again in 2002, dropping 95 again. Not good, not good.

2012 is a lot closer in the rear-view for most Cubs’ fans. It’s time we may look back fondly on in 2019 because it set the stage for what was to come very shortly. However, at the time, the Cubs were busy losing a staggering 101 games en route to their worst season in 46 years. The 101 losses also came sandwiched in the middle of 87, 91, 96, and 80 losses in the two years before and after. Those were bad times. Those years were bad times. This year is not.

2019, despite its bad drama and tragedy to start the season, is not going to be a 60 win season. We aren’t staring into the face of a rebuild; we aren’t watching a team that can’t do anything right. We’re watching a team that is struggling to find competence and success out of its bullpen and length out of its starters. It may seem like the sky is falling, but a five-game winning streak will make everyone forget the struggles of the pen to start the season.

Let’s see where we are come May 1 with this ballclub with the way the bats are swinging and the mind-numbing statistical anomaly that is our bullpen right now; there’s a lot to be hopeful for. And, even if it’s a slog through most of the spring and summer, just remember that we’re not the Marlins.