Chicago Cubs struggling last few times through rotation

The Chicago Cubs starting rotation was a strength for a majority of this season. But the last three times through the rotation, they’ve been anything but, and are putting more stress on the bullpen.

‘It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” Every year, I’m reminded of the Tale of Two Cities by how the Chicago Cubs are playing. A 22-5 run? That was the best of times. But since that time, the formidable rotation has started to slip a bit. And it’s beginning to show in the results. The Cubs are 4-6 in their last 10 and are on a three-game losing streak.

Some have blamed the bullpen as they’ve struggled to close out games. This is a fact. But they aren’t the only reason the Cubs are scuffling. The starting rotation, which was a strength for that winning stretch has found themselves failing to go deep into games.

Outside of one good start by Kyle Hendricks, the last three times through the rotation, they’ve gone deeper than six innings just twice. A Hendricks start on May 14 when he went eight innings. The other the Yu Darvish start, which was pretty much mandatory that he was going to stay out there as long as he could. He went seven on May 25 but allowed six runs on 12 hits. Both contests were against the Cincinnati Reds.

So what has gone wrong with the staff?

Chicago Cubs: ‘Something is off.’

The Cubs’ Jon Lester has been honest about his struggles the past few games. If you can expect anything from Lester, he’s honest. About the team and his own performance.

“Something is off. Something does not feel right over the last two starts. The results kind of speak for themselves.

He spoke those words before last night’s outing after the previous start. Clearly, something is still off, and Lester needs to sort it out. But as I commented on yesterday, this isn’t anything new for him. It seems each season he goes through a stretch that something is off. And usually, he figures it out and finishes the season strong. Considering that most of the division is in a funk right now, this is the time for him to do this. I mean, I’d rather he didn’t have these issues. But if you’re going to have them, better when the other teams in the division are struggling, as well.

Lester, at the minimum, will grind out as many innings as he can to help Maddon preserve the bullpen. While his terrific pace to start the season was unsustainable, he should be able to level these numbers out–just hopefully sooner than later.

Chicago Cubs: He’s actually trending up

Darvish is one of the few that has been trending ‘up,’ although many of you don’t believe that or just don’t care. Darvish has been getting deeper into games, and while he allowed six in his last outing, that is somewhat misleading as Maddon left him out there intentionally. The line might have looked a little better if Maddon was able to make a change when he wanted. But the pen needed a rest, and Darvish was going to have to provide it.

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The best thing for Darvish is that he seems to have the walks under control. When you’re a strikeout pitcher and also are walking five-plus batter a game?

Your pitch count rises, and you’re out before the fifth inning is done. His ability to reel in his fastball helped him get six and seven innings in his last two starts.

Hendricks and Cole Hamels haven’t pitched terrible, but luck has not been on their side. Hamels had several opportunities to pitch his way out of trouble in his last start, but bloopers and seeing-eye singles kept that from happening.

Hendricks has still put up a quality start in two of his last three, but we’ve come to expect better of him. That’s not realistic to expect eight innings out of him. But that’s how good he’s been since joining the Cubs.

Chicago Cubs: Just a bump in the road

And finally, Jose Quintana rounds out our struggling starters. Quintana actually had a strong start in his May 21 start against the Philadelphia Phillies, as he allowed just two hits and no runs over six innings. But pitch count drove him from the game that the Cubs would go on to win.

Baseball is a game where everything has to be working in unison to be a successful team. The offense hasn’t slowed, even with the injury to Kris Bryant and the absence of Ben Zobrist to personal leave. But the starters struggle, it puts the onus on the bullpen. It’s a trickledown effect that the Cubs need to get sorted out, and soon.

The positive is that only one team in the Central is over .500 in their last 10, and that’s the Reds who are in last place at 26-29. But we don’t need to tempt the other teams and give them the impression they can catch us.

The Cubs need to get it back on track. The offense is waiting; the pitching needs to catch up.