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Chicago Cubs: Team’s recent slide aided by struggling depth
Chicago Cubs: Since returning from suspension, Addison Russell continues to disappoint.
No doubt this is the name that makes Cubs fans teeth grind the most, for a good reason. So far in the 31 games, he has played in he is slashing .230/.296/.379 with four homers with a 73 wRC+. His defense has been exceptional, but the bat is not there. Some swings have been very ugly, some of which the bat goes further than the ball.
There was a brief time where Addison Russell was swinging the bat well and hitting for some pop, but so far in June his wRC+ is at 1, and his slash is .156/.237/.156 with a 28.9% K rate. That translates to just five hits this month with none of them being an XBH.
Despite the struggles, he has been taking most of the duty at second base the past week with either Bote at third or on the bench. It is probably time to see more Bote at second over Russell or give Robel Garcia a try.
Chicago Cubs: The struggles for the veteran utility man have gotten so bad that he is not even an option to go to anymore.
It is still hard to believe that Daniel Descalso was once mashing and coming up with big hits in early April. He looked like a perfect addition, but since his ankle injury, it has gone way downhill. On the season he is hitting .190/.287/.285 with 55 wRC+ and a -0.6 fWAR.
In since May 1st, Descalso is hitting .098/.211/.131 with three RBI and one XBH. His wRC+ in May was -13 and has only played in nine games so far in June. Keep in mind he went from having a 102 wRC+ in April to having it in the negatives in May. It has unfortunately for him gotten so bad he has been riding the bench in both starting and PH opportunities. In April Descalso hits where Caratini did in Sunday night’s game in the ninth inning.
A lot of people want him DFAed which is a bit harder for the Cubs since he signed a two-year deal. Can he turn it around? Hopefully, Descalso has had some decent seasons recently, and the team could use him being productive again. This drop was incredibly dramatic.