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Chicago Cubs: This year was forgettable – but will we move on from 2019?
The 2019 Chicago Cubs season was an absolute rollercoaster. In a season that most fans probably want to forget, will any of us be able to move on?
The 2019 Chicago Cubs season started on the day after the team lost the NL Wild Card game at home to the Colorado Rockies. Shortly thereafter, Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein talked about how 2019 would be the year of “reckoning”, meaning he was going to stick with his guys and see how the season played out.
That offseason was very underwhelming in Wrigleyville as the Cubs big accusation was Daniel Descalso. Many fans were not thrilled with how the team’s biggest weakness – the bullpen – went largely unaddressed by Epstein and the front office.
The season started in Texas and after Opening Day everyone was feeling good as the Cubs destroyed the Rangers. Then the next week the bullpen was terrible, blowing multiple leads and the Cubs started the year 2-7.
In April and May, the Cubs seemed to get it going playing by far their most consistent baseball of the year, but most Cubs fans still worried about the bullpen. As at that point, they had no true closer because Brandon Morrow was still hurt.
Chicago Cubs: An eventful summer on the North Side
In May was when Cub’s super-utility man Ben Zobrist left the team for personal reasons – something that you don’t see every day in Major League Baseball. This hurt the Cubs because as we all know, Zobrist was one of the few guys seemingly capable of putting together solid at-bats out of the leadoff spot.
In June the Cubs went out and signed the premier bullpen arm in the free agent Craig Kimbrel. No one – and I mean no one had much of an issue with this given the team’s high-leverage bullpen struggles. This was another instance that doesn’t happen often in MLB, a top-tier free agent signing in June.
As we all know, in his first year with Chicago, Yu Darvish did not live up to the huge contract that he received. The Darvish that we all saw in the second half of 2019, however, was the guy we thought we got. Darvish was terrific in the second half. He was by far the Cubs’ best starter post-All-Star Break.
Just minutes before the trade deadline hit, Chicago made one of the best in-season accusations in recent memory in Nicholas Castellanos. Who knows where the Cubs would have been without him in the second half of the season. He was outstanding in every regard. Castellanos is set to be a free agent this winter and I know I can speak for Cubs fans when I say I really hope the Cubs get him.
All the crazy stuff that happened during the year was leading up to September – another September to forget for Cubs faithful.
Chicago Cubs: An unforgettable September for all the wrong reason
For me personally everything started that Sunday against the Pirates when the Cubs leader Anthony Rizzo went down with the ankle injury. It had seemed like the Cubs were starting to find a groove that weekend against the Pirates scoring runs at will and closing on those final seven games with the division-leading Cardinals. Losing Rizzo in that spot was a huge blow.
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Then minutes before the first game against the Cardinals that next weekend it was announced that Rizzo would play and leadoff for the Cubs. This was a miracle because he was expected to be in a walking boot for at least a week.
Three days after the injury he was back and leading off. This felt like it could have been the boost the Cubs needed at the right time. It wasn’t. We all know how the rest of the season went.
There were so many times this season where it felt like some moment would be the spark that this team needed. A few good things gave us hope and were quickly followed by punches to the gut. It was injuries of the offense struggling, or the bullpen, or the starting rotation. The team never felt like it ever fired on all cylinders.
The result of this was Joe Maddon and the Cubs parting ways. It’s the end of an era in the North Side. Make no mistake – this is the best manager in Cubs history for what he has done the last five seasons and it was a shame that it ended as it did.
Next. What happens to the Cubs if Darvish opts out of his deal?. dark
In a season that many Cubs fans wish they could completely erase from their memory this one feels like it will be in Cubs fans’ minds for a long time.