Cubs: The starting rotation is pulling the rest of the team down

Just when the Chicago Cubs give us a glimmer of hope, they go on to disappoint us. After a thrilling weekend series in Cincinnati, this team came all the way back from a 12-8 deficit only to lose a heartbreaker in extra innings along with the series.

We’ve seen so many positives from this group so far this season but little things have kept them from winning games. Sitting at 12-16 through the first 28 games, the starting rotation has been the weak link.

To say the rotation has been disappointing would be an understatement. The Yu Darvish trade was the domino that has led to the issues our starters have seen early in the season. The Cubs currently hold a starter ERA of 6.00, the worst in all of baseball.

The scariest realization is that Jake Arrieta has the lowest ERA out of all our starters at 4.31. As much as we love the former Cy Young winner, he was signed to be a middle-of-the-rotation arm and nothing more.

More from Chicago Cubs News

• Cubs starting pitching has been thriving on the North Side
• Make no mistake: the Cubs are very much about power hitters
• Cubs: It’s time to start thinking about potential September call-ups
• Cubs: P.J. Higgins deserves to be in the lineup on a daily basis
• Cubs might start to limit Justin Steele’s workload soon

When Darvish was dealt to San Diego, fans were upset but knowing Kyle Hendricks would still be here to lead this staff helped put things at ease. However, he is off to the worst start possible and is the reason this rotation is spiraling. Through five starts he owns a 7.54 ERA and the worst part is it’s not even the highest from this rotation.

Zach Davies has been nothing short of a nightmare so far with his 8.22 ERA and it’s been truly disappointing as he was brought in to be a nice piece to help stabilize the rotation after Darvish left. On top of that, free agent signee Trevor Williams is starting to show regression as his ERA has touched 6.00.

Cubs: Inconsistency is a major issue

With the exception of Adbert Alzolay coming on, it seems that everything that could go wrong has for this rotation. This group currently has a WAR of -0.3. I think we knew the rotation would have its ups and downs but things have been worse than expected.

The hope was for Hendricks to be himself, Davies to be a consistent number two, Alzolay to emerge and then have Arrieta and Williams to shore up the back end. While all of this is still possible, it has not gone according to plan and is the reason this team has struggled like it has.

The bullpen has also struggled but has put together a 3.92 ERA with a WAR of 0.4. Even the offense has started to get their act together, moving from worst to 22nd in terms on average now at .224. The rest of this team is starting to pull their weight and it’s time the rotation does as well.

It’s definitely not too late for these starters and we’d have to imagine some positive regression is coming. This team is going to run out of time to show the potential that is has. If losses keep piling, the trades are going to start coming and I don’t think we want to see that.