3 frustrating Chicago Cubs storylines thus far in 2022

On Friday night the Chicago Cubs lost to the New York Yankees in 13 innings by a score of 2-1. The Cubs went 0-for-18 with runners in scoring position and fell to 11 games under .500. To add to the frustration, they are now 6-14 in one-run decisions this year.

There have been plenty of frustrating moments and storylines already during the 2022 season. Here are some that really stand out.

Cubs can get them on, but they cannot get them in

One of, if not the most frustrating thing, about this team so far is the lack of situational hitting. There were many wondering if this offense could produce anything, considering they do not have much slugging ability, on the whole. To their credit, going into Saturday the Cubs have the sixth-best OBP in baseball at .322. They are also top 5 in walk rate at 9.5 percent. Their batting average (.243), wRC+ (101) and offensive fWAR (7.1) are all between 14th and 18th in their respective categories, so middle of the road.

They can get on base, but unfortunately, they cannot bring those runners home. As a team they are hitting .226/.335/.359 with RISP. The on-base does not look so awful, but they are not getting the hits, nor are they slugging with runners on. Per teamrankings.com the Cubs are leaving an average of 7.16 runners on base per game, the third-most in baseball. What really stands out is FanGraphs ranking the Cubs dead least in all of baseball in their “Clutch” tracker stat (-4.22).

It is also worth noting the Cubs are hitting just .229/.293/.333 with the bases loaded (58 plate appearances) this season, and are still among top of the league in double plays hit into (47).

Them not coming up with the big hit has cost them a number of games, and is a primary reason they have such a poor record in one-run games. They could easily have five or six more wins if they had just gotten one big hit or a key ball in play, not even necessarily a hit. This was a big issue in the loss Friday to the Yankees, they could not advance the runner at second in extras to get either a single or fly ball to get a run home. All that stuff matters.

Cubs: Rotating door, with not enough opportunities for younger players

This team has been littered with injuries. You cannot be mad at the players, it’s just unfortunate this keeps happening. I already mentioned some of the starting rotation injuries, but the position players have been bitten by the bug as well.

Seiya Suzuki has been out several weeks with the finger issue, and who can forget Nico Hoerner getting hurt because he collided with an umpire? The Cubs also saw the likes of Yan Gomes, Nick Madrigal, Jonathan Villar and others hit the IL at some point in 2022. David Bote still has yet to be activated this year. Key prospects like Brennen Davis, Ed Howard and Miguel Amaya have suffered major injuries, sidelining them for lengthy periods of time.

With all of this comes “Roster Jenga”, constant adjustments being made to the MLB. Seeing Clint Frazier DFAd without getting much of a chance while giving a lot of playing time to the older struggling Jason Heyward had Cubs fans furious before Friday’s ballgame. Fans also wanted to see more Nelson Velazquez who only got a quick taste of MLB before being sent down again. Injuries are out of the club’s control, but prioritizing playing time for available players is.

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Rebuilding/retooling (whatever you want to call it) is not really fun in the early stages. I guess one thing about the frustrating losses is they are competing in a lot of games and not getting knocked around every single night. Still, hopefully better days ahead.