3 Cubs who contributed to the team's collapse

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After storming back into the National League playoff conversation from 10 games below .500, the Chicago Cubs are slumping at the worst possible time and find themselves on the brink of postseason elimination. After getting swept by the Atlanta Braves, the team now finds themselves one half-game back of the third and final wild card spot.

Although injuries to key guys like Adbert Alzolay and Nick Madrigal have been detrimental, there is still plenty of blame to go around for this disappointing collapse. Here are 3 guys that have not been helping at all in September and have been massive contributors to the skid.

1. Christopher Morel

Similar to last year, Christopher Morel is seeing major struggles in the second half of the season. Although he was worse in August (wRC+ of 47), September hasn't been great either as Morel has a .197 batting average in the last month with only nine runs batted in.

The only area Morel has been okay in is home runs with six on the month. But the 24-year-old slugger is basically the team's designated hitter so he needs to produce at crucial parts of the season like this to be valuable since he doesn't play defense.

Morel's role is uncertain moving forward since the team doesn't seem confident in his ability to play third base. Second base, left field or center field seem to be his best defensive positions and he is thoroughly blocked at all three. Unless the team moves Ian Happ this winter, they're gonna need to teach Morel how to play third base or trade him.

2. Mark Leiter Jr.

Mark Leiter Jr. has been a solid relief arm all year for the Cubs and he emerged out of nowhere to help solidify the Cubs' bullpen. But he hasn't been sharp recently and he appears to be running out of gas in his first full year in the majors.

In the month of September, Leiter owns a 9.45 ERA and his strikeout rate has plummeted to just 8.8 percent. In fact, in his nine appearances this month Leiter has had just one clean outing against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sept. 16.

With Alzolay's injury earlier this month, the team needed Leiter to step into a bigger role and he has instead faltered at every turn. The bullpen has been a massive part of the team's collapse in September and Leiter is a main culprit.

3. Marcus Stroman

Marcus Stroman wound up returning early from his rare rib cartilage injury, but his performances so far haven't been game changing. Manager Davis Ross even restored Stroman's starting duties only to see the 32-year-old struggle to get through three innings in each of his two starts.

Perhaps this entry is more of an indictment on Ross, who foolishly transitioned Javier Assad back to the bullpen when he had been excelling as a starter for the last two months. It would have made more sense to keep Assad where he was and use Stroman as a piggyback since he is probably on a limited work load anyway coming back from injury. Admittedly, Assad struggled in a road start against the Rockies, but he bounced back in his next game against the Pirates.

This is just one of many examples of Ross prioritizing veterans over rookies who were performing well. But this decision could be one that costs the Cubs a playoff appearance.

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3 Cubs who contributed to the team's September collapse

1. Christopher Morel

2. Mark Leiter Jr.

3. Marcus Stroman

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