4 Chicago Cubs players fans are losing patience with

The frustration surrounding the Chicago Cubs is palpable right now. Between a nightmarish road trip that saw the team go 1-6 against the Marlins and Nationals and general issues hitting with runners in scoring position, the team has somewhat spoiled their promising start to the year. These issues are hardly related to one player. The entire team has been in a funk lately with winnable games consistently bouncing away from them.

There's still plenty of time to turn it around, but with all that said, certain players are already angering fans with their presence on the roster. Whether the criticism is fair or not, let's look at four players who fans have little to no patience left for in the early going.

4 Chicago Cubs players fans are losing patience with - Eric Hosmer

From day one, it was clear Eric Hosmer was going to be the name Cubs fans would get frustrated with most of all. He was originally signed for the league minimum as extra insurance at first base along with Trey Mancini until Matt Mervis eventually came up and his numbers didn't exactly paint him as a game-changer. Through 90 plate appearances, he's off to one of his worst starts yet with a 76 wRC+ and the lowest walk rate (5.6%), highest strikeout rate (24.4%), and lowest ISO (.106) of his career.

Things understandably got worse as Mervis and Christopher Morel were raking in Iowa. The baffling commitment to Hosmer over the much hotter batters that could be taking his place angered fans across the board. Although he couldn't exactly control it, he became the face of the organization's failure to field its best 26-man roster.

Thankfully, with Mervis up in the big leagues, Hosmer is getting fewer starts and transitioning to a bench role. As long as David Ross continues finding ways to mash him into the lineup like a round peg into a square hole, however, he's going to draw frustration from fans. He's not providing much of use to this team outside of veteran leadership and his spot on the roster could be better used to bring back Nelson Velazquez, who deserves more playing time, or another player altogether.

4 Chicago Cubs players fans are losing patience with - Tucker Barnhart

The Cubs made the conscious decision to go pitching and defense first with their catchers this year, paving the way for Yan Gomes and Tucker Barnhart to be the main tandem behind the dish. While Gomes has become an invaluable member of the team, fans aren't nearly as pleased with Barnhart. Yes, he was brought on because of his reputation for his stellar work with pitchers over the years (he's been a positive framer so far in 2023), but the bat has given them nothing so far with a 28(!) wRC+.

Expect the criticism against Barnhart to ramp up in the coming weeks when Amaya gets sent down too. Despite being a rookie, Amaya has already gotten rave reviews for his maturity and guidance behind the plate from Hayden Wesneski and even Jameson Taillon. The fact that the Cubs even gave Amaya the start when Wesneski was up in the rotation speaks to their confidence in his proficiency with those soft factors behind the plate. He does all that while simply showing more talent than Barnhart at the plate right now

It's totally understandable that Amaya will be and should be sent back down to Triple-A given his lack of experience in the high minors. The fact that he looked so good in his first stint in the big leagues, however, means it'll only draw more ire toward Barnhart's offensive struggles. It's hard to accept having him share time with Gomes when there's an option that seems better in every way just lying around.

4 Chicago Cubs players fans are losing patience with - Michael Fulmer

If you'd like, you could swap out Michael Fulmer with the entire bullpen in this spot and it would still make sense. No reliever, save for maybe Keegan Thompson and Adbert Alzolay, has been safe from criticism from the fans for their performance. The bullpen's ERA still sits at 3.54, barely within the top ten of all of baseball, but that hasn't stopped mounting frustration with individual performances.

Perhaps the man who has earned the most ire is Michael Fulmer. The expectation was set early on that he would get the lion's share of closing opportunities for the Cubs this year all things equal. Given his successful transition to the bullpen in Detroit and nasty pitches, that seemed like a logical jump. On the North Side, however, his stint as closer hasn't been particularly smooth as he currently sports a 5.87 ERA with a 1.435 WHIP.

I think he can still be a good pitcher for the Cubs. While he gives up far too many barrels, he's still able to generate whiffs at an above-average rate and his hard contact rate sits at the 89th percentile. His ERA is also somewhat skewed by two particularly awful back-to-back outings against the Dodgers in Los Angeles. Some more work with the pitch lab and lower leverage appearances will likely help, but it'll take some time for fans to fully trust him again with the game on the line.