Chicago Cubs are dealing with an extensive power outage at the plate

Over the last home stand, 13 balls went over the Wrigley Field wall. Eleven of those were by the opposition. The Chicago Cubs have hit only four home runs in their last 10 games going back to the start of their series in Atlanta, and over the past two weeks, they've hit multiple homers in a game just twice. Heading into Saturday's action the Cubs are tied with the Reds and Diamondbacks for 20th in home runs hit at 48.

This stretch offensively for the Cubs has been absolutely brutal overall. There has been so little slug over the past several weeks, even with Cody Bellinger and Seiya Suzuki returning from injury. The last Cub to homer was Miguel Amaya in a 9-3 blowout loss to the Pirates on May 17. Christopher Morel's two-run homer on Mother's Day off Bailey Falter was the last time the Cubs homered with a man on.

Not even favorable conditions on some days at Wrigley during the homestand could help the Cubs' bats out. Though they won on Tuesday night 4-3, the Cubs could not put a ball in the bleachers despite a warm night and the wind howling out. Outside a few warning track shots, there have not been many signs of power from the lineup recently. Morel hit a few drives that looked good on Thursday, but they ultimately landed in gloves.

Cubs need key guys to step up and start bringing some slug to the lineup

Power was always a bit of a question mark on this team. The Cubs have 20-home run potential from guys like Bellinger, Suzuki, Morel, Dansby Swanson and Ian Happ, though there is not as much confidence in a guy on the current roster hitting 35-40. Patrick Wisdom is a bench/matchup bat though he at least has a track record of 20+ homers over the past few years.

It looked like Suzuki could be a 30+ homer guy, and maybe he still can, but he did miss a chunk of time on the IL and has had some awkward swings lately. Michael Busch has shown some serious power during stretches of the year but he is ice-cold currently and does not play every day. Morel has 30-homer potential and could reach that number this year, but 35-40 still seems steep.

The point is, this team is not going to be the best in the National League when it comes to home run production. However, they are better on paper than what they have shown recently and they need to start flexing their muscles. Power slumps happen, and the back of the baseball cards will tell you they will not sustain being this feeble with power all season, but it's time to turn it around. They've battled injuries and now hopefully they can find that groove again as they are getting back. It feels like they need a spark of some kind because this recent stretch has been hard to watch.