Chicago Cubs News: Drew Smyly, Baltimore Orioles, and more

Chicago Cubs News: Drew Smyly, Baltimore Orioles, and more

1. Drew Smyly continues to struggle as part of the Chicago Cubs' starting rotation
2. Baltimore Orioles honor the 2004 Chicago Cubs in suspending their broadcaster
3. FanSided makes a joke of the Chicago Cubs in their latest power rankings

Drew Smyly continues to struggle as part of the Chicago Cubs' starting rotation

The struggles continued for veteran Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Drew Smyly on Monday in his start against the New York Mets.

Smyly allowed 7 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks in 5 innings of work on Monday. Smyly's ERA on the season has moved to 5.05 and it is a far cry from the impressive start that the veteran starting pitcher had at the beginning of the season.

While it seems likely that Smyly would not be a part of the Cubs' post-season rotation as typically, teams operate with a four-man rotation, the Cubs first have to make the post-season and Smyly's struggles in the rotation will not help their cause.

It has reached the point where the Cubs need to seriously consider moving Smyly to the bullpen. Smyly did have success in recent weeks operating as the piggyback option during games in which the Cubs operated with an opener. That may strategy that the Cubs deploy moving forward in regard to Smyly's turn in the rotation.

Baltimore Orioles honor the 2004 Chicago Cubs in suspending their broadcaster

Baltimore Orioles broadcast Kevin Brown has been suspended indefinitely after pointing out the Orioles' recent struggles against the Tampa Bay Rays.

What makes the suspension look even worse for the Orioles is that there was a graphic made and presented on the broadcast that highlighted the team's struggles against the Rays. Meaning, this was not an ad-lib moment from Brown. This was a segment that was prepared and presumably went through multiple levels of approval. There is no way around this other than saying this is a terrible look for the Orioles to suspend a broadcaster for doing their job and telling the truth.

For Cubs fans, they are no stranger to this type of controversy. The 2004 Chicago Cubs collapsed and instead of pointing the finger at themselves, the thin-skinned team lashed out at broadcasters Chip Caray and Steve Stone for being critical of the team. It was a bad look for the Cubs then and. in 2023, it is now an even worse look for Orioles.

FanSided makes a joke of the Chicago Cubs in their latest power rankings

In the latest MLB power rankings revealed by FanSided, Kevin Henry lists the Chicago Cubs at the No. 14 slot and there should be no real issue with that.

The issue is that Henry has the Cincinnati Reds at No. 12. Yes, the same Cincinnati Reds that the Cubs whooped last week as if they were Jose Ramirez and the Reds were Tim Anderson. The same Reds' team that has lost 7 of their last 10 games.

That is just flat-out wrong. The Cubs exposed the Reds last week and their lack of pitching. But hey, we get it, Elly De La Cruz is fun and that could be distracting to writers that may be overlook the Reds' deficiencies.

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