What's going on with the Cubs?

[mkw1962]

They are on the cover of Sports Illustrated and on paper they are the best team in baseball. They started off the season beating everyone there pitching was awesome and they were hitting everything.
So here it is what happened to this team?
I know they have had some injuries like Fowler at the top of the order but as talented as they are that should not matter that much. The pitching is terrible what happened to the starters, Arrieta stinks and the only one who is decent right now is Hendrick's. The bullpen is the worst I have ever seen.
Is the pressure getting to them or is it the Sports Illustrated curse, or are they really just not as good as we thought? I love the Cubs I and I have for my entire life but what happened, I know they need some bullpen help. How could everyone be playing this bad all at the same time.
Let me know what you guys think it will take to get back on track.

 

[hatehabsforever]

I didn't realize that the Cube were off track. They lead their division by 7.5 games and are tied for the third best record in all of baseball so far this season. If that's what you consider a struggle or an example of needing to get back on track, you have far stricter standards than I do. Every season has peaks and valleys and I guess losing four in a row could be considered a "valley", although a very minor one. I'm sure as you are a resident of Chicago, I don't need to remind you of the struggles they have endured for a century or so, so I don't think I would panic or wave the white flag quite yet. The Chicago Cubs should be just fine.

You should be very pleased by the time late October or early November rolls around. A NLCS victory and a loss to the Jays in the World Series should still qualify as a very successful season, by anyone's standards.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

I didn't realize that the Cube were off track. They lead their division by 7.5 games and are tied for the third best record in all of baseball so far this season. If that's what you consider a struggle or an example of needing to get back on track, you have far stricter standards than I do.

They have lost 9 games out of their last 10 and 5 games out of their last 20.

Overall they're in pretty good shape, but they're definitely in a slump.

 

[nwocongo]

It's a 162 game season, every team will hit a rough patch or 2. The last losing streak they had the pitching was still decent but the offense was anemic. This time the bats got going but the pitching fell apart. I think Fowler's injury was a big contributing factor when he first hit the DL.

With all the SI covers and hype about being the best team, that brings out the best of your opponents. I'm sure no one is sleeping on Jake Arrieta this year and he is heavily scouted before every game, being the top dog in the division and playing with the target on their back is not the norm for this franchise. I too have been a cubs fan my whole life so I'm very pessimistic and I won't rest easy until they clinch a playoff spot but again 162 game season, I'm not sweating a stretch losing 10 of 15 too much, especially when the team still has a 7 game lead in the division.

What does the team need to get back on track? IMO...the all star break. These guys need to get healthy, Heyward needs to get going (but he's usually a 2nd half player), Arrieta needs to recharge his batteries and figure out whatever his issue is, and yes the bullpen really, really needs help.

 

[nwocongo]

You should be very pleased by the time late October or early November rolls around. A NLCS victory and a loss to the Jays in the World Series should still qualify as a very successful season, by anyone's standards.

I admire your optimism, but the Jays might want to find some pitching somewhere. Stroman is proving either he doesn't have the stuff or he isn't mentally tough enough to be the ace, I like him but he seems to have a bit of David Price syndrome where he stars thinking too much and trying too hard to carry the team.

 

[OYDK]

I admire your optimism, but the Jays might want to find some pitching somewhere. Stroman is proving either he doesn't have the stuff or he isn't mentally tough enough to be the ace, I like him but he seems to have a bit of David Price syndrome where he stars thinking too much and trying too hard to carry the team.

Thank God for Marco Estrada, Aaron Sanchez, and JA Happ than.

 

[nwocongo]

Thank God for Marco Estrada, Aaron Sanchez, and JA Happ than.

Ahh I was waiting for this retort... Yes they have been good but.. Being a pessimistic cubs fan gives me fairly realistic expectations for starting pitching. Happ and Estrada at ages 32 and 33 have NEVER thrown more than 172 and 182 innings respectively, both have passed 100 already. That's not to say they can't reach 220 and still be effective but Happ's track record says otherwise and btw Estrada just hit the DL. Sanchez has looked good but he's still a fairly unproven youngster. These 3 have also been the beneficiaries of good run support.

So long story short, again it is a long 162 game season and it is kind of wishful thinking to say a career mediocre guy like Happ will have a 2nd half that stacks up to the 1st...but stranger things have happened. I realize starting pitching isnt as vital to an AL team that scores a ton of runs but this staff doesn't scream consitency to me. Hopefully for Jays fans Stroman gets on track if and when when those 3 guys who have over achieved crash and burn.

Nothing against the Jays but after following baseball obsessively and watching the Cubs blow despite my high hopes year in and year out, I have become pretty cynical about a teams pitching holding up.

Back to what's going on with the Cubs, they have a manager who looks big picture and doesn't hit the panic button during a rough stretch. Again if I didn't reiterate this enough, it's a 162 game season.

 

[Akhilleus]

Cubs are finally coming back down to earth. Jake Arrieta obviously has a piss test coming up so he had to lay off whatever he was on, either that or he is finally done spitting his load. I'm hoping it's the latter because I don't want him to get back to the elite form he was pitching in. I looked at tapes and numbers, it is like the old Jake Arrieta was a completely different person compared to this one. Two different pitchers. Arrieta credits pilates to his success...yeah right.

The Cubs have absolutely no bullpen. That's why I know that they won't make it past the divisional round, unless they go out and trade for Chapman.

And their bats are all still super young. They're good and have a lot of potential, but they're also young and new and maybe pitchers are starting to figure them out now. In fact maybe whatever the Cubs were doing to be so good the last year now is finally starting to catch up with other teams and they're able to defend it.

I'm expecting them to fade out of the division lead to either the Pirates or the Cardinals. Maybe they still win by a couple games, but it'll be close. This team hasn't been to a world series since 1945. It's hard to jump on the bandwagon and say they're the best team in baseball, that they're unstoppable and that they're winning it all whenever it's been 71 years since they have been there.

 

[nwocongo]

Cubs are finally coming back down to earth. Jake Arrieta obviously has a piss test coming up so he had to lay off whatever he was on, either that or he is finally done spitting his load. I'm hoping it's the latter because I don't want him to get back to the elite form he was pitching in. I looked at tapes and numbers, it is like the old Jake Arrieta was a completely different person compared to this one. Two different pitchers. Arrieta credits pilates to his success...yeah right.

The Cubs have absolutely no bullpen. That's why I know that they won't make it past the divisional round, unless they go out and trade for Chapman.

And their bats are all still super young. They're good and have a lot of potential, but they're also young and new and maybe pitchers are starting to figure them out now. In fact maybe whatever the Cubs were doing to be so good the last year now is finally starting to catch up with other teams and they're able to defend it.

I'm expecting them to fade out of the division lead to either the Pirates or the Cardinals. Maybe they still win by a couple games, but it'll be close. This team hasn't been to a world series since 1945. It's hard to jump on the bandwagon and say they're the best team in baseball, that they're unstoppable and that they're winning it all whenever it's been 71 years since they have been there.

They definitely need help in the pen, rumors are saying Jorge Soler for Andrew Miller which I hope is true. Aroldis Chapman is a phenomenal pitcher but his off the field bs is too unstable. Say the Cubs give up Soler and another prospect for Chapman, How long until he gets pulled over for driving shitfaced going 120 mph on Addison Street or waves a gun around during a fight with his girlfriend, New York can keep him.

Arietta's physique is incredible and his last couple half seasons have been night and day compared to the rest of his career so I understand the accusations. Consider the source though, Stephen A. Smith. This dude deals in controversial statements and he's about as interested in facts as Donald Trump. Pirates players also like to perpetuate these rumors....ya know the guys who were unable to touch him for a while and the guys who start a beanball war every month, not too credible.

I have my suspicions about Jake's complete 180 too but steroids and pitchers have a weird relationship. Being jacked is not necessarily conducive to being a successful pitcher, pitchers who juice are usually older guys who use roids to heal faster between starts. Arietta's biggest strength seems to be endurance and cardio, things that his diet, Pilates and running regiment would contribute to greatly. The fact Stephen A. Is kind of the at the core of this rumor taking flight makes it like a 90% chance that is complete speculative bullshit considering he knows NOTHING about baseball. Am I biased as a Cubs fan...sure of course I am, but that's not to say I wouldn't be disgusted and i would start trying to make excuses for him if he failed a test, a cheaters a cheater.

If we want to start talking about roids though...isn't it about time for Matt "enlarged steroid cranium" Holiday to land on the DL? Once he hits the DL they will find another 28 year old rookie who has never hit in the minors who all of a sudden becomes a 20/20 player for one half of a season. That is the Cardinal way Tim McCarver always talks about after all, making a safe haven for juicers like Jhonny Peralta and his enlarged gourd while being self righteous turds that pander to their trailer dwelling, racist garbage people fans. Funny how this year they drafted a kid who had already tested positive for ped's prior to his 18th b-day, but that's ok he will figure out the "Cardinal way" which I'm guessing is some form of Niacin or goldenseal to pass piss tests.