Is It Time to Begin Worrying About Chicago Cubs After Horrific Series Against Nationals?
The Chicago Cubs lost in walk-off fashion to the Washington Nationals on Thursday afternoon as they dropped the series 3-1. It was another example of the offense falling asleep and losing a close game to a bad team.
The Cubs (15-16) now sit below .500 for the season after a promising start had many wondering if they were contenders. However, over the course of the last seven games, they have lost six. Those have come against the Miami Marlins and Nationals. Two teams that contenders should defeat and take full advantage of.
Most of their issues have come from the absence of their offense. Every loss over the course of this skid, aside from one, has been decided by one run. Three have come via a walk-off.
Thursday was no different. Chicago welcomed back Jameson Taillon who went 3.0 innings and gave up three earned runs. He looked rushed back.
Offensively, the Cubs were able to string together enough hits to rally back in the eighth inning with three runs of their own. Trey Mancini and Seiya Suzuki each had a double while Cody Bellinger notched a multi-hit game.
Apart from that, the bats were largely silent.
Which begs the question: Is it time to start worrying about the Chicago Cubs?
For starters, well, the starters. They have looked great and currently hold the seventh best ERA in MLB as a unit with a 3.56. The starting pitching is not the issues, which can be the hardest and most expensive thing to fix.
The bullpen has been a whirlwind of emotions. Up and down. Michael Fulmer, Brad Boxberger and co. have been a mixed bag. The good news is, the bullpen is inherently a volatile unit and one of the easiest to fix.
They are also more likely to right the ship game to game.
Finally, the offense.
The lack of one-run games is frustrating. Just ask the 2022 Texas Rangers whose record made them look far worse than they really were after losing a franchise record in one-run games last season.
Timely hitting is key. Contact is key. And putting it all together has to happen.
Yes, Matt Mervis will join the team on Friday and maybe he provides a spark. But he won't do it on his own.
As far as this club is concerned, it's not time to start worrying just yet. It's disappointing that they are under .500 after failing to take advantage of some bad teams. But those are the growing pains.
Expect a bounce back from this young clubhouse.
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