Article: This Week in Cubs Baseball: It Could Be Worse

[Josh Illes]

Cubs baseball is back! If you missed any of last week's action, here's a quick recap of how the North Siders fared against the Rangers in their opening series of 2024.

Image courtesy of © Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Record Last Week: 1-2 (1-2 Overall)
Runs Scored: 14
Runs Surrendered: 20
Standing:  4th in NL Central (2.5 GB)

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Game 1 | TEX 4, CHC 3
Game 2 | TEX 11, CHC 2
Game 3 | CHC 9, TEX 5

 Transactions

03/28/24 - Chicago Cubs selected the contract of 1B Garrett Cooper from Iowa Cubs.
03/28/24 - Chicago Cubs placed 3B Patrick Wisdom on the 10-day injured list retroactive to March 25, 2024. Back strain.
03/28/24 - Chicago Cubs placed RHP Jameson Taillon on the 15-day injured list retroactive to March 25, 2024. Back strain.
03/28/24 - Chicago Cubs placed RHP Caleb Kilian on the 60-day injured list. Right shoulder strain.
03/29/24 - Chicago Cubs signed free agent C Curt Casali to a minor league contract.
03/30/24 - Chicago Cubs recalled RHP Ben Brown from Iowa Cubs.
03/30/24 - Chicago Cubs placed LHP Justin Steele on the 15-day injured list retroactive to March 29, 2024. Left hamstring strain.

Breakdown

It was a rough start, but at least it wasn’t a sweep. That is the main takeaway from a very tough assignment opening the season on the road against the defending World Series champion Texas Rangers. 

The Cubs drew the ESPN game of the week on Opening Day in Arlington against the defending champs. It was an exciting debut, filled with heartbreaking injury, unbelievable luck, and ultimate heartbreak in extra innings. Adbert Alzolay blew a save, and the Rangers won by a score of 4-3. Saturday’s game was not any better; it was much worse as the Cubs were blown out by a score of 11-2. The only real highlight of the game was Dansby Swanson’s 2-run home run to give the North Siders an early 2-0 lead before everything went sideways. The ship was righted on Sunday, though, as the Cubs took the lead on a 3-run home run from Christopher Morel in the 1st inning to propel them to their first win of the season.

Main Takeaways

While Cubs fans will almost assuredly feel like this was just more of the same bad results that plagued the team at the end of last season, there were some prominent signs that this is a very different team. 

First of all, the bullpen looks pretty good. The blown save aside, the main four Cubs relievers- Alzolay, Hector Neris, Julian Merryweather, and Mark Leiter Jr. were incredibly solid, giving up only one run combined over nine innings in the three games in Texas. That one run, of course, was the solo home run that Alzolay allowed Thursday, but the overall results are positive.

The offense took some time to come together but ultimately came through. Of the nine runs scored on Sunday, four of them came in the 9th inning, mostly through station-to-station hitting. If there is one sure way to stem a two-game losing streak, it is timely hitting, and that’s exactly what we saw during that win.

Michael Busch is definitely ready. Not only does he know how to run the bases like a 10-year vet, but he can also hit the ball incredibly hard.

The starting pitching rotation is hurting. After the injury to Justin Steele, the Cubs are left with 3/5 of their likely Opening Day rotation, as Jameson Taillon also remains out with a back injury. The good news, if there is good news, is that Ben Brown was called up to fill one of those spots, and beyond that, Javier Assad seems ready to fill the other. Will that be enough, though? That is the question. The answer is that the team needs Steele to regain full health. This team can probably patch things together for a month or so, but ultimately, they are at the mercy of the health of their ace. 

Ian Happ is the right choice to lead off against right-handers. In the series finale on Sunday, Happ reached base five times, hitting two singles and a double while drawing three walks. In his final at-bat, in which he drove in the game-winning run, he drew three straight balls after falling behind 1-2 in the count. Many Cubs fans have been clamoring to see what Happ could do in the leadoff spot, and he emphatically delivered.

Christopher Morel was the team’s best offensive threat throughout the series. His defense at third base, notwithstanding, Craig Counsell was right when he said that he needs to play every day.

Other Tidbits:

-There are currently three qualified Cubs with an OPS over 1.000 - Christopher Morel, Ian Happ, and Dansby Swanson.

-The Cubs have drawn 16 walks in three games. They’ve also struck out 22 times.

-The Cubs have yet to attempt a stolen base this season.

-Ben Brown gave up six earned runs in his debut, though all six could easily be erased if the official scorekeeper had (rightly) given errors to Swanson and Morel.

3 Stars of the Week

3rd Star - Mark Leiter Jr. (2.2 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 4K)
2nd Star - Ian Happ (.417/.500/.500, 2 RBI) 
1st Star - Christopher Morel (.357/.357/.714, 3 RBI, HR, 1 3B) 

Looking Forward

Monday, 4/01 - Rockies @ Cubs (1:20 pm CDT) - RHP Dakota Hudson vs. LHP Shota Imanaga

Tuesday, 4/02 -Rockies @ Cubs (6:40 pm CDT) - LHP Kyle Freeland vs. TBD

Wednesday, 4/03 - Rockies @ Cubs (6:40 pm CDT) - RHP Cal Quantrill vs. TBD

Friday, 4/05 - Dodgers @ Cubs (1:20 pm CDT) - TBD vs. TBD

Saturday, 4/06 - Dodgers @ Cubs (3:05 pm CDT) - TBD vs. TBD

Sunday, 4/07 - Dodgers @ Cubs (1:20 pm CDT) - TBD vs. TBD

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