No offense, But the offense is offensive

[Transmogrified Tiger]

 

[CubinNY]

33 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

 

The signs are there we have to hope they eventually turn it around 

[Bertz]

The team just broadly is 18th in wOBA but 10th in xwOBA.  Last year they had a .326 actual vs. a .325 expected so it's not a "this is just who they are" deal.  I'd guess there's a certain amount that's whether and a certain amount that's just luck, but the offense should pick up just from natural regression.

The other positive under the hood number is how much velo they've faced.  Trueblood initially flagged this but the average fastball the Cubs have seen this year is highest in the league at 95.1 MPH.  #2 is the Nats at 94.8.  The gap between the #1 Cubs and #2 Nats is a slightly bigger than the gap between the Nats and the #12 Royals.  Velocity isn't everything but in the sample sizes we're talking about this is a huge gap and a big contributor to what we've seen from the offense.