Week In Review: Mistakes, Frustration, Signal Beginning of the End

[RavenCub30]

It's not that this Cubs team is terrible, they're just uninspiring.

Image courtesy of © David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

The game of baseball is loaded with rituals and superstitions. Most famous is the collective effort made by teams, fans, and broadcasters when one of their own is tossing a no-hitter or perfect game. There are probably several good reasons for this, but one simple one: We don’t want to screw it up. Regarding the 2024 Chicago Cubs, a similarly mute strategy is employable for this team’s enduring mediocrity; in other words, don’t ask if things can get worse. They can, and they did. With some new faces and familiar ones on board, this week was undeniable proof of this supernatural rule. As tough as this season is to stomach at times, this week was even tougher. Let’s look at how it went down…

The week they commenced at the house Skyline Chili built as the Cubs took on division foe Cincinnati for three games. The guy people thought wouldn’t be a Cub anymore, Jameson Taillon, took the bump opposite the Reds’ right-hander Carson Spiers. Jamo was dead on arrival, surrendering six earned runs, one walk, and two round-trippers in 4.1 innings pitched. With the Cubs’ offense floundering from the start, Spiers didn’t need to be too sharp, but was anyway, going 5.0 innings pitched, allowing just one hit and no runs. If, for some reason, you were waiting for proof that ejections don’t mean anything, this one was for you as the Cubs’ new reliever Nate Pearson and his skipper both got ejected after Pearson drilled Reds’ batter Tyler Stephenson with an errant pitch in the eighth inning. 

Final Score: 7-1 Reds

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The aces of your staff are supposed to calm things down and right the ship after a tough loss. Unfortunately for Justin Steele, that was not the case in this one. All season long, run support has plagued the Cubs’ former All-Star. Though he managed to get through five innings of work, Steele struggled to induce the soft-hit ground balls he’s known for, getting hit hard early and often by Reds’ batters. For their part, the Cubs’ offense continued to come up empty when it mattered most, going 1-9 with RISP. Their futility handed the series win to the Reds and raised even more red flags regarding whether or not Chicago did enough of the right things at the trade deadline. 

Final Score: 6-3 Reds

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Proving they’re quite possibly the league’s most prolific team in not getting swept, the Cubs didn’t get swept in the series finale. The Cubs’ bats temporarily arose from their slumber, delivering a pleasantly productive day. With the much-maligned Kyle Hendricks getting the start in this one, it’s probably what the team needed. Hendo looked vintage sharp and rode his club’s offensive tidal wave to five strong innings in the victory. On a day when the Cubbies raked, Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki, outstanding of late, went a combined 5-9 and drove in five runs between them. As a team, and this is as far-fetched as it gets, the Cubs went 9-16 with RISP. Let’s start doing that more often. 

Final Score: 13-4 Cubs

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After salvaging a win at Great American Ballpark, the Cubs kicked off the take it or leave it (I wish to leave it) Motorola patch era with a four-game mega series versus the Saint Louis Cardinals. Lollapalooza was in town this weekend, and game one of this showdown was worth putting on repeat. In arguably the Cubs’ best and most thrilling win of the season, the team played with a touch of magic in their bats. Trailing the Cards 4-2 heading in the bottom of the 9th, the Cubbies rallied in a way we’ve rarely seen this year. 0-41 in games trailing by more than one run in the 9th, Cody Bellinger started the improbable rally with a two-out, two-strike solo shot to right field, cutting the deficit to one. Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson kept the momentum going with a couple of two-strike knocks. The stage was set for Mike Tauchman to deliver the dramatic walk-off win in front of his home crowd, and he did, lacing a two-run walk-off double down the left field line to complete the comeback. The Palatine Pounder pulled through again. 

Final Score: 5-4 Cubs

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Continuing a trend in which the Cubs seem to play up to superior opponents and down to weaker ones, the North Side club gave its fans who decided to skip work this past Friday the validation they needed. Javier Assad got the call as a starter, and he is still trying to find his groove. Assad made it through just four innings and gave way to a pretty stellar bullpen day. Drew Smyly, Tyson Miller, and even Hector Neris picked up the slack to keep Paul Goldschmidt and other dangerous Cardinals in check. Michael Busch and Christian Bethancourt did the bulk of the damage for the Cubs, cashing in game-changing homers. With it, the Cubs’ winning streak stretched to three on about as feel-good a day as you can ask for at Wrigley Field. 

Could the Cubs run their win streak to four with the energy building and take the series from their bitter rival? No. Crashing back down to earth after achieving a euphoric high the day prior, the Cubs’ worst habits, specifically the shaky bullpen, were on full display in a game they let get away. Jameson encouragingly erased the stench of his previous outing, clocking in six innings of one-run ball. Quality at-bats from Michael Busch, Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Miguel Amaya gave the Cubs an early 4-1 lead, which should have held up but didn’t. Hector Neris’ unreliability aside, poor communication between the outfield and infield, namely Nico Hoerner and Crow-Armstrong, blew the game for the Cubbies—lost opportunity. 

This was the perfect week for the Chicago Cubs: They showed flashes of brilliance pointing towards what the club could be and had the warts of who they are and why things need to change, exposed in grand fashion. Up next, the Cubs get to play at both major league ballparks in the city of Chicago. First, they welcome the Minnesota Twins to town for three games. They’ll then use an off-day Thursday to travel to the south side and face off against the worst team in baseball, the Chicago White Sox. 

With the book on this season drawing morosely near its end, the objective of the remainder of this club’s schedule is clear: Try some things out, hit the drawing board, and enjoy summertime in Chicago while you can.  

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[Billy62]

     I would imagine that this post is dated a bit. I would think that Cubs fans would be pretty happy at the level of play as of late. In the last 30 games the team has gone 18-12, this includes just wrapping up a 5-2 homestand that saw the boys put the wood to the Cardinals, taking three of four, and then two of three from the Twins. They are hitting, they are showing some power, pitching has been pretty straight at both ends. You can't win every game. So a boot here and there is just part of the game. I know that things can sour, but we are riding a high right now, and for that I am pleased.