The Cubs Lineup Isn’t Good Enough to Go All-In

There is a narrative about the Cubs position players that doesn’t seem to jibe with reality. Common Cubs fan knowledge states that this is an elite position-player group. And yes, when you look at WAR, the Cubs look great. The defense truly is elite. But they simply don’t have the offensive talent—or at least the demonstrated capacity for present production—to justify a heavy investment in this season. 

Historically, teams need at least one elite bat to contend. Pete Crow-Armstrong has been that, and is a legitimate MVP candidate. But the rest of the lineup features only one player with a 120 wRC+. That’s simply not enough offense—not enough high-end hitting talent—to reach their postseason goal.

Other contenders this year have more players who have reached this stat, which basically means the player is 20 percent better than a league-average hitter. The Dodgers have six; the Brewers have eight; and the Rays four. Even more, the Dodgers feature a certain two-way legend with a lofty 162, and Junior Caminero in Tampa is over 150. There are reasons why these teams come through more often and win at a higher rate. They simply have more offensive talent.

Last year was more of the same. Toronto and Seattle each had seven players exceed this mark. The Brewers and Phillies checked in with four. The trend is established; the Cubs' hitting doesn’t measure up to recent contenders.

Other champions with 85-95 wins (the range in which the Cubs are likely to fall) also had several more bats over a 120 wRC+. The 2021 Braves and 2019 Nationals, both Wild Card entrants, each had five players exceed the mark. Last year’s Dodgers had five, and of course, Ohtani put up a 172. The 2015 Royals are often held up as an example of a champion without a superstar, but they had seven players clear the 120 mark. High-end hitting is essential for October success, and the Cubs are not performing at that level.

All of this has to be considered in the context of the broader roster, of course. Entering Sunday, the Cubs led the majors in non-pitcher Wins Above Average (WAA), according to Baseball Reference, at 10.3. Crow-Armstrong has accounted for 5.0 of that himself, though, and as we know, much of the other value comes from the great defense of Michael Busch, Nico Hoerner, Alex Bregman, Dansby Swanson, and Ian Happ. More importantly, their pitchers have dug a hole the position players have had to climb out of. They've been worth -5.6 WAA. In short, take away Crow-Armstrong, and the roster as a whole is underwater, at -0.3 WAA. With the three best pitchers the team has had active at any point this season (Cade Horton, Daniel Palencia and Ben Brown) all on the injured list indefinitely or out for the year, it's unlikely that they'll turn that around with their current personnel. 

There is no realistic way the Cubs can fill their holes at starting pitcher, the bullpen, and add a true middle-of-the-order bat. Balancing the roster by deepening the lineup would be massively costly. Given this reality, it doesn't make sense to gut the farm for a one-time effort. 

Bregman will continue to hit in the middle of the order, because projections say he’s the most likely to produce numbers at that spot. Despite many online clamoring for a lineup change, there really isn’t a move to be made that would push them ahead of Milwaukee or the Dodgers. The best course of action is hoping the highest-paid players on the team (Bregman and Swanson) return to their normal levels of production—not to mention Hoerner and Happ. 

Jed Hoyer was lauded for his efforts to build a complete roster in the offseason, eschewing waiting for a deadline addition. That team hasn't materialized, and the underperformers in the offense are a reason why. Unless the highly-paid bats come to the grill and start frying some tasty stats, the Cubs should just let it ride. 

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