The Diamondbacks had a 3-17 stretch in July/August last year that put them 2 games under .500 on August 11th. The Marlins had a 9-18 stretch in August that put them 1 game under .500 on August 30th. There is still time and precedent for this Cubs team to turn it around. That said, there are a number of things that concern me:
-Not a good defensive team, not sure how you fix the issues at 3B, 1B, C
-Has maybe 1 reliable bullpen arm, and even that guy is more of a solid setup man than a shutdown reliever. Maybe Merryweather and Almonte plus pushing Brown to the pen helps it improve.
-Has a massive black hole at a position that's difficult to fix midseason
-Is now dealing with more injury issues with Seiya and Nico plus still missing Merryweather, Alzolay and Almonte for at least another month or so
On the plus side, despite the regression the starting pitching is still very good, the schedule is lighter for awhile and the hitters as a whole have started to hit better. It does feel like we're getting some bad luck mixed in with our crappy play.