NEWSLETTER
Through their first 11 games of the season, the Chicago Cubs offense scored a total of 71 runs (or 6.45 runs per game). In their last five games, they’ve scored a combined 14 runs (or 2.8 runs per game). That’s a pretty steep cliff. Thanks to some lucky breaks and good pitching, the Cubs have managed to win three of those five games. But that is not a good trend.
Cubs Offense Dissapears
At the end of the Padres series (April 10), the Cubs offense was among the top-10 in MLB, with the team slashing .254/.353/.418 (113 wRC+) overall. Their 12.2% walk rate ranked second and their 20.6% strikeout rate was 10th lowest.
In the (admittedly tiny sample) since then? WOOF: .196/.238/.348 (59 wRC+, 28th in MLB). And their walk rate dropped down to 5.4% while their strikeout rate ballooned to 25.9%.
So for the season as a whole, the offense is down to exactly league average (100 wRC+, 16th in MLB). And that’s a problem because in case you missed it, the Cubs just lost one of their two best hitters for at least a month.
And by one of their two best hitters, I mean the ONLY other regular besides Michael Busch who’s been above average for the entire season. I can’t even believe that after their hot start, but it’s true.
Cubs Offense – Leaderboard
As a reminder, a 100 wRC+ is the league average. So that, my friends, is a BRUTAL cold streak for the entire Cubs offense at the exact same time.
Breaking it down further: Dansby Swanson has just four hits and a walk plus eight strikeouts in his last eight games. Ian Happ has just two hits and four walks plus nine strikeouts in his last seven games. Mike Tauchman has struck out four times in his last two games and is batting .194 on the season. Even after two hits and a walk last night, Nico Hoerner‘s batting average is just .208. Christopher Morel has no hits, no walks, and seven strikeouts in his last five games. And Cody Bellinger has just two hits and three walks in his last six games.
The Cubs were already leaning heavily on Busch and Suzuki. And now one of them is gone for a month+, which leaves the entirety of the Cubs offense on the shoulders of a rookie. Not good. Not good at all. And especially not good with their ace, Justin Steele, still out and Jameson Taillon only expected to make his first start of the season some time this week. No, leaning on their pitching staff is not an option. Someone is going to have to break out of their funk sooner than later. And I guess we’ll have to also hope that Alexander Canario can provide a spark.
