October 3, 20187 yr Cubs score 2 runs in their last 22 innings to eliminate themselves from the playoffs.
October 4, 20187 yr Author Heard on ATH that the Cubs in their last 50 games scored 0 or 1 run in 17 games.
October 4, 20187 yr Cubs have been in a funk since the title. The talent and payroll still brings W’s but the team seems off.
October 4, 20187 yr They’ve lost their edge and have either become lazy or complacent. I suspect a few players will be moved or not brought back. A shakeup needs to happen. Almora needs to be the regular CF. Chili Davis needs to go. Russell needs to go AAA when he gets back from his suspension. Hopefully he’ll perform well enough to gather something in return on a trade. Ian Happ/Bote and/or Schwarber need to be moved for pitching. Jesse Chavez and Hamels brought an edge. They need to be brought back. I’m undecided what I want done with the pitching coach, but I lean towards replacing Hickey. I’d also like to see David Ross on staff to be groomed to take over as Manager at some point.
October 4, 20187 yr They lost their hunger. The Cardinals lost theirs three years ago when the Cubs got theirs. Now three years later, the Brewers are hungry and the Cubs have reverted to the Cardinals. The schedule did them no favors down the stretch but their offense has been off all year. They need a corner outfielder who can consistently mash 30 HRs and hit .270. Their bullpen was overworked due to injury and Madden's preference to baby the starters and their innings for later in the year. It also didn't help that $37 million in pitching was on the DL in the second half of the season. In hindsight, I wish they would have thrown the Darvish/Chatwood money at Arrieta and Davis. Never understood why they let both of them walk. I remember the Jim Essian/Dale Sveum/Lee Elia days where the team was eliminated by Memorial Day. I think a majority of the fan base are spoiled by the last four years and freaking out by the WC loss. If nothing was coming back, I might be freaking out too. But in looking at what they lose and what they have coming back plus coming through the system, I'm not too upset. Even if they beat Colorado, they weren't beating a much hungrier Milwaukee team in the NLCS.
October 4, 20187 yr They’ve lost their edge and have either become lazy or complacent. I suspect a few players will be moved or not brought back. A shakeup needs to happen. Almora needs to be the regular CF. Chili Davis needs to go. Russell needs to go AAA when he gets back from his suspension. Hopefully he’ll perform well enough to gather something in return on a trade. Ian Happ/Bote and/or Schwarber need to be moved for pitching. Jesse Chavez and Hamels brought an edge. They need to be brought back. I’m undecided what I want done with the pitching coach, but I lean towards replacing Hickey. I’d also like to see David Ross on staff to be groomed to take over as Manager at some point. Chili Davis gets the credit for Baez and his breakout season not to mention Heyward's rise in regular season numbers. He also worked with Rizzo early in the season when his numbers were low. Team batting average up and strikeouts down from last year. I say the finger should be pointed at the guys making millions of dollars to hit the ball.
October 4, 20187 yr Chili Davis gets the credit for Baez and his breakout season not to mention Heyward's rise in regular season numbers. He also worked with Rizzo early in the season when his numbers were low. Team batting average up and strikeouts down from last year. I say the finger should be pointed at the guys making millions of dollars to hit the ball. Baez had been trending up for the past few seasons so I won’t give him much credit for Baez. Heyward improved but still isn’t hitting to his full capabilities. Rizzo was in a slump, that happens but he’s always been a stud. To a certain extent I agree some of it is on the players, but the all or nothing this year doesn’t work. So many regressed this year. Some of that falls on the hitting coach. Whether that’s changing the players approach this year, or just not having a game plan prepared for different pitchers based on analytics, I don’t know, but something was off all year.
October 4, 20187 yr At the end of the day, you can't go a combined 30-27 against St. Louis, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati and expect to win the division. I'll still take 95 wins from the Cubs every year.
October 4, 20187 yr Oh no doubt, it’s hands down better than it use to be. I got use to us always losing. Now I’m used to winning :lol2:
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