Cubs Understand Job Requirements, Just Can’t Get Work Done

If the Cubs have a sign tracking the days since their last workplace accident, it hasn’t gotten past two in over a month. Whether it’s another pitching injury, a star player repeatedly failing to produce, or just a painfully bad loss, this team is now 7-21 since that second 10-game winning streak ended. They haven’t won a series since sweeping the Reds from May 4-7, a run of nine sets and counting, and they’re near the bottom of the league in both hitting and pitching over that stretch.

Only the Rockies (6.79) have a higher ERA than the Cubs (5.17) since May 9, and no other team’s pitching has produced a negative fWAR in that span. Even if we acknowledge the inherent fallibility of that statistic with pitching in particular, and especially over a relatively short period, being at -0.6 is very bad. They’ve allowed an MLB-worst 51 homers in 28 games, seven more than the league-leading White Sox and Nationals have hit.

The good news is that a recent power surge from the Yankees has ensured that the Cubs’ 98 home runs allowed on the season are only one more than the most hit by a team. Meanwhile, the Cubs have only hit 75 round-trippers. One of those came last night from Michael Busch, though it served only to reduce the negative impact on the game’s run differential.

Speaking of which, that margin has officially flipped against the Cubs. Tuesday’s loss brought them to a -1 mark on the season and put them within a game of the .500 mark. They are just one game better than their expected win-loss record, which is quite an accomplishment for a team that once won 20 of 23 games. At this point, fans would rejoice if they could just take two of three from the team with the worst record in baseball.

And it’s not like the players don’t realize it, as evidenced by Alex Bregman‘s recent screed against his own “terrible” play. The problem is that they appear to have become so fixated on their failures that subsequent shortcomings are merely the results of a self-fulfilling prophecy. It’s like when you’re tired and you know you need to sleep, but you get so wrapped up in the desire to crash that you just lie there staring at the ceiling.

“We have an accountable group,” Craig Counsell said after the series-opening loss in Denver. “They understand what their job is. They know what we haven’t been doing. We can talk about it a lot, but we also understand that we’ve got to go play, play the game and play it well. That’s, ultimately, how you change the story. That’s the only way to change the story.”

Thank you, Captain Obvious. The only problem is that, like a Stephen King novel written without the help of an outline, they may have gotten too deep into the narrative to make any serious changes. What was once a 3.5-game division lead has ballooned to an 8-game deficit that can’t be burned away with just a hot run here or there, and they know it. Maybe it’s just confirmation bias, but their collective body language reeks of resignation.

Jim Deshaies noted on Tuesday’s broadcast — and I’m paraphrasing — that the players appear to be pressing and may need to adopt more of an IDGAF attitude. It’s almost like they care too much, which results in each individual trying to win games with one at-bat or one swing. They’re taking good pitches, swinging at bad ones, and just generally doing things that aren’t characteristic of good teams.

“We’re making some mistakes right now that can’t happen, and that we normally don’t make,” reigning NL Player of the Week Pete Crow-Armstrong said. “It’s just understanding how the game of baseball works. And understanding that you’re not going to be a one-man wrecking crew.”

As fun as the Cubs were to watch through much of April and the first third of May, watching them since has been like cleaning up after a crime scene. You already know it’s going to be bad even before you get there, and it’s still jarring even though you’ve been through it a thousand times before. There’s also a point where, as a fan, you may decide that avoiding the mess altogether is just much better for your mental health.

Like with the Friday and Saturday games in San Francisco that start after 9pm CT. I follow this stuff closely because I’ve been a fan for over 40 years and have chosen to cover it as a side hustle, but I’ve grown quite weary of the Cubs’ play over the last several weeks. So if you’re feeling the need to step back and take a beat, please do it. They’ll still be here when you get back, though I can’t guarantee they’ll be in a better place.

The Cubs know they need to play better, and GI Joe taught me that knowing is half the battle. The problem right now is that this team seems to have no clue as to how to accomplish the other half.