The Chicago Cubs and new manager Craig Counsell, poached from their northern rival the Milwaukee Brewers, hope to overcome the woes of last season’s disappointing finish and playoff miss by just one game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the eventual National League champions. They’ve started off relatively strong, but with injuries to players including star right fielder Seiya Suzuki, longtime outfielder Ian Happ, and Cy Young hopeful Justin Steele, the Cubs, simply put, are not performing at their maximum output.
The Cubs offense has had strong flashes, but when it’s time to hit in the clutch, the Cubs have not always proven themselves. The Cubs were anemic with runners in scoring position in their series against the Miami Marlins in all but one game. To add salt to the wound, the Marlins aren’t a particularly strong team, where as of April 22nd they are statistically the third-worst team in Major League Baseball. It hasn’t been all bad for the Cubs offense who have shown themselves capable of strong outings, but when Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ both leave the lineup, the team clearly struggles to score.
Starting pitchers have been able to hold down the fort, but their issues are apparent and are certainly exacerbated by the loss of ace Justin Steele. Shota Imanaga has been the bright spot in the rotation with repeated lights-out performances, which led to 3 straight starts with no earned runs. Jameson Taillon also returned to the rotation, which will hopefully bring some pitching depth, but veteran and World Series legend Kyle Hendricks has been not just a liability, but almost a guaranteed loss for the Cubs whenever he steps on the mounds, even against below-average teams like the Marlins. It’s time for Craig Counsell to face the unfortunate facts: Kyle Hendricks needs to go. Rookie Ben Brown is a very competent starter who spun off three straight strong outings while filling in for Jameson Taillon, and he needs to take Hendricks’ spot in the rotation if the Cubs want to perform at maximum capacity.
Bullpen pitching has been a major liability for the Cubs so far in 2024, but there might not be much room for growth in this department. A severe shoulder injury to the often-reliable Julian Merryweather shut his arm down for at least 8 weeks, and relievers such as newly-added Yency Almonte and Hector Neris have not been posting favorable numbers in high-leverage spots. Along with that, closer Adbert Alzolay has blown a disconcertingly high number of saves, already exceeding last season’s total of three in just under a month. The bullpen is admittedly spent, and it stems from less-than-stellar performances from starters and position players. When starters can’t go as deep into games as they usually do, and when the offense dies at the plate, more stress is put on the already weak bullpen. If the Cubs want a strong bullpen, they will have to perform stronger on two other fronts to give the bullpen the boost they need.
Despite the previously mentioned issues with the Cubs, they had a relatively strong March and April even with injuries to some of their best players. But now that Suzuki is out for the foreseeable future, there are some questions that Counsell and the players on the field need to answer. Players need to stop trying to outdo themselves in clutch situations and simply put the ball in play, and starters need to generate quicker outs to preserve energy and stay in games longer, keeping strain off the weak bullpen. If the Cubs understand these questions and address them correctly, they could be playing October baseball by the end of the season.
