While the Chicago Cubs were doing their thing to end the “first half” on a high note, I was hanging out in Monterey for a Japanese festival, eating udon and checking out jujitsu demonstrations. Summer is fun. You can check out the earlier blog for some affirmations, but really, these Cubs don’t need anybody to stick up for them; they can do it themselves.
As we keep an eye on the standings, it’s important to remind Cubs fans what our expectations were before a game even started this season. We imagined a much-improved team than last year’s 73-win version (which incidentally were just 38-49 at the 87-game mark), but one that needed to get over some major growing pains to have a shot at the playoffs. Most of us would have been okay with a team that stayed above .500 for the season, and that would need some lucky breaks to get that second wild card spot. Andy wrote about why the Cubs would finish third in the National League Central division, and he projected them to win around 84 games, which was in line with most preseason predictions.
Fast forward to the All-Star Break, when most of the Cubs would rest and figure out their issues while Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo represents the team in Cincinnati, and we see the 2015 iteration at 47-40, a game up and in possession of the second wild card in the NL. This is probably better than anyone may have imagined coming into the season, and represents an 87-88 win pace. This after Cubs fans complained about just about everyone on the roster at one point or another, transactions and trades and call-ups, and whatever else makes Cubs fans click “send” on Facebook or Twitter. It’s splendid that the Cubs are now led by a manager who doesn’t care about these things (don’t mind the typo):
Maddon not Madon! RT @ESPNChiCubs: Madon: “I don’t get caught up in that bandwagon jumping up and down stuff. It’s a long season."
— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) July 12, 2015
Over 162 games, you’re going to see streaks of both kinds, as these Cubs have earned both a 6-game win streak as well as a 5-game losing streak. Each streak is fraught with narratives because we want to discuss things as sports fans, and as humans with emotions, it’s difficult to look at things objectively on a macro scale. But just think about the turnaround:
#Cubs finish 1st half 47-40, best record at break since 2008 (57-38). 2nd time since '09 have been at or above .500
— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) July 12, 2015
That’s a span of five seasons that the Cubs haven’t seen .500 at the break, and the Cubs have a bunch of rainouts to make up this year too, so that 2008 record is sort of deceptive. This year’s record comes with the standard Cubs complaints of poor offense, bad situational hitting, stupid errors, injuries, bad baserunning, rookie mistakes, bullpen fails, and foibles with the starting rotation. Now just take a step back and ask yourself what will happen when:
- the rookies (Kris Bryant, Jorge Soler, Addison Russell) shake off their cup-of-coffee jitters;
- the bench gets a boost from guys coming back from injury who can put a charge on the ball with a good plate approach (Mike Olt, Tommy La Stella);
- the veterans shake off their struggles and hit like we think they will (Starlin Castro, Dexter Fowler, Miguel Montero);
- and the rotation holds up their end of the bargain like they have been lately (mostly Jon Lester).
I may change my tune later on depending on how the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates do throwing haymakers at each other, but I’m content with the Cubs just sneaking in. They’re not even really sneaking in, because they’re a couple games up on the San Francisco Giants and a game up on the New York Mets, whom they swept 7-0 in the season series. So you can say the Cubs are in control to punch a ticket to the play-in game against either the Cards or the Pirates. And they’re not even that good based on most of Cubs Twitter after losses. There’s room for improvement, but the manager isn’t freaking out:
#Cubs Maddon: 'We've seen good pitching. We're a swing and miss team, that's part of our DNA. They've gotten the better of us"
— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) July 11, 2015
And #Cubs Maddon adds: "I'm not discouraged in the least."
— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) July 11, 2015
The team does need to improve to keep their grip on the Wild Card, but it’s not difficult to imagine them doing so as I outlined above. There are also roster moves that could occur out of the break to improve the bullpen and bench some before Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer even look at trades. And when rosters expand in what we hope to be the first meaningful Cubs September in years, we should see Javier Baez (should be healthy by then) and this Kyle Schwarber guy:
Congrats to #Cubs prospect Kyle Schwarber, MVP of Futures game https://t.co/CBL99xpdxd
— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) July 12, 2015
Just like when we dealt with the Kris Bryant and Addison Russell call-ups, fans have been clamoring for Schwarber to come up, but I’m glad the Cubs don’t care what we think because despite his issues, scouting opinions and other discussions, he seems to be improving at catcher. From former Cubs catcher John Baker on Schwarber’s future:
Yep. No doubt. He has the right mindset. Waaaay better athlete than me. If I could do it, he can do it better. https://t.co/JQnMiMC5N9
— John Baker (@manbearwolf) July 12, 2015
The sky’s the limit. Keep the trust in the front office and coaching staff, keep the faith that the players will figure it out and get hot at the right time…at the end of the season and into the postseason when nobody will want to play the Cubs. And if you’re still not feeling good about this team…
Let’s go.
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