CHICAGO -- With today's dramatic 9-7 win over the Atlanta Braves, the Chicago Cubs wrapped up a disappointing home-stand (5-5) and reached the halfway point of the 2019 season. Yes, we are already through 81 games played on the year. Remarkable, right?
At the 81 game mark, the Cubs have produced a 44-37 record, retained first place in the NL Central (somehow), and set themselves up for an intriguing second half.
Craig Kimbrel joined the team today, which was extremely important for a club that has struggled with their bullpen ever since Brandon Morrow got injured last season, especially in the later innings.
Kimbrel notched his first save of the season today in his first appearance with a strong, though uncomfortable, ninth inning.
Of course, Kimbrel doesn't bring much help on the offensive side of the ball, which is where the Cubs continue to struggle. Let's hope the second half brings about more success.
And now, some thoughts and observations from a rocky yet 'rewarding' first half of Cubs baseball.
Thoughts And Observations
1. This is going to seem strange after a big comeback win today, but the offense is still dysfunctional. The bottom of the order consists of some combination of Addison Russell, Daniel Descalso, Carlos Gonzalez and Albert Almora Jr. They just have not been getting it done enough to warrant play consistently. However, we are greeted with at least one of them, if not most/all of them on an almost daily basis. There are options such as Robel Garcia and Ian Happ in the minors that literally cannot be worse than what is being provided right now in those slots. Why not make a change?
What's more is that the team fails way too often with runners in scoring position. And it's not just the bottom of the order; even the main guns aren't getting it done enough. I love Kris Bryant, but he comes up short frequently when the Cubs have a scoring opportunity. They are not consistent enough and let too many rallies fizzle out. That's not a mark of a championship caliber team. I'm not sure how this gets fixed, but I have a suggestion:
2. Cole Hamels is the Cubs' best starter through the first half. He's been consistent, going deep in games, reliable, and has been worth every penny of the option the Cubs picked up in the offseason. Twenty million dollars is a steal for the production he's provided. If the playoffs started today, he's my Game 1 starter.
3. Craig Kimbrel's addition to the bullpen cannot be overstated. He takes the ninth inning. Pedro Strop takes the eighth. A combination of Steve Cishek and Brandon Kintzler get the seventh; or, they each get one inning of their own because they've both been good enough to warrant one. The bullpen just became that much deeper. Bring up someone like Dillon Maples to take the spot of someone who isn't getting it done (read: Brad Brach), and now there's that much more depth.
4. While Kyle Ryan has overall been OK in the bullpen (and strong of late), Mike Montgomery is being used as a LOOGY and he has proven consistently this year that he is not a LOOGY. I wrote about it earlier this month, which you can find here.
The Cubs are going to need to find another left handed specialist, or someone on the right side with strong reverse splits. It's been a need for a while. Perhaps a trade for a specialist? Or, per above, Maples has strong lefty splits. He could be that guy (and much more dominant).
5. Adbert Alzolay has looked largely excellent since his call-up from Triple-A. He pitched 4+ innings of strong baseball against the New York Mets a week ago in his major league debut (and he got the win!), and then had a strong start against Atlanta earlier this week. The Cubs should keep him on the team in the second half of the season. Even if he has an innings limit, he's good, he injects some life into the team, gives the rotation a chance for extra rest by leveraging a six-man rotation once Kyle Hendricks gets back to full health, and is the Cubs' best pitching prospect to seem like a success early on in a long time -- since Carlos Zambrano, perhaps? I want to see more of him after the All Star Break. Let's hope Theo, Jed and Joe agree.
6. Kyle Schwarber in the lead off spot seems to be paying off again. He has led off five games with homers this year and, in general, looks like his old self at the plate. He's patient (perhaps too patient), is taking good swings and hitting the ball hard. I do wish the Cubs would tinker more with the lineup behind him, but Schwarber getting back on track is great to see.
7. Willson Contreras is the best catcher in the National League and arguably the best catcher in baseball. This is not up for debate.
8. The Cubs' road woes are mind boggling. They are 15-21 away from Wrigley Field and are coming off a woeful 2-6 trip through Denver and Los Angeles. The funniest part of the Rockies' series is that they led each game, and they had the opportunity to win a couple other games against the Dodgers. But they just weren't able to capitalize.
The Cubs' road issues must improve for this team to start to separate themselves in the NL Central. All the teams in this division are strong at home and bad on the road. The Cubs have played good road baseball in prior seasons; this must improve quickly.
9. Javy Baez has clearly proven that his 2018 campaign wasn't a fluke. He's been fantastic again this year and has come up with many clutch hits this season (though the team is lacking in the clutch department as a whole). Baez likely won't get much MVP love given the hyped Cody Bellinger-Christian Yelich-Josh Bell race there seems to be going on, but Baez absolutely deserves love. He absolutely should be the front office's first priority for an extension.
Here's Pat Hughes' radio call of Javy's game winning homer against the Mets last weekend. Pure excellence.
10. Keys to the second half include the offense getting back on track, cleaning up mistakes on the basepaths (the Cubs lead the league in baserunning outs), and getting folks in the rotation trending better again (Yu Darvish, Jose Quintana and even Jon Lester a little bit).
The Cubs are one game ahead of Milwaukee for first place at the half-way point. They very well could be multiple games ahead or behind based on some of the crazy results in June; the Cubs have played .500 ball this month. The Cubs are due for a long, extended run of good baseball. Let's see if one gets going on the road (of all places) against a good Cincinnati team starting tomorrow.
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