David Ross With More Head-Scratching Decisions

I really want to defend David Ross and some of the moves he's made this season are starting to make me think it's a cry for help, basically signaling to the front office that it's time to call up some players, but then he also makes other decisions that don't make any sense no matter how you look at it.

You know what, let's start with a few that I actually had no issues with Tuesday night.

So, rookie pitcher Hayden Wesneski made his sixth start and he was pretty good. The righty got some help early on from his defense, with a few nice plays made in the outfield. Anyway, the Nationals also helped him out in the fifth inning after they bunted with runners at first and second and only one out, leading 1-0. Washington was seeing Wesneski for a third time and had two line drive singles in the inning.

Nationals bunted, catcher Tucker Barnhart fielded the safety squeeze and threw to third base, where the Cubs got the runner retreating to the bag. Wesneski got out of the inning and then retired the side in the sixth. Ross decided to pull him after six innings. No issue with that move at all. Wesneski was allowing some hard contact, he had a good start, go to your pen.

But then Ross started the seventh inning with Keegan Thompson. And hey, overall Thompson has been good this year, but he hasn't exactly been shutting down the door when he's come into games. In 10 appearances this year, Thompson has walked 12 batters in 15 innings. That includes at least one walk in 9 of the 10 games he's come in out of the bullpen, eight in a row heading into Tuesday.

Also, Thompson has given up a run in each of his last two appearances.

After Patrick Wisdom tied the game at one with a solo home run, Thompson came in and allowed three runs on four hits. I have no problem if this exact situation happened a week ago, but when you see that a guy hasn't been sharp for several games in a row, maybe go to someone else in a tie game.

I mean, Jeremiah Estrada is right there and for whatever reason Ross hasn't used him. Since getting called up on April 21, Estrada has been used three times. Each time has been with the Cubs up big or when they've been trailing by multiple runs, as was the case Tuesday night, when he pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning.

Fine, relievers have bad days.

So, let's go back to the sixth inning. The Cubs are trailing 1-0, but they finally got Trevor Williams out of the game after he held them scoreless through 5.1 innings. Ian Happ is at first base after drawing a walk and another former Cubs pitcher enters the game in Carl Edwards Jr. Cody Bellinger doubles down the right field line and the Cubs have runners at second and third with only one out.

Seiya Suzuki is intentionally walked to load the bases because Edwin Rïos is on deck. So, point number one, Rïos has only started six times this year heading into Tuesday's game. He has a total of 18 at-bats and you can now make it 20 after he went 0-for-2 tonight. Ross decides to pinch hit for the left-handed slugger. Which again, fine, because Ríos is a strikeout candidate and you want some contact with the bases loaded.

But again, what's the point of carrying Ríos on your team if you don't use him.

Trey Mancini pinch hit. He had a solid at-bat, but he was behind some fastballs and eventually struck out swinging.

Eric Hosmer made the final out of the inning, popping up in the infield. If only they had someone, anyone, maybe a left-handed hitter who has been trending up for the last year...

The Cubs lost 4-1, and once again these losses are more frustrating because it doesn't seem like the team is going out there with their best talent. After beginning the season 11-6, the Cubs have now lost eight of their last 12 games.