This actually gave me a pretty good laugh and I hope it gives you one as well.
The Cubs had a rough 9-0 loss on Wednesday, but hey they won two of three on the road against Diamondbacks and finished their month-long schedule without a day off with an 18-11 record. So, I'm not complaining about having the best record in the NL and a 2.5 game lead in the division.
The biggest reason the Cubs were able to go through that hellish schedule and come out in pretty good shape with 10 games left in the season is because of the pitching staff. As much as a few guys struggled in the bullpen for a couple weeks, overall the relievers have been great. Also, since the middle of August, the Cubs' starting rotation has been incredible.
Before Cole Hamels got lit up for seven runs on Wednesday, the Cubs' starting rotation led all of baseball with a 2.50 ERA dating back to August.
Yes, the Cubs had a problem with their starters not going deep in games during the first half of the season, Kyle Hendricks had his struggles and Jose Quintana was inconsistent. Plus, there was the whole Tyler Chatwood thing and Yu Darvish pitched all of eight games. Yet, if you've paid attention at all, or even just a little, you'd know that the Cubs pitching staff has been pretty damn good this season after a slow start. And that brings us to St. Louis Cardinals announcer Tim McCarver, who was a guest on MLB Network's High Heat on Thursday. Here's what he said about the Cubs.
Oh yeah, there's video evidence.
As of Sept. 20, the Cubs rank second in the National League and fourth in all of MLB with a 3.65 ERA. The Cubs have the best bullpen ERA at 3.30 in the NL and the starters rank fifth in the NL with a 3.89 ERA. Tim McCarver, what?!?!?!
