The Cubs Are Undefeated Since Trading For Daniel Murphy
37 runs in 5 games since trading for Daniel Murphy is pretty good. A 5-0 record in that span is very good. And Murphy’s 7-19 line with a 1.052 OPS to start his Cubs’ tenure is a big reason why the Cubs lineup is firing on all cylinders right now. Granted, the Reds’ pitching absolutely SUCKS. But for purposes of getting excited, I think we can safely read way too much into the Cubs’ drubbing of that hopeless franchise without sounding like assholes.
Speaking of good trends, the Cubs’ starters have put up a 1.67 ERA over their last 10 starts. A lot of that has to do with Cole Hamels taking things to the next level and how much he’s stabilized the the rotation. In other words, Good Baseball is contagious, and the Cubs starters are deeply infected with it right now. There’s no telling how long they keep it rolling, but having Lester and Hamels back to back to start the week against the Mets is pretty fucking tasty if you ask me.
On a related note, Hamels faces de Grom on Tuesday night. It would be great if de Grom got shelled opposite another complete game from Hamels, but I don’t want to get too ahead of myself. I think it’s evident that Jed made the right call not going after de Grom. Tuesday night should prove exactly that as the Cubs look to grow this momentum.
Speaking of momentum, this is the 4th time this year the Cubs have won 5+ games in a row, but just the first time in the 2nd half. I feel for the last 5-6 weeks the Cubs have been arms’ length from 2nd place in the Central. Reasonably, the time to burry division opponents is now.
To get there, Kyle Schwarber needs to get hot and stay hot. He’s hitting .150 over the last two weeks while wrapping up his worst month of the season by far. This is his true first full MLB season as an everyday player, so it’s fair to see a dip at this point in the year. That said, let’s hope this 7th inning laser gets him going because if his bat wakes up then the Cubs are winning the pennant. He hit 7th in a lineup today that did not include Kris Bryant. Let that marinate for a hot minute.
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