Let's Just Pretend The First 10 Games Of The MLB Season Never Happened
I don't want to be too dramatic but that is legitimately the worst throw I have ever seen in my life and honestly there's really no better symbol for how the Cubs season has started. 12 runs in the last 6 games with 5 losses. BY FAR the coldest offense across both leagues and now some extremely embarrassing innings from an otherwise positive pitching staff. On paper you would imagine this team to be okay and in control like Javy playing a standard glove-side groundball and then boom next thing you know you're airmailing it into section 207 chasing 5 runs.
We all reasonably expected there'd be some growing pains in 2021 but I don't think anyone thought it was Hit .150 Growing Pains. More like scoring 6 runs but giving up 8 kind of pain. That's what I was wired to expect and needless to say it's been a lot different.
Fortunately there's a bright side. It's just 10 games and it would take repeated anomalies on an unimaginable scale for this trend to continue long-term. End of the day these are professional ball players and they're going to heat up. Anthony Rizzo does this every year. Fortunately there's production from KB and Javy (when he's not swinging for Mars) so it could really just be a matter of getting two more guys going. That's the positive. You can't be this good yet this bad for much longer. Math and science say it's impossible.
Some shitty news though: the Cubs have some great clubs on the upcoming schedule. Brewers, Braves, Mets, Dodgers, Reds. That's not a good recipe if you're playing bad baseball so fingers crossed the boys can get the switch flipped soon.
As for answers - I unfortunately don't have any. Big question I'm getting now is Why Are We So Fucking Bad? and honestly I just think it's a little slump. I think it's frustrations from some core players. I think it's bad approach on guessing pitches and potential information overload to correct mistakes. That could be a bigger reach but point is they could be pressing and reaching without confidence. That's on the table but who knows how much. These guys have a world championship and a bunch of individual accolades to their name. They're wayyyyy better.
If it were up to me, I'd cancel BP indefinitely and start stacking platoon only lineups down to first base. As many lefties as we can go with KB and Javy staying hot on the left side. Matt Duffy first bat off the bench. Wolters behind the dish. Just get preposterous with your matchups instead of waiting for this 1-8 to click because even if things go well, it won't be the same lineup in August. That's hardly ever the case so just playing with it now. Maybe even see if Ross can catch.
Whatever the case, I'd change something. Even if it's just the pregame music, you have to mix the vibes up. Little things go a long way in this game.
