Have you ever looked at an EKG? You know, that thing that shows your heart rate. You get a few little blips, then a spike, then back to little blips.
Welcome to the Chicago Cubs offense.
On Friday, the Cubs hammered the Milwaukee Brewers in Wrigley 15-4. It was their fourth straight win and it appeared that their erratic hitting was beginning to gel.
Then came the weekend.
On Saturday, the Brewers eked out a 4-3 on the strength of doing almost nothing: two of their runs came on a pure gift from the Cubs’ pitching staff. Well, from one pitcher in particular. In the top of the fifth, Cubs manager David Ross inexplicably took out starting pitcher Adbert Alzolay with 2 outs in the inning and men on the corners. Alzolay had been sharp, retiring the previous 12 hitters before giving up a double to start the 5th, followed by a 2-out walk. And yet, Ross made the change to lefty reliever Rex Brothers, who promptly walked two men and beaned a third, netting the Brewers two runs as a reward for watching Brothers pitch.
The Brewers would eventually win the game 4-3 on a two-run homer from pinch-hitter Manny Pina in the 7th.
On Sunday, the Cubs got shut out, 6-0.
So once again, we see the familiar heartbeat pattern. The Cubs have had three break-out offensive games in the last 10, scoring 13 once and 16 once. But here’s the pattern in those 10 (runs/game): 0, 2, 13, 4, 3, 16, 4, 15, 3, 0.
“That’s just baseball,” you’ll say. And we’d agree if this was some sort of anomaly. But anyone who has watched the Cubs since their World Series Champion 2016 season knows the pattern all too well. We have to face facts: the Cubs have the most inconsistent offense in major league baseball, and have for quite a while. And with the lineup they have, that’s a disgrace.
The Cubs are 10-11 and in fourth place in the NL Central.
