Chicago Cubs Series Recap: A Dash of Hope Within Reality
The Chicago Cubs finished off the week with a three-game set against the Atlanta Braves. Before the season began this looked like a matchup that would pit two teams fighting for spots at the top of their respective divisions in the early going, but instead both are fighting to not be at the bottom of those respective divisions. The Cubs have been one of the worst productive offensive teams thus far, and the Braves have had more troubles with their pitching than they have at the plate.
This series saw both teams make some corrections in those areas, but for Cubs fans it was more of the same that they’ve seen thus far.
Here is a quick recap on what happened in this series:
Game 1: More of the Same
After having an off day on Thursday, the teams celebrated Jackie Robinson Day a day late in Friday’s series opener. That’s about as positive as it got for the Cubs as they lost the game 5–2.
Eric Sogard got the scoring started in the game with a sac fly that scored Javier Baez in the bottom of the second inning, but that would be the only time the Cubs would have the lead in this contest.
Coming off of an abysmal start his previous time out Zach Davies had a better game, but still wasn’t too great in this one as he allowed 4 ER, 10 total baserunners (7 H, 3 BB), and labored through 90 pitches over his 4 IP on the day. The front office brought Davies in hoping he would be a “Kyle Hendricks 2.0” type, but so far it seems like more of Davies and his inconsistencies have rubbed off on Hendricks (more on that later).
Contreras hit a solo HR in the bottom of the fifth inning to give the Cubs their second run of the game, but they were unable to push anymore runs across the plate and finished with that three run deficit on the day.
Though that loss wasn’t for a lack of trying. For a team that entered the series dead last in team AVG and near the bottom in team OBP, the Cubs managed to leave 24 men on base in this game including 6 in scoring position (4 of those came courtesy of spring training darling Joc Pederson). While it is better that the Cubs got guys on base this game instead of just relying on solo HRs to power them to victory, they still have a lot of work to do when it comes to getting them over and getting them home.
Game 2: “Do You See the Light?!”
Before you run around the city of Chicago getting your old band back together, let’s take a quick look back at — what at this point appears to be — the miracle that happened in Saturday’s game.
The Cubs woke up in the second game of the series, and they did so in a big way. Maybe even too big, in retrospect.
Regardless, Chicago’s squad pounded out 9 XBH (including 6 HR) en route to a 13–4 thrashing of the Braves. Willson Contreras and Kris Bryant each launched a pair of HRs in this contest, and were joined by Javier Baez and David Bote who each slugged a three-run shot.
The offense did on Saturday what they were unable to do on Friday; hit with runners on base. The Cubs left just 12 runners stranded in Saturday’s game compared to Friday’s 24, and only left 3 in scoring position Saturday in contrast to the 6 they had on Friday.
The pitching showed up as well, with the exception of experimental long reliever Shelby Miller (yes, that Shelby Miller from the Cardinals in the 2010’s) who gave up 3 ER in his one inning of work.
Starter Trevor Williams looked much closer to “Cubs Debut” Trevor as he allowed just 1 ER and 4 H over 5 IP. Williams won’t dominate in most of appearances like he did in his first regular season start as a Cub, but if he can consistently give the team five or six innings of three or fewer runs then he’ll put the team in a solid position to win each time he goes out.
The other relievers not named Shelby Miller combined for 3 IP and allowed just one baserunner on a walk by Brandon Workman. Those four pitchers— Workman, Ryan Tepera, Dan Winkler, and Jason Adam — also combined for just one strikeout (also Workman) but got the job done nonetheless.
This game was everything we had been looking for from the team. The offense was alive and manufacturing runs left and right, and the pitching staff was shutting the other team down (for the most part). It really was a fun one to watch, and there haven’t been too many of those so far this year.
Game 3: Back to Reality
(Ope, There Goes Gravity)
On Sunday, it got back to being not very fun really quickly. Kyle Hendricks allowed four HRs in the first inning alone, and that pretty much decided the game from the jump. He was able to get through the fourth inning before coming out, but he allowed 7 ER, 7 H (including those 4 HR), and 3 BB as well.
The next two pitchers — Alec Mills and Ryan Tepera — combined to allow six more runs over the next two innings, which put the final nails in the proverbial coffin in this one.
The offense tried to do what they could but once again they were powered by the solo HR, this time getting two of them from Anthony Rizzo. They also got a pair of RBI from Javier Baez with a single in the first and a double in the eighth, but they had used up almost all of their offensive magic the day before in that slugfest.
It was a very un-Hendricks-like performance, but we’ve seen this a couple of times from him already this year. Opening Day he couldn’t control the zone at all which cost the Cubs early, but to be fair in that game the weather conditions did not help him out at all.
Since being joined in the rotation by Davies, an aging Jake Arrieta, Trevor Williams, and even still having Mills in the mix, Hendricks’ value to the club has been hampered, though at no fault of his own. All of the five guys in the rotation (including Adbert Alzolay) rely on movement to get outs as none of them throw much harder than 93 MPH, and the fact that they all work similarly could really hurt the team in the long run this year.
The Cubs will remain at Wrigley Field for one more week as they host the New York Mets in a three-game set starting on Tuesday, and meet with the Milwaukee Brewers yet again to cap off the weekend.
Stay tuned to Wrigley Rapport here and on social media for future news and notes as we kick off the 2021 season. Go Cubs Go!
