Cubs Rough Start

This article will be written as an investigation of the Cubs. Why aren’t they in first place? They have the most talent in the NL Central, yet they are in fourth place. How could that be? How will they turn the season around? That is what this article will investigate.

First let’s start with injuries. Currently, the Cubs have two big stars on the DL, Rich Harden and Aramis Ramirez, who are both on the 15-day DL, and one other starter, Aaron Miles, who can be a great role player and is also on the 15-day DL. Two other injuries to Ryan Freel, a solid back-up for the Cubbies, and Chad Fox, a reliever that has played in 2 games and pitched one third of an inning with an ERA of 135.00. Not missing much there. The suspension to Carlos Zambrano certainly didn’t help. He will only miss one start since it’s a six game suspension, but for an ailing Cubs team, it is important that he makes as many of his starts as he can.

Now we can discuss the fielders. Only one player is batting over .300, and that would be Kosuke Fukudome, who had a great first half last year and completely fell off for the second half. Nobody is under .200, but Milton Bradley is dangerously close at .204. Alfonso Soriano has lead the team with 12 HR, and the rest of the team has hit only 5 long bombs, except for Geovanny Soto, who is really struggling with only 1 homer.

Now we can talk about the pitching. First things first, THEY MUST FIND A CLOSER! When your closer has an ERA of over 4, you’re in trouble. Kevin Gregg fits the bill. Despite blowing only one save, he isn’t reliable. Now, they can’t put Marmol in the spot because he has had control issues that are even worse than normal. The starting pitching has only been okay. Randy Wells has the best ERA a step in with a 1.80 ERA. But when he shows up, the offense doesn’t, as he is 0-2 in 4 starts. Zambrano and Lilly are the only two starters who have a win percentage over .500. Marshall and Dempster both have 3-3 records. Dempster boasts an awful 4.99 ERA and Marshall has an improved ERA, but still not great with a 3.70 ERA. As you can see, nobody on the starting rotation is really making a difference, and hopefully when they have Harden reinstated into the rotation they will get a boost.

So, with the combination of injuries and struggling players, the Cubs have been unable to be a top-flight team so far this year. At least they have ended they’re long losing slide and won 2 of their last 3, but that doesn’t just get you right back in the mix with the snap of a finger.