Justin Wilson is beginning to infuriate Chicago Cubs fans. He wasn't supposed to be a savior when he came over from the Detroit Tigers at the trade deadline, but he was supposed to be competent at the least. Instead, the reliever has been a mix between frustrating and horrendously bad. He had an opportunity to atone for his sins in a slugfest against the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday afternoon. Again, he found a way to fall short.
Wilson fails to throw a strike
After trailing by nine runs at one point, the Cubs clawed all the way back to a one-run deficit against the Reds.
In the top of the eighth inning, Wilson came on to relieve Justin Grimm. The first batter he faced was Jose Peraza, who walked on four consecutive balls. The second batter he faced was Joey Votto...who also walked on four consecutive balls. Eight pitches, eight balls, and Wilson's afternoon was done with a smattering of boos echoing across Wrigley Field.
At the end of the day, those runs didn't make a huge difference in the final result, as Chicago couldn't scratch across any more runs on the afternoon. But one of the runs that Brian Duensing went on to score, meaning Wilson was charged with an earned run despite officially recording 0.0 innings pitched. Joe Maddon may have employed a different strategy if it was a one-run game in the bottom of the eighth, rather than a two-run deficit.
Cubs tenure only getting worse
Thursday may have been the biggest hiccup since the trade. That being said, there haven't really been any walks in the park for Wilson. He's made seven appearances with the Cubs so far, lasting one inning in most of them. Yet he's given up one earned run in four of those seven appearances, an excellent mark for a starting pitcher, but a terrible one for a reliever.
Wilson had a 2.68 ERA with the Tigers this season; his ERA with the Cubs right now is 5.06.
Cubs fans are clearly becoming incensed if Twitter is a good referendum for fan attitudes (hint: not always). Some have already taken to comparing Wilson to Adam Warren, another pitcher who was good before going to Chicago, not so good with the team, and then better upon departing.
The reliever is also being compared unfavorably to other top-notch relievers who were dealt around the trade deadline to teams like the New York Yankees and Washington Nationals. Whatever's ailing Wilson, it's high time for him to fix it before he loses the faith of his manager and teammates.
