The Chicago Cubs find themselves in an 0-2 hole in the against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS. The series will shift to Wrigley Field for game three on Tuesday night in what is basically a do-or-die situation for the Cubs. So far in this NLCS, the Cubs have scored three runs on seven hits in two games which is not a recipe for success. The team is batting .162 with 73 strikeouts and averaging 2.9 runs per game so far in seven postseason games. Outside of Game 5 of the NLDS, when they scored nine runs, they have scored three runs or less in each game.
While the entire team is struggling to hit, many eyes are on Kris Bryant who has really struggled in October. Bryant (25) is arguably the best player on the team, being the reigning NL MVP and one of the cornerstones of the franchise. He was one of the heroes in last year's postseason when the Cubs won their first World Series in 108 years, but this year it has been a mind-boggling struggle.
Bryant's postseason numbers
Kris Bryant followed up his 2016 regular season with another very good 2017 season slashing .295/.409/.946 with 29 home runs and a 6.1 bWAR. In just his third season he is still considered one of the best players in baseball, and expectations were high for him going into the 2017 postseason.
However, in seven games so far this postseason he has had 28 at-bats and is batting .179 with 13 strikeouts and no home runs. It is interesting to note that in the first two games of the NLDS he had three hits and drove in the winning run in game one with a RBI single. Since then he has two hits in 20 at-bats (.100).
There is a lot of head-scratching regarding Bryant's struggles.
He has swung and missed at all sorts of pitches: nasty breaking balls, hanging pitches down the middle of the plate and pitches out of the zone. It is hard to pinpoint one reason for his batting slump as there are a number of factors involved. First of all, he has had to face two Cy Young winners in Max Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw as well as the likes of Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, and Kenley Jansen.
Not easy to face those arms in high-leverage situations. There are also times when players go into slumps, and they can be hard to break out of in a short period of time. Lastly, Bryant has played in 457 regular season games and 33 postseason games the past three years, so fatigue may also be a factor.
No time to waste
The Cubs need a win to realistically keep their pennant chances alive in the upcoming game on Tuesday night. The bats have to score some runs and support the starting pitching staff that has been very good. The bullpen also has to be better overall as it has struggled with walks and giving up runs late in games. There is no more time to waste; this has to change right now for the Cubs. Going down 3-0 is a mountain that is pretty much impossible to climb, especially against this Dodgers team.
Game 3 will be at Wrigley Field at 8:00 CDT on Tuesday night on TBS.
