The Chicago Cubs offense has been, as the very least, up and down so far in the early part of the season. After hitting three homers and scoring eight runs in the first game of the year, the Cubs scored just one run in 17 innings. That one run wasn’t enough to beat the Miami Marlins. Even when Chicago did win, there was a glaring weakness in their offense that is going to need to be fixed before the team can take the mantle of best offense in the National League.
The Cubs have been striking out at a rate that is going to cause them real problems as the season moves forward.
That rate is 30 Ks in just 26 innings of baseball so far this season. Considering the power hitters that are in this lineup, a strikeout every now and then is going to happen. The problem is that every batter is swinging the bat like they want to have every ball leave the yard. Only four so far have actually left the yard. All solo shots.
Chicago Cubs need to find a way to produce runs
With the massive amount of strikeouts the team is racking up this year, the old problems appear to still exist. This is a team that is built to win a lot of games. The problem is that it’s also a team that is built to struggle in a short series against the best of the best.
That might seem like some top-grade fatalism.
Most teams struggle against the best of the best. That’s why they are they best of the best. The issue is that the Chicago Cubs were supposed to be one of the best of the best.
Two games into the season, the defending NL Central champs have a bullpen that is quite taxed, a rotation that hasn’t performed yet how people thought it would, and a lineup that has hit home runs but has done little else to create runs.
Leadoff hitter not working out so far this season
When talking about the Cubs problems so far in the very early going, it is hard to ignore the production or lack thereof from the team’s leadoff hitters. Ian Happ lead off the season with a home run, but he’s gone hitless since then.
It’s actually worse than simply not getting a hit.
Happ has gone 0-9 with six strikeouts since that first home run. His performance was bad enough to finish off the opening day game that he did not leadoff in the team’s second contest. Albert Almora did get a hit, but also went just 1-4. That means the Chicago Cubs leadoff hitters have gone 2-9 so far this year in that spot. Things are going to have to improve if the team wants to start being the juggernaut offense many thought they would be.
