Even if the Chicago Cubs had made the postseason, most agreed their season would have ended within the wild-card spherical.
Expectations have been larger than regular in early September, with a 3-1/2 recreation lead for a National League wild-card spot and the group on a roll with a 12-1-2 file in 15 sequence from July 17-Sept. 6.
No one was loopy sufficient to suppose this was a World Series-caliber group, however getting in can be adequate — a small step to unfold somewhat optimism for 2024.
Then all of it went flawed, spectacularly so, resulting in a late-season collapse. The Cubs went 7-14 and have been eradicated on the second-to-last day of the season.
“It’s hard to define exactly what went wrong,” Cubs President Jed Hoyer mentioned Tuesday earlier than pointing to the fatigue issue, bullpen accidents, lack of clutch hitting and defensive miscues.
Those have been all legitimate components within the slow-motion demise, however what Hoyer forgot to say was roster building.
That would’ve meant throwing himself — and lots of of his gamers — below the bus. Perhaps if Eric Hosmer and Trey Mancini had carried out nicely sufficient to keep away from being launched, if Jameson Taillon pitched higher and Drew Smyly have been signed as a reliever as a substitute of a starter, if Brad Boxberger might be trusted in high-leverage conditions, if the end-of-the-season bench wasn’t populated by unproven rookies in Pete Crow-Armstrong, Alexander Canario and Jared Young, issues might need been totally different.
But that’s baseball. You can all the time level to one thing and very often many issues when on the lookout for blame for a group’s downfall.
Hoyer promised to “put it under a microscope” to seek out out what went flawed, however there’s no want to try this.
Here are seven clues that have been proper in entrance of our eyes all alongside.
1. The team-created narrative throughout spring coaching revolved across the championship rings the Cubs had within the clubhouse.
In a fiery handle to his group in February, supervisor David Ross identified they’d 14 first-rounders, 10 Gold Glove winners, 10 All-Stars, 10 World Series champions, three Silver Sluggers, two Rookies of the Year, an ERA title winner, a Most Valuable Player winner, an All-Star Game MVP and an NLCS MVP.
“But that don’t mean (bleep) coming into this season,” he mentioned.
That might need been essentially the most prescient factor Ross mentioned all 12 months.
None of that mattered when the season was on the road. Having a World Series ring or making an All-Star look is sweet, nevertheless it doesn’t make you immune from underperforming below stress.
“We just seem defeated at times,” Marcus Stroman mentioned Sept. 28 after the Atlanta Braves accomplished a three-game sweep .
A group with so many rings ought to by no means appear defeated, particularly in a race for a playoff spot. The Cubs went 5-11 from Sept. 11 in Colorado by Sept. 29 in Milwaukee. Four of these wins have been towards the Rockies, the worst group within the National League, and the opposite was towards the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates.
2. The Cubs guessed flawed on too many veteran gamers.
They have been clearly proper in signing Cody Bellinger, the group’s MVP, to a one-year deal, and on letting Willson Contreras go away as a free agent. Catcher Yan Gomes, who went from Contreras’s backup in 2022 to starter, was a key a part of the Cubs’ resurgence after being 10 video games below .500 on June 8.
Dansby Swanson’s nice first half was noticeably absent within the second half, when he hit .225 with a .306 OBP. At least Swanson “owned” his disappointing end. Taillon recovered considerably and did his job in his last begin in Atlanta however couldn’t be counted on for a lot of the season. He wants to point out extra consistency in 2024 to keep away from being a bust. Stroman, a primary half All-Star, by no means recovered from his accidents and will’ve referred to as it a season as a substitute of rejoining the rotation the ultimate week.
3. The Cubs bullpen completed thirteenth with a 3.85 ERA however didn’t show to be dependable down the stretch.
Relievers went 5-9 in September with a 3.56 ERA and a league-leading 10 blown saves, and their 60 walks tied for fourth-worst. When accidents to Michael Fulmer and Adbert Alzolay challenged the late-inning “pockets,” Ross usually turned to José Cuas, who posted a 5.73 ERA in 15 September appearances, and rookie Daniel Palencia (4.85 ERA in 11 appearances) with video games on the road.
After often reliable Mark Leiter Jr. missed per week with an undisclosed damage, Ross threw him right into a must-win recreation, beginning the ninth inning with a one-run lead towards the Braves on Sept. 27. Leiter served up a tying residence run to Marcell Ozuna on a 3-0 pitch, and the Cubs wound up shedding in 10 innings. The Cubs had a median bullpen that had a great stretch however finally drained out.
4. Swanson and Christopher Morel, two of the largest items of the lineup, couldn’t get on observe after the All-Star break.
Morel had the season’s signature second — the walk-off residence run towards the White Sox on Aug. 16 — however hit .231 with a 32% strikeout fee within the second half, Tenth-worst amongst certified hitters. In his last 21 video games from Sept. 7-30, Swanson hit .238 with a .721 OPS.
The Cubs went 7-14 in that stretch. Swanson’s protection was Gold Glove-caliber for essentially the most half, however so was Jason Heyward’s throughout his lengthy keep in Chicago. Not a nasty season, however the Cubs want extra from their seven-year, $177 million funding.
5. Bad bounces issue into any recreation, however one notably dangerous bounce in Arizona proved extraordinarily expensive to the Cubs.
A liner deflected off Hayden Wesneski and into the air within the thirteenth inning of a Cubs-Diamondbacks recreation. If Swanson had tried to catch it on the fly as a substitute of letting it bounce, the Cubs would’ve sealed a 6-5 win.
Instead, the tying run scored on an infield hit, the Diamondbacks gained 7-6 in 13 innings and the Cubs wound up getting swept within the four-game sequence.
“In hindsight, if I could have come in and tried to dive and caught it, that probably would’ve been the best move,” Swanson mentioned.
That would’ve been essentially the most painful lack of the season — till Seiya Suzuki missed a two-out fly ball that led to 2 eighth-inning runs in a 7-6 loss in Atlanta on Sept. 26. The Cubs wasted a six-run lead and ace Justin Steele was eliminated within the sixth after 90 pitches.
The Cubs talked about their resiliency all throughout the second half however couldn’t rebound from both devastating loss.
7. A pair reportedly held a marriage ceremony the left–discipline bleachers at Wrigley Field on Sept. 7.
The Cubs misplaced 6-2 to the Diamondbacks however have been nonetheless within the second wild-card spot, three video games forward of Arizona and three 1/2 forward of the Miami Marlins.
That was the unofficial begin of a Cubs collapse that had one thing outdated, one thing new, one thing borrowed and an entire lot of blues.
Hopefully the fortunate couple had a pleasant honeymoon.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com