The Chicago Cubs lost a tough one on Sunday night.
No loss is pleasant, of course, but this one stung a bit more than most. The 3-1, 10-inning loss to the Philadelphia Phillies cost them the 3-game series and put the breaks on a wonderful feel-good run that saw them dazzle against the Arizona Diamondbacks, San Diego Padres, and Los Angeles Dodgers, as well as in the first game of the Phillies series.
The loss also stung because it pretty much spotlighted all of the Cubs’ weaknesses and concerns as a team with playoff aspirations.
The issue getting most of the Monday morning attention is at third base.
Brujan’s Blunder At Third Base
In the tenth inning, with the bases loaded, two outs, and the Phillies already up by a run, Trea Turner hit what looked like a routine ground ball to third. It seemed as though the Cubs would get out of the extreme jam with only one run given.
However, Cubs third baseman Vidal Brujan was playing at the edge of the dirt and didn’t get to the ball in time to throw Turner out. The positioning miscalculation allowed the Phillies to score an insurance run before heading into the bottom of the 10th.
After the game, Cubs manager Craig Counsell was blunt in his assessment of the blunder.
“You gotta go get that ball,” Counsell told media. “With the speed of Turner, you gotta go it.”
The Chicago Cubs Must Address Third Base Needs
Brujan’s mistake was not entirely unexpected, given how few game play reps the utility man has had at third base this year.
All in all, no Cubs third baseman has had all that many reps, as the team has already cycled through five third baseman in just 29 games.
Chicago pulled the plug quick on top prospect Matt Shaw, sending him back down to Iowa for more seasoning. They also gave the quick hook to Rule 5 draft pick Gage Workman. Justin Turner, the 40-year-old free agent acquisition, has gotten brief time at third, but he was never really considered an option to stay there for any extended period of time.
So, really, the leaves the team with a pair of utility men– Brujan and Jon Berti– to man the hot corner.
That, obviously, is far from ideal.
At some point, the gaping hole at third will need to be filled, even if it’s just with someone who can play consistently adequate defense.
Another Problem: Bullpen Inconsistency
Although the third base dilemma has been getting a lot of attention, Brujan’s mistake would not have been much of an issue if the bullpen, Julian Merryweather specifically, had not buckled late in extra innings.
Merryweather, prior to Sunday’s game, had been rock solid. In this game, though, he walked three in two-thirds of an inning and facilitated the partial collapse.
After seven quality innings from starting pitcher Jameson Taillon, who allowed just one earned run, Porter Hodge and Ryan Pressly did well in relief, before Merryweather’s poor outing.
And this shined a light on another Cubs worry this season– the bullpen.
So far this season, the Cubs bullpen has been consistently inconsistent, with no lead considered secure after the starter leaves the game.
Sooner or later, that kind of insecurity weighs down a team and starts to create cracks that become increasingly problematic as the strain of the season wears on.
There is zero doubt that, even with the need at third base and a need for a top-of-rotation replacement for the injured Justin Steele, the bullpen will have to be addressed at some point.
Sunday’s tough loss would appear to go beyond a standard “L” on the ledger. Some may see it as a harbinger of bad things to come.
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