The Chicago Cubs have reached the 50-game mark for the 2017 MLB season and currently sit at 25-25.
With their .500 start to the year, the struggles have mounted. After finishing up a 7-2 home stand, Chicago is now on a 4-game losing streak in their West Coast road trip.
The losses haven’t been pretty either.
Chicago combined for just 5 hits in the first two games of the series against the Los Angeles Dodgers and even got to ace Clayton Kershaw in the series finale. But Jon Lester couldn’t contain the Dodgers lineup, leading to a sweep.
In San Diego, the Cubs opened the series by jumping out to a 2-0 lead. But the bats went quiet as they didn’t record a hit from the second inning on. They went just 1-for-10 with RISP.
Following the loss, Manager Joe Maddon echoed his frustrations and commented on a possible line up change. Maddon admitted he doesn’t know what he can do to make this work right now:
“I have no idea what that would be,” Maddon said via CSN Chicago. “We’ve tried everything possible. Guys have been rested. We’ve given guys days off. These are our players. I have all the faith in the world.”
The defending World Champions are just 1.5 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for the lead in the NL Central and tied with the St. Louis Cardinals. Maddon doesn’t think the Cubs have played their best baseball yet and is optimistic it will happen eventually.
“We haven’t hit to our capabilities,” Maddon said. “We haven’t pitched. Our defense has slowly gotten back to our capabilities. I do believe we’re going to hit, we’re going to pitch and we’re going to get better on defense. Why? We’re too young, we’re too strong and we’re too good.
“If we had been playing our best game and were stuck in this spot, I’d be a little bit more discouraged. We haven’t even come close to playing our game yet. No two years should be exactly the same. I really believe that.”
Maddon has a point there. The Cubs are a talented team that is just going through a rough stretch. They are too good to be just 25-25 but when looking at the pitching, hitting, and defense, you can see why they are just .500.
The turnaround better happen soon.
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