Chicago Cubs: A team of extremes with some pressing issues to address

So, the Chicago Cubs have a serious problem.

They currently find themselves fielding an elite offensive and defensive team with a really poor pitching staff.

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As a matter of fact, according to analyst Mike Petriello of MLB.com, the Cubs are at the very top of the WAR category when it comes to position players, but at the bottom of the barrel with their pitchers.

Per Petriello:

“Great hitting. Historically good defense. What else is there?

Oh, right. Pitching. The Cubs currently rank 30th – a nicer way of saying “last” – of the 30 teams in the FanGraphs version of Wins Above Replacement (WAR). Yes, below the Rockies, and the A’s, and everyone else. (This isn’t a ‘rank the ERA’ exercise, as those pitching staffs who have allowed more runs have done so in worse ballparks and in front of much weaker defenses.)”

A team of extremes

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The implications for this season are obvious. Once thought to be a shoo-in to earn a playoff berth, the postseason is no longer a guarantee as the bullpen has fully collapsed and the rotation fails to deliver consistent starts.

Where they once enjoyed a 6-game lead atop the NL Wild Card standings, they now find themselves one game behind the Philadelphia Phillies for that top seed and just 2.5 and 3 games ahead of the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks, respectively. There’s a real chance that they could miss out on postseason play entirely as an injury-ravaged pitching staff finally performs down to logical expectations.

If the Cubs make the playoffs and hope to do anything there, they’ll need to rely entirely on their offense and defense. That much is pretty clear at this point.

But is such a thing possible?

Also, per Petriello:

“It’s a problem, is the point. But is it a fatal one? Has any team ever won like, well, this before? It’s somewhat difficult to compare historically, because for a half-century all teams needed to do was to beat seven other teams over six months and they were advanced immediately to the World Series. But we’ll do our best.

The Cubs, as we said, are first in position player WAR and last in pitching WAR. It’s not the first time it’s ever happened. But it would be only the third (2026 Cubs, 1930 Yankees, 1918 Reds) and those long-ago teams played in a 16-team, pre-integrated sport. Neither of those teams reached the World Series, anyway. So far as anything resembling ‘modern baseball’ goes, it would be the first time.”

What this means for the offseason

This ugly dynamic will also make for some interesting decisions in the offseason.

Pitchers Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, Kevin Gausman, Clay Holmes, and several others could be lost via free agency, as well as key position players like Seiya Suzuki, Ian Happ, and Carson Kelly.

A lot of money will be coming off the books, but there will also be a lot of roster spots to fill.

Will the front office focus on pitching and finally pull out some big contracts for prime, elite-level arms? We’ve been seeing what bargain hunting for pitching and betting on career (and health) turnarounds can look like when things don’t go perfectly. Could it be time to open up the bank book for some surer things?

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