By most expectations, the Cubs are off to a bad start. Going 2-2 against the AAA Dead Fish is not what people thought of Cubs after spring training.
But the same problems from last season's disappointment are cropping up again.
After 5 games, the Cubs are batting .204. The team has struck out 58 times in 229 plate appearances. That is more than a quarter of at bats. The Cubs have not scored in 17 innings.
People realize that the Cubs offense is falling back in the trap of "home run or bust" approach to the plate. As noted in the last few years, the Cubs have bashers not contact hitters. Many clubs have a balanced lineup with .300 hitters and RBI guys. The 2018 Astros have 4 of their 9 hitters batting over .300. In 2017, the Astros had 6 players (with 2 utility guys) hitting at or over .300. In 2017, the Cubs had only one player (reserve catcher Rene Rivera) hit over .300.
Just as bad is the starting pitching. Traditionally, a team looked to its rotation to eat up innings (because starters were the best pitchers on your staff). Teams now expect starters to get to 200 IP (which is well below a generation ago where 250 IP was the norm). Even so, teams have to cover at least 1476 innings per season. If starters cover 1000 IP, that means the bullpen must cover 476 IP. In an 8 man bullpen, that means about 60 IP per reliever (which equates to almost 60 appearances per bullpen arm). That represents a lot of wear and tear on bullpen arms which now have to cover a third of each contest.
The Cubs starters have only thrown 25.2 IP in the first five games, or only 49.2 percent of games. The starters should be covering 67 percent.
It may be a small sample size, but it is still evidence of issues that need to be resolved by Maddon and the coaching staff. The Cubs needed to get off to a fast start to not give the Brewers or Cardinals any confidence to contend in the NL Central. The Cubs should have feasted on Marlins and Reds pitching.
