The early season has had its share of good, bad and ugly moments.
The good: the Cubs pitching staff leads the NL in ERA and WHIP. Quality starts have not taxed the bullpen. The Cubs are the first team this year to 11 wins. The Cubs have the largest lead, 4 games, in any division after 14 games. The Cubs 11-3 start is the best since 1970.
More good: it appears the Cubs have overcome any mental block on playing the rival Cardinals. Last night's victory was the 5th in a row over the Redbirds. As such, the Cubs now know that they can beat any of the teams in their division.
The bad: the Cubs core continue to struggle at the plate. Players like Heyward, Rizzo and Zobrist have had oh-for-20 stretches. But the only saving grace has been patience st the plate and getting walks. They have had solid starting pitching to win close, low scoring games.
More bad: Jorge Soler crashed into the left field wall to give slow footed Cardinal catcher Molina a triple. Even the Cubs announcers had to admit that the ball "could" have been caught. The Cubs defense has been spotty at times. If not for pitcher Jason Hammel's two-run single, the Soler defensive lapse would have cost the Cubs the game.
The ugly: Kyle Schwarber's knee and leg injury was so severe that he had the Dallas Cowboys team physician do his reconstructive surgery. It is rare for a baseball player to have a "football" type injury. The Cubs statement on the surgery said the team was "hopeful" that Schwarber would be back in 2017 for spring training. But that is not a guarantee. As beat reporters indicate, the under-reported aspect of Schwarber's injury was the severe high ankle sprain. Schwarber could not get his shoe on because of the massive swelling. The surgery had to be delayed until all the swelling went down.
More ugly: there is no guarantee that Schwarber can come back to his pre-injury levels. Ligament tears can be painful and debilitating. They can even permanently change your lifestyle.
The cruciate ligaments -- ACL and PCL -- cannot be repaired. Once they
are completely torn or stretched beyond their limits, that's it. The
only option is a reconstruction. In this procedure, tendons are taken
from other parts of your leg or a cadaver to replace the torn ligament. Reconstructive surgery may not give complete stability to the knee. It is usually a long recovery process which may have some patients not being able to return to their pre-injury activities.
During the long season ahead, the Cubs may miss Schwarber's bat more than expected if the middle of the order has prolonged hitting slumps.
