A disapointing week for the Cubs and White Sox

Image Courtesy of Bing

I felt a lot better about Chicago baseball a week ago than I do now.  The White Sox suffered a devastating blow, learning potential future staff ace, Michael Kopech needs to undergo Tommy John surgery.  In addition, Lucas Giolito got lit up in a start and Carlos Rodon was uncharacteristically ineffective in his last start.  It seems like the heart has gone out of the team and they’ll continue on a death march to the end of the season.  Like so many seasons prior to this one.

Washington D. C., where the weather and government are dysfunctional

The Cubs have had their lead in the NL Central trimmed to two games thanks in part to the torrid pace of the Milwaukee Brewers and some nasty weather in Washington.  Saturday’s doubleheader loss to the Nationals was particularly upsetting.  The Cubs lost Jon Lester Friday night when the game was called in the second inning.  It seems like the weather is as dysfunctional as the government in DC.  

Mad Max 2?  I hope not

After Saturday’s misery in Washington, Sunday’s game was postponed and has been rescheduled for September 13.  Does that mean they get to face Max Scherzer again?   If so, what a rip-off.  The Cubs pen may benefit from Sunday’s postponement.  It looked to be running on fumes in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader when the Cubs blew a 4-0 lead.  Even the usually reliable Steve Cishek has had a rough patch lately.  

8 days a week...

If the Cubs take two out of three from the Brewers they are back in control, otherwise, the NL Central is a tossup.  Jon Lester is scheduled to start Monday’s game after Friday’s aborted start against the Nationals.  At least I like that.  It looks like the only way some Cubs will get a day off this season is to clinch early.

Free agent horror story

It’s easy to take the Cubs for granted, as odd as that is for a long-time Cubs fan to say.  They have a two game lead in their division at this point in the season despite a string of adversities.  If Cubs fans had been told before the season that Yu Darvish and Tyler Chatwood would be monumental duds and Brandon Morrow may pitch 30 innings out of the Cubs pen, a two game division lead on Sept. 9 would sound pretty good.  Add to that a disappointing season from Kris Bryant, Addison Russell and to a lesser extent Wilson Contreras and you appreciate the Cubs depth.

Is Jason Heyward really more valuable this season?

Here’s an interesting fact about the Cubs Jason Heyward: while 2018 is considered a rebound season for him, statistically not so much.  Heyward’s WAR for 2018 is 1.8.  For 2017 it was 2.5.  Jason’s OPS for 2018 is 740.  Last season it was .715.  Heyward’s defensive WAR was 1.4 last year.  This year it’s 0.4.  Using the eye test, Heyward’s defense while bad, doesn’t seem as good as it did last season.  Statistics agree with that assessment.

The Sox are fading

Back to the White Sox, my interest in them has dulled in the past week.  Outside of seeing if Tim Anderson continues to improve and Yoan Moncada can get his batting average up to .230, storylines are limited.  The Sox need to help their young talent with some veterans before next season.