Where do the Cubs go from here?

Image Courtesy of Bing

The Cubs have made the post season every season since 2015.  Of course they won the World Series in 2016 and have been eliminated in every other year.  Every year from 2015-17 was fairly satisfying.  This season wasn’t.  This is the most frustrated I’ve been with the Cubs since 2014.  The nagging feeling is they underperformed.  The Cubs hitters can’t be that bad can they?  So what went wrong and we do the Cubs go from here.

It started with free agency

The Cubs free agent acquisitions stunk.  Yu Darvish, Tyler Chatwood and Brandon Morrow just didn’t pan out.  By contrast, the Brewers signed Lorenzo Cain and traded for Christian Yelich.  The contrast is stark.  It turns out the best Cubs pickups were made during the season in the form of Cole Hamels and Jesse Chavez. It seems like Theo Epstein is best at making minor pickups as opposed to huge free agent signings.

Despite the lack of help form Darvish and Chatwood, the Cubs pitching staff had an excellent season.  I’m trying to figure out if that’s a function of Joe Maddon’s massaging of the staff or the work of pitching coach, Jim Hickey.

The good

Javy Baez made huge strides in his game this season.  Anthony Rizzo’s home runs were down, but all in all, he had a solid season.  Ben Zobrist had a nice season, but is more of a complimentary player than foundation piece.  

Jason Heyward really wasn't much better in 2018

Jason Heyward wasn’t as bad at the plate as he has been in years gone by, but that bar is incredibly low.  Plus, while still a plus defender, he showed some slippage in the field.  Heyward’s OPS was .731 in 2018 up only marginally from his .715 mark of 2017.  His WAR was actually down from 2.3 to 1.6.  His defensive WAR went from 1.4 to 0.1.  If you thought Heyward regressed in the field, numbers back you up.  That contract is not likely to look any better going forward.

What happened?

What happened to Kris Bryant and Willson Contreras?  Bryant was plagued by injuries throughout the season.  He looked helpless at the plate in the second half of the year.  Have we seen the best of Kris Bryant?  While Kris is a former Rookie of the Year and MVP, I don’t think of him as the offense force that guys like Manny Machado and Bryce Harper are.

Willson Contreras has regressed to the point drawing a walk makes him celebrate wildly.  Willson’s OPS in 2017 was .855.  In 2018 it was .730.  It was declining as the year went on.  I have no idea what happened and I’m not sure the Cubs do either.

I'm not sure he's coming back

Addison Russell’s on the field problems pale in comparison to his off the field issues, though the two are probably related.  I wouldn’t count on him for much going forward.

More dissapointment

Kyle Schwarber may be a .240 hitter with some power and limited defensive ability and not the second coming of Babe Ruth.  Ian Happ seems to have a similar profile, but with more versatility.   

Murphy's Law really kicked in

Daniel Murphy looked like a great addition when he first came over to the Cubs, but looked worse as time moved on.  Murphy took some of the worst swings for an allegedly good hitter I’ve ever seen.  His at bat against Josh Hader in game 163 was perhaps the worst I’ve seen since John Kruk faced Randy Johnson in an all star game.  I don’t look for Murphy to come back.

Limited ceiling?

Albert Almora Jr. struggled during the second half of the season.  I’m not sure he’s any more than a platoon player/ defensive replacement guy.

What next?

Going forward, it looks like the Cubs have a foundation of Anthony Rizzo and Javy Baez in terms of position players.  There’s not a lot going on in the farm system so it looks like it’s time for the Cubs to hit the free agent market.

Guess Chill's launch angle and exit velocity

I wonder if Cubs hitting coach, Chilli Davis, is wearing a bag over his head about now?  I’d like to see the launch angle and exit velocity when he’s fired.  I’m also curious to see if the Cubs extend Joe Maddon. Fans will argue that he led the Cubs to their first championship in 108 years.  Just like Ozzie Guillen led the White Sox to their first World Series win in 88 years.  Keeping guys on because of past performance isn’t a good way to prepare for the future.

What happened to the players?

Joe Maddon may have done his best job of managing the Cubs this past year.  The Cubs made the playoffs despite a bunch of key guys not producing.  I wonder why those guys weren’t producing.  Apparently, the Cubs players support Maddon.  Of course, if players are underperforming, I’m not sure how much their endorsement matters.