Fright Show: The Cubs bullpen immolates in Arizona.
You always know there are going to be games like this. There are always going to be some games that you should have won and let get away and some games that you should have lost and flip the script. In and of itself, I don’t lose more than a moment’s thought about a game like this.
So many things. Every year, the Cubs struggle to pull together a bullpen. Every year, they get it worked out. Unfortunately, two years ago, it took a few weeks too long and they ended up missing out on the playoffs by an eyelash to a team that went on to play in the World Series. Not entirely coincidental that the same team flipped the script on them Sunday afternoon in Arizona.
The Cubs will get their bullpen worked out. I’m far more encouraged by a decent start by Matthew Boyd against a very talented Diamondbacks lineup. I’m impressed by an offense that was very potent in this series.
I’ve described things as half empty and half full often in the past. That’s all hear. It’s not hard to remember a time when early bullpen woes cost the team in the final standings. But it’s also not hard to envision a lineup that will ultimately terrorize lesser teams. I think that second one probably eventually wins out. But I know that no one wants to hear that right now.
The frustration is real. All of the backseat driving in baseball probably gets out of hand. To hear people talk about the Cubs, you’d think they were a bunch of amateurs running a team. A joke. A joke without a punchline. This team is run well. Often very well. They draft well. They develop well. They evaluate talent well. Again, no one wants to hear that.
But these aren’t the Cubs of 30 years ago. I think of their sin actually as more akin to something that has most often been said about basketball teams in the NBA. A team that gets into that no man’s land. A team not good enough to win a championship, but not bad enough to get franchise altering talent. The Cubs spend a lot of money, but they won’t go over the top. They have fiscal responsibility, but only to a point.
In its own sense, the Cubs are Frankenstein’s monster. They run a salary that often scrapes the cap, but they abhor going over. They will try to have discipline and not get locked into super long deals or any other kind of deal that can morph into an albatross. They hold on to players they deem useful like they were an exotic treasure.
The Cubs don’t really pick a lane and so it can at times look like they are a bunch of fools. They’ve developed an organizational philosophy that regularly spends almost 100 percent of their budget on starting pitchers and regular position players. They fill out the bench and bullpen with spare parts, scrap heap projects and a lot of wishful thinking.
Sunday afternoon, the pin was pulled on that grenade and it blew up spectacularly in the Cubs’ faces. On an afternoon where the storyline should have been just how good is Kyle Tucker and when was the last time the Cubs had a player that explosive. Instead, the conversation is how a team allows eight runs in the eighth inning.
The Cubs used four relievers for a total of three innings. Not one clean inning. Each one allowed at least one hit, including Colin Rea who faced only two batters, or one walk. Three of the four were charged with runs. A total disaster. At least one and maybe several of their relievers were not available. That certainly didn’t help.
But this was an unmitigated disaster. Somehow, we have to find three positives out of this one and then get into the numbers.
Three Stars:
- Seiya Suzuki with a homer, a single and a walk, two scored, two driven in. Seiya looks to be getting settled in at the plate.
- Kyle Tucker had a three-run homer and a walk in five plate appearances.
- Dansby Swanson got the scoring started with a solo shot and added a single.
Game 6, March 30: Diamondbacks 10, Cubs 6 (2-4)
Fangraphs
Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.
THREE HEROES:
- Superhero: Matthew Boyd (.304). 5 IP, 22 BF, 4 H, 3 BB, 0 ER, 5 K
- Hero: Seiya Suzuki (-.172). 2-4, HR, BB, 2 RBI, 2 R
- Sidekick: Kyle Tucker (.131). 1-4, HR, BB, 3 RBI, R
THREE GOATS:
- Billy Goat: Eli Morgan (-.841). ⅔ IP, 8 BF, 6 H , BB, 6 ER, 0 K (L 0-1)
*This was the lowest WPA game score by a Cub since Sept. 23, 2017 (Wade Davis -1.079)
- Goat: Nate Pearson (-.246). 1⅓ IP, 9 BF, 3 H, 2 BB, 2 ER, 0 K
- Kid: Nico Hoerner (-.073). 1-4
WPA Play of the Game: Lourdes Gurriel Jr. batted with a runner on second and one out in the bottom of the eighth, the Diamondbacks down two. He homered, tying the game. (.367)
*Cubs Play of the Game: Seiya Suzuki hit a two run homer with a runner on first and no outs in the sixth. That gave the Cubs a 3-0 lead. As hard as it is to imagine, the Cubs were up 3-0 in the top of the sixth of this one. (.166)
Cubs Player of the Game:
Yesterday’s Winner: Shōta Imanaga
Rizzo Award Standings: (Top 5/Bottom 5)
- Shōta Imanaga +6
- Miguel Amaya/Kyle Tucker +5
- Jon Berti +4
- Matt Boyd +3
- 6 Players -3
- Justin Steele -5
Up Next: The Cubs travel to Sacramento to face a 2-2 A’s team. Ben Brown (0-1, 6.75) makes his first start of the year. Joey Estes makes his first start for the A’s after going 7-9 with a 5.01 a year ago. The former 16th round pick of the Braves has yet to find his footing at the MLB level.