Cubs @ Brewers Recap

By: Jake Russell

I don’t know how much longer I can handle talking about how poor this offense has been. They scored just 17 runs in the four-game set, which, in all honesty, seems a lot better than it actually was. They nearly got shut out in game one, scoring just one low-leverage run in the ninth inning when the game was practically over. Even in game two, where they scored six runs, it was bleak up until extra innings–and even one of those runs scored was the ghost runner on second. The next day they once again scored six, but several came in the ninth when the game was once again already over.

It seems as if the Cubs are great at fake rallies. They did it in both games against the Cardinals in the ninth inning, and today had the tying run up but as always, nobody could come up with that “clutch” hit. Of course, both Morel and Suzuki tied the game up with homers in the series finale, but it ended up not mattering. It’s frustrating to watch. You really hoped that extra inning win would have been a “wake-up call” of sorts, but it did not provide the spark that the Cubs needed (although, to be fair, it was more the pitching staff collapsing than the offense struggling in the last two games–the complete opposite of the trend we have seen this year so far).

Imanga had his first real bad start of the season, giving up seven earned runs in 4.1 innings, striking out and walking just one of each. Of course, Imanaga was NOT going to sustain a sub-1 ERA. Pitching off of 10 days of rest likely did not help Imanaga stay the freshest, but the reality is he was still due for a poor outing. He still owns a 1.86 ERA on the season, with 59 strikeouts to just 10 walks in 58 innings–fantastic overall numbers.

Kyle Hendricks also once again pitched out of the bullpen. Once again, it did not go well. Ultimately, neither outing really affected the game, but they’ve both been poor. He’s allowed 5 ER in 5.2 innings out of the bullpen. It’s just a question of when Hendricks will be gone at this point, which sucks to say. He’s been such a huge part of our franchise.

I don’t think the Cubs are quite this bad. They’ve fallen under .500 for the first time since the first series of the year, but it’s not a huge hole they can’t dig themselves out of. Last year they were 10 games under .500 at one point, and came back to finish 6 games over. Of course, that doesn’t mean they will do that this year, but they won’t play this bad the entire year. They just simply aren’t that bad of a baseball team. They were a top 10 offense last year, and only added to that offense. Unfortunately, the ball hasn’t bounced their way–but it will. The Cubs will get hot soon. I just know it.

Series MVP: Ben Brown

I didn’t mention Brown before for a reason. He clearly deserves this honor for the series. The Cubs get swept without his 7 inning no-hit performance in Game 3 in all likelihood. Brown has been a force to be reckoned with in his young MLB career, and racked up 16 whiffs on Tuesday night–mostly on his curveball. His curve has been the most valuable curveball in baseball per Baseball Savant’s RV, and it’s easy to see why. It has such a unique movement profile. It has the second hardest average velocity, with very minimal gloveside movement, and about -4 inches of vertical movement. The pitch is truly filthy, and grades out at a 131 Stuff+ according to Eno Sarris’ model.

Picture Credit: Al Bello, Getty Images