No end in sight to hitting slump, Cubs lose again
This was supposed to be the Summer of Slug at Wrigley Field, with the Cubs possessing one of the most powerful offenses in baseball.
Somewhere around the all-star break, the hitting prowess disappeared into the ivy. For the second night in a row, the Cubs’ offense consisted of a single home run. On Tuesday, it was Matt Shaw with a solo blast to left field in an otherwise meek and quiet 5-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.
“The name of the game is to square balls up and get on base and create rallies,” manager Craig Counsell said. “We're just in a little rut right now and we're not doing it. This is a very good offensive baseball team. It will happen.”
The Cubs dropped to 8-9 since the all-star break. During that time, the Cubs rank 23rd in runs scored, 17th in batting average and 18th in OPS, heading into Tuesday's action. Some of the post-break batting averages are Seiya Suzuki .143, Michael Busch .148, Dansby Swanson .208, Carson Kelly .209, Kyle Tucker .229 and Ian Happ .231.
“We're due for some of these guys to come out of their slumps,” president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said before the game. “We were never going to continue the way we were hitting the first two months. We're a better offensive team than we've shown recently. That's just the nature of a long season.”
Prior to the all-star beak, the Cubs ranked top four in MLB in runs, hits, home runs, stolen bases, slugging and OPS. What the heck happened?
“We've just got some guys not in great places swinging the bat right now,” Counsell said. “We'll get them there.”
Added Hoyer, “We have a very good position player group, that's the strength of this team. We'll get hot again. Hopefully it will happen fairly soon. No one wants to watch us grind out these games scoring a couple runs.”
Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Brewers are getting smaller and smaller through the windshield. The latest loss left the Cubs 4 games behind in the NL Central standings, while the Reds (60-54) are starting to think about wild card contention.
By the end of Tuesday's action, the Cubs will either be tied or a half-game behind the Phillies and Dodgers for the second-best record in the National League, so this is far from a dire situation.
Counsell shuffled the lineup a bit for Tuesday's game. Happ moved up to the No. 2 slot, behind Busch, while Tucker hit third, Pete Crow-Armstrong fourth and Willi Castro fifth. Castro started in right field, Tucker was designated hitter and Suzuki got the night off.
The Cubs put one new addition, right-hander Michael Soroka, on the injured list with a shoulder strain. Then another new pitcher, Andrew Kittredge, took Tuesday's loss.
Starter Shota Imanaga was outstanding, giving up 3 hits and 1 run. After getting the first out in the seventh inning, with a couple right-handed hitters coming up, Counsell pulled Imanaga after 92 pitches.
The decision didn't pan out, as Kittredge surrendered a walk, single, 3-run homer to Spencer Steer, then a double to Noelvi Marte, who ended up scoring the fourth run of the inning to make it 5-1.
This was a rough night all around for the Cubs' trade deadline performance. They faced right-hander Zack Littell, who made his Cincinnati debut after being acquired from Tampa Bay for their No. 10-ranked prospect and one other player. Littell completed 7 innings and allowed just 3 hits.
“It was a good split-finger for sure, and he used that pitch well,” Counsell said. “The slider gave us some problems too.”
The Cubs sent their No. 13 and 14 prospects to Washington for Soroka. Tampa turned around and landed Adrian Houser from the White Sox.
The Cubs bullpen was dominant early in the season. Since the all-star break, they rank 24th in MLB with a 5.54 ERA and have given up the most home runs.
After the game, Counsell said the plan for Soroka is to rest for 7-10 days, then reevaluate.