Are the Cubs too uptight? A scuffling club is asking the same question

Late at night, after the Chicago Cubs’ 5-4 loss to the Athletics on June 3, a group of players sat around in swivel chairs inside Wrigley Field’s home clubhouse chatting about the game and trying to decompress. The group retreated into a quiet locker room as their season continued to spin out of control after the extra-innings loss.

The circle included catcher Carson Kelly, outfielder Michael Conforto and pitchers Matthew Boyd and Jameson Taillon, who had sat down in the interview room the night before and described the club’s prolonged slump as a “wake-up call.”

The clubhouse scene was noticeable, players taking the time to hang out rather than rush to the parking lot. Taillon held a gift from a former teammate, marking a recent career milestone: I reached 10 years of MLB service and all I got was this stupid mug.

Anything to lighten the mood.

“We’re not having much fun,” Taillon said. “You don’t want to necessarily have fun when you’re losing, but you do need to find ways to enjoy the day and enjoy each other. I think you hear a lot of guys say, ‘When we’re struggling, it’s easy to focus inward, and you need to focus a little more outward.’

“Just challenge yourself to ask Carson, ‘What are you working on? How’s your family? What are you trying to get better at today?’ Versus always being so consumed with yourself.”

At that point the Cubs were only two games over .500 after that dispiriting loss. With another week lopped off the schedule, the Cubs are now 34-34 after a 3-2 loss to the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.

The team that had the best record in baseball after its second 10-game winning streak (27-12) trails the Milwaukee Brewers by eight games in the National League Central. The rapid drop-off can be attributed to a variety of factors, from pitching injuries to the law of averages to the club’s best hitters failing to deliver with runners in scoring position.

Clearly, something is off.

“We’re a very detail-oriented group, and everybody handles their business,” Kelly said. “We just talk about, ‘When it’s going really good, what does it feel like? What does it look like? What are we thinking?’

“It always comes back to being an aggressive team, taking risks, taking chances and taking it to the game, rather than playing defense all the time. Just let your natural ability — and being present in the moment — take over.”

Throughout the recent homestand, the boos could be heard. There was also a noticeable response whenever former All-Star Anthony Rizzo was shown on the video board. There was Rizzo in the front row, chugging an Old Style beer for the camera and going “Tarps Off” with a shirtless celebration after an Ian Happ home run.

In moving on from the big personalities of the 2016 World Series team, the Cubs gravitated toward a model-heavy approach that emphasized financial flexibility and targeted well-rounded players.

Baseball-focused players such as Happ, Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson set the tone for last year’s 92-win campaign. The offseason addition of Alex Bregman to the middle of a lineup that includes Seiya Suzuki and Michael Busch fueled internal belief that the Cubs can play even deeper into October.

If they get there.

Until the Cubs start stacking series wins again, it’s worth wondering if this team misses some element of looseness, a different kind of leadership quality.

“It’s like your blessings and your curses are very close,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said. “Yeah, it’s something you talk about. We are so unbelievably diligent and serious. Our preparation is excellent. When you’re going well, you’re like, ‘Oh my God, these guys are like a metronome every day.’ And then when we’re going badly, it’s like, ‘Oh my God, there’s not enough levity in this room.’

“That is hard. It’s hard to get that perfect balance. But it’s something fair to ask. I’ve asked that question. It’s natural to ask.”

The 162-game season is not a personality contest. Vibes, good or bad, are never the determining factor. It always revolves around talent.

While this downturn feels sudden, it’s also a reflection of decisions made in the post-championship decade and how the Cubs draft, develop and evaluate players, a long process that has shown up in the early-season peaks and valleys.

Although this big-market franchise does not consistently pay the luxury tax, Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts and president of business operations Crane Kenney set this year’s baseball budget with the expectation of exceeding the $244 million threshold. Chicago’s Opening Day payroll was roughly $100 million more than the Milwaukee Brewers’ investment, per FanGraphs.

This is Year 3 in Wrigleyville for Craig Counsell, who left the Brewers to become the sport’s highest-paid manager and took his time rounding out a coaching staff. Players appreciate their steady nature and direct communication. But when the offense doesn’t score enough runs, and the talking points remain the same, the team can look flat.

The players know it’s on them to make adjustments and find solutions.

“I understand I have s — to work on,” Taillon said before he went on the injured list with a strained left hamstring that will keep him sidelined until after the All-Star break. “But it’s a little less heavy when you’re talking to other guys about what they’re working on, and how you can help them and serve them.

“It might be something as small as — Colin Rea pitched the day after me, we have similar repertoires: ‘Hey, dude, how are you going to attack these guys? I’ve got some thoughts. I’ve got some things I saw.’ That way, you’re just getting outside yourself and not consumed with your own problems.”

Those lessons come from experience, and even accomplished players need reminders.

Conforto, who played in the 2015 World Series for the New York Mets and earned a championship ring with the Los Angeles Dodgers last year, reflected on the nature of the game and its highs and lows.

“It makes it a little bit easier to bring yourself back to the middle when you realize you’re in it with everybody,” Conforto said. “You just try to continue to build the relationships that we have. You always try to switch things up when things are going bad. It may not produce anything right away. But the more that we can continue to come together, it’ll pay off down the road.”

The Cubs might be having much different conversations if Boyd, Cade Horton and Justin Steele hadn’t spent so much time on the injured list. Or if Edward Cabrera had shown more of what made the Cubs think he could be a top-of-the-rotation starter. Or if Bregman had produced a couple of big hits in clutch situations.

In another setback, Boyd has been ruled out of this weekend’s road series against the San Francisco Giants, Counsell told reporters Wednesday, due to lingering soreness in his left shoulder while he tries to return from surgery on his left knee.

“It’s been hard all around,” Conforto said. “There hasn’t been a guy on the team that hasn’t felt like they could do more. On the flip side, though, early on, we had outstanding performances from everybody. It’s just trying to remember those times and understand that we’re capable.”

The Cubs entered Wednesday with playoff probabilities ranging from 39.4% to 47%, per FanGraphs and Baseball Reference. That snapshot is still two weeks away from the halfway point of the season and with the trade deadline still several weeks away.

Given everything that has already transpired, predicting the next 94 games won’t be easy.

“We got a lot of really good people who have been on really good teams in the past, guys who have had phenomenal years and careers,” Kelly said. “If we continue to focus on those little details, and being present in the moment, letting those moments happen, we’ve got big-time players who can make big-time things happen.”

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