Cold truth: Chicago Cubs struggling to produce
Is it too early to panic about the Cubs?
Yes.
Is it too early to be concerned?
No.
With a record of 7-8, the Cubs found themselves fourth in the National League Central, 3 games behind the first-place Pittsburgh Pirates at the start of Wednesday, when the Cubs' scheduled game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field was postponed because of impending bad weather.
The Cubs had their annual Bricks and Ivy charity ball Wednesday night, and that also may have contributed to the decision to call the game by 9 a.m. The two teams will make up the game Thursday at 1:20 p.m., and the Cubs will head to Colorado for the weekend.
Cubs manager Joe Maddon talked from the beginning of spring training of the importance of getting off to a good start, and now we can say the Cubs are not off to a good start.
The early record is less than mediocre, and the team's performance has looked lackluster and uninspiring on many days.
Here are some key numbers:
• Cubs starting pitchers are 2-6 with a 5.30 ERA and a WHIP of 1.65. What's more, the Cubs ranked 14th in the National League with 6 quality starts entering Wednesday. When the Cubs get a quality start, they are 3-3, and the starters have a 1.25 ERA in those starts. When the Cubs don't get a quality start, the team is 4-5, and the starters have an ERA of 8.93 in those starts.
No Cubs starting pitcher has gone more than 6 innings this season.
On the bright side, the relievers are 5-2 with a 2.37 ERA and a WHIP of 1.18.
• Cubs batters ranked eighth in team batting average at .236, and their 16 homers were 10th in the NL heading into Wednesday. It hasn't helped that first baseman Anthony Rizzo spent 11 days on the disabled list with lower-back tightness. Rizzo has a line of .097/.243/.194 with 1 homer. He is 3-for-31 at the plate.
• At the plate, other players are as cold as the weather. Addison Russell, who is looking for a bounce-back year is 11-for-50, contributing to a line of .220/.350/.300 with no homers. Jason Heyward looks like he may be the hitter he was the past two years, which is to say a major disappointment. Heyward is off to a .204/.298/.286 start (10-for-49) with 1 homer and 8 RBI.
• Cubs leadoff hitters have a line of .221/.312/.324 with 1 home run, 5 RBI, 9 walks and 27 strikeouts. Maddon has gone with Ian Happ as his leadoff man 10 times, Albert Almora Jr. four times and Ben Zobrist once.
Zobrist was supposed to lead off Tuesday night, but he came up with back tightness and was a late lineup scratch.
Happ ranked fourth in the NL with 25 strikeouts entering Wednesday to go along with a line of .204/.264/.367.
The Cubs have been searching for a solution at the leadoff spot since Dexter Fowler left after helping the Cubs win the 2016 World Series. Even at that, the Cubs got a "bonus" year out of Fowler, who re-signed during spring training of 2016 after an apparent deal with Baltimore fell apart.
On the positive side of the ledger for the Cubs, Kris Bryant has a .328/.473/.569 hitting line with 6 doubles, a triple, 2 homers and 8 RBI.
The most exciting player on the team, if not in all of baseball, is second baseman Javier Baez, and he has some interesting numbers. His overall line is .235/.339/.667. Of Baez's 12 hits, only 2 are singles. He has 3 doubles, 2 triples and 5 home runs. Baez's isolated power (essentially slugging percentage minus batting average) of .431 ranks fourth in baseball behind Didi Gregorius (.471), Bryce Harper (.446) and Charlie Blackmon (.436).
• Twitter:@BruceMiles2112