We are a month into the baseball season and it's, for the most part, been a very exciting/happy rollercoaster ride. The line to get on the rollercoaster was pretty fast. Not a ton of loops that make you want to vomit next to the smelly person sitting next to you. Mostly ups with a few drops but it's been a pleasant ride...not like the tea cup of a season we've experienced in years past. The only thing is some of our friends are still waiting in the line because they didn't have the fast pass but they're really close to the front of the line and ready to ride with us (Matt Mervis and Christopher Morel).
Let's take a look at the offense so far through the first month.
Standard batting shows that this team, at least towards the top of the order, is seeing and hitting the ball well. Nico Hoerner had a 26 game on-base streak up until today (5/2), Patrick Wisdom is 10th in overall average exit velocity and is on pace for 50+ homeruns, and Dansby has been as advertised on both sides of the ball. Toss in a revitalized Cody Bellinger, a Yan Gomes that has made me forget about Willson Contreras, and an Ian Happ that's playing like an all-star, and you get a legit sneaky playoff team. So where does the offense rank amongst the rest of the MLB?
Yeah, pretty damn good. They're also 3rd in the National League in total runs scored and 2nd in run differential. This team should be a few more games above .500 with all of this going on but hey, after 29 games they have the 13th hardest strength of schedule played and only 4 teams with harder schedules have a winning record.
Some early season highlights:
Velasquez Grand Slam in front of a packed April weekday crowd
Nico's first career walk-off hit
The Yan Gomes game + Nico bases clearing triple
Defensively, this team is exactly what was pitched to us during the offseason. With all the rule changes going into the year, defensive play was key to putting together a competitive roster. Bellinger has made me not think about PCA 24/7 out in center, Dansby has erased Javier Baez from my memory (I still miss old Javy though), and Nico is the best 2nd baseman in baseball.
Now how about the pitching staff?
This is a pretty simplistic view of this staff. But this rotation has been GOOD. Like actually good. Marcus Stroman seems to have found his stuff again leading the league in Quality Starts (5 out of 6 outings). Justin Steele has been the pride of Lucedale, MS ranking 3rd in all of baseball in ERA. And the rotation as a whole? Pretty good...
Chicago Cubs Rotation (via @Michael_Cerami):
3.31 ERA (2nd in NL, 4th overall)
87.3 MPH EV (1st overall)
5.4 Barrel% (1st overall)
33.2 Hard% (2nd overall)
The bullpen has been a disaster but it's isolated to a few guys. They can easily trim the fat of this pen (Fulmer and Merryweather), call up some arms that have potential, and then BUY BUY BUY at the deadline. But up until now, the numbers don't lie on the pen. Surprisingly decent all things considered....
Cubs Bullpen (via @Michael_Cerami):
29.3 K% (2nd overall)
.205 AVG (1st in NL, 4th overall)
3.90 ERA (5th in NL)
87.7 MPH EV (4th in NL)
33.6 Hard% (2nd in NL, 4th overall)
17 Holds (t-5th in NL)
Only 11 teams have fewer blown saves.
Smyly tosses 7 perfect innings
Justin Steele strikes out 8 in 7 innings of work
So what's next? What will take this team to the next level? I've got 2 guys for you. One can start at first and the other will give the Cubs some much needed pop in the DH spot OR some utility depth.
Christopher Morel
In the initial month of the year, Morel has been the best baseball player in the minor leagues (Yes, all of the minor leagues...). He's slashing .363/.463/.835 at Triple A Iowa and his 219 wRC+ is the highest amongst all minor leaguers.
Oh and he leads AAA with 11 homeruns.
Matt Mervis
Mervis is slashing .295/.407/.580 with Iowa this year. He's regularly crushing the ball with 100+ exit velocity while Hosmer currently ranks 248th amongst all MLB players in exit velocity at 85.8MPH...tied with cub legend Martin Maldanado. Mervis is MLB ready...call him up and let him hit balls into Lake Michigan
So how should you feel 18% of the way through the season? Optimistic and excited. This team is fun to watch and is a legit MLB roster. We have potential All-Stars in Nico, Happ, Dansby, and Bellinger. We have a 40 bomb guy in Patrick Wisdom. 2 of the best pitchers in baseball. And the most exciting part? A runway ahead with the ability to trim some fat and call up some firepower. The 2nd most exciting part? Summer at Wrigley is around the corner...
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