162 games is a grind. It takes a toll on your physically and mentally as a fan. You spend 5 months in the offseason getting yourself hyped up and buying into a team that you think could possibly make a playoff run only to be sitting at .500 through 60 games. But that's the beauty of baseball...we're only 40% of the way through the season at this point and I'm not convinced, like many others are, that this team is bad. I just think they're playing bad baseball right now.
If you look at the individual batting stats comparing month over month to these player's careers, almost all of them hit below their career numbers. The Cubs were 17-10 in April compared to a record of 10-18 in May...and the individual struggles tell that story.
*Red is career numbers higher than May
I would bet the IP rights to Jacksbackstop.com that Dansby Swanson doesn't hit .155 another month this season. Similarly, Morel and Seiya aren't going to finish the year with slugging numbers that look like the month of May. It was a bad month that saw an entire team struggle.
And the team stats tell the same story. It would be much worse if I could isolate it to just May but even if you look at March/April vs March/April/May, the team ranks offensively completely dropped off. Pitching has improved but at the same time, the defense has been playing at all-time lows. Pretty much the exact same team in 2023 ranked 7th in outs above average (the cumulative effect of all individual plays a fielder has been credited or debited with) and now rank 24th amongst all MLB teams.
The other thing to note is the schedule. The Cubs have the 2nd easiest schedule remaining amongst all NL teams. If they can play baseball like they were in April, I don't see how this team doesn't turn things around. However, I still think they need to add some help sooner rather than later at a few positions and I think both can come from the same team.
Catcher/Closer
The Colorado Rockies will obviously be sellers at the deadline and they have 2 players that I think perfectly fit the Cubs needs. The Cubs are ranked 28th in WAR at the catcher position and they aren't going to find that Yan Gomes magic again. The Rockies (ranked 2nd in WAR at the catcher position) have Elias Diaz who will become a free agent at the end of the season. He's currently slashing .302/.350/.394 with a 1.5 WAR. He would be an immediate upgrade and a rental that would allow Miguel Amaya to continue to develop long term.
Jalen Beeks is another interesting name that could come in a package with Diaz. He's a hard throwing left-handed relief pitcher that outside of 1 bad game, has had a solid 2024. He owns a 4.2 ERA but if you take away that bad game it's below 3. Is he Mason Miller? No. But I think he could come at a cheaper price in a package for Diaz.
How Many Games Will The Cubs Win in June
5-9
10-14
15-19
20-24
Look, if you want to exit the ride with all of your belongings, go ahead. I wouldn't blame you. But if you want to keep your arms and feet inside and hang on for another 98 games, I'm here to tell you that it'll be worth it. If you got off of the ride early during Splash Mountain, I'd understand. It's a boring, creepy, and slow ride with annoying animatronic characters singing at you for what feels like 30 minutes. But, you'd surely regret not getting to feel the excitement of flying down through the thorn bushes into the water below at the end of the ride. Stay for the splash. Stay for all 162.