The second half of baseball is underway, as the MLB kicked off with a weekend series for all 30 teams. With the trade deadline just a little over a week away, we're starting to see who will be buyers come July 30th. If you missed my first-half review of the Cubs, check it out here and see how the Cubs did in the first half of 2024 baseball. I wish I were counting off what I said, “that the Cubs would-be buyers,” but after going 1-2 against the D-Backs, they're digging a hole they can't escape. However, still being 3.5 games out of a wild card spot is manageable to catch up to by the deadline. Also, the Cubs could gain just a little bit of ground in the Central with Milwaukee coming to town Monday-Wenesday.
(Just a reminder of why you should highly dislike Milwaukee)
Major Roster Moves
Big hit to the Cubs pitching staff. We haven't seen Wicks pitch for quite some time now, and reports pointed to him not returning soon. Depending on where the Cubs are by the end of the month, we probably won't see Wicks pitch for the rest of the season. Little is the big one here, in my opinion, as he was the only other lefty in the Cubs bullpen, and a quality one at that. Little had a 2.76 ERA in his last 37 games and again was a big piece on getting lefties out. Wesneski also hurts due to his ability to eat innings in the rotation and the bullpen, but per Patrick Mooney, the Cubs are hoping he can resume throwing relativity soon.
7/19-7/21 Vs. Arizona
Game 1: Loss, 5-2
Game 2: Loss, 3-0
Game 3: Win, 2-1 F/10
Going into this home series, the expectation had to be to take two out of three. Sadly, the Cubs' offense has let us down once again. Where did that offense go that we saw right before the all-star break? The Cubs managed to hit .181 in the whole series with RISP. The opportunities were there, but like usual, there was no slugger in the lineup.
Justin Steele didn't have the best of starts in game one (4.2IP, 9H, 5ER, 2BB, 6K), but the bullpen looked well as the relievers combined for zero earned runs through 4.1 innings of work and striking out five D-Backs. Offensively, there isn't much to talk about, only eight runs on two hits, with RBIs coming from Morel and Happ.
Game two was the ugliest of all. Kyle Hendricks didn't have a terrible start, and he sure gave the lineup plenty of opportunities to jump out to an early lead. Hendricks would go four shutout innings but would run into trouble in the fifth as he gave up three earned runs and would be done for the day. If you thought there wasn't much offense to talk about in game one, well, look no further than game two to crush your heart. Chicago would get shut out by Zac Gallen and four different D-Back relievers. Maybe the only positive thing is that the Cubs could work six walks off of Gallen.
Moving onto the Sunday finale, featuring an absolute gem from Shota Imanaga (more on him below). The bullpen would also do a fantastic job in keeping the game time tied; Hector Neris would be in charge of extra-inning duties and would be successful, giving up no runs. The Cubs would wait to score till the bottom of the ninth on an RBI single by Suzuki, which would take the game to extras. The Cubs would win the game on a walk-off walk by Nico Hoerner ( I couldn't think of any other “Cubs Fashion” way to win).
Hitter of the Week: Nico Hoerner
With there not being a ton of offense for the Cubs in this series, picking a “Hitter of the Week” had its challenges. However, Nico Hoerner did have a decent weekend of hitting, including the walk-off walk in game three against Arizona. Hoerner had a slash line of .308/.400/.462 and recorded two doubles and an RBI. Hoerner took over the leadoff spot once Mike Tuachman hit the IL a few weeks ago. Having a guy like Hoerner in the leadoff spot greatly impacts the Cubs lineup. Nico hits for contact and runs well, as he hits for .313 in his last 23 games.
Pitcher of the Week: Shota Imanaga
The Cubs 2024 all-star wasted no time getting into a groove in the second half of the MLB season. Shota would throw for 7.0 innings, giving up two hits and striking out a season-high 10 batters. Once again Shota is doing Shota things, having an Imanga throw every five days is very important to the Cubs' success. You have to hope Shota can be perfect in all of his starts leading up to the deadline and help chip away at the second wild-card position.
Other Highlights
Series to come
7/22: Brewers vs. Cubs (T. Myers vs. J. Assad)
7/23: Brewers vs. Cubs (C. Rea vs. J. Taillon)
7/24: Brewers vs. Cubs (Undecided vs. J. Steele)
7/26: Cubs @ Royals (K. Hendricks vs. B. Signer)
7/27: Cubs @ Royals (S. Imanaga vs. S. Lugo)
7/28: Cubs @ Royals (J. Assad vs. C Ragans)
Main Image via
Comments