Chicago Cubs news: Is the loss of Dexter Fowler hurting the team?
The Chicago Cubs struggled last season when Dexter Fowler wasn’t in the lineup. That same can be said about their offense this season with him in St. Louis.
The Chicago Cubs cruised through the regular season last year on their way to stopping their 108-year title drought. A big reason for that could be attributed to the play of center fielder Dexter Fowler.
Fowler was the engine that got the Cubs offense going. The offense performed very differently with him than without him. According to ESPN Stats and Information, the Cubs owned a 179-102 record with Fowler in the lineup. Without him, their record is just 21-21.
Of course, writing this after the weekend the Cubs had may sound ridiculous. Ian Happ had a very good weekend, hitting over .360 and hitting two homers in Sunday’s game. The fact of the matter is that Cubs leadoff hitters had a .213 batting average and a .316 on-base percentage entering Sunday’s game.
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A part of the reason the Cubs miss Fowler so much is because of his leadership. He gave the Cubs their swag the last two seasons. He showed the Cubs some of that swag on Friday when he homered in the first inning.
This season, no one took Fowler’s mantel. The same could be said of David Ross, a big clubhouse leader as well.
Manager Joe Maddon acknowledges the lack of leadership. He says some of the younger players need to step up.
"They were such a big part of what we’ve done the last couple of years. It’s hard to quantify what they did do, but you can have a pretty strong idea. The reality is they are not here. Other guys have to ascend. That’s either leadership within the group or younger guys growing up. That’s how this game works…I think we have the leadership capability. I think young guys are going to grow up. If we had to struggle, I prefer it now as opposed to the end of the year."
Yes, the Cubs do miss Fowler. Other people can say otherwise, but the fact is that the top of the lineup is struggling without Fowler. That means fewer runners on base for the boppers. Fewer runners mean fewer runs scored. The Cubs’ run differential this season is +3. Last season, they had a mind-blowing +270 run differential. At this point, they won’t be anywhere near last year’s total.
As Maddon said, there is still plenty of time for someone to step up. The fact of the matter is, however, that this season will be a grind. It won’t as easy as they made it look last year. Last year was special. This year could still be special but in another way.
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The young Cubs hitters will eventually improve. There is too much talent for them not to. Yes, they miss Fowler, but with other players needing new contracts (and veterans on their way out so other players can come in) the Cubs couldn’t give Fowler the rich contract he deserved. Let’s hope the bats heat up and someone takes the leadership role.