Chicago Cubs: Is Theo Epstein losing his touch with team?
Even though Theo Epstein’s fingerprints were all over the Chicago Cubs’ 2016 World Series Championship, what’s followed since has been bumpy at best.
Since taking over as President of Baseball Operations, Theo Epstein has resurrected the Chicago Cubs from being a team referred to as “lovable losers” to World Series Champions. Too bad that championship came two seasons ago. Because what’s happened since that glorious time has been filled with muddied play and unexpected disappointment.
World Series or bust.
That’s what Theo Epstein has to live with now during his time with the Cubs. So do the players, coaching staff and even the fans. Making it into the postseason isn’t good enough anymore. Neither is getting bounced in five games in the second round of the 2017 playoffs.
This season’s Cubs are thus far just like last year’s team. One game they’ll score 16 runs. The next game they’ll struggle to scratch across two.
Their pitching has been wildly inconsistent, despite signing ace Yu Darvish to a large contract to anchor the rotation for years to come. Even worse, last year’s pickup of Jose Quintana hasn’t panned out as planned. Especially given that Epstein parted ways with top hitting prospect, Eloy Jimenez. All he’s doing is crushing home-runs for the Cubs’ cross-town rival.
Granted, the Cubs are seeing a rebounding season from a few important catalysts to date. Javier Baez has broken out thus far, hitting for both average and power. Same goes for Kyle Schwarber, who appears to have put a dismal 2017 season behind him.
Kris Bryant had continued doing “Kris Bryant things” before getting hit in the head with a pitch. Anthony Rizzo has struggled out of the gate, but his track record for heating up beginning in June speaks for itself. Also, Kyle Hendricks continues to display his steady presence in the starting rotation.
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Obviously, it’s still too early in the season to make any definite conclusions. But players like Darvish, Quintana, Addison Russell, and Jason Heyward, all hand-picked by Epstein in various roster moves, need to perform better moving forward.
Much of the Cubs’ success is determined by how these four players perform. Epstein gambled a lot of money and prospects in the process to acquire these players. If they don’t live up to their billing, it hamstrings the whole team in both the present and future.
Epstein will always be remembered for helping deliver a World Series championship to the North Side of Chicago. That will never be taken away from him nor the organization. Still, the Cubs are vying to win a World Series every season now, rather than just one in every 108 years.
When it comes to drafting impact players, Epstein and Vice President/General Manager Jed Hoyer have aced their exams. The same cannot be said for signing off on mid-season trades and offseason pickups to improve their ball club.
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If that continues to be the case moving forward, Epstein’s reputation on the North Side will begin to lose some shine that still largely hovers over their 2016 Championship.
The Chicago Cubs weren’t just built for one magical post-season run. Let’s not forget that.