Chicago Cubs: 3 players who must step up after slow start

The Chicago Cubs’ season could be much, much worse at this point. Specifically, they need three players to step up to avoid continuous mediocrity.

Finally, Monday night, the Chicago Cubs stopped the bleeding. After losing five straight, including being swept by their bitter rival in the St. Louis Cardinals, the Cubs came out swinging for the fences in a dominating win over the Miami Marlins.

That’s the good news. The bad news? There is still a lot of work to do for the North Siders.

This season hasn’t gone exactly as planned for the Cubs. Coming into the season, they were one of the top World Series favorites this year. It is a long season, and they have plenty of time to amp it up a bit, but thus far they have been less than impressive.

The Cubs could easily be 11-21 right now — very easily. They have won six games this season by scoring less than four runs. That tells me two things.

First, it tells me that the Cubs have actually had some decent pitching performances. While none of the guys in the rotation look like a Cy Young candidate at the moment, the Cubs’ pitching has given them some great games amidst a few duds.

This might come as a surprise, but the Cubs’ team ERA of 3.41 actually ranks as the fifth-best in all of baseball and fourth in the NL.

So, secondly, what we know is that the team needs to start producing offensively — period. But, what’s the correct formula? How does a team come together offensively? Well, for starters, a couple of key components need to get their act together and figure something out. I analyze three players who need to step up immediately, two of which need to do so on the offensive side.