Chicago Cubs NL Wildcard: Loss proves what we knew all along

The Chicago Cubs suffered a crushing loss in a marathon NL Wild Card Game on Tuesday. Here’s why this game proves what we knew all along: this was a great team on paper that couldn’t get it going.

The Chicago Cubs saw their season come to a bitter end on Tuesday night, falling 2-1 in 13 innings to the Colorado Rockies. After being five games up on the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central as late as August this season, they now find themselves out of the playoffs after just one game. The Cubs will have to watch the Rockies try and defeat their division rivals in the NLDS.

The Rockies struck early by getting a run in the top of the first inning. Starting pitcher Jon Lester walked the leadoff hitter and then gave up a double to former Cub DJ LeMahieu to put runners on second and third with no outs. Nolan Arenado then hit a sacrifice fly to put the Rockies up 1-0. Lester was able to limit the damage to just one run and keep the Cubs in the game.

The Cubs didn’t get on the board until the 8th inning when Javier Baez drove in the speedy Terrance Gore after he stole second base as a pinch runner. Baez was stranded on second base, paving the way for extra innings. Wrigley Field was going crazy, but it would soon fall silent again.

The Rockies and Cubs battled in extra innings, but neither offense could get going until the Rockies struck in the 13th inning. With starter Kyle Hendricks on the mound for the Cubs, the Rockies recorded three singles with two outs, the last one driving in a run off the bat of bench player Tony Wolters. It just goes to show you never know who will be a postseason hero.

It’s been a pretty frustrating season for the Cubs. The team made big splashes in the offseason by signing starting pitcher Yu Darvish and closer Brandon Morrow to bolster the pitching staff and bullpen, respectively. Both players suffered season-ending injuries with Darvish barely pitching at all. He signed a $126 million contract and made eight starts the entire year.

One theme that was very aggravating during the season was the Cubs hot and cold offense. The batting order is full of top-tier MLB hitters for the Cubs, and yet they struggled mightily on offense at different times this year. The Cubs scored one or zero runs in 39 games this season. That’s good for second most in the MLB, next to the 115-loss Baltimore Orioles.

The Cubs offense was again extremely frustrating on Tuesday. When they needed to come through with their season on the line, the team failed to score one run until the 8th inning. The Cubs had the bases loaded in the 7th inning with two outs. Cubs manager Joe Maddon decided to pinch-hit Jason Heyward over slugger Kyle Schwarber. Heyward struck out to end the inning.

To add more misery to the Cubs’ anemic offense, the team wasted an incredible outing from their starting pitcher. Lester pitched six innings giving up four hits and one earned run while walking only one and striking out nine. The veteran lefty got out of trouble in the first inning and was stellar until he was pulled before the seventh. It’s a shame he didn’t get the win on this night.

This offseason will come with big questions for the Cubs. Hitting coach Chili Davis will likely be the scapegoat for this terrible offensive performance, and it’s clear that whatever approach he tried to apply this year failed miserably. Even Maddon’s job may be in jeopardy. There was a report earlier this year that the Cubs were considering moving on from Maddon after the 2019 season.

Whatever happens, it’s going to be a long winter for the Cubs and their fans as they look back on a disastrous end of the year. This team just let two different teams come into their home ballpark and celebrate on their field on consecutive nights. There’s no way to sugarcoat it, this season was an abject failure.

This team won 95 games despite big injuries, but they were in a position to win the division and completely choked it away. There were bright spots this season, but it’s hard to look at them fondly now. The Cubs have a lot to figure out this offseason. Da Windy City will cover all Cubs developments through the winter and into Spring Training, where hope always springs eternal.