Chicago Cubs: History does not appear to be on their side
The Chicago Cubs are off to a slow start and could be a longshot for the playoffs based on recent history.
If the Chicago Cubs have designs of making the playoffs, they will have to buck a recent trend that does not bode well for their chances. The Cubs are off to an absolutely miserable start.
Ironically, they won their first game of the season, dominating the Texas Rangers 12-4. Jon Lester looked superb, and they came out of the gate strong. Everything was aces. However, the Cubs lost their next six games, a stretch in which Yu Darvish turned in two terrible performances. In those two starts, he went a total of 6 2/3, giving up six runs and walking 11.
Then, there was the April Fools’ Day disaster in which the team committed a mind-boggling six errors and lost 8-0. It was a putrid performance where the Cubs looked sloppy and disinterested.
Granted, the team is only seven games into a 162-game season, so there is a lot of baseball left. However, according to a recent tweet from ESPN baseball insider Jeff Passan, history may not be on their side.
I typically am not the guy to overreact to seven games ... but in the last 35 seasons, per @ESPNStatsInfo, 68 teams have started 1-6 or worse and only three have made the playoffs. In the last dozen years, just four have finished over .500. Right now, the Chicago Cubs are 1-6.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) April 6, 2019
Over the last 35 years, only 3 teams to start a season 1-6 like the Cubs, have made the playoffs. More recently, over the last 12 seasons, only four of those teams have finished over .500.
That does not bode well for the team’s chances to make the playoffs this season — a season in which they had hopes of not only making the playoffs but competing for another World Series.
There is a lot of blame to go around for their slow start, but Theo Epstein suggested that the blame be placed on him for a poor allocation of resources. There is no doubt that some of the Cubs’ perceived failures of the offseason were on display during the opening series, and continue to be weaknesses for this team.
light. Related Story. Could Theo Epstein leave the Cubs?
If the team continues to play this lackluster and uninspired brand of baseball, not only will they fail to make the playoffs, but there will be true scapegoats who will take the fall for the season. Maybe a shakeup is needed — or maybe they just need to snap out of it and play the way they’re capable of playing.