Chicago Cubs: Team stuck in home-run-or-nothing offense

The Chicago Cubs have struggled to consistently score runs as of late and they have been stuck in a home run or nothing offense.

Scoring runs consistently has been a struggle for the 2019 Chicago Cubs. Actually, it’s been an on-going problem for the better part of over two years now. Ever since the beginning of the 2017 season, the Cubs have relied heavily on the long ball to get their runs. When balls are not leaving the yard, they cannot match the opposing team’s offense.

As of Wednesday evening, the Cubs find themselves just three games over the 0.500 mark with three games left before the All-Star Break. With the Brewers struggling this season as well, the Cubs had the opportunity to put some distance between themselves and their neighbors to the north.

Instead, they let the division lead slip and now sit one game back of first place and just 3.5 games in front of last place. The Cubs have to be careful because they have not been great against divisional opponents. In fact, they only have a winning record against the Cardinals and a combined 8-13 record against the rest of the NL Central.

In large part, it has been because the team has relied on the long ball far too often. As previously noted, when they fail to hit home runs, the team does not score many runs. The team is hitting just 0.246 with runners-in-scoring-position, which is fourth-worst in baseball.

The Cubs have been a mediocre team at best since the calendar flipped to June and, since then, the team has a -12.7 offensive runs above average. Look no further than last night when 4 of the 5 runs scored were via the home run. Back to June 30 against the Reds, 5 of the 6 runs were scored via home run. The previous game, same results. You get the picture.

After coming off a challenging (or frustrating) homestand in which they faced the White Sox, Mets, and Braves, the Cubs had a chance to get back on track with a relatively weak road trip against the likes of the Reds, Pirates, and White Sox.

Instead, they have just one win to show for it through the first 6 games.

Cubs President of Baseball Operations, Theo Epstein, recently threatened major changes if the team does not turn it around soon. They called up second baseman Robel Garcia yesterday, which is a good start, but this team is reaching a breaking point.

Throughout the lineup, the Cubs have too many of the same type of hitters. I’d like to see them mix up the lineup with guys who hit more singles and doubles instead of swinging for the fences. Garcia should get a few starts here soon, so it will be interesting to see how that changes the lineup.

However, the Cubs might be forced to sell off a core piece like Kyle Schwarber if no improvements are seen in the next few games before the break and in the first couple weeks after. It will also be interesting to see what it will take for Epstein to finally make a drastic change, whether it be at the cost of Joe Maddon‘s job or trading a core player. That being said, enough is enough and they need to right the ship before this gets out of hand.